Markbass VS Ampeg SVT

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

gil...for what you've gone thru to get that beast to the holy land, it would be a waste to leave it at home. take it to gigs, use it for what it was designed for...grading the land for more housing settlements !

[DavidSchwab]

I'd vote Markbass. The SVT is my least favorite bass amp... ever. It's only 300 watts, so I don't know why everyone thinks it's so loud. You can't get a decent clean tone out of them, and the worst part IMO is the tone stack. If you set the amp flat, it's not flat. It always has this big hump at 250Hz. Also the low end has been purposely rolled off below 75Hz so it's not muddy in large venues. When you switch the Ultra Lo switch on, it doesn't boost the lows, but cuts the lower mids to make the lows sound louder. It's a blurry boxy sounding amp.

For a tube amp, my Mesa 400+ is louder and sounds better. I don't want my amp to be on permanent grunge mode like an SVT, so when I want some grind I use my old TubeWorks BlueTube pedal.

But my main amp is a Trace Elliott through my Mesa cab. At 150 Watts it's louder than a lot of amps, including SVTs.

[jps]

The SVT is my least favorite bass amp... ever. It's only 300 watts, so I don't know why everyone thinks it's so loud. You can't get a decent clean tone out of them, and the worst part IMO is the tone stack. If you set the amp flat, it's not flat. It always has this big hump at 250Hz. Also the low end has been purposely rolled off below 75Hz so it's not muddy in large venues. When you switch the Ultra Lo switch on, it doesn't boost the lows, but cuts the lower mids to make the lows sound louder. It's a blurry boxy sounding amp.

.....and that folks, is why it is the most popular bass amp on the planet!

Truth be told, I have only used one for a gig once.

[rickaddict]

The SVT is my least favorite bass amp... ever. It's only 300 watts, so I don't know why everyone thinks it's so loud. You can't get a decent clean tone out of them,

My SVT-CL is loud. I promise.

It also gets a decent clean tone.

The tube amp that I couldn't get a clean tone out of is the 200W Orange. If anyone here is after a fuzzy, distorted sound then I'd recommend one!

My SVT-CL isn't perfect. I'm thinking about selling it 'cuz it's just too damned heavy. But I definitely prefer it's tone to my Markbass F1 (which will probably also be for sale soon).

I played through an Ashdown Klystron 1000 a couple weeks ago that sounded very nice. Brought my MB F1 along to compare, and the Ashdown easily won for tone. I'd go with the Klystron 500 though, 'cuz the 1000 doesn't really save me much weight over my SVT.

This weekend I'm gonna check out an Ampeg SVT-3PRO.

A friend of mine had a Mesa 400+. I liked his tone. Not sure if I liked it anymore than my SVT. My problem with the Mesa 400+ would (again) be the weight.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

david, it depends on what cabs the svt is driving. i had the 2 8x10 cabs but tossed them for a '77 stingray in trade. i settled on clean 15" or a combo of 10" and 15" speakers. i got less clipping with the EV 15" as i found the svt cabs inefficient for my purposes. they are very localized in sound dispersement. they were made for bass players to distibute bass sound not super twangin' piano sounds. my svt's are clean and loud and i make them dirty by playing a certain way. sometimes it's what you put thru them and how, that can make a person have a lower opinion of the svt. having said that, it's all up to the taste of the individual in what he or she wants to play thru and how, and that's how music gear companies make their dough !

[teeder]

These last two posts really interest me.

The SVT-3Pro is the next head I try out and I am also going to put an EV in my 15" cab to tighten it up.

[jps]

Every time I have used a SVT3Pro I wondered why they call it 450 watts@8Ω.

[rickaddict]

Every time I have used a SVT3Pro I wondered why they call it 450 watts@8Ω.

Am I missing something? (entirely possible.)

The Ampeg website says 275W @ 8ohms and 450W @ 4ohms for the SVT-3PRO:

http://www.ampeg.com/products/pro/svt3pro/index.html

[jps]

Oops, 4Ω.

I have never gotten anywhere near the kind of volume I would expect out of this amp.

[rickaddict]

I see. Thanks for the opinion on lack of volume. I'll keep it in mind when I try one out.

