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You can't beat an all valve head... I'm afraid!

dave74200

By dave74200,
in Amps and Cabs

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51m0n Mentor

51m0n

Posted
Posted

The crux of your argument (or one part of it ) is that the best loudest meanest muthaf****ers all use Ampeg right?

Well in that case, if that was true then they would all always use it, all of the time. Except in 2008 Trujillo was using Hiwatt with Metallica, of course when the deal came up for renewal, being the corporate whore he is he went for the deal with the biggest number at the bottom (again) so its Ampeg at the moment. Dont think it wont change next tour though. Interestingly IMO the best bass tone he has ever achieved on a CD was on Art of Rebellion (Suicidal Tendencies) in which he had some exceptionally nice analogue gear to allow seperate compression of the top and bottom frequencies of his signal. Fantastic bass tone off his Tobias collection there, far better than anything I've heard from him in Metallica.

About the longest standing Ampeg endorser I can think of is Mr Billy Sheehan (he of the amazing chainsaw through mud tone) - and nobody out there sounds like he does ([url="http://www.billysheehan.com/photos/photos_equipment05.html"]enough processing on his bass to launch a thousand missiles[/url]). But even he uses a bunch of other stuff as well in the studio (other pres for a start, Alembic and Yamaha IIRC).

How can this possibly be if your argument holds any water at all???

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cetera Grand Master

cetera

Posted
Posted

I've owned an Ampeg SVT2 Pro... and it was great, but not a patch on a friend's SVT2 (Non-pro) I'm afraid....
Personally, I'd much rather use my Sansamp RPM & RBI preamps through a good power amp for versatility, portability AND tone...

It's all IMHO.... and as mentioned in this thread, 99% of the audience could give a damn - they just hear a bass guitar...

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Ghost_Bass Proficient

Ghost_Bass

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I'm going to get more insight on the SVT series now. I just had a offer to trade my TE 1215 GP12-X for an Ampeg SVT 410HE and some cash. I'll do it because there are lots of people who still think Ampeg is "The Holly Grail" of sound and i'll be able to sell it quite easily. In my opinion Ampeg muddys the sound a lot and lacks definition having poor air displacement (that's why you see so many fridges, the only way you can get close to be heard in a band). As soon as possible i'll go to Alex's cabs.

As for the "all-valve real thing tone" i think that Sadowsky posted some pages back would hammer the SVP to a pulp. If you like SVT's valve tone just get a lightweight amp (can´t recommend the shuttle 9.0 enough, it also has a valve in it's pre :) ) and add a Sansamp VT Bass. Will do a better job on your sound abling you to dial in all kinds of sounds including SVT's with better definition, better cutting trough the mix, more respect from your band mates who'll stop complaining they only can hear the bass on stage and can't even understand what you're playing - they'll also find out that you can actually play the bass and are good at it, less ear problems, less back problems, easier to carry, easier to set your rig up, easier to store it in your car, cheaper too, etc... !

Oh! 18 pages in a little more than 2 days is trully a man's job!

Cheers

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51m0n Mentor

51m0n

Posted
Posted

HAHAHAAAA

The Cheese Farmer bought some amps and cabs last year for Blur reunion gigs, had them all custom made.

Of course he went for [url="http://www.audiokitchenamps.co.uk/"]Audio Kitchen[/url]

Here is a little [url="http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=630883"]proof[/url]

That would be because he cant afford Ampeg then??

Damn he must really have got a lot of that cheese stuck in his ears, eh Dave :)

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Ghost_Bass Proficient

Ghost_Bass

Posted
Posted (edited)

Every time i come to this thread i find myself scrolling back to this picture i've posted earlier





I think it sums everything up! It's ridiculous how they look next to each other!

51m0n, i've seen that a few weeks back, how could i have forgotten about it! :)

Edit: some personal comments added!

Edited by Ghost_Bass
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JTUK Veteran

JTUK

Posted
Posted

I REALLY would like to hear some peoples defintion of a good tone.

Of course, it is subjective, but there are a few basics.
For a start, IMO..if you have ropey old strings on your bass..you are on the back foot. You might like that tone...but you aren't going to be able to do much else with it, so you better love it. IMO, of course.

For example, and before we go flaming again. Bass playing aquaintance of mine..gets loads of work... plays an old jazz with solid strings that are probably welded on. I would really struggle to get any sound out of it I could use, but he sounds great.....but versatile, it ain't. He pretty much gets the best sound out of it he can, but he can't get anything else.

His dream rig would be..as it happens... a classic Ampeg. Everything about what he does screams Ampeg. I am pretty sure he has one or an old Bassman for his prestige gigs

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Shockwave Mentor

Shockwave

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Posted

[quote name='JTUK' post='944491' date='Sep 3 2010, 01:14 PM']I REALLY would like to hear some peoples defintion of a good tone.[/quote]

Why cant we stop the feuding and the fussing and make a compromise?



Lightweight cab that is far more efficient and powerful then a fridge, but with the Ampeg all valve tone! :)

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Big_Stu Proficient

Big_Stu

Posted
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[quote name='51m0n' post='944349' date='Sep 3 2010, 11:07 AM']The crux of your argument (or one part of it ) is that the best loudest meanest muthaf****ers all use Ampeg right?

Well in that case, if that was true then they would all always use it, all of the time. Except in 2008 Trujillo was using Hiwatt with Metallica,[/quote]

Hiwatts!!!!!!!! Where's a Homer Simpson "do-nuts" icon when you need one???

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JTUK Veteran

JTUK

Posted
Posted

[quote name='Shockwave' post='944517' date='Sep 3 2010, 01:34 PM']Why cant we stop the feuding and the fussing and make a compromise?



Lightweight cab that is far more efficient and powerful then a fridge, but with the Ampeg all valve tone! :)[/quote]


Nope... that is such a paradox.

I would deffo have the Ampeg top if I had crew but wouldn't be seen dead with the box of cornflakes under it..!!! :lol: :rolleyes:

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Rich Grand Master

Rich

Posted
Posted

[quote name='dave74200' post='943579' date='Sep 2 2010, 04:15 PM']Nice profile pic. She's certainly like my big rig![/quote]
Au contraire. She'd look at your fridge, and think "Oh yes..? I wonder what [i]he's[/i] compensating for..." :)

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