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SVT... Dislike?

#41
SVT's just aren't my cup of tea, I've owned two 8x10 rigs over the years and never did come close to finding something I liked out of either no matter what bass I used. Lot's of guys love 'em, which is cool, but they're just not for me.

B-15's, V4B's SB-12's, etc, now were talking, I love those amps.
 
#42
RobJ said:
SVT's just aren't my cup of tea, I've owned two 8x10 rigs over the years and never did come close to finding something I liked out of either no matter what bass I used. Lot's of guys love 'em, which is cool, but they're just not for me.

B-15's, V4B's SB-12's, etc, now were talking, I love those amps.
Click to expand...

I got the pleasure of playing an old B-15 once. Definitely would love to have one of those!
 
#43
nysbob said:
I've never liked the HLF cabs. Didn't matter what pushed them.

It's not the fact that it's ported - I play a '70s SVT through ported 15"s and it's lovely. It's just the way those cabs are engineered...not my thing.
Click to expand...

Same 4 me. Don't mind the 610, but I'd still rather go the 810, especially with an all tube SVT.

Anyopne considered that the OP's SVT he tried, might've needed servicing... new tubes etc..
I've played a SVT-VR (owned by a hire co.) & it sounded like rats :spit: & I talked to the S.E. who 'owned' it. It was backline again at a later gig & it sounded TOTALLY different.
Went from being flat & gutless, to warm rich & punchy :bassist:
 
#45
So, a few months ago, I play a three or four song set at a local bar on a Tom Waits Tribute night. Our trio is singer/acoustic guitar, drums and bass. Bar bass rig is an SVT-CL classic tube amp with an 8x10 cab. I'm the first bass player of the night. It's been many years since I've played an all tube amp through a heavy cab, but I'm thinking good times - it'll be like over 40 years ago playing my old Traynor YBA-1 Bass Master through the 2 x 15 cab, only better and punchier. And I brought the same bass as back in the day, my trusty old '68 Telecaster bass.
Wrong, it's a mud machine. But, whatever, not a lot of time to play with settings, and they all look reasonably middle of the road anyway with the master well before when the bars open, so I maximize my entire single tone control to treble and simplify. It's all good.
Last song is Downtown Train - we do some kind of cross between Tom and Rod Stewart, with a lot of dynamics - quiet --> loud --> quiet. Well, that's the way it worked out, too, but not as I intended. In the "loud" part, keeping in mind the context of our trio and loud not getting close to where I used to play the 35 watt Traynor years ago, I'm starting to dig in a little, and suddenly things start to fade. Then fade to nothing. The power light is flashing, and I'm up there faking it with no sound. The one thing I did right was turn the amp off before I left the stage. I told the sound guy.
I looked it up after and apparently some kind of tube protection circuit tripped. The amp cooled down for a set, and then seemed to work again. Being a bar rig, I have no idea what kind of abuse it's been through, but I will say my old YBA-1, in almost 50 years, has never, ever let me down like that.
Count me as "Not a Fan".
 
#46
DiabolusInMusic said:
I do have some dislike for the SVT because it isn't your basses tone it is the SVT's tone.
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:eyebrow:

Poppycock, balderdash, and horse feathers ;) Either that or you were using one of the darker sounding Ampeg cabs from 2000-2006 with it. I've got some wildly different sounding basses, and all the little differences and nuances between them show up just fine when I use an SVT/810 rig. A lot of people talk about wanting "the sound of their bass only louder." Well that and the B-15 are what gets it done for me. But in one of those darker 810e's, I will admit that a lot of that nuance stuff gets eaten up.
 
#47
Well, again, obviously a broken SVT, not a properly working one.

No WAY a SVT-CL/VR etc should be murky/muddy sounding. Sure the 'darker' sounding SLM 810 cabs are a li'l darker than earlier or later 810's but still a tiny bit of EQ will lighten that up easy.

I'm not saying a SVT will do every bass sound, nor will any amp(or moddeling unit ), but they work!!
I've played everything from Country, jazz,funk, disco, House, rock, even very metal, on SVT's & they'll do it all easily. Without sounding muddy, weak etc... in fact, the opposite.
Get a properly serviced/working one & a decent cab................
 
#48
JimmyM said:
:eyebrow:

Poppycock, balderdash, and horse feathers ;) Either that or you were using one of the darker sounding Ampeg cabs from 2000-2006 with it. I've got some wildly different sounding basses, and all the little differences and nuances between them show up just fine when I use an SVT/810 rig. A lot of people talk about wanting "the sound of their bass only louder." Well that and the B-15 are what gets it done for me. But in one of those darker 810e's, I will admit that a lot of that nuance stuff gets eaten up.
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Jimmy gets it ;) The SVT isn't my favourite amp ever, but I am SICK of hearing it called a "ome-tone pony".
 
