rageingtelephone Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 So I have been using my Ampeg Svt2pro for over three years now and no matter how many times I get it serviced/replace the valves, it ends up being a moody little piece of work. I just replaced the power valves with a 6550/JJ-Tesla- AMPEG SEXTET 5 months ago. All was peachy for a while then 3months in it started making the tell tale detuned radio sounds on occasion, then the next day it would sound great again. One day working perfectly, the next day making weird 'helicopter' sounds etc. It seems when it sounds great I would forget/mentally ignore about how crap it could also sound sometimes. Now when I tap the amp head itself you can hear it through the cab, which I presume means the valves have already gone microphonic? Surely this is burning the valves out too quickly, for the sound and my pocket! I am tired of this and am debating getting it serviced one last time then replacing it with an alternative. Any thoughts? I love the sound of it when the bloody thing is on top form, any suggestions as to a different head I should get? I have been looking at Aguilar and Eden heads. Btw I am using an ampeg 6x10 Classic cabinet. And please tell me if you think this ampeg might be saved some miraculous way. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Where are you? Where do you get the amp serviced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rageingtelephone Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1378985389' post='2207317'] Where are you? Where do you get the amp serviced? [/quote] I reside in Bristol. So far I have had it serviced by an independant guy called Jesse James and later on by Justin @ [url="http://www.heronmusic.co.uk/"]Heron Music[/url]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyratm Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I think Panic Music are the distro for Ampeg - they might be able to push you in the right direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 [quote name='rageingtelephone' timestamp='1378988561' post='2207379'] I reside in Bristol. So far I have had it serviced by an independant guy called Jesse James and later on by Justin @ [url="http://www.heronmusic.co.uk/"]Heron Music[/url]. [/quote] Jesse James ? He's a cowboy..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I've heard these guys are good. [url="http://www.chambonino.com/"]http://www.chambonino.com/[/url] There are a couple of good valve guys near me but they are all a long way from Bristol. Doesn't Mr Foxen on here dabble in valves? He's down that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Does this amp have biasing controls on the back ? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIHKY-OkEJs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIHKY-OkEJs[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Doesn't sound right, the tubes must be biased too hot IMO, or there's some other fault with the amp. Good quality tubes should last a fair while provided they're biased properly, and you're not mismatching the load (is your cab the right impedance?), like at least a couple of years even with fairly regular gigging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 [quote name='rageingtelephone' timestamp='1378988561' post='2207379'] I reside in Bristol. So far I have had it serviced by an independant guy called Jesse James and later on by Justin @ [url="http://www.heronmusic.co.uk/"]Heron Music[/url]. [/quote] Justin is Subthumper on here. I send ampeg stuff to him, because I don't like working on it, despite the rep, the stuff is plain badly made. Throwing valves at a problem amp is rarely the way, problem is elsewhere, if its more than about 15 years old, its probably capacitors, ampeg way underspecced them and they die pretty early. finding the problem is fun because of the way ampeg make the amps, can't run them open to figure whats going on without specialist looms, forcing you to go to Ampeg approved techs who just bulk replace entire PCBs and charge you accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rageingtelephone Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 [quote name='6v6' timestamp='1378995943' post='2207520'] Doesn't sound right, the tubes must be biased too hot IMO, or there's some other fault with the amp. Good quality tubes should last a fair while provided they're biased properly, and you're not mismatching the load (is your cab the right impedance?), like at least a couple of years even with fairly regular gigging. [/quote] Yeah that's what I thought. I have always made sure to adjust the bias properly using the controls on the back of the head when replacing the power valves. And yes I am using a 4ohm cab with the switch also set to 4ohms on the back of the head. Hmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rageingtelephone Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1378997625' post='2207552'] Justin is Subthumper on here. I send ampeg stuff to him, because I don't like working on it, despite the rep, the stuff is plain badly made. Throwing valves at a problem amp is rarely the way, problem is elsewhere, if its more than about 15 years old, its probably capacitors, ampeg way underspecced them and they die pretty early. finding the problem is fun because of the way ampeg make the amps, can't run them open to figure whats going on without specialist looms, forcing you to go to Ampeg approved techs who just bulk replace entire PCBs and charge you accordingly. [/quote] Yeah I have gathered they are pigs to work on! In fact I think Justin did swap out some caps last time I gave the head to him. Im not sure exactly but I think it may be from the early 1990s, if it's any help my amp is the exact same model as the svt2pro you can see half way down the page [url="http://www.chambonino.com/work/ampeg/amp4.html"]here[/url] (the one with blue and red writing for the "svt II pro" part). So think I should carry on with these seemingly endless attempts at repair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 What cab do you use? You can't always believe the label on the back of the cab. You need to check that all the speakers are the same and are all the correct ohm rating. If one has been replaced it might have been replaced with the wrong speaker. This will blow your valves every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 [quote name='rageingtelephone' timestamp='1379077916' post='2208447'] Yeah I have gathered they are pigs to work on! In fact I think Justin did swap out some caps last time I gave the head to him. Im not sure exactly but I think it may be from the early 1990s, if it's any help my amp is the exact same model as the svt2pro you can see half way down the page [url="http://www.chambonino.com/work/ampeg/amp4.html"]here[/url] (the one with blue and red writing for the "svt II pro" part). So think I should carry on with these seemingly endless attempts at repair? [/quote] Ah, think I recall seeing that in there. Do the rest of the caps, and move it on, get a Matamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 DB750 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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