From Ampegs to.....

[donslow]

So I’ve been fighting with this decision for about 18 months now and have finally decided “it’s time”

I'm putting my Ampeg SVT II Pro up for sale, as much as I love the noise it makes, I just can’t do the lugging about anymore....

question is, what to replace it with?!

 

living in the middle of bumf**k and nowhere, working 26 hours a day and two kids means two things,
1. any music shop within about an hour and a half’s drive isnt worth visiting due to lack of variety in stock and 

2. The time to drive to any decent music shop and have a good play around just isn’t there

so I turn To the wealth of knowledge that is basschat!

what would you look at buying if you had an SVT II Pro and were looking to change things up a bit?!

i love the noise this amp makes, I like the clear, clean, bassy Thump that this puts out, and that it can blow your kecks off at 20 paces, I also like that I can crank the amp, turn down the master and still get decent tone out of relatively good living room levels with a smaller cab, I realise I won’t get that with anything other than an overweight SVT but what comes close?! What will kick you in the nadgers but remain clean and clear?

playing blues, blues rock, soul for the most part, but not exclusively, with p basses or active Ibanez, happy to get any real dirt/overdrive/distortion from pedals  it it’s not something I use overly often

have been looking at oranges, aguilars, Eden’s, mesa’s, darkglass, and many more over the last few weeks but haven’t tried any in the flesh and chances being, I won’t get to, I just honestly don’t know which way to turn....

so, marvellously experienced basschatters, thoughts?! Suggestions?!

GO!!!

Edited February 8, 2020 by donslow

[AngelDeVille]

I have the BA-112 75w,  and I love it.

 

but I’m thinking of getting the micro vr 

 

 

[donslow]

I have a micro cl which is ok and have tried gigging with it but there’s just something missing when I do so trying to have a mass clear out so I can start again, Had looked at the micro vr’s also, are they a giggable amp?

[JapanAxe]

SVTIII?

Ampeg sound, not especially heavy to lug around.

They come up reasonably often in the BC market place.

I had one, liked it a lot.

Edited February 8, 2020 by JapanAxe

[donslow]

6 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

SVTIII?

Ampeg sound, not especially heavy to lug around.

They come up reasonably often in the BC market place.

I had one, liked it a lot.

Can I ask why (I’m assuming) you “had” one?! What made you move it on?

[danbowskill]

What about a 7 Pro? Bad reliability issues with early models.... But apparently all sorted now and get cracking reviews on talkbass. Supposed to give a good feel of a svt, super loud and light.

[donslow]

3 minutes ago, danbowskill said:

What about a 7 Pro? Bad reliability issues with early models.... But apparently all sorted now and get cracking reviews on talkbass. Supposed to give a good feel of a svt, super loud and light.

Looked at those but it was the reliability issues that’s put me off somewhat...

[danbowskill]

As a alternative these are awesome at giving a great tube heft sound (they have a full tube preamp) . Having had svt's before I was over the moon with this

 And if you really want a total ampeg sound stick a tech 21 vt bass or ampeg preamp pedal in front. Super light for a class ab transformer head

[stewblack]

Until God intervened and told me I was never going to be allowed to sell my SVT, I was going for Handbox. 

Now I'm thinking of designing handling equipment for carrying the brute to and from the car instead 

[donslow]

31 minutes ago, danbowskill said:

As a alternative these are awesome at giving a great tube heft sound (they have a full tube preamp) . Having had svt's before I was over the moon with this

 And if you really want a total ampeg sound stick a tech 21 vt bass or ampeg preamp pedal in front. Super light for a class ab transformer head

Have herd a lot about these but not looked into them much, will certainly have to do so now though...

[donslow]

Just now, stewblack said:

Until God intervened and told me I was never going to be allowed to sell my SVT, I was going for Handbox. 

Now I'm thinking of designing handling equipment for carrying the brute to and from the car instead 

Flying carpet would be the best option I think, if you find one, I’m all ears....

[JapanAxe]

1 hour ago, donslow said:

Can I ask why (I’m assuming) you “had” one?! What made you move it on?

I bought my Demeter head. I thought the Ampeg wouldn’t get a look-in after that, so it would be pointless keeping it.

Fast-forward a couple of years and I snag an Ampeg PF-50T, and now the Demeter sometimes stays home while the PF does the gig!

[donslow]

Just now, JapanAxe said:

I bought my Demeter head. I thought the Ampeg wouldn’t get a look-in after that, so it would be pointless keeping it.

Fast-forward a couple of years and I snag an Ampeg PF-50T, and now the Demeter sometimes stays home while the PF does the gig!

Is the pf-50t a giggable amp? I’ve heard many things sugessting “yup it is” and “nope, it’s not” 

[JapanAxe]

2 minutes ago, donslow said:

Is the pf-50t a giggable amp? I’ve heard many things sugessting “yup it is” and “nope, it’s not” 

For me, yes it is.

