Ampeg SVT-IV Pro

All I need and much more. My favorite feature on this power monster is the many different setup modes. I often use my mine biamped to send all of the lows to 1x15" SWR Son of Bertha while keeping my 4x10" SWR Goliath III 4x10" full-range when playing in more quiet settings, but when I play loud, I rock it in dual mono (full range through both cabs) Also, I really dig the tube/solid state aspect.

I absolutely love the sound I am getting. The SVT-4 gives any player the ability to tune into virtually any tone imaginable. From bassy lows to hyper-bright pop, the SVT-4's got it. The only amp I would like to try out before giving this head a 10 is the SWR SM-1500 (I love their cabs, but I haven't really gotten the chance to try out any of their larger heads along with my SWR cabs.)

Here's where I have a problem. One night while playing a very coveted and important gig, one whole channel simply conched out leaving me with just one side of the amp operating correctly. The guy running my band's sound told me that he immediately noticed something wrong about the same time that I did. Luckily, it was late into the gig and I only had 2 or 3 songs left for the night, but as you could imaging, I was highly pissed. After taking the cab to a certified Ampeg technician, I found out that two of the mosfets in channel B had shorted out. I had it repaired for about $200.00 and since then(about 5 months ago), she has worked just fine. However I must say in Ampeg's defense, the club in which I was playing that night obviously had some electrical grounding issues. I say this because during some of the heavier songs my band played that night, the lights in the club were dimming and I was not using a surge protector or a power conditioner (I know,... dumb). Still, because of this incident I am constantly nervous while playing loud ever since.

Immediately after the aforementioned incident, I called Ampeg's customer service department and they gave me the name of the certified technician who performed the repair needed. The guy i spoke with was obviously Jamaican and was pretty cool, but then again, I obviously would like to never need customer support.

I've been playing for about 13 years and this is my favorite amp so far. However, if it were stolen, I would definitely look into the SWR SM-1500 since I love their products.

Ampeg SVT 4 Pro made in USA.
It has 2 power amps and 1 all tube preamp.
All kinds of EQ, mid selector, Ultra LOW, Ultra HIGH, BRIGHT just about everything you need if you're a serious knob tweaker (I am not)
It has a mute button effects loop and so many outs its not even funny.
The power rating is said to be 1600 watts max - I belive that... I play some pretty large shows (over 2000 people) and if I had another cab, I may not even need the PA's help.... yea.... it loud...

I used 2 different basses mainly; a Musicman Sabre and a custom vintage Fender P bass. Both sound great through this thing. A lot of people ***** and moan about ampeg amps coloring the sound, and I would have to say yes they do... Guess what though... it colors the sound BRILIANTLY... yes... Its fat, meaty, and yet defined. It could be slightly more transparent, but I'm tellin you, that sound you've been looking for? Yeah, this has it... that wonderful Ampeg in-your-face punch... I play roots based music (blues/jazz/funk) with modern twists. I run this though an SVT 610HLF and every note sounds great. Would probably sound better through an 810, but a 610 will actually fit into my car, whereas an 810 you need a helicopter to move around...

It's an Ampeg man... You can light it on fire, throw it down a staircase (I actually knew someone who threw theirs down a staircase), and it will still work like nothing happened... Made in the USA does mean something still...

I've never dealt with customer service. I've had this amp for almost five years now and not even a preamp tube has gone bad. I play out at least twice a week and practice at home nearly everyday. Nothing bad so far (knock on wood).

Ampeg just makes great sounding, reliable gear, period. Anyone who would complain about the SVT 4 pro either A) does not know what he/she is doing (probably some former guitar player) or B) sux so bad that even ampeg can't make them sound good... A lot of your sound comes from your hands people... its not ampegs fault!!! Overall, if something happened to this amp, I might try something lighter (it is almost 50lbs!). All in all however, I would probably end up buying another one. Heres a tip; buy one used if you can find one, they are reliable as hell.

THIS THING IS A MONSTER, I PLAY EVERYTHING FROM METAL TO SMOOTH JAZZ. I RUN TWO OF THESE THINGS WITH SONIC MAXIMISERS. THEY POWER 16 10s and 2 15s ALL AMPEG CABINETS OF COURSE. I ALSO RUN IT MONO BRIDGED AND IT MAKES THUNDER. EVERYTHING IS RACK MOUNTED WITH ROAD READY FANS.

