Hahahaha. I actually deleted then reposted, I didn't think I replied to you ... But I like the broken space/time explanation better.@moon-bass - somehow I broke space-time and quoted you before you posted your comment
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Super 300 Owners Society
- Thread starter Peaveylover
- Start date
Sensei Tim
Commercial User
- May 11, 2016
- 181
- 787
- Disclosures
- Owner/janitor/grand poobah of Master Effects Pedals
Sensei Tim
Commercial User
- May 11, 2016
- 181
- 787
- Disclosures
- Owner/janitor/grand poobah of Master Effects Pedals
So I just got my 300 yesterday, and played for a few minutes. It sounds great, I’m not super familiar with SVTs but I think I’ll be able to get the sounds I want from it. On mine, both ultra switches are definitely off when down. No problem getting a strong clean sound. Tim said he would try a different taper on the gain knob, to give more range in the lower part of the sweep. I don’t have a unit to compare it to, but it feels like the not-quite-distorted range (where I live) has plenty of resolution. Once at noon, it seems to catch up with what I hear on the demos. The bright switch is cool, but it seems to boost lows and low mids more that “brightness”. Oh well, wacky Ampeg wackiness I guess.
I tried getting a neutral-ish sound this way: eq at noon, switches off, bright off, plume all the way up, gain high enough for unity gain. The sound I got is great, but nowhere near neutral. It’s very cutting in the midrange, with lows rolled off. If I adjust gain so the lows are at unity, the mids are boosted, a lot. I don’t mind the behavior I just described, but I wanted to check if it matches what other people are experiencing.
I tried getting a neutral-ish sound this way: eq at noon, switches off, bright off, plume all the way up, gain high enough for unity gain. The sound I got is great, but nowhere near neutral. It’s very cutting in the midrange, with lows rolled off. If I adjust gain so the lows are at unity, the mids are boosted, a lot. I don’t mind the behavior I just described, but I wanted to check if it matches what other people are experiencing.
I definitely agree with you that the Bright switch is counterintuitive: I get more volume and low end heft, also vintage sag. As for whether that's Ampeggy: when I ran SVTs decades ago, I preferred the normal channel. I'm sure I A/B'd, but simply don't recall why I preferred normal to bright. Even back then I went for bright clangy tones, so maybe Ampeg bright was actually dark, and the S300 is faithful to that.
Yeah, I feel like Bright would make more sense if it was labeled Boost instead. I like leaving it on, and dialing back a bit of bass to make up for the extra low end.
Cutting midrange is what the SVT sound is all about IMO, and the Super 300 does it very well!
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At first I avoided the Ultra Lo setting (switch down on mine) because I wanted to start off flat, but quickly realized it was what I was looking for. Just the right amount of mid cut.
Soooo much mid-cut! But it definitely works for some kinds of tones. I never once used that switch on my SVTs, essentially dialing in the polar opposite most times (mid boost and bass cut).
I worried that the mid cut would be too much, but it doesn't seem to be as severe as the Ampeg Ultra Lo or baked-in BDDI curve. Can't explain why that would be, except perhaps if I'm experiencing the mid-boosting that smeet mentioned... that could mitigate the Ultra Lo mid cut.
I'm mostly a P-bass guy so I'm not particularly mid-cut averse. Despite this, the only times I used Ampeg Ultra Lo back in the day was when boosting 800Hz to voice my mids... sometimes that would sit in the mix nicely. The later 5-position vari-mid (SVP-Pro, etc) provided more voicing options. Similarly I used to love the tubey flavor of the BDDI (and the sizzle of the Presence control), but was always trying to avoid that baked-in mid cut: I'd roll back Blend and/or Treble and Bass.
I've got to stop using the word "cut," because we're actually talking about opposite things. When I say "cutting midrange," I mean that I like enough midrange to cut people apart, and the Super 300 absolutely delivers that.
Basically just another Super 300, just a little different from the stock version.
If it's a Super 300 with more clean gain, that might be my forever pedal.
Saw a teaser post for the Super 800 today on social media. @Sensei Tim can I just set up a monthly withdrawal from my bank account directly to you? Call it the preamp withdrawal to prevent my preamp withdrawal
That's mine! If it's not obvious, it's a GK 800RB preamp.
I suggested these off the top of my head and not sure if these are doable or practical - Super 360 - Acoustic 360. Super 300 - Trace Elliot 600ah. Super 800WT - Eden WT-800, or alternately the Super 500 could be based on the Eden WT500. Super 500 Markbass Little Mark 500. Super 60, the VOX 60. Super 700 Aguilar AG 700. If you were gonna do letter, maybe a Super Redhead, based off of the SWR Redhead. Or the Redhead could be a Super 350.
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I have to add that Tim has been amazing to deal with. When I went to him with my idea for the 800RB, I never imagined how much he'd be able to get into a 125B enclosure. I have very limited board space. Absolutely above and beyond.
