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What's so special about the SVT?

#41
I get SVT's as backline more often than not, on big, festival type stages. They sound great to me, and provide a nice thick, bottom sound for a Blues/RnB player like myself. They sound very close to an Aguilar DB 751 with appropriate 810 cab, also. Originally, when they came out, they were meant to have two, 810 cabs, but you hardly ever see that rig anymore. For that purpose, ( large stages where you need more volume/tone ), I think they are the perfect rig, played cleanly, imho. As far as gigging smaller venues, stages, etc., not so much, more to do with the schlepp factor than anything else.
 
#45
I must be the only person who has always had great experiences playing with SVTs in the backline.

I admit I have seen firsthand as a stage manager at festivals SVT backline amps rented by the sound company dead in the water a few times. They swapped in another one and on with the show. On the other hand, I've seen all sorts of backline amps DOA at the same festivals. Sound companies have no interest in renting out amps that are unreliable.

I'm another person who thinks the cab is very important. The original fridges started a rolloff around 80hZ, which deemphasizes the lowest fundamentals to get a better balanced sound...less boomy mud on the E and A strings...across the spectrum until you get to where the high end rolls off (about 4-5khZ). Current 810 Classic cabs are rated 58hZ to 5khZ, with those frequencies being the -3 dB points.

The answer to "what's so special" is how different it sounded from other amps of the time...ridiculous volume levels possible if you went for the dual fridge setup...and (to my ears at least) an EQ that allowed more tonal shaping than the ubiquitous Fender tone stack.
 
#47
I’ve been playing bass since 1985-86 or so & ive never owned or even played thru an Ampeg Svt, my first amp was an old peavey amp from the 70’s, then a Carvin pro bass II.. I traded the Carvin for an early Gk 400 Rb & I was really hooked on Gk for years. I still have a really clean GK 400rb from 1986 & love it.. I just never got around to trying Ampeg, I have stuck with solid state amps & I likely the immediacy and punch of them... however It’s nice to have a lot of choices tho & find something that appeals to us.
 
#49
The game we are in is Showbiz and 70's Ampegs and Fenders look like showbiz, I would love to stand in front of an SVT rig and 2 8x10's pumping out that gutteral thump.....FOH tone? the board'll soon ruin that.
The first real demonstration of the SVT happened when Punk appeared. The intro to The Damneds , Love Song etc. That gnarly low end clangy grind was off the flippin planet and The Jams Bruce Foxton...more clang. I ran a V4B amp back in the day in a dance band and it did have a lovely hefty Ampeggy tone to it.....twas a beast to schlepp tho
 
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#53
JazzyJacuzzi said:
…Whenever I plug into an SVT I feel like I'm plugging directly into a shrieking panel of stainless steel.
Click to expand...
With all due respect, this is inconsistent with my experiences. Are you referring to an actual SVT on the 810, or are you referring to some marketing labeled widget, which supposedly emulates the big rig? Most of the widgets, IME do NOT get what makes the big rig great. At least, I have yet to find otherwise.

While I actually prefer what the Acoustic 360 does between the two classic big rigs, the SVT is a marvelous balanced sounding amp with just the right amount of grunt and plenty of warmth. “..shrieking panel of stainless steel..” does not come to mind.

Emulating the big rigs is an ok concept; but, I have yet to find any such emulation to be even close. IMHO, if you don’t want to schlep the rig, just move on to greener pastures and forget about the emulation thing. That’s been a loser so far IME. For example, I’ve been using the Shift Line Olympic preamp, which has amp emulation capability. But, any such setting just degrades what the pedal puts out, IME. So, I just ignore it, and manage the signal chain to optimize what I do have. If I wanted an SVT, I would just get the real thing.

Don’t know if that helps or not; but, trust your ears. The marketing folks don’t help at all.
 
#54
Never owned a SVT head but did buy a new V4B head back in the mid ‘70s to pair with my Sunn 200S cabinet,what I heard the first night I played it that compared to the Fender amps I had been using was a distinct lack of top end that I was use to hearing, compared to a Sunn Concert Bass head side by side through the same cabinet it did indeed sounded a little muddy, the notes were more distinct through the Sunn, not as noticeable in a band mix but but the differences were there, many years later I read an article about Everett Hull the founder of Ampeg and apparently he designed his amps to have less treble than Fender because he felt Leo had baked in too much, maybe that’s what some folks who aren’t overly thrilled with Ampeg are also hearing, YMMD.
 
