Ampeg SVT-CL Settings

[talkinganimals]

Hi guys,

Just a quick question really for any of you guys who run this amp - do you have any 'quick-win' tips for the settings I should be aiming for? I'll be using this with a matching 8x10 at a festival this weekend and I've never used one before in any context. Just a bit worried about not having much time to fiddle with it during our sound-check.

I actually run a Tech-21 VT pedal through my solid-state amp usually in order to get some of that nice subtle break-up and clang to my playing, which I guess is fairly aggressive and with fingers so I'd like to think I could re-create that with the real thing.

Anyway maybe it's not worth worrying about and that tone is super-easy to dial in, in which case tell me to shut it and stop worrying, but otherwise any tips would be much appreciated!

[woodyratm]

I'd start flat and adjust to taste.

[Anders]

Agree.

[talkinganimals]

OK cool thanks both - I'll just put everything flat and see how it goes.

[Mr. Foxen]

Have fun finding flat on the controls on an Ampeg. It isn't knobs in the middle. If you have a VT bass, might be able to go into an fx return if they have one, but don't think it will have the juice to do that.

[Anders]

By everything flat I meant everything 12 o'clock.It's real simple because there is just Bass,Mid and treble.The sound stays about the same just more bass,mid or highs.Dialing in the amount of gain is also just as easy.

[talkinganimals]

So as I thought I didn't really have much time at all to play with this before the show but I ended up leaving the VT out of my chain and having the CL set with pretty high gain, bass at about 10 o'click (seemed a little boomy otherwise), mid-freq 4 boosted a touch, and treble at about 2 o'clock. It didn't really sound how I was hoping to be able to sound, but it was pretty OK and cut through the mix nicely. Thanks for all the input, much appreciated.

[Johnnyc]

Yeah the CL is weird in that when I had one it didn't sound anything like how I thought it would... In fact I didn't think it sounded that great until I used my Sansamp BDDI with it. The SVT-VR sounded epic though. Too bad it broke after two hours of rehearsal =/

[Anders]

[quote name='talkinganimals' timestamp='1349774562' post='1830225']
So as I thought I didn't really have much time at all to play with this before the show but I ended up leaving the VT out of my chain and having the CL set with pretty high gain, bass at about 10 o'click (seemed a little boomy otherwise), mid-freq 4 boosted a touch, and treble at about 2 o'clock. It didn't really sound how I was hoping to be able to sound, but it was pretty OK and cut through the mix nicely. Thanks for all the input, much appreciated.
[/quote]
I know it can sometimes sound quite raw or boring,or boomy,especially on lower volume.The sound always seems to work well in the mix like you said,or on higher volume(above 12 o'clock on Gain and Master) though IME.It also seems to depend alot what tubes are in it.And the cab.
Proper tubes,proper cab and on higher volume it's the ultimate amp IMHO.But on the other hand,there are lots of other amps that might be better for you.