#53
I have been wondering about 810 cabs paired with more modern heads as of late. I have a Genz Benz SM 9.2 paired with an Eden D410XLT. I need to go and try the 9.2 matched with the sealed Ampeg 810. I had a SVT CL head a while back, but I had a Ampeg PR-410HLF. It sounded OK, but probably not the best match. I wanted to sell the cab, and did so. My replacement cab was the 410XLT in 8 ohm. As the 8 ohm was not what the CL doctor ordered I shopped for a new head and ended up with the ShuttleMax 9.2. In hindsight, I should have just held on to the SVT and finding something to match it better later on. But I wanted to fund other GAS, so away the SVT went. At some point I wouldn't mind getting another SVT-CL and a 810 cab to match. The 810 is the easy part, as they are always popping up on the local CL.

I have to say that I have no NEED for an 810 cab, as I am not playing with anyone at the moment, but it doesn't mean that I wouldn't WANT to have one. I am back and forth between wanting to try the SM 9.2 with the sealed 810 and something more modern like a Genz Benz Uber 410 or a Berg. The 810s are just so tempting at used prices around here.
 
#54
Does this sound like mud ? http://soundcloud.com/royal-electric/fortunate-son-ccr
Fender P + SVT = Heaven

OP mentioned "no life", already answered is the possibility of the head needing a service or re-tube and the cab used . Another factor is the briteness of your strings ? quality of instrument cable etc. Quality of the bass used.

Like Jimmy said, and i totally agree, SVT's will bring out all the nuances of the instrument used.
 
#55
bigbottomend said:
Does this sound like mud ? http://soundcloud.com/royal-electric/fortunate-son-ccr
Fender P + SVT = Heaven

OP mentioned "no life", already answered is the possibility of the head needing a service or re-tube and the cab used . Another factor is the briteness of your strings ? quality of instrument cable etc. Quality of the bass used.

Like Jimmy said, and i totally agree, SVT's will bring out all the nuances of the instrument used.
Click to expand...

The set up was brand new, I use whirlwind cables, a musicman stingray 5, and DR Fat beams.
 
#56
MoeGJBeener said:
The set up was brand new, I use whirlwind cables, a musicman stingray 5, and DR Fat beams.
Click to expand...


Yeah, none of that stuff was the issue, IMO - it was just a poor amp/cab pairing... Let's put it this way: I like SVTs, and I also like SVT-410HLFs - but just not with each other... My recently aquired Streamliner 600 sounds great with either of my 215s, and pretty good thru my PH810 - but not so much with my also recently aquired SVT-410HLF... however, pair that cab up with my 700rb-II, and it's slammin'...

Not all amps work well with all cabs - no big revelation there...


- georgestrings
 
#57
georgestrings said:
Yeah, none of that stuff was the issue, IMO - it was just a poor amp/cab pairing... Let's put it this way: I like SVTs, and I also like SVT-410HLFs - but just not with each other... My recently aquired Streamliner 600 sounds great with either of my 215s, and pretty good thru my PH810 - but not so much with my also recently aquired SVT-410HLF... however, pair that cab up with my 700rb-II, and it's slammin'...

Not all amps work well with all cabs - no big revelation there...


- georgestrings
Click to expand...

Yeah I've definitely concluded it was the cab that made the mud.
 
#58
I wasn't a big fan of my mid-70s SVT with the 410HLF, though with a bit of noodling around I could get a decent tone out of it. This was in 2004 when the Ampeg 810 cabs were pretty bleak sounding so I bought a Bergantino NV610. The amp really shines with that cabinet. Tight and punchy with plenty of top end sparkle and excellent balance. Sounds almost identical to the old squareback 810s for my money. No one would accuse me of having muddy tone.

I also take exception to the assertion that the SVT is a one trick pony. I've heard a wide variety of tones out of them and I assure you that a P-bass through an SVT sounds like a P-bass or a Jazz or a Stingray or whatever.

At any rate, if you can't manage to wrestle an acceptable sound out of any properly working professional bass rig, the problem's not with the gear.
 
#59
MoeGJBeener said:
Yeah I've definitely concluded it was the cab that made the mud.
Click to expand...

It would be worth your while to try one with a good 810 or the (IMO) holy grail NV610. Categorically different than the 410HLF. You still might not care for it, but at least you'll have given it a fair shake. Keep the ultra-lo button in the neutral position and add low end to taste with the "bass" knob. It's not going to sound like a really modern rig but an SVT can definitely sound not muddy. :D
 

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