THE SOUND IS AWESOME, I PLAY FENDERS, SCHECLERS, AND MUSIC MAN BASSES. EVERYTHING SOUNDS AWESOME. DEPENDING ON WHAT YOUR PLAYING, YOU CAN DIAL THIS AMP VERY WARM FOR THAT SMOOTH JAZZ SOUND OR YOU CAN PUNCH IT FOR THAT METAL SOUND, AND TRUST ME..YOU WILL HEAR EVERY NOTE.

ITS AN AMPEG......

NEVER NEEDED IT

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR YEARS, WHEN I FIRST STARTED PLAYING IN THE 70s I USED A SUNN, THEN SWITCHED TO GALLEN KUGGER. THEY ARE GOOD AMPS ALSO, BUT WHEN I USED AN AMPEG IN THE STUDIO, I WAS HOOKED. I LOVE THIS AMP, DONT LISTEN TO NEG. COMMENTS, GO TO YOUR MUSIC STORE AND PLUG ONE IN. GO WITH WHAT WORKS FOR YOU, IT MAY NOT BE AMPEG, BUT ITS WHAT WORKS FOR ME.

2006- all kinds of shit on this amp...

I use a fender areodyne bass in "c".
has the low end for sure and the power. I use it in mono/bridge with a 8-10AV and i have to say it over heats like as ass..even though the manual says to run it mono with an 8-10..needs to be stero with 2 8-10's and i think it would sound better and not cut out nor shut down.i can get i dirty sound buti need to put the gain on 2:00 oclock and the master on about 11:00..but the gain cannot go any louder...starts to cut out.

I am getting rid of it after only 3 months use..why?? over heats and shuts down.. Played 3 shows and it would shut down for about 10 sec and play then again shut down...I'm lookin into the sct classin or vr 70's instead...I like the dirty sound of tunes and shoud of went with a all tune head...oh did i mention that i was told by git techs to take it out of the flight case becuase of the over heatin..its a rack mount head??hello..its supposed to be in a case..i was pissed that the air grills are on the side. were no air flow is casue if the case..stupid..i think ampeg needs to make the fan front to back..

i'm dealin with a dealer..for a trade in..going to lose some money on it since i paid 1400 new .now its months old..they will take as a trade in.

been playing bass over 10 years..all kinds of bands..punk,rock,,hard-core.this amp has the power..just need to deal with the coolin of this amp(i.e. buy a fan and mount on it)if this amp was lost or stolen..good...to many problems not the sound i wanted
i love that this thing can make you crap your pants with all the power but sound is just ok...
If your lookin at buying this amp make sure to play it loud and long to make sure it wont shut down..also i think its more for funk/jazz/players not rock/heavey ass music.
I regret buyin this amp..for the couple hundred dollars more you can get the classic and for a couple hundred more you can get the 70's vr
you pay for what you get..and thats the truth!!

If you're reading this, you know all the features. More than you'll ever really need, but once you get it, you'll spend a few days playing with all the buttons and knobs and learn to love them all. The bi-amp is awesome once you figure it out. If you've got the right cabs, it's amazing the difference it can make. The mute button rocks. Nice thing to have. Personally, if I were to redesign it, I'd put the tubes in front and light them up. They are in there somewhere, but I can't see em!

Ahhh, gentlemen. Welcome to paradise.

This thing rocks. I've been playing for around 15 years and played through a LOT of stuff. I've tried it all at one point or another, from exotic to cheap and crappy. It's one of those things where us bass players always are looking for THAT sound. It's like golfers who always want to try new clubs. We're guys, thats what we do. We always think the grass is greener somewhere else.

And I was like that with bass equipment. I went through over a dozen different basses over the years till I found The Red Ric (my demon possessed red Rickenbacker 4003). For me, that bass is the last one I'll ever buy. If found The Sound. No need to even look any more.

And last night, I got my hands on the SVT 4Pro. I played an outdoors gig at a big ranch this morning and that was it. I found it.

This thing just plain overwhelms you. The sound is so sweet and fat that when you play at normal bearable levels that you dont think it can eat you alive. Then you get it outside and crank it up and... get the hell out of the way. It's a beast. It punches you in the chest and makes your head swim. It takes over everything and rumbles with no mercy.

I loved the sound of my Ric before on a fairly powerful but cheapo amp (dont ask) until the Thrown Together In China amp blew it's own brains out at a gig. But when I really let the SVT-4 cut loose, then I discovered what it really means to feel every note you play. To hell with monitors. To hell with PA. This thing punches you in the chest with every note. You adjust your playing style to a lighter touch, knowing every minute movement will thump you good.

