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New Ampeg Venture Series

So, after careful though I've finally picked my choice.

View attachment 5455082

The bass shop contacted me as soon as they received some units, I've tested one just to be sure, and I got mine today.

in the shop I've played it with a markbass 1x15, and I started to test it at home with the DI and I've noted a few things.

First off my bass (Ibanez SR300), as a really really high output. in the shop I've tested a Warwick active bass, and it's quieter than mine, and it actually clips even with the -15dB pad, but with some careful settings you can get around it.
The SGT once engaged a little too fuzzy for me when you push it, I'll probably gonna use overdrives or tube screamer if I really want to some grit, but on the edge of break-up it does sound nice.

The second thing that really surprised me is how big the volume difference is between the clean amp and the SGT circuit, I understand now why some people in this topic said that it lacked volume, because with the SGT yeah you really gotta push it to hear it loud enough.
However with the clean amp the volume is much higher and there's no problem for getting stage level output.

I'm looking forward to get some modulation pedals, to see how well it reacts, but so far a good investment for a solid state. It didn't try all the setup with my Torpedo live a reamping (yet), but so far so good.
This volume thing is very real with Sansamp RBI too. Blend fully on clean it is much louder that with full wet and low drive. This is good to know if you jump from low grit ro clean in high volume. There may be real surprise.
 
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So, after careful though I've finally picked my choice.

View attachment 5455082
The second thing that really surprised me is how big the volume difference is between the clean amp and the SGT circuit, I understand now why some people in this topic said that it lacked volume, because with the SGT yeah you really gotta push it to hear it loud enough.
However with the clean amp the volume is much higher and there's no problem for getting stage level output.
This volume thing is very real with Sansamp RBI too. Blend fully on clean it is much louder that with full wet and low drive. This is good to know if you jump from low grit ro clean in high volume. There may be real surprise.
Isn't the level [outer] knob there to set unity gain on the SGT circuit? That's how I set the SGT so whether it's on B15 or SVT the volume would be the same with or without the SGT engaged.
 
Isn't the level [outer] knob there to set unity gain on the SGT circuit? That's how I set the SGT so whether it's on B15 or SVT the volume would be the same with or without the SGT engaged.
Many confuse the level with blend used on Ampeg inspired pedals. An amp's blend control is the gain. Gets dirtier as gain goes up. Stays fairly clean with gain low. Level control is for unity of SGT circuit and no SGT circuit. There is no unity when switching between SVT and B15.
 
I thought the level was the separate volume control.

I don't have the pedal, but on those Ventures series amp, when you engage the "on" switch on the CGT circuit, either the B15 or SVT, IF the inner concentric knob is at 0 you have nothing coming out of the amp.

It IS a separate gain stage, except it's much quiter than the clean setting of the amp.
The outer or front knob is the amount of grit relative to the inner SGT gain stage.

the actual "gain" knob does play a role to have high grit level, and to me it feels much natural, and more valve/tube like when you push that gain knob first, usually passed 12-o-clock, and then roll in the inner SGT knob, and keep the outer level knob lower.

HOWEVER, since you push the amp base "gain" knob, with the master volume at like 3-o-clock, as soon as you turn "off" the SGT circuit, you go from like ~95dB in the room to ~110dB. I'm not joking, when I did that in the store the cab screamed at me so hard it shook the windows with the salesman turning at me like "the hell was that ?"
 
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I don't have the pedal, but on those Ventures series amp, when you engage the "on" switch on the CGT circuit, either the B15 or SVT, IF the inner concentric knob is at 0 you have nothing coming out of the amp.

It IS a separate gain stage, except it's much quiter than the clean setting of the amp.
The outer or front knob is the amount of grit relative to the inner SGT gain stage.

the actual "gain" knob does play a role to have high grit level, and to me it feels much natural, and more valve/tube like when you push that gain knob first, usually passed 12-o-clock, and then roll in the inner SGT knob, and keep the outer level knob lower.

HOWEVER, since you push the amp base "gain" knob, with the master volume at like 3-o-clock, as soon as you turn "off" the SGT circuit, you go from like ~95dB in the room to ~110dB. I'm not joking, when I did that in the store the cab screamed at me so hard it shook the windows with the salesman turning at me like "the hell was that ?"
I can confirm every bit of this excellent description on my own V12-410 rig. The difference in volume he describes requires some adjustments to make it even. It's not ideal but can be mitigated.
 
Hey folks,

I picked up one of the V7 heads and it sounds good! I've found the SGT circuit sounds good even with the grit down low if you just want to use it to get the voicing of either a B15 or an SVT which I've found handy for when I just want to plunk away with a P Bass to get an old Motown kind of sound on the B15 setting.

The issue I have is that I find the output is rather low. When I use a bass with active electronics I more often than not have to engage the -15dB pad, and when I do that the output is so low that I can crank the master volume all the way clockwise through my 4x10 cab rated at 1000W @ 4 ohms and it is loud but I'd expect a 700W head to be a LOT louder through that cab. I could hook up another cab, but I find it odd that my Markbass Little Mark II is rated lower than the v7 (500W RMS @ 4 ohms vs 700W @ 4 ohms for the V7) but is substantially louder. Am I doing something wrong here?
 
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Hey folks,

I picked up one of the V7 heads and it sounds good! I've found the SGT circuit sounds good even with the grit down low if you just want to use it to get the voicing of either a B15 or an SVT which I've found handy for when I just want to plunk away with a P Bass to get an old Motown kind of sound on the B15 setting.

The issue I have is that I find the output is rather low. When I use a bass with active electronics I more often than not have to engage the -15dB pad, and when I do that the output is so low that I can crank the master volume all the way clockwise through my 4x10 cab rated at 1000W @ 4 ohms and it is loud but I'd expect a 700W head to be a LOT louder through that cab. I could hook up another cab, but I find it odd that my Markbass Little Mark II is rated lower than the v7 (500W RMS @ 4 ohms vs 700W @ 4 ohms for the V7) but is substantially louder. Am I doing something wrong here?

Are you using the onboard compressor? If so, try turning it all the way off as it acts more like a limiter. There is a lot of volume in these heads past the 12 o' clock mark.
 
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Are you using the onboard compressor? If so, try turning it all the way off as it acts more like a limiter. There is a lot of volume in these heads past the 12 o' clock mark.

I had the compressor all the way off and the gain up as high as it would go without clipping! I'm wondering if the volume is intentionally lower on the non-SGT circuit since the SGT adds a lot of output when you flick it on.
 
That's fair enough but I don't think I should have to crank the gain past the point of making it clip just to get enough output.

A lot of Ampeg amps over the years have been known to sound best when the clip light is flashing as they're being driven a bit harder, so it is actually fine to be triggering the light even with the -15db pad disengaged. Also, the light flashing doesn't necessarily mean the amp is actually clipping. A lot of amps clip lights start flashing before there is actually any audible clipping at all. Out of interest, what is your gain set to? And do you hear any audible distortion when the clip light is flashing?
 
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