While Ampeg has never been my thing there is one Ampeg I would sell off a lot of gear to own. I hope Ampeg reissues the B15. This would be a beautiful sounding amp for my studio.
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What's so special about the SVT?
- Thread starter JazzyJacuzzi
- Start date
I love my Henry with my SVT II. Amazing warm and punchy tone, believe it or not.
This ^^^
Plus....the SVT has a three-position Mid switch which controls a knob which can be used to boost (or cut) any of three mid ranges. Using this feature, in conjunction with knobs which can cut or boost Bass and Treble, you have virtual infinite control of the frequency range curve. Respectfully, if a player cannot get a satisfactory tone from one of these amps, then Tone Knob Refresher Training is in order.
Didn't they already do this some years back?
Seems like a small market for these as expensive, new amps which they might have served when they made them again last time.
Not knocking the amp, just pointing out it's got a very specific vibe for certain kinds of styles.
I suspect what Jimmy said, they will eventually reissue this again, I suppose at the moment they feel the PF Tube models fill that role; although the currently available cabinets are not like the old style B15 cabinets for sure.
Analogeezer
The B-15 is now a prestige item they do in limited runs. The closest you'll ever see a budget priced run is the Heritage B-15N with the powder coated black panels and 12ax7's replacing the 6SL7's. And while nobody's ever going to buy them in quantities that the RB amps sell, they can do small runs of 50-200 and sell them out easily.
Yeah that was my impression of the modern versions, they make some, sell them, wait a while and then make some more.
Like I said in the meantime they offer the PT Tube series which gets you a low wattage, all tube head so that's kind of where some of the market has gone.
The SVT sticks around because it's even more iconic than the B-15 and it's also applicable to a wider variety of styles.
Analogeezer
The knobs do moveOne thing I like doing is reading amp schematics. My impression is that the SVT was designed as a high fidelity amplifier. With the knobs centered, it's relatively flat. It also has a single volume control, that kind of "forces" you to play it clean, unless you push it to its limits.
Of course it can do a lot of things not described above. But it's worth considering: Do you like your sound when playing through a flat, clean amp?
I like that sound, but just don't have a use for so much of it.When my band was using a rehearsal studio for a little while, they had an SVT and 8x10, and sounded fine.
And they do have a couple versions of it with separate gain and master if you like adding a little compression and/or mild grind to your sound.
You ears are your clipping indicator. There is no wrong or right answer. Set it to the level that you like the compression and/or dirt the best. Or you can turn the master all the way up, then use gain for your volume control. Doing it that way gives you the cleanest and least compressed sound, just like the single volume SVT's in channel 1 normal. Makes the gain knob a bit touchy, but that's how I always set them and I love it.
This is assuming it's an all tube SVT-CL. For the solid state and hybrids, I think they sound better with the gain up as far as you can get it before you hear the onset of distortion. Sounds pretty weak to me otherwise. Funny how it works backwards for me with tube amps vs SS...your mileage may vary.
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