The features really came in handy. I liked the fact that I could plug directly into the board and then adjust my output level from the head. Very cool.

I play through an Ampeg vintage SVT 410 and an SVT 118. I never see anyone use a 1-18, but I love mine. I figured out how to bi-amp the signal and cut the lower signal to the 18 and adjust the crossover to the 4-10. Once you find the best cutoff, you can then adjust the level balance between the two. VERY nice to be able to do that. I got a sound that was huge, deep, fat and punchy, all at the same time. Not an easy thing to do. I looked at getting into the Ampeg 810 and selling my current cabs, but I measured my car and figured it wouldnt fit. I can pick up both my cabs so it's probably better to stick to what I have. And who knows if anything can get as deep as that 18. It's off the charts deep and the SVT can whip it like a bad dog.

Guys, if you want a totally amazing bass playing experience, plug a 410 and a 118 into an SVT4. You may never produce children again, but who cares. You cant go wrong with this amp! All hail Ampeg!

Just bought it used. Paid $800 for it and it looks to be in perfect shape. I played for 3 hours at high volume today in Texas and it was flawless. We'll see.

No personal experience with Ampeg yet.

This is The Amp. Period. No need to try anything else again. Lot's of amps sound nice in the store, but when you get into a situation where you've got a lot of people in front of you in a huge, open air area and you want to punch them with a big, fat, wet wallop of bass, you need the SVT4.

I tried the SVT-CL and really liked it. I liked the old school looks and history and such, but the 80 lbs of heft on my old back and the $300 retube costs made me give the SVT4 a serious look. But once I compared the two together, over the same cabs, I like the sound of the SVT4 better. Not to mention the cool features, the lower cost and the 40 pound savings. For the money, I dont think you can find a better amp.

I mean, once you really let this thing cut loose, it's a little scary. For the first time, I had to wear earplugs because of my bass. Not the guitar or harmonica or drums. I needed plugs beacuse of the BASS. And even with ear plugs, I heard every nuance of every note with big, gut punching power.

Go buy one. And Ampeg should send me a free t-shirt for being so eloquent about thier equipment!

MY amp was made in 1991. I love the fre adjustment i like number 5 the best. You can do what ever you want with this amp

I use a shector elite. It hase emg hz's inside and I have got lot of complaments on my tone. i use the compression at first and then deciced to turn it of to give my bass lines more dinamics. After doing this the amp became way louder.

I do not have a back up for this amp. If you set it up right it will last for years. First do not get a skb case for it or any kind of plastic case. Get a old wooden rack case. The reason you need wood is there are no vent in the back or the front of the amp. I have holes drilled in the side of my case right next to the vents. If you have over heating problems this is probaly why. It is very reliable. I work in a pawn shop and I had a man come in to buy a bck up head for his svt. I asked why do you need a back up. he had ran over his svt with his suburban after a show and guess what it still worked and he needed a back up for peace of mind

never had to talk to ampeg

I have been playing for about 10 years and this amp rocks. I really hate how heavy this beast is. If it was stolen I would try to get a new one but I work in a pawn shop so I would honestly let fate decide

This amp was made in 2006 and bought new.
I won't bore you with the exact details of what it does because you probably already know it specs. If not go to Ampeg.com and read up on it. About the only feature I wish it had is a wet/dry mix control for the effects loop. You can bypass the effects loop which is great but just make sure you experiment with this because the volume may be different with it on verses off.

I use an Ampeg 410HLF speaker cabinet which has the extended frequency range and this amp can drive the lower notes with east, even down to D or C if you want to go that low. However I found out the supplied speaker cable with the map is used for by-amp mode only which means I???m using 1200 watts into my 500 watt speaker cabinet. Can you say overkill not to mention the possibility of damage to your speaker cabinet!

I had to go and get a ???Speakon??? cable (highly recommended) for the non-biamp side or Side ???A??? if you will. The 4PRO has 2 amps??? side A @ 490 watts and side B @ 490 watts (for stereo or mono if you only use one side), and in bi-amp mode (mono only) will produce 1200 watts continuous. If you get the speaker cable for stereo side A or B you will have greater control over the amps volume if you are running into a speaker cabinet that can???t handle 1200 watts that this thing can dish out.