I have used it through either a Barefaced Super Twin or Barefaced Midget, in pub gigs with rock/pop covers and blues bands, and on country gigs in some large halls. It’s never yet run out of steam. When I’ve pushed it, it has sometimes started to sound delightfully ‘furry’ - not obvious distortion, just the onset of pleasing saturation.

Would it work for you? Depends!

50W doesn’t sound much these days but as I’m sure you know, a 50W valve amp behaves very differently to a solid state head when pushed.

If you need limitless crushing power to do battle with Animal on drums, and guitarists equipped with Marshall half-stacks, you might need something different. I don’t know - I haven’t tried that!

[Lozz196]

In my last band I used a variety of gear-share/provided rigs. The two that I liked playing through most were Ampeg SVTs and Ashdown ABMs. Couldn’t lift the SVTs so went ABM and never regretted it.

[donslow]

49 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

In my last band I used a variety of gear-share/provided rigs. The two that I liked playing through most were Ampeg SVTs and Ashdown ABMs. Couldn’t lift the SVTs so went ABM and never regretted it.

Might have to revisit ashdown’s, maybe I’m being a bit hasty but I’ve owned three different ashdowns (all used) on three separate occasions and had issues with all of them, maybe I’m unlucky enough to buy duds three times?!

[Lozz196]

14 minutes ago, donslow said:

Might have to revisit ashdown’s, maybe I’m being a bit hasty but I’ve owned three different ashdowns (all used) on three separate occasions and had issues with all of them, maybe I’m unlucky enough to buy duds three times?!

Possibly , I’ve currently got two, and have had about four others and only had a very minor problem with one (a faulty mute switch).

[donslow]

10 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Possibly , I’ve currently got two, and have had about four others and only had a very minor problem with one (a faulty mute switch).

Could well be worth looking at again then....thanks for the suggestion 

[stewblack]

Ashdown definitely worth a look. 

[Dan Dare]

The great thing about Ashdown is that you can get them fixed. The company is very good on back-up.

[donslow]

2 hours ago, stewblack said:

Ashdown definitely worth a look. 

Looking into them certainly but am coming round to the idea of a lunchbox type amp or something to fit in a gig bag, ashdowns range seem somewhat limited in this respect and I’ll admit, I don’t know enough about them to warrant enough of a decision, am I missing something from the ash down range or is there anything else out there like this from other brands that’ll get close to the sound I’m after?!

[Lozz196]

1 minute ago, donslow said:

Looking into them certainly but am coming round to the idea of a lunchbox type amp or something to fit in a gig bag, ashdowns range seem somewhat limited in this respect and I’ll admit, I don’t know enough about them to warrant enough of a decision, am I missing something from the ash down range or is there anything else out there like this from other brands that’ll get close to the sound I’m after?!

The RM500 EVO-II. It’s a great little amp, the - oh no, I’m going to use the H-word - heftiest small Class D amp I’ve used, very loud, great eq options and nice and lightweight. And as Dan Dare said, if there’s a problem Ashdown can fix them, most (if not all) of the parts are designed to be able to be changed. 

[donslow]

7 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

The RM500 EVO-II. It’s a great little amp, the - oh no, I’m going to use the H-word - heftiest small Class D amp I’ve used, very loud, great eq options and nice and lightweight. And as Dan Dare said, if there’s a problem Ashdown can fix them, most (if not all) of the parts are designed to be able to be changed. 

That doesn’t look too shabby at all, worth a YouTube binge on review videos I reckon...

[roonjuice]

Whats you “weight limit” ?

i have been lucky enough to try most flagship amps of all kinds over the years

class d amps get close. Out of all of them, the Ampeg pf800 is hoofing loud, and obvs does a fairly decent ampeg impression, albeit a bit hissy though, (cheap to buy too), but the best bang/buck/weight/tone ratio is defo a Mesa 400+ in my very humble opinion (coming from lugging Svt’s around......)

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by roonjuice

[Beer of the Bass]

On 08/02/2020 at 14:39, donslow said:

Is the pf-50t a giggable amp? I’ve heard many things sugessting “yup it is” and “nope, it’s not” 

I'd also say it is for me, in the bands I play in, although I do run into bands playing in the same venues who'd probably want more power. I've usually got one guitarist on stage with a style that's not too heavy, plus brass, and my bass sound has a lot of midbass in it, not pushing the deep lows. In that setting it sits nicely with the level of the acoustic drums and guitar backline, and beyond that we'd need decent PA anyway. But if you brought in multiple guitarists doing the chunky modern rock thing, a scooped bass sound and a drummer using double pedals, the PF50T wouldn't be my choice.