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Why does everyone love AMPEG so much?

#261
It's all a matter of preference but, I have played and owned almost every Ampeg amp and cab and have never really liked them. All the amps seemed underpowered or over-rated in terms of watts.

Cabs are ok, for that darker, rounded rolled-off high end sound, but they are not great IMO IME.

An all-tube SVT with an SVT810 is a classic sound for a reason, and it is nice but there are so many brands that have better products and at a better price than Ampeg, that I couldn't justify to own any of their products again.
 
#264
Ampeg is like "Kleenex". They are a very recognized and accepted brand name.
If you show up with or provide one, it will always be acceptable, not necessarily optimal, but acceptable.
I have a PB210, PR410HLF, 410HLN and an 810e.
My favorite cabinet by far is my fEARful 1212/6/1.
My Favorite Ampeg is the 410HLN
 
#266
Haven't read this entire thread but my answer after 35 years with the following amps, Acoustic 370, Traynor YBA200, Fender Bassman Blackface,Fender Pro Bassman 300, TC RH450, Mesa M Pulse 600, Mesa BB 750, Streamliner 900, Traynor YBA300. I always danced around and away from Ampeg mostly based on price. Recently I made a great deal on a Heritage SVT and received it a couple days ago, plugged it in and other then the fan, dead silence, you wouldn't know you had plugged in a tube amp. And when I hit the strings it blew me away. Won't try and explain it but it has "THE TONE" I have always heard in my head. I will never let this one get away!
 
#269
image-2695816921.png

Sounds like warm butter, week after week, room after room.......Loud, fat and full.....the band gets mad if I show up with anything else .....compliments every night I use it..... You can't go wrong!
 
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#271
gjbassist said:
I got my first Ampeg about six months ago. I had gone through many amps looking for the tone I wanted. The Ampeg nailed it right out of the box. I received more complements on my tone the first gig I used it than I had in all previous gigs combined!
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+1
I've been playing another brand of SS amp for the past six months or so, and could never get a good tone, no matter how much I tweaked the knobs. Bought a PF-350 last week, plugged it up, nooned all the knobs, and the tone was there. Nothing else was required, except to play and enjoy.
 
#272
Out of all the amp rigs I have owned over the past 40 years of bass playing, the best tone (and feel) I enjoyed came from a US made Ampeg SVT-VR. The only reason I sold it was because it got too heavy for me to move around (80 pounds).

I sure wish I could get that same tone and feel in something that weighs alot less!
 
#274
Pickinator said:
I don't anymore.
Let them sell their expensive Vietnamese stuff to the Vietnamese.

It's no longer the great Ampeg of old.:crying:
Buy USA.:hyper:
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Remember that thread you started a few days ago about "Vietnamese" Ampeg where I told you they haven't been made in Vietnam for over 3 years now? And also all the USA cabs that were made with OSB? Seems to have gone in one ear and out the other, huh? Not surprised...well hopefully school starts for you soon again.
 
#275
for me, ampeg's choice of frequency points in their tone stack has always been a thing of beauty for bass. those points just feel Right, and it sure is nice having a bass knob keyed at 40hz. i'm talking about the svt/micro-vr/pf350-500/v4b, switches off. same thing goes for the b15's baxandall stack, bass perfection. i rarely go to the right side of noon with the mid and treble controls, as i like things dark, but when i occasionally do i don't cringe at the tone either. i roll a P-bass with labella flats. between a good fender head (showman) and a good ampeg head i'm set for life. svt specs:

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#276
SactoBass said:
Out of all the amp rigs I have owned over the past 40 years of bass playing, the best tone (and feel) I enjoyed came from a US made Ampeg SVT-VR. The only reason I sold it was because it got too heavy for me to move around (80 pounds).

I sure wish I could get that same tone and feel in something that weighs alot less!
Click to expand...

I've been playing my friend's VR head through his SVT 810 at the blues shack where we jam once a week, privately (this is not the public jam I also go to every week). I guess it's the best bass tone I've had. I love my Markbass stuff, too, though. It's what I can move around and still sound great. I haven't had a lot of experience playing Ampeg until I started jamming with these guys. It has given me respect for Ampeg and the tone it produces. I like it. It's just that Markbass had the right weight/power/price/quality/sound combination I was looking for at this time. So, anyway...

...it's a big tip o' the hat to Ampeg from a Markbass guy.
 
#278
Duke21 said:
While I do not own an Ampeg, yet, I use some emulation on band rehearsals, and I usually our reathm guitar will ask me to turn down my volume when I use the SVT module on Amplitube, as my "Ampeg" is killing his guitar in the mix. I guess that my Geddy through my "Ampeg" is too much for him.... In addition I play with a pick. :)
I really want a real Ampeg!
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I know this is a really late response, but tell your guitar player that Alex Lifeson spent the entire 80's without being heard in the mix and never complained once. :D
 

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