This amp has tube preamp with Mosfet solid state power amp and it sounds very tight. I have used this in a room about 50x120 in a church with high ceilings and loads of carpet and big bean-bags (high school room) and there is ???no way??? I can turn it up or I???m rattling the rafters. I play at about 30-35% volume in that room and I can cut through all three guitarists and drums without ???booming??? the place.

I have an Ibanez SR 800 and it sounds really nice through this amp. I have not use any other basses so I can???t comment on that aspect. I did play this setup at Guitar Center with other basses but you all should know by now how terrible that type of atmosphere can be to try out basses or amps. I did like, however, how a fretless sounded through it at GC for what that???s worth. The variable fan on the amp seems a bit loud when you are next to it but I don???t know of anyone who will be sitting next to the fan output when my band is playing so it???s really a non-issue. I have played very bright for some funky sounds and very warm and mellow when I???m trying to emulate a fretless sound on my fretted bass.

The bypass for the effects is great because I can get rid of the slight hiss coming from my pedals when I???m not using them. I can also set my EQ to a different sound quality and turn it on and off via foot pedal during a song to change my sound which happens in some chorus sections when I want to boost up and brighten my sound. I have pushed the limits of my speaker cabinet and the sound has stayed clean all the way to the top but more important to me is how clean it sounds and low volumes. I also play cords and harmonics with is easy to hear and doesn???t get muddy sounding. So for you guys who like to tap, hammer and thumb you will be pleased.

I have also layered loads of sounds using my Lexicon Jamman and stomp boxes and the sound stayed clean and tight. However, part of that is the wide frequency range of my Ampeg 410HLF cabinet.

I can???t say much about reliability because I???ve only had this amp for 2 months. Nuff said.

I can???t say anything about customer support because I have not needed it. <grin> I received the standard factory warranty. Just so you all know, your receipt is your factory warrenty.

So after 2 whole months I???m very happy, my guitarists are happy because I have a clean sound and our sound guy is happy because he can take a direct out to our mixer or house amp and control my levels if needed. But they can also hear my mistakes now.

Just so you know, I started with a Bassman 100 (1972) and it was nice but a beast to haul around. It also didn???t give me very much flexibility in my sound but it was warmer sound. I then got a SWR Workingman???s 12 for a practice amp. The tweater blew in no time and it never gave me the sound I was looking for even when miked through a mixer or house amp. I use a Bass squeeze, Bass chorus, Bass digidelay, Digitech BP8, and a Lexicon Jamman.

Overall this is a very nice amp, but please when you compare this to other amps, always remember the amp is only a part of the equation for YOUR overall sound. I took my personal bass into GC to test this amp and speaker and then tested other combinations of amps and speakers. I was not interested in a combo so I didn???t go that route. Then I went to several bass amp dealers and tried there stuff out and took my lead guitarist with me. He played my bass so I could step back and hear from a distance.

If ever stolen, I'll catch the idiot, then use all 1200 watts to fry his hearing before I call the police. Then calmly I will take my amp drop it on his head... oops and then get a new one.

For me this rates a 10 for features - tube preamp, solid state power amp, great semi parametric mid, switchable graphic, compression (I rarely use), bi-amp capable with adjustable crossover, pre or post pre-amp low impedance output for recording. If you like load stage sound, ya won't need to run this into the house sound at gigs. This prevents the sound guy from screwin' up yer sound and making it all muddy like.

Some have said it does not have enough power or does not have as much as the SVT all-tube deal. This is pure nonsense. I have a well maintained 1969 SVT (blue front panel markings) and it is deafening with enough speakers connected to it. However this SVT IV Pro kicks the living s__t out of it provided there are enough high quality cabinets connected at the correct resistance and the graphic is set up to match the cabinets frequency range. This last item is real important since this thing is capable of a much wider frequency range than most single cabinets can handle.

I have 9 basses but the ones I use the most through this are a Spector Euro CR-4 (with EMG's & the tone pump thing), 2000 Fender Jazz US, Fender Jazz 5 with preamp, 1973 Fender Precision and a 1990 Kubicki ExFactor fretless. All of them sound great through this head. For cabinets I use 2 SWR Goliath III's or, for lower volume practicing, a single Avatar B210 with Delta 10B's. I play mostly rock & blues based rock.

