Played through an Ampeg 8x10 last night...

[drTStingray 728]

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1487945950' post='3244440']


Third!
[/quote]

Only to be exceeded by manhandling a Hammond B3 up fire escape stairs - followed by the Leslie unit 😯 - definitely a four man (burly) job - who says bass players have the heaviest gear!!!

[markstuk 8]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1487962300' post='3244675']
Only to be exceeded by manhandling a Hammond B3 up fire escape stairs - followed by the Leslie unit - definitely a four man (burly) job - who says bass players have the heaviest gear!!!
[/quote]

My ex drummers dad used to be in a three hammond band With Leslies.. :-)

[blue 5]

I've had the 8 10 Ampeg backlined for me at a few shows.

To be honest it doesn't seem anything like the SVT I purchased in 1972. Disappointed

Blue

[Graham 710]

[quote name='skychaserhigh' timestamp='1487957336' post='3244619']
Someone will be along soon to tell us their Class D micro amp and 110 cab blows away an SVT and 810 Ampeg fridge....
[/quote]

I prefer the sound of my class D GK head and neo 2x12 to an SVT / 8x10

But then I prefer transistors to valves.

[dmccombe7 4,997]

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1487946224' post='3244444']
I have a big one which frequently makes the earth move... at least that's what my girlfriend tells me!

I'm here all week....
[/quote]

[markstuk 8]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1487969230' post='3244759']
I've had the 8 10 Ampeg backlined for me at a few shows.

To be honest it doesn't seem anything like the SVT I purchased in 1972. Disappointed

Blue
[/quote]

Ears broken by time ? 😀

[blue 5]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1488016130' post='3244995']


Ears broken by time ? 😀
[/quote]

No, IMO, I think it's more like, " they don't make them like they use to."

Blue

Edited February 25, 2017 by blue

[Beer of the Bass 324]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1488023396' post='3245095']


No, IMO, I think it's more like, " they don't make them like they use to."

Blue
[/quote]

I've read that they've changed the speakers in them several times over the years, and some are much darker sounding than the old ones were. So there may well be a lot of them out there as hire stock that don't sound like your old one.
The last time I had the chance to use an SVT/8x10 setup I had to cut the lows and boost the highs way more than I expected, but it was a lot of fun to play through once I'd done that.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Beer of the Bass

[cheddatom 939]

I've played through the classic ampeg rig a couple of times when it's provided as shared backline. I've always found them very muddy and have to ask for bass in the monitors to compensate. Now I gig without an amp, and depending on the monitors at the venue, I get a better sound than ever.

[owen 1,494]

There was a time in my life when I was in a situation where backline was provided. Lots of SVT rigs. Great when it was plug and play. Horrific when I had to set them up. A flightcased SVT head went straight to the bottom of my list of things I wanted after lifting one. What was really interesting was that in one venue the head was dead so they found a spare PA side fill and put me through that and I discovered an extra octave of LF that was just not there with the SVT the night before. Obviously this could have been for all sorts of reasons (acoustics, EQ etc) but it killed my SVT lust stone dead. I still have large stacks of speaker lust, but that is a different thing.

[mike257 261]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1487938870' post='3244340']
And carrying a flight-cased SVT and flight-cased 810 is something that should be avoided. Trust me.
[/quote]

One of my regular clients tours an SVT CL head. It's one of the smallest boxes in the van, but it's the only one I won't try and lift on my own! Absolute killer.

[Jus Lukin 3,098]

I don't think I've ever had proper quality time with an 8x10! It's always been hired or shared kit on multi-band bills, so I've never had much time to acclimatise, or even tweak settings at the amp. It's just plug 'n' go and hope for the best. Of those I can recall, the best fit was an Ashdown- guess the guy must have set things close to how I would. The worst were a super bright scooped sound which was a bit extreme for what I needed (rackmount SVT of some sort), and an SVT CL which obviously had the gain too high for my bass, so was a farty mess. We had to wait silently behind a curtain while the act before us did their thing, so I had no gauge of what to expect until the first note of the show.

Common factors were the greater clarity from having the speakers better placed to actually hear what was going on, a certain low-mid fullness, and the surprising lack of sub-bass. Despite appearances they're not ultra-low bowel emptiers, but a column of tight, punchy enclosures. I know I want more of it, if only to have time to actually explore the voicing properly in context, but there's little real-world call for it in my current playing situations. And I live in a second floor flat...

[chris_b 4,319]

[quote name='julesb' timestamp='1487891775' post='3244042']
Played through an Ampeg 8x10 last night....
[/quote]
Good aren't they? Nothing like them but pretty impractical unless you're playing stadiums or employ roadies. Like trying to do the weekly supermarket shop or a run to the dump in an Aston Martin One-77.