[johnallg]

I own both the 3 Pro and a 2 Pro. They both share the same preamp and graphic eq sections (which I do not use), and they have a very similar taste and tone, but the 300W of tube is much more dynamic and punchy over the 450W MOSFET output of the 3 Pro. Weight is a big factor though. I keep the 2 Pro at the jam house and the 3 Pro in my practice room. Same 410HLF cabs for both. F W I W

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

if it's not an ampeg svt '69 to'79, it's just a copy. like a '68 fire bird/camaro to a 2000 ford focus. one has power...one does not, but they will both get you there...one a lot faster and more powerful than the udder ! one more aggressive, one more efficient, blech !

[gibsonlp]

I can tell you this - my 72 SVT is VERY loud when the volume knob says "3", strong enough so if I play my bass too hard with this volume the band complains I am too strong and that they hear only my bass. Our guitarist said that the volume and frequency almost makes him sh** in his pants uncontrollably.
When the knob is at 5 the volume hurts my ears, I had my studio headphones (6 dB attenuation) on and put the volume at about 7 which was REALLY REALLY loud, even with my headphones on and only then I started getting a hint of distortion.
We used a scope I borrowed from work, clipping occurred at about 350watt. My friend said that it's because it was meant to work at 220 and most 220 countries (like Israel) are running at about 240 these days.
If that's not loud enough for someone - he should get his hearing checked.
As for the sound, people who know me know that I am NOT one of those people who suffer from cognitive dissonance when it comes to things I buy, I am known to complain about anything that bothers me, when I got the ampeg I thought it was dead, after fixing it there was this really annoying hum at the beginning that bothered me, I learned that it goes away when the amp gets warm and that it's only the old caps that I should get replaced.
Anyways, I focused on finding bad things about the amp, I simply couldn't - my rick sounds SO GREAT with it there is nothing bad I can say about it, in fact - in the last few rehearsals in which we used the svt I fell in love with the amp completely, it's amazing how muddy and unfocused my 4001 sounded through our previous Fender BXR300 and how bright and tight it sounds now, lots of highs with lots of lows all together, simply amazing.
I wanted to start a "I love my SVT" thread but decided it's a bit too much, reading your post forced me to reply, sorry

And b.t.w - I was completely unimpressed from the markbass I tried in the store (I tried more than 1 head with the 4x10 cab), it sounded good, but wasn't what I was looking for. In retrospect - I am glad I didn't buy it, I wouldn't get my SVT if I did.

[rickaddict]

if it's not an ampeg svt '69 to'79, it's just a copy. like a '68 fire bird/camaro to a 2000 ford focus. one has power...one does not, but they will both get you there...one a lot faster and more powerful than the udder ! one more aggressive, one more efficient, blech !

I'm not getting this analogy. My 2005 SVT-CL has GOBS of power. Just like Gil says above about his '72 SVT, anything above 3 is just dangerous!

I know you have a heck of a lot more experience with and knowledge of tube amps than I do, Ron...but have you ever tried a new SVT-CL or an SVT-VR? 'Cuz I can't imagine the difference between an old one and a new one would be like the difference between a '68 Firebird and a 2000 Ford Focus.

Maybe a '68 V-8 Camaro and a 2009 V-8 Camaro...

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

should i reply...have you tried an original svt ? but that's ok. all amps do the job they're designed to do. process an input wave form and **** it out in various ways. it's this process i'm discussing. the classic and vintage re-issue do not have the same digestive tract the original svt had. therefore the new 2010 camaro will not perform like the original '67 camaro.

that's as easy as i can explain it. yes i've used the classic series on one western canadian tour when we were flying to shows out there and did not bring our own stuff. it processed signal, but was faltering in the original quality. re-issue only means it looks like it, but inside it's not what it originally contained. all companies try to have some improvements in the design...thus the disclaimer that the circuit may have changes in it due to production line improvements or revisions.

no one makes the 12dw7 tube anymore and only ampeg used it. ampeg doesn't use the 12bh7 tube anymore. nor the 6c4 tube. they have replaced these tubes with the all round 12au7. in the digestive tract...these substitutions mean something in the final product. replace sugar in soda with aspartame or nutrisweet and you tell me if it tastes like the original soda. but...it still is soda.

i guess **** is a bad word that starts with the letter "p".