BeZo
Well-known member
The Ampeg SVT 2 Pro has been my main bass amp for the past decade. I recently sold my SVT 3 Pro that I used as a backup because I have the big boy, the SVT Classic as a backup. For rock and fill in gigs (my stint in Radian) I used the Classic. It fit the roll and