• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Ok, BIG AMP lovers, which one would you choose...

Which BIG amp

  • Ampeg SVT(any variation)

    Votes: 114 40.6%

  • Mesa Strategy Eight:88

    Votes: 31 11.0%

  • Mesa Prodigy Four:88

    Votes: 10 3.6%

  • Aguilar DB751

    Votes: 27 9.6%

  • Fender Super Bassman

    Votes: 42 14.9%

  • Orange AD200B

    Votes: 16 5.7%

  • Ashdown CTM-300

    Votes: 11 3.9%

  • A boutique builder(Reeves, Verellen, Electric, etc)

    Votes: 30 10.7%
  • Total voters
    281
#61
JimmyM said:
I would never ever EVER make any buying decisions based on what another bass player thinks, even one I really respect.

That said, SVT :D
Click to expand...

You kind of said it all, right there. I don't see an issue if the person who owns the amp likes it. And it seems like the only gripe the other guy has is that his amp is small, which is absolutely ridiculous. The sound should be all that matters. I would play through an amp the size of a Pop-Tart if it sounded good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Plectrum72 and JimmyM
#62
I agree with you guys! I'm pretty happy with my little Mesa head, and I'm not planning on getting a new amp, but ya' never know...

My dude is pretty old school. He talks about his old Acoustics and Kustoms, and how the new SVT's are good, but not like they used to make 'em. He's your standard grumpy, old fart. He plucked a few notes on my Mesa D800+/Barefeced Big Twin rig and admitted that it sounded pretty good. I told him if he absolutely wanted a tube amp, there were still a few killer choices out there, but the new class-D stuff is on point. He's one of those guys that'll change only if he has to. No worries, he's also one of those guys that can talk other folks into helping him schlep gear, LOL! I've watched him do it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stumbo
#63
SVT Heritage through a 410HLF - the only set up I have ever had that literally made me nauseous! And I mean that in a good way. Had a Prodigy at the same time, and my back said the SVT had to go. IMHO, The Prodigy has a wider range of available tones, but a P + SVT always sounds like BASS! to me.
 
#65
pbass6811 said:
I agree with you guys! I'm pretty happy with my little Mesa head, and I'm not planning on getting a new amp, but ya' never know...

My dude is pretty old school. He talks about his old Acoustics and Kustoms, and how the new SVT's are good, but not like they used to make 'em. He's your standard grumpy, old fart.
Click to expand...
Grumpy and wrong :D I have a 69 Blue Line SVT from the very first run with all NOS tubes, and I have two Heritage SVT's, one stock, one with a Heyboer output transformer spec'ed on a Blue Line's power transformer, both with JJ tubes all around. Turn the master up and use gain to control volume on the Heritages, plug into channel 1 normal on the 69, and all three sound identical. True, the oddball tubes of the originals are gone, but 6146b power tubes were changed to 6550's a year after it came out for a reason, and all the other oddball tubes were variations on 12ax7's and 12au7's, so the more common tubes can easily be substituted with no change in sound.
 
#66
JimmyM said:
Grumpy and wrong :D I have a 69 Blue Line SVT from the very first run with all NOS tubes, and I have two Heritage SVT's, one stock, one with a Heyboer output transformer spec'ed on a Blue Line's power transformer, both with JJ tubes all around. Turn the master up and use gain to control volume on the Heritages, plug into channel 1 normal on the 69, and all three sound identical. True, the oddball tubes of the originals are gone, but 6146b power tubes were changed to 6550's a year after it came out for a reason, and all the other oddball tubes were variations on 12ax7's and 12au7's, so the more common tubes can easily be substituted with no change in sound.
Click to expand...

I got confused - heyboer rewound a blue line SVT power transformer core into an output transformer?
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimmyM
#69
Rabidhamster said:
I got confused - heyboer rewound a blue line SVT power transformer core into an output transformer?
Click to expand...
Nope, Heyboer took a Blue Line SVT transformer and copied it exactly, and that's what they sell. Great transformer, got absolutely no complaints about it...but I just got a stock HSVT-CL a couple months ago and compared the two extensively and couldn't tell a difference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: High Camp, Rabidhamster and Pbassmanca
#70
JimmyM said:
Nope, Heyboer took a Blue Line SVT transformer and copied it exactly, and that's what they sell. Great transformer, got absolutely no complaints about it...but I just got a stock HSVT-CL a couple months ago and compared the two extensively and couldn't tell a difference.
Click to expand...
That's cool man, Were both power and output trannies swapped?
also have you tried comparing them run close to flat out? I can't help but wonder If any difference would only be readily apparent at levels no one really uses lol.
 