[Dan Dare 1,923]

I don't think it's the Ampeg per se, but the 8x10 configuration that works so well. The rehearsal room I use has a Peavey 8x10 with the larger world tour head and that has that effortless oomph, too.

[BrunoBass 978]

One of the bands that shares our rehearsal space leaves their Ampeg SVT and 8x10 there. I'd never touch it without asking permission as that'd be very poor form, but by God I'm tempted!

[The fasting showman 46]

Around 15 years ago I owned an MTI SVT head and an early '70s one, prior to marriage and being a parent etc. I briefly had an Ampeg 810 (maybe early '90s, nothing exotic) but had to switch to a 410hlf. To my ears the 410 didn't suit the head at all, just my opinion.
The whole experience of SVT ownership didn't work out for me, well and truly got it out of my system; they can sound fantastic in other people's hands though, I guess that's the lesson. It was an overkill in the bands I used it in, the sound just seemed to go straight past me, no fun whatsoever and wasted on me.
Now a GK800rb into an SVT 810 to me is a great combination, one of my favourite rigs I've played through, all our tastes are different so doubtless people will disagree. I wonder if Bob Gallien designed it around the SVT cab. I remember as a kid seeing people using Acoustic 370s through SVT 810 and assuming (stupidly!) that they were cheapskates that couldn't afford an SVT head! Having heard an 800rb through one I bet a 370 would really compliment it, I've seen Anthony Jackson using the 370 /SVT setup in the early '80s on DVD.
I've owned an SVT 810 and Ashdown Mag 810 and didn't find lugging them around too bad despite being an 11 stone, 5 ft 7 weakling, easier than a wide 410 any day. Just tilt it into your boot, all fairly easy.
Martin

Edited February 28, 2017 by The fasting showman

[itsmedunc 707]

[quote name='Geddys nose' timestamp='1487893049' post='3244050']
I picked a Ashdown Mag 8x10 up for £60 recently, Knocks my BF Big Twin into a cocked hat IMO for tone and spread but weighs 65 Kg. Always had Ampeg Fridges and only sold them due to the weight.

I'm looking for a Lightweight version and will probably sell the BF.
[/quote]

+1 for the Ashdown Mags. Great cabs but need a van just for the bass gear...

[markstuk 8]

[quote name='itsmedunc' timestamp='1488314768' post='3247889']
+1 for the Ashdown Mags. Great cabs but need a van just for the bass gear...
[/quote]

Geddys Nose is now one of the few people I know with a 16x10 rig :-)

[itsmedunc 707]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1488316708' post='3247924']


Geddys Nose is now one of the few people I know with a 16x10 rig :-)
[/quote]

And two vans!

[cetera 1,590]

[quote name='The fasting showman' timestamp='1488311520' post='3247833']
Now a GK800rb into an SVT 810 to me is a great combination, one of my favourite rigs I've played through, all our tastes are different so doubtless people will disagree[/quote]

THIS...... a great combination!

[bassbiscuits 1,238]

I used to own an Ashdown 8x10, and did a couple of summer festivals this year using Ampeg 8x10 and either an Orange Ad200 or Ampeg SVT head.

I agree- the sound/feel was divine, but the size/weight is ludicrous.

I sold the Ashdown 8x10 after getting fed up with trying to lug it up the steps to my house at 2am after a gig... it did make your trousers flap tho.

[inthedoghouse 299]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1487931201' post='3244203']
Or a 410 & 210? Pretty near it and I`ve always had good results when playing through these set-ups,
[/quote]Yep, +1 on this

[E sharp 215]

I've never played through an Ampeg 810 , but the rehearsal room we use in Ipswich , has an Eden 810 XLT (a quite rare and discontinued cab) , all driven by an old Ampeg V4B .

Absolutely superb .

Guy is selling up , and keeps asking if I want to buy it . He he . If it was 610 XLT I'd be all over it , but the 810 is just that bit too impractical

[ivansc 20]

I used to use a 2x18" rig years ago. Still have the truss somewhere at he back of a wardrobe.
Only every used an Ampeg rig once - in a big hall, so I did get the full trouser-flapping goodness of it all.
I actually prefer playing just through a really good FOH with decent side fills.
And then there is the weight issue....

Edited March 4, 2017 by ivansc

[thodrik 592]

I always love getting a chance to play through an 8x10 a rehearsals. For me it isn't so much the enormous sound capacity, more the brilliant spread of sound from head to toe even at modest volume settings. I wouldn't buy one myself as most of the time I am lugging about my own gear by myself.