SVT-3 Pro questions/issues...

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zed32

zed32

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Howdy everyone, it's been a really long time since my last post but i've been really busy (just recently became a small business owner :)) and haven't had much time for music lately.

anyway, i was lined up to do a gig yesterday and my old amp crapped out on me. it kept blowing fuses, so in a rush i headed for Guitar Center with very little time and ended up leaving with a used Ampeg SVT-3 Pro head that appeared to be in pretty good condition. unfortunately i didn't have time to try it out because i was in a monster rush, but i did get a warranty plan just in case it came out messed up.

so i plugged it in and had about 3 minutes to mess with the knobs and switches, not really knowing what does what, but it got the job done for the gig with me screwing around with the settings a lot between songs.

however, there were a couple of things i noticed that i'm not too sure are normal. first of all, i had the gain cranked up all the way before i started seeing the peak light come on. the bass i'm using is an older Ibanez model with active pickups, and on my old amp i'd usually start seeing the peak light come on with the gain at less than half way. so i don't know if this is something happening in the amp, or maybe the battery in my bass is running low? i tried it with a Fender USA J bass and also had to crank the gain all the way to get the peak light.

also, when i press the Mute button it makes a very loud POP/CRACK noise. so loud that i thought it was going to ruin my speakers. and i think i was getting pops on some of the other buttons too, but i'm not sure which. i don't think a mute button should make a huge POP when you press it, but i really don't know.

lastly, while at the gig, the amp would sometimes randomly make a short crackling noise. it wasn't my cable connection because i wiggled everything around to try and recreate the noise, but it wouldn't do it. but about every 5 minutes or so i would hear a slight crack. after playing around with the amp earlier today for quite a while, i didn't hear the noise again, so maybe it was just a fluke or something.

so my main concerns are the lack of input gain, and the loud POP noise on the mute button. i'm really hoping these things arent 'normal' on this amp, because it sounds pretty good otherwise. my experience with decent bass amps is very limited so any help you guys can offer is appreciated.

oh and my rig consists of the Ampeg SVT-3 Pro and Eden Nemesis NSP410 4ohm cabinet.

thanks! :cool:
 
the mute makes a pop when you hit it....at least my old one used to...haven't had it in 4 years :(

do you have the ohm loads matched?

I never had problems like this with mine, and it was out on the road for 3 years with me. let me know how it works out for you. I think it's one hell of a piece of gear for the money.
 
yeah the ohm loads are matched, the amp makes 450W at 4ohms and my cab is rated for 500W at 4ohms. that kinda sucks about the mute pop, but i noticed when i turn the Master volume down, it doesn't make such a loud pop....but then again what's the point of having a mute button if i have to turn down the master volume before i press it? :confused: :D


i'm gonna put a new battery in the bass tonight, and some new strings, and give it another shot. hopefully that's the reason the input gain is so low, or could it be the preamp tubes or something?
 
For the mute pop the only thing I can recommend trying is putting in a dropdown resistor going from the switch to ground. The crackling sounds like it could have been a grounding issue at the venue. The gain could be a lot of things. Could be a bad pot, the clipping circuit, some previous modification, etc. My recommendation is take it to a tech that you trust and have them give it a full checkup.
 
thanks for the advice. unfortunately i don't really know of any good techs in the area. most of the music shops around here suck ass. at the nearest music store to me, about 95% of their stock is all Behringer gear.

i didn't get a chance to play around with the amp today, but eventually i'll get it figured out i hope...
 
OK this is just an update...

i had another gig a while back and took the amp out to give it a shot. well it worked great for about 10 minutes, then i had the same problem with gain. when i first plugged it in and tried it out, it worked great and i was getting the peak light with the gain turned up almost 1/2 way. then suddenly it went back to the same old problem of me having to turn the input gain all the way up to get a strong signal. i didnt change any other settings on the amp or the bass itself.

well actually, i had just put a brand new battery in the bass itself, and when i first plugged it into the amp it worked great. do yout hink maybe something's wrong with the bass to where it's draining the battery too quickly? could something on the amp cause the battery in the bass to drain excessively? or is it a problem with the amp? i'm pretty confused by this problem. i guess i'll just take it in under warranty someday, but i have no time and GC is about a 45 minute drive from here...and i'm afraid if they send it in, it'll take months to get it back, then they'll tell me something's not covered and i'll be screwed....shit!
 
I've owned 3 SVT II Pro's, same thing with all of them, I needed to keep a small fan tucked in the back side of the flight case that the heads sat in or they'd get weird.
 
so you think it's a cooling issue? the head isn't even in a rack as of yet, it just sits on top of the cab. and the fan is definitely moving air. hmm
 
zed32 said:
so you think it's a cooling issue? the head isn't even in a rack as of yet, it just sits on top of the cab. and the fan is definitely moving air. hmm
Click to expand...
Stick a fan behind it and see what happens.
 
she's doing good. she just ate a chunk of ham i gave her for thanksgiving. aren't cats normally pretty picky eaters? my cat will eat absolutely anything. even fruits and vegetables. wierd...
 
zed32 said:
she's doing good. she just ate a chunk of ham i gave her for thanksgiving. aren't cats normally pretty picky eaters? ..
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Some. The last cat my girl had would eat peanuts, Frito's, anything.

Glad you gave her a good home. I'm sure she appreciates it, and probably doesn't show it. :) Fucking cats.
 
well i had some friends over last night for a little bit of Christmas Jam, and the Ampeg was working great.....a first.

same problem! it was working fine, i had the gain turned up less than half way and had plenty of juice, but then after about 10 minutes or so, it just went quiet. i had to crank up the gain again! hopefully i will have more time one of these days to test it out under more controlled circumstances and see if maybe it's a cooling issue or something. i just have no free time these days! it sucks.
 
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