#71
Rabidhamster said:
That's cool man, Were both power and output trannies swapped?
also have you tried comparing them run close to flat out? I can't help but wonder If any difference would only be readily apparent at levels no one really uses lol.
Click to expand...
No, only the output tranny was different. I was told by numerous people in the know that the power transformer doesn't affect the sound. And yes I did run them flat out, several different dirt settings, and clean, and even recorded the results both with a DI and with a mic through the same H810e. Tried really hard to hear a difference, but just plain couldn't.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rabidhamster
#72
JimmyM said:
No, only the output tranny was different. I was told by numerous people in the know that the power transformer doesn't affect the sound. And yes I did run them flat out, several different dirt settings, and clean, and even recorded the results both with a DI and with a mic through the same H810e. Tried really hard to hear a difference, but just plain couldn't.
Click to expand...
Yeah definitely doesn't as long as voltage and amperage is the same.
That's really good info, and makes me like the amp all the better!! Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimmyM
#73
eff-clef said:
The Fender Super Bassman is not the same as the Sunn amp. You are thinking of (the older)Fender 300 PRO. I think a lot of people make that mistake.
The New Fender "Super Bassman" can sound like an SVT CL or VR, PLUS it can get the old Bassman sound, and has a second channel is for overdrive
with semi parametric EQ that goes from grind to hell on wheels distortion. It's the most versatile tube amp out there. And it tested out at 354 watts RMS
by Bass Gear Magazine!
Click to expand...
You guys know what I meant haha. Like that scene in Star Trek where Obi Juan is all "get to the TARDIS!"
 
  • Like
Reactions: eff-clef
#76
pbass6811 said:
...and why?

I'm not planning on stepping away from my ab fab, 6.3lb Mesa D800+, but a conversation with another bassist that I respect, admire, and trust got me wondering if the consensus really is all tube, all the time or "as long as there's a tube in there somewhere, I'm good"? He really likes my tone, but the fact that it's coming from an amp that weighs less than some basses completely baffles him...

As we were talking about gear, I told him there were just a few of the ginormous heads left, so he asked me which one I thought was THE one? I tried to come up with pros and cons for each and it came out pretty even for all of them, so I said I'd ask you guys.

If you had someone to schlep your gear(or you don't mind doing it yourself), which amp would you choose? Why?

-Ampeg SVT(any of it's variations-CL/VR/??)
-Mesa Strategy 8:88
-Mesa Prodigy 4:88
-Aguilar DB751
-Fender Super Bassman
-Orange ADB-200
-Ashdown CTM-300

I know there's a bunch of boutique amps that I'm missing(Reeves, Electric Amps, Verellen, etc), so if you wanna throw those in there, that's cool. I have no idea if he wants a new amp, all I know is that I gotta cart my own crap, so a big amp isn't high on my list of things to do, but I like having the info...thanks!
Click to expand...
I have a 200W Nau Engineering tube head and it blows away every Class D amp I own (Mesa Boogie M800, Quilter 800 Bass Block, Eden WTX500, Eden WT550, TC Electronics 700). But it strains the biceps!
 
#77
There are a ton of great D-class amp out there with tons of power, sound great and weight 5Lbs. Genzler, TC Electronics, Aguilar, GK etc. Add a sans amp and you have pretty darn close to an SVT with way more power and... your back and pocket book will thank you too. The purists will never agree but trust me you can great great tone from class D amplification. If you have never auditioned these amps, try them.
 
#79
If it has to be a commercially available head I'd say SVT. I owned one once, and while I ended up at the chiropractor's office a lot more, I had an unprecedented string of "wow, what a great tone from the bass!" comments from the audience wherever I played.

At a certain point I decided to compromise for practicality's sake. I found that a more practical way to get big head goodness was to use an Alembic F-2B preamp and a big power amp - in the Before Time I used a Crown DC-300, today I'd probably use a Crown XLS-1502/2502.

(Meanwhile, my go-to head is a Walter Woods 1100 watt 8 lb. amplifier - about 85% of what I really want at 10% of the weight of an SVT.)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back