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Pray for me...I just bought a SVT II blind!

William Veeder

William Veeder

Guest
May 15, 2017
29
36
#1
Got a great deal on a SVT II from GC...what I hope is an early 1990's or so. It's got the outline ampeg logo not the solid one and no shield on the tubes in the back. No ideas what tubes in it...wondering about ideas of what 655os or KT 88's people like here? It'll be December before I can afford a retube...and yes I'm not sure it needs it yet. It got shipped to a Guitar center in MI...I'm in NM...and so I wait. I play rock and I really want a 300 watt B15!
Will in NM
 
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#4
Did it come from the canton store? If so, i played it a few weeks ago. If thats is it, i spent about an hr with it. Definitely worth the $ they asked. I plug into an ampeg 410, sounded good though i generally felt it seems "weak" for some reason. I believe it was a 4 ohm cab too. I didnt notice any obvious issues with it, maybe the tubes are just old. The morons there nearly fried it, turned it on without plugging speaker in. I quickly unplugged it. The sales guy was a jackass otherwise i probably would have got it i think your good to go, assuming it survives shipping. Its a late 80s version, same as 1 i have a few years ago
 
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#7
Indeed. It seems fine. Getting used to how to EQ this amp as it is quite different than ma Markbass. But all seems good so far. SVT's always sound better to me in the
20180920_162034.jpg
mix than stand alone.
 
#9
wolfkeller said:
Did it come from the canton store? If so, i played it a few weeks ago. If thats is it, i spent about an hr with it. Definitely worth the $ they asked. I plug into an ampeg 410, sounded good though i generally felt it seems "weak" for some reason. I believe it was a 4 ohm cab too. I didnt notice any obvious issues with it, maybe the tubes are just old. The morons there nearly fried it, turned it on without plugging speaker in. I quickly unplugged it. The sales guy was a jackass otherwise i probably would have got it i think your good to go, assuming it survives shipping. Its a late 80s version, same as 1 i have a few years ago
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Think it might be. They sent it to some other store near grand rapids for no reason then all the way out here to Albuquerque. Seems to have a lot of high end for me...but I'm just getting to know it.
 
#13
William Veeder said:
Indeed. It seems fine. Getting used to how to EQ this amp as it is quite different than ma Markbass. But all seems good so far. SVT's always sound better to me in the mix than stand alone.
Click to expand...



I center the tone knobs of my SVT-II non-pro like yours, and hardly ever use the eq.

I hear ya about new strings sounding odd, especially when I'm playing one of my SVT's. Give-em a chance to break in.

What cabs are you using?
I don't typically dig cabs w/tweeters with my SVT's, especially with new strings...

It's probably gonna have way more prominent low-mids than your markbass, so don't be surprised if your band mates say your playing too loud.
 
#14
anderbass,
I have 2 4X10 SWR goliath II's that are older. I'll try to turn to tweeters off, I hate them anyway. Everyones syas it but I'll say it too this is a really loud amp! I'll try more tonight at band practice! I've had one amp for so long it always seems hard to break another in.
 
#15
So...the SVT had four JJ's and 2 Groove tube 6650s. All look fine. Replaced 2 12AU7's that seemed super old but also becasue I've had 2 12AU7's sitting around. Turned all the damn horns off and that helped.Ill check bias on Sunday at a buddies house. Over all a cool amp just getting used to it...and those damn new strings!
 
#16
William Veeder said:
So...the SVT had four JJ's and 2 Groove tube 6650s. All look fine. Replaced 2 12AU7's that seemed super old but also becasue I've had 2 12AU7's sitting around. Turned all the damn horns off and that helped.Ill check bias on Sunday at a buddies house. Over all a cool amp just getting used to it...and those damn new strings!
Click to expand...

FYI, the 12AU7s control the bias. To be safe, I recommend you leave the amp off until you have a screw driver and meter handy.
 
#18
Congrats on an awesome amp! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
I'm far from an expert on this, but afaik it's best to have matching power tubes, or at least matching enough that they bias correctly. @anderbass @coreyfyfe et al will steer you right.

If your cabs are 4ohm each, you can always use just one of em, which would allow you to push the amp harder, for less overall volume. I do this with my Fender Super Bassman . I often run it into just one 115 cab, which will allow me to get some power tube drive at far less a volume than if im running it into 2x15s or an 810 for example
 
#19
rodl2005 said:
Congrats on an awesome amp! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
I'm far from an expert on this, but afaik it's best to have matching power tubes, or at least matching enough that they bias correctly. @anderbass @coreyfyfe et al will steer you right.

If your cabs are 4ohm each, you can always use just one of em, which would allow you to push the amp harder, for less overall volume. I do this with my Fender Super Bassman . I often run it into just one 115 cab, which will allow me to get some power tube drive at far less a volume than if im running it into 2x15s or an 810 for example
Click to expand...
You can also get a serial cable and run both cabs at 8 ohms. Move more air and turn up the amp!
 
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#20
William Veeder said:
Could have been. I'll have it with the band tomorrow. Also, I'm the guy who doesn't plan to buy an amp so he changes the strings on his two basses and then gets and amp. So everything sounds odd at the moment.
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Well this might help you...if you want to find flat response, I found pretty close to it with bass 11:00, treble 2:00, and mids 3:00 at 800 hz in most SVT's. Of course, I don't run them that way since I like a little less treble and a little more bass, but I thought that might be of some help.
 
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