Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I hate to sound redundent, but if you want the best, period, Ampeg is the way to go, they started out making bass amps for uprights in the 40's, they got their name from a mic they used to place in the peg of the upright bass. They are built like tanks. An all tube SVT head (25 years old)fell onto concrete from the top of an 8 X 10 cab last year (4' approx. 1.2 meters) and didn't blink, all that happened was a small dent in the metal corner piece on it. And the sound has been copied for over 30 years now, with varying degrees of success, but there still is nothing like a real SVT, and they are still made, called SVT-CL's now. Digital SVT sound is like comparing freshly brewed coffee to instant coffee with powdered milk, pales in comparison. I can feel those hate posts coming all ready, lol

Bob, I'm no amp guy, but I've been told repeatedly that the SVT-CL is a completely different circuit design than the original SVT. They both sound good, but not the same.

I'll take my Mesa 400+, thank you. But my son's Ampeg SVT-4PRO is very nice, despite the SS power amp.

Just one thing Bob, how can you even compare the old SVT's and V4B's to the impostors that St. Louis Music is making now? I've done A/B comparasons and while the new amps are good tube amps, there are other all tube bass amps made right now that are much better than the new Ampegs. One thing I do agree on though, none quite compare with the ones made in Neptune NJ.

I have a 70's SVT head and an 87 reissue head, and I play them through early seventies cabinets, and they sound very similar to me even though the 70's has the edge, the 70's head has a lot more gain and it uses 12DWX7 preamp tubes instead of 12AX7's. The circuts are very similar though. I think the limiting thing with SVT's nowadays is the tubes, there was nothing like the old RCA power tubes, sounded great and lasted a long time, I don't think anything on the market can compare with those old RCA's.
With the classics, the preamp has been redesigned into a one channel preamp and the mid switch now has five positions instead of three, and there is a master volume, but they still use the 6550 power tubes, they sound very clean to me, maybe they are different but I think they still have the same basic design, I haven't used them enough to really say or seen a schematic, Brad has one and had old ones, what do you think Brad, do the classics sound like the old ones?
I don't have my 70's head here, it's getting recapped but I thought they were made in Linden NJ?
My 87 was made by St. Louis music and it's been very reliable and sounds good to me.
I wouldn't buy a new V4B, you can buy an SVT head for a couple of hundred more, and you get a LOT more balls. I had an old V4B. it was a nice amp, but didn't even compare with an SVT, it sounded good but didn't really have enough power except for small rooms or a V4B cab which were monsters and sounded great for a ported cab and very efficient, talk about bottom.
I like all the SVT's even the solid state ones, but I'm a tube guy.

Any of you older guys (myself included) remember these Cerwin Vega beasts?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2548405254&category=10171

Remember the matching speaker cab with the 18" folded horn "earthquake-type" cab that had a 10" mounted in the front top panel?

I tried a Ric thru one of these back in '78 or '79... WHAT RUMBLE!

This: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2548180529&category=10171

Coupled with it's 18" bottom bin, the sound is wonderful. I remember having an Acousic 360 back in the '70's. I wish I still had it.

I had the 360 with the power cab. 18" reflex speaker cab with the amp in the bottom. I even played the thing at a gig once without the pre-amp, I just plugged my Rick into the back of the speaker cab and used the knobs on the bass. I did it "just because" and it worked. Like Joe, I wish I hadn't sold that one.

i am no amp guru or anything and have never ever seen a rickenbacker amp or even knew they existed before coming to this site.

i currently use an ampeg b 100 r 100 watt 1x15 which sounds great with my ric.

no flaming here but i have always been a fender amp man. i had a 250 watt head a 2 15s back in the late 70`s and early 80`s. i was about to get a bassman and the store was closed,i went home and found a deal i couldnt refuse on musicians friend...i cannot say i have been disapointed at all with the ampeg.

the first time i heard a ric it was being played through a traynor mark 6? thats what actually sold ne on the sound of ricks