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Which Ampeg head?

#21
I'd say go with the 4pro. Way more flexibility in tone and a ton of power. Maintaining one is going to be cheaper than a all tube head and they sound great.

I agree with two fingers about the 6 pro. Probably the best and most underrated modern amp Ampeg made. The parametric EQ is no joke if you know how to use it and it's a very powerful cab. Played a show last year with mine and found I had power on tap and could get the tones I wanted.
 
#22
It's hard to beat the all tube SVT...that said the fender super bassman is right their with the SVT and can do 8ohm as others have stated. It's very versatile with two channels, I would not over look it. It can Comp a very close SVT tone but an SVT is an SVT and it does that tone very well.
 
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#23
The Regulator said:
Both great heads but if I had to choose between those 2 I'd go for the 4 Pro. Half the weight, tons of power and only 3 pre-amp tubes to worry about. Either way you can't loose.
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Agreed! I've had 3 Classics in my life and one SVT II non pro. Love the tone but weight and management got to me. The SVT 4 Pro has been my go to for years but I just got a PF-800 and love it. I wish they would mate the graphic EQ from the SVT4PRO with the PF-800... WALA! "Ampeg PF-800 PRO"
 
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#25
If you are using your rig a lot, and having to move it yourself; You could be hating life soon with a CL, and looking for a light weight alternate. I love my SVT, but it only gets out 1-2 times a year.

SVT4 I used for many years. Don't put it in a case and you can drag it around everywhere you go. Put it in a case and it too gets to be a back breaker....
 
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#26
Fair Warning said:
If you are using your rig a lot, and having to move it yourself; You could be hating life soon with a CL, and looking for a light weight alternate. I love my SVT, but it only gets out 1-2 times a year.

SVT4 I used for many years. Don't put it in a case and you can drag it around everywhere you go. Put it in a case and it too gets to be a back breaker....
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Yep, a rack sturdy enough to tote a 4 Pro for the long haul probably adds close to 20 lbs., even more if you stick other things in your rack.
 
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#27
Grapevine921 said:
I would love to! But I don't really need a third huge cabinet laying around. 2 fearfuls would rock like no other but then they aren't any more convenient than the Eden 410 ;)



I hadn't considered the 6 pro. Maybe I'll check it out! In the back of my mind I know it won't be a tube head though...



I would love one! Those heads sound amazing! Unfortunately i don't want to invest that much into something I can't use with a drummer.
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Depends on the drummer I guess...
 
#29
Classic. There is nothing else like an SVT. Go do a side by side comparison.

And, FYI, IMO the hybrid amps should always be referred to by their full model, not "SVT". This stands for Super Valve Technology which is most certainly NOT sticking a tube in the preamp section that drives a solid state power amp.

@Jimmy and I always have to offer a counterpoint to each other on the subject of an 8 ohm load with an SVT. What Bill Hughes asserted was that the output transformer was stout enough to handle this impedance mismatch. That is undeniably true. What is also true is you're going to wear your tubes prematurely and they often take some other electronic components with them when they blow.

NoiseNinja said:
You know it has a lineout from the output transformer (basically a poweramp lineout), right? Which means if you get a decent solid state poweramp to go with it you can get the full tube sound at whatever wattage you want.
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I wish this was true, but it just isn't. Even if the DI is off the OT. I can't remember if the DI is post OT on a CL. @beans-on-toast?
 
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#30
Chris 'Wighat' Jordan said:
I wish this was true, but it just isn't. Even if the DI is off the OT. I can't remember if the DI is post OT on a CL. ?
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The DI is right after the preamp on the CL. There is no power amp contribution.

There are many that do run their Loud amps with an 8 ohm cab and find no issues. Bill made it clear that his statement about the SVT being able to handle an 8 ohm load applied to the vintage SVT that he was familiar with. He said it would be at the expense of some output power loss.
 
#32
Chris 'Wighat' Jordan said:
Classic. There is nothing else like an SVT. Go do a side by side comparison.

And, FYI, IMO the hybrid amps should always be referred to by their full model, not "SVT". This stands for Super Valve Technology which is most certainly NOT sticking a tube in the preamp section that drives a solid state power amp.

@Jimmy and I always have to offer a counterpoint to each other on the subject of an 8 ohm load with an SVT. What Bill Hughes asserted was that the output transformer was stout enough to handle this impedance mismatch. That is undeniably true. What is also true is you're going to wear your tubes prematurely and they often take some other electronic components with them when they blow.



I wish this was true, but it just isn't. Even if the DI is off the OT. I can't remember if the DI is post OT on a CL. @beans-on-toast?
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I don't really care about wearing out tubes. I play in a doom metal band. Destroying output tubes through hard use comes with the territory.
 
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#33
Korladis said:
I don't really care about wearing out tubes. I play in a doom metal band. Destroying output tubes through hard use comes with the territory.
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Not only that, I don't even know if wearing out the tubes prematurely is a given if you run an SVT with an 8 ohm cab. Maybe if you push it really hard, but they'll wear out anyway.
 
#34
JimmyM said:
Not only that, I don't even know if wearing out the tubes prematurely is a given if you run an SVT with an 8 ohm cab. Maybe if you push it really hard, but they'll wear out anyway.
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Exactly. I don't worry about it. Tubes will wear out eventually, and how long it takes mostly seems to be dependent on how heavily they're used. Similar to drummers and their drum heads and cymbals.
 
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#35
JimmyM said:
The 8 ohm thing isn't a concern with SVT's, according to the co-inventor, Bill Hughes. Plus I've had rental SVT's supplied with an 8 ohm 410 many times, and never broke a single one. But they just don't sound right to me...like they add a little compression and sound a little less tubey. Not by much, but enough to where I prefer not to do it. I like both the SVT-CL and SVT 4 Pro, but I'd be lying if I said the CL wasn't a clear favorite.
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An SVT won't put out as much power into 8 ohms. The output transformer only has taps for 2 and 4 ohms. I ran one like that for a long time without realizing it years ago. I didn't really have any problems other than I wore out my power tubes quicker than normal but when I got in a situation with a really loud drummer where I really needed the power it just wasn't there, that's when I realized something just wasn't right. I had cut an 8 x 10 in half and plugged each 8 ohm cab into the separate output jacks on an early 70's SVT so I was running 4 ohms with the 2 ohm tap which is the same as running an 8 ohm speaker from the 4 ohm tap. And yes it just didn't sound right.
 
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#36
1490920609199441009539.jpg
I have a 2001 SVT CL. It is by far the best amp I've ever used. It is a beast.
 
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#38
Sold my early 70's SVT and 8x10 for a profit, got a Mesa 400 and a 2x15 and had enough money leftover for a used green Quantum 5. The 400 was too clean.

When the CL first came out I tried it on the mesa 2x15, it was perfect.

That's my ideal setup, if I still played out.
 
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