Valve Amps

[Pete Academy]

We played at the Sage theatre in Gateshead last Saturday. I used their house rig, which was an Ampeg SVT 2 Pro head and an Ampeg Classic 4 x 10 cab. I usually use a Markbass LM 500 head and 2 x 4 x 6 cab. After much fiddling I got a great sound. You still can't beat valves for bass.

[Dood]

One of my all time favourite rigs I owned was an SVT2 Pro on top of a pair of Hartke 4.5XL cabinets. Just monstrously superb, but these days would probably be the death of me. Loved it!

[wayne58]

+1
I'm a big Ampeg fan, used to own an svt 2.
It was rack mounted in a 215 Ampeg back to back cab!!
Awesome sound, but a good workout for two people to hump about.

[Roland Rock]

We played a festival in August and the supplied rig was Ampeg 8x10 and big SVT valve amp (can't remember which)
I felt an actual physical surge of energy in my body with each note - crazy. I'm not surprised that these are the benchmark for rock music.

[Beer of the Bass]

The only time I've had an SVT and 8x10 as supplied backline, I was playing EUB in a band with lots of acoustic instruments and very, very quiet stage volume. The volume control was in that twitchy zone between silent and barely-on. It's annoying, as there have been plenty of other gigs where I would have been delighted to find that rig as the hired backline, but the one gig where I got one I would have been as well off with a decent 1x12" combo!

[yorks5stringer]

Played the Bradford Festival, must be around 15-20 years ago and the Bass backline was all Ampeg. My Dad, who came to watch wondered off, said it was too loud....

[ratman]

I've used a few Ampeg 8x10 rigs when they've been supplied on bigger gigs, and I haven't forgotten that lovely thump in my back I felt every time I played a note. But I wouldn't want to have to hump the amp or cab around for my regular gigs. Hell of a rig though.