alex maiolo wrote:A G-K is a great bass amp. SVTs rule. They are ENTIRELY different amps.

Unless you are playing at great clubs with non-retarded soundpeople every show, I don't think a vintage SVT and a good GK800RB sound that different in a live setting. In a recording environment, they definitely do, sure..

I have 2 1X15's with EV15ML 400 watts speakers in them. It really is negotiable the difference in stage sound between SVT and GK 800RB when I have done side by side comparisons. It's not like we are comparing SWR to Peavey. Or David Eden to Crate. The 800RB in my opinion is the solid state copy of a tube magnavox-era SVT. GK did a better job making a solid state SVT than Ampeg did!

It could be argued you'll get more treble/hi mid cutting through out of the GK. Likewise, you'll get more enveloping presence and lo-mids with the SVT. Still, I think even the most discerning geek in the audience isn't going to notice the difference between the two if you switched heads mid show at most crappy clubs.

Humidity present in the ambient air of the club would likely play more of a factor on how the audience receives your bass sound than the difference in sound between these two bass heads.

I'd never take the SVT on the road without a roadie to help me move it. And why kill $600 worth of tubes playing night after night on a tour where no one's really gonna notice how punchy and deep your sound is anyway? Just my two cents. GK 800RB is the way to go for touring.

mr.arrison wrote:I'd never take the SVT on the road without a roadie to help me move it. And why kill $600 worth of tubes playing night after night on a tour where no one's really gonna notice how punchy and deep your sound is anyway? Just my two cents. GK 800RB is the way to go for touring.

My bass player eventually started leaving the SVT at home, going to Guitar Center, buying the GK, and returning it at the end of tour.

I'd like to second or third all the mentions of the Ampeg V4 and the Gallien Krueger.

I recently purchased a V4b from a young man living with his parents in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC. This is the best piece of gear I have ever purchased. You can get a good variety of tone out of this heavy beast.

It is also much louder than I expected. It has 6550's right now, which from what I've read would make the wattage around 120 (if properly biased)instead of around 100.

The Gallien Krueger 400 RB served me so well for three years and somewhere around 200 gigs. I never once had a problem with this head. It is indestructible and sounds really swell.

As far as the speaker cabinet choice. . . I have played a 4x10 cabinet with the occasionaly dips into the 8x10 world when I played with USS Horsewhip and when we've played festivals with a bass cab everyone is supposed to use. I liked the tone out of the large cabinet, but moving it was a pain.

My 4x10 is plenty loud for what I do, and was loud enough playing against two half-stacks in Horsewhip.

I have three big bass amps.

1. Mesa 400+: I like it because it is loud, and fairly reliable. I use it live and it sounds great. I don't like having to worry about the dozen tubes in it though. I've had one of them go out right before a show, and that was embarrassing. The tone is good though.

2. 1971 SVT: Everything that has been said about the SVT is true. I bought this one because I wanted to sound like the Rolling Stones, and I read somewhere that Bill Wyman used one back then. The tone, reliability is great, this one doesn't leave the house/studio. Only once and a while.

3. Trace-Elliot RAH 400 SMX: I use this one for all live playing. Solid State, so no breaking down, and this is the one that gets the tone that I like the easiest. I can use it as a Preamp, and run the signal into the Mesa for some loud tone.

4. Ampeg B-15: I bought this on my Jamerson kick. It sounds cool, and the whole portaflex idear is cool. Just not loud enough to keep up with the 2 half-stacks.

5. Rackmount shit (Trace GP-12 pre, (2)Crown 1000's, Furman Power Conditioner, Korg Tuner, ART ADA-1, IVP, a dbx 166, and BBE maximiser): Yeah, this rack hasnt been opened in like 2-3 years, and I have all that crap for no reason. I want to sell out the parts, but that was the last thing that my mom bought for me.

All this stuff goes into an SWR Goliath Sr., an Ampeg SVT 8x10, or 2 Dietz 15", an Mesa 4x10 and Mesa 2x10". I use the 6x10 almost always.

I've used almost every type of amp listed on this thread so far and while I can't say anything bad about the SVT, V4b, RB-400 & 800 in terms of their tones I'm really glad I don't use them anymore. In fact, at this point I can't see myself ever using a head/ cab set up again. Too much hassle for what it's worth.

Enough of the shows that my band plays have a decent p.a. system which renders the bass amp's volume a secondary concern at best. In that light it makes it completely useless for me to drag around a huge bass rig. All I need is something capable of producing a good sound that can be fed through the p.a. and provide me enough stage volume to perform.

For about the last year I've been using a pair of Ampeg B-100R combo amps and depending on the demands of the particular show I may only bring one of them out. I can sling my gig bag over my shoulder, pick up an amp in each hand and make one trip from the car to the venue and be done with it. Yes, the car. My entire rig now fits in the trunk of my car. Back when I was using a head with either a 2x15 or 2 4x10's I barely fit all my stuff in a single car, now it all fits in the trunk.

Maybe I'm getting more practical in my older years or just lazier, but I highly recommend to everyone that ever asks my opinion on a amp that they get the best sounding easiest to transport set up they possibly can. Be realistic about it, if the biggest type of room you regularly play is the bar down the street and they have a decent p.a., then there is no point in trying to recreate The Dead's wall of sound or John Entwistle's towering bass rigs from days of old. Those are extreme examples but you know what I'm getting at.