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questions regarding my Ampeg SVT V9

L

lite

Apr 20, 2005
3
0
#1
Hi There, I'm new here also because I'm trying to find some answers regarding an old '70s bass rig I got. It's an Ampeg SVT, the real thing. It's big, heavy and awesome. The straight back 8x10" is a real back breaker, and is attached to the original dolly. My P bass sounds great on it, just like my fake but okay strat. I got it for 15 years or so, but since i switched to drums haven't used it much for the last 9 years. Friends used it however.

So on the front it looks like other early/mid seventies SVT's I've seen. white frequency switches, the lines aroung the knobs are rounded. My question is printed on the back. It says model SVT V9. So there's people telling me it's a guitar head. Like the Stones used, and Steve Morse uses. Allright, there's many amps without preamp knobs. But all I can find about these V9's is that they are real guitar amps with reverb. Mine doesn't have any reverb. Just two channels. The amp sounds different from one a mate of mine owns. It's got a real thick lo-end. Mine's in a better shape, that's for sure. It's way less distorted than my friend's. It's pretty clean.

If anyone can set some light on that V9 printed on the back, that would be great. As a guitar amp it's real damn loud, louder than anything I know. I gotta turn it up quite a bit to get a good tone; the sound is earth shattering but totally awesome. The van makes a massive noise. Guess I look for a replacement working on 110 volts. The 230 volt action I had done, I live in the Netherlands, happens at some point closer to the transformer. Can't find those in Europe. And there's a considerable real low hum. That wasn't fixed in the fixing action. I also tried to find info on what it's worth, which isn't easy but of no real interest right now. I can swap it for a Sunn 1200S from '68, but am afraid I'd regret it later on. I wonder what it will sound on with one or two cool 4x12" cabs when I wanna blast guitar through it...

A long first post. But I'm a man with a sound huger than anything I know, and some burning questions on the side.
 
#2
It is indeed a lot like an SVT....power amp same. Same original Ampeg schematic drawing.

Preamp is way different, as it is a guitar amp. Channel 1 is a 12DW7 and has a diode overdrive (footswitchable). Channel 2 isa 12AX7 straight

You should have at least connectors for a reverb, even if the pan itself isn't there. Reverb drive is a 6CG7, return is half of a 12DW7.

Original enclosure was 9 speakers of 5.3 ohms each.
 
#3
Jerrold Tiers said:
It is indeed a lot like an SVT....power amp same. Same original Ampeg schematic drawing.

Preamp is way different, as it is a guitar amp. Channel 1 is a 12DW7 and has a diode overdrive (footswitchable). Channel 2 isa 12AX7 straight

You should have at least connectors for a reverb, even if the pan itself isn't there. Reverb drive is a 6CG7, return is half of a 12DW7.

Original enclosure was 9 speakers of 5.3 ohms each.
Click to expand...

My precision sounds awesome on this monster! But the strat sound great as well. Turning the guitar up is quite an experience. I'll check the tube models you mention...to check if the comp that did the job did a good job. Guess they did, they make these Koch amps. Including an amp that looks like a SVT copy.

Really, I believe there's a jack for a footswitch. There's a lotta jacks on the back that made me wonder what they were for. Man, it would be awesome being able to overdrive this machine since it's real clean. Now I use an antique fuzz. The cleaness might be the sovtek's but also the state it's in.

It doesn't say reverb anywhere, but there's a send and return set of jacks. There's not a reverb spring hidden somewhere. I opened the machine to fit in a new power cord but that's years ago. Didn't spot a reverb unit. Quite a scary operation to get the power cord in but all was cool, I've been carefull regarding the massive voltages in that machine. So I guess it means hookin up a unit, right? Like a stand alone Fender reverb box? I can borrow one of those to check that feature out.