Some have complained about the sound quality from this unit. You cannot run this through some POS cabinet and get good sound. If you are going to use professional grade equipment, the whole sound chain has to be professional grade, not just the head. Otherwise it's sorta like having an impacted rectum - lots of pressure but nothing much comes out :-P. I use 2 SWR Goliath III's because the Ampeg refrigerators are a PIA to transport however, they sound really awesome - better than my SWR's - with this unit.

As I mentioned under "Features", you need to adjust the graphic to match the cab's frequency range. My 2 SWR cab's low end tapers off pretty steeply at around 55 or 60 cycles. This head will put out right down to only a few cycles per second and there is no sense putting that into the cabinets. Besides, you can't hear it (below audible range) so it's just wasting power and killing the speakers. F'rinstance, if I turn up the gain a little and pull the E string on my bass back and forth at about 4 or 5 cycles per second, the speakers will follow the string movement. If I turn it up a little more I can bring the speakers to the end of their cone travel (XMax). While this is OK at lower volumes, I find that by cutting the 33hz slider and boosting the 80hz slider, I get thunderous, weapons-of-mass-destruction type power while maintaining high quality sound. It also mixes much better with the band and people can actually hear what notes I play. Of course, to some, this may be a disadvantage :-)

This amp has never let me down and I like to play chest-pounding loud stage volumes. Even when practicing at home, my furniture moves around. I keep this in an Ampeg rack case with both sides vented. The amp is still in excellent condition but case is pretty marked up. The only maintenance I have done is to open the top and blow the dust out of the case.

I've had this for about 3 years and decided to not review it right away because of all the negative reviews. Now I have to conclude that those reviews are due to either buying a previously miss-used head or the reviewer did not have enough sense to keep the air vents unblocked and run proper speaker cabinet/load configurations. The only thing I can fault Ampeg for is not realizing the uh,...how you say?...non-cerebralness of some customers and not putting flashing neon signs on the case warning not to block the air vents and read the instructions regarding speaker load. So I have to give it a 9.

I have only dealt with Ampeg after they were bought by Loud Technologies. I had emailed a question about my 69 SVT and I got a helpful response very quickly. I have never had to get the SVT IV Pro repaired so in all fairness I don't have an opinion about customer support. Having said that, don't you think customer support starts with building a good product to begin with?

I've been playing bass about 38 years and have gone through a lot of amps. This is the best in my opinion. It is not exactly the same sound as my '69 SVT but it is real close. The main difference is that the '69 starts to break up in the power amp at high volumes and clips off the low frequencies, this thing does not. If you like Ampeg's SVT sound and want huge volume, I highly recommend this head with the following caveats:
1) Don't buy used, get a new unit. The previous owner may not have been able to figure it out.
2) Read the manual. Learn for yourself about electrical resistance (ohms), there is plenty of stuff on the internet. I have come across lots of musicians and techs that claim they understand but do not.

Stacks of features that we all know about. I believe this amp was made within the last couple of years.
1600 watts? I'm not so sure about that but its as loud as an SVT2PRO.

A wide range of music and styles.
If you've used Ampeg before then you know what this amp sounds like.
BUT....there is a huge lack of punch no matter what cabs or speaker configuration I use. Plenty of power yes but sometimes this thing does'nt cut through and can sound soggy.

Has been a very reliable backup when my main amp has been in the shop.

I used to rate SLM very highly but my very recent dealings with them convinces me that they really don't care about their overseas customer base.

25yr plus career. I've used amps by all the major manufacturers.
Ampeg has definitely started to slide into bad territory in opinion.
I could by a ten year old Ampeg that would cream what they make today, and the customer service back then was up there too.
Instead of looking for ways to save money (ie by sourcing the electronics manufacture to China etc)they should be getting their house in order back home.

Stacks and stacks, way too many for my use.

Having used every tube head Ampeg ever made, I was curious as to how this thing would sound.
Well you definitely know your using an Ampeg but one with a modern glassy slant on the tone.
Despite all its features and no matter what combination of speakers I put this amp through, there is a lack of basic punch in its sound.
As for people saying its not loud enough....Its not going to produce 1600 watts through a 2x10 or 4x10 is it?
Plenty of volume in this amp.

I've used this lots whilst my Boogie 400+ was in the repair shop.
No problems at all.

My opinion of Ampeg customer support was once very high but due to an issue with some other Ampeg gear I own, they can now f**k off.
I've spent months going round in circles with these people.
Its not good enough.

25 years plus playing time.
I love my big tube amps but this little thing will do for a spare.