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#56
JazzyJacuzzi said:
OBLIGATORY I AM NOT TROLLING MESSAGE

I don't have strong opinions about amps. I think all moderately priced amps do a fine job doing what they were built for: amplifying your signal. Sure, I prefer some over others, but I'll be happy with whatever (I'll be giving the Aguilar Tone Hammer another chance this weekend now that I understand its drive and gain controls better, if you've been following that thread).

Except for the SVT.

Whenever I plug into an SVT I feel like I'm plugging directly into a shrieking panel of stainless steel. Every other year I buy yet another SVT-flavoured preamp pedal -- SV-Pre, Bass Driver DI, VT Bass DI, SCR-DI -- hoping I'd finally get it and end up absolutely hating it (I must be the only one who's ever returned a perfectly working Broughton pedal).

I know I'm not the first one to hold a grudge against the SVT, but whenever these feelings are brought up, people are quick to point out the magic comes from the 810. Maybe that's part of the story, and but then, why is the preamp market flooded with SVT-flavoured pedals? Why is the 810 always paired with the SVT? Why the SVT/810 combo and not the Fender Bassman/810 combo?

And yet, here's Sean Hurley sounding like what I assume warm butter on freshly-taken-out-of-the-oven bread sounds like plugged into an SVT (whether or the SVT is what we actually hear here is another story).

So, what's so special about the SVT?
Click to expand...

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Everybody has different tastes in sound and hears things their own way. I think the SVT circuit works particularly well with the Fender Precision (and variants) and that's my go-to favorite bass. I played through an all-tube monster '72 SVT head paired with a Sunn Concert Bass 2x15 loaded with JBL K-140s for most of the 5 1/2 year stint I did with a busy country rock band that averaged playing 250 nights a year so I do have extensive playing time with the SVT sound under my belt. Once I stopped playing full time and became a weekend warrior, I had to transport and schlep my own gear, so the huge and heavy went by the wayside for me and now that I'm old and decrepit, I've embraced Class D and NEO. However, I still use all kinds of Ampeg SVT and Ampeg SVT "inspired" preamps and preamp pedals. One thing I learned in recent years is how much the Ampeg refrigerator 8x10 cabs contribute to "that sound". This happened when I finally got myself an Ampeg SVT210AV 2x10 cab. I pair it with a Carvin 115MBE 1x15 (which is also a small, old school sealed cab) and the combination really works well and delivers an "SVT adjacent" sound that really works for me.
 
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#58
To me this is probably a question about the whole signal chain....Bass, pedals, amp, cab.

My bandmate, when I was playing guitar, had one and it sounded fine for what he wanted, very mellow, mostly low mids. Recorded that a lot and got good results I think.

I have only first hand played SVTs as the backline and they sounded fine as a clean platform.

I do recall plugging in and turning on one once and it was well overdriven and I was a bit turned off. 'Shrieking plate of steel' makes sense to me with the overdrive but again, dialed it clean and was good to go. That said, I highly suspect that if I gigged a very mellow bass, a P or J, the overdrive might work well. But in that case I was using a pretty aggressive sounding bass to begin with.

I've also generally found a lot better options for bass overdrive in pedals than amps. There are some odd tracks I've used tube amps into bass cabs, but I don't remember seeing a multiband overdrive in an amp which is rather a must for me on bass. So as a clean platform, I would be fine with an SVT. My DI preamp is modelled on one and I'm happy with it, granted it takes the unusual step of having a Hartke aluminum cab sim.

But I couldn't see using one just because of the weight. I need something the groupies can help carry.
 
#59
I'll go ya one further: what's so great about bass amplifiers?

They're throwbacks to the early days of rock, when PAs could barely handle vocals and stage volume was out of control. If your instrument's "tone" is dependent on a valve amp driving a massive sealed cabinet at high volume, sound guys in clubs aren't gonna love ya, and you will likely suffer long-term hearing loss if you haven't already.

Of course for people who like that kind of thing, that's the kind of thing they like. No shade; have fun with all that tone and the 3 a.m. load out.:woot:
 

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