I remember having seen those cabs. Aeons ago in old ads. The speakers are of different sizes, right? 12"es and some others. So trying a set up with cool 12" speakers would make sense. The 8x10" is totally in your face. I'll look up the serial number to check when the head was made. I was told it was from '73 and the cab from '69. Even the cab has a serial nr. Are these heads real rare? Will it be easy to find a replacement van and can I get rid of the hum using the intimodating controls on the front? It's a real low hum. Not the grounding I reckon. Anyway, I sure hope it hasn't got anything to do with the transformer. It hummed since I got it. It was stashed on some attic in the US for years, I got it through a collector living in Austin who used to take care of Sterling Morrison's gear... Anyway, thanks a lot!
 
#4
Invalid Link Removed

This is what a V9 looks like. Notice it only has two inputs and fully boxed out front corners. ALL SVT's made after Magnavox began producing the V9 say "SVT/V9" on the chassis, since they both used the same power amp chassis (although the power tube plate resistors ARE different values in each model.) You probably have a 70's SVT. The reverb pan in the V9 rattles like crazy and even has a lock on the back panel. Sonically, it doesn't sound any different from an SVT. I have both.
 
#5
Allright. I got two normal and two bright inputs. No reverb pan. However the answer above suggest that it could also be just a send and return on the back. I'll have a good look at all the jacks on the back and will check the preamp tubes. But thanks a lot, it starts to look like I haven't got a real V9 if indeed all real V9's have only two inputs...
 
#6
Ello all

This might be the oldest bumped post in history, but I'm trying to find out about my Ampeg SVT v9 and Google helpfully pointed me here!

I've always used my rig for bass, and love it like no man should love a machine

I have a few questions regarding it that I really hope someone more learned than me (Not difficult!) could help with?

Firstly, I didn't get a footswitch, but obviously there is an input for one. Can I buy a footswitch that would be compatible? Someone told me a latching footswitch would do the trick but the one I bought doesnt. Hoping someone could suggest an exact pedal for me if poss?

I'd also like to know more about the 2 channels. I get that one is totally clean and the other has distortion and reverb, but can they be used simultaneously? I want to experiment with octave pedals and the like. I have an Akai Multibass that I have never used and want to try out with this amp.
It has a feature whereby it will output just the effects signal to a separate amplifer. This might sound silly, but could I not do this but using the other channel on my amp?
I think I cant and in which case this is gonna be a stupid question but I thought I'd ask!

Thanks in advance and sorry for both the long post and the dredging up of history! ;)
 
#7
fierce said:
Ello all

This might be the oldest bumped post in history, but I'm trying to find out about my Ampeg SVT v9 and Google helpfully pointed me here!

I've always used my rig for bass, and love it like no man should love a machine

I have a few questions regarding it that I really hope someone more learned than me (Not difficult!) could help with?

Firstly, I didn't get a footswitch, but obviously there is an input for one. Can I buy a footswitch that would be compatible? Someone told me a latching footswitch would do the trick but the one I bought doesnt. Hoping someone could suggest an exact pedal for me if poss?

I'd also like to know more about the 2 channels. I get that one is totally clean and the other has distortion and reverb, but can they be used simultaneously? I want to experiment with octave pedals and the like. I have an Akai Multibass that I have never used and want to try out with this amp.
It has a feature whereby it will output just the effects signal to a separate amplifer. This might sound silly, but could I not do this but using the other channel on my amp?
I think I cant and in which case this is gonna be a stupid question but I thought I'd ask!

Thanks in advance and sorry for both the long post and the dredging up of history! ;)
Click to expand...

Subtle and slightly pleading bump...............:D
 
#10
Can't tell you anything about the footswitch but yes you can use both channels at the same time (just looked at a V9 schematic online). Just think of them as a 2-channel mixer (with one channel having distortion). I don't own a V9 but I have owned and maintainted both V4 and V4B heads and the preamp topology is very similar.
 
#11
The footswitch seems to need two buttons with a "stereo" plug. Button one will short the tip to the sleeve and button two the sleeve to the ring. It's very hard to visualize the schematic as there are a bunch of lettered cross connections that are hard to read on the copy that I downloaded.

Paul
 

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