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Problem with Ampeg SVT 4 Pro

Our bass player recently started using a backup amp due to problems with his SVT 4. The amp was bought about 5 months ago B Stock from Musicians friend. It had been working perfectly then all of a sudden it sounded fizzy when we plugged it up one day. The volume won't get loud at all and has a bright distorted sound. What could this be and how can we fix it??? Thanks in advance :)
 
It sounds to me like a bias issue more than a tube issue. Just like tube amps, the MOSFETs need to be biased occasionally. This should only be done by a tech since it can burn up your amp if done wrong. Good news is you'll probably only get charged a minimum bench charge.

It could also be a tube issue, but it sounds more like a bias issue.
 
Before doing anything too extreme, try going through all the line in/out jacks etc, plugging into and removing plug maybe 6 times in each. just start at one side, and move through all of them....

if there is any corrosion on teh jacks which might mess up the "default through" connection in them, that should dislodge it.

if that makes a difference but not enough of one, do it again.

might work. bad contacts on that sort reduce volume, make the sound tinny and often distorted, etc.

if it was B stock, it might have some other problem, but in any case it is newer. I don't have a clue if they are still using the better jacks we specified for Ampeg..... The korean units may likely use not so good asian sourced jacks, which are more prone to corrosion problems. We used UK sourced jacks and eliminated those problems 99%.

Could be something else though...... remote diagnosis is pretty much guessing
 
Tried everything and it stays the same. I should note that he was using a 2 OHM (I believe) Hartke 4x10 cab, and it blew one of the speakers about 10 minutes before the amp started messing up. Any other ideas?? I don't live close to an amp tech.
 
Your bass player really needs to learn a little something about his equipment. Hartke doesn't make any 2 ohm cabs. And he probably blew a speaker because he has no idea what he's doing. Sounds like he got an amp that's way too much for the cab to handle and tried to make it work the way he wanted it to work anyway.
 
Just like tube amps, the MOSFETs need to be biased occasionally.


I've heard this said before, but in close to 20 years of playing SS bass amps, I've never had to do anything like that to any of them... Atleast 2 of those amps were Peavey Mark IIIs that had to be close to 30 years old, and a couple of Mark IVs that were over 20 years old...


- georgestrings
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyM
Just like tube amps, the MOSFETs need to be biased occasionally.




I've heard this said before, but in close to 20 years of playing SS bass amps, I've never had to do anything like that to any of them... Atleast 2 of those amps were Peavey Mark IIIs that had to be close to 30 years old, and a couple of Mark IVs that were over 20 years old...


- georgestrings


Bump to see if anyone's got anything at all to say about this...



- georgestrings
 
My guess is that the problem is related to the blown speaker. You my have damaged the power amp when you ran the amp for ten minutes with a blown speaker. It's possible that the voice coil in blown driver shorted while the others were still working. The amp has protection against a dead short across the output, but it may not have kicked in because only one of the speaker coils was shorted. Not even sure if this is possible. It's just a guess on my part.

If you were running the amp loud enough to blow a driver, it's possible that the amp overheated, especially if it's in a rack case, or if it has the airflow around the amp restricted by anything (a curtain getting sucked against the cold-air intake on the sides for instance).

My SVT4 burned out a couple of times due to overheating. Take it to a tech and make sure you're leaving good air space around the amp when it comes back. Buy a speaker that's properly suited to that amp in terms of power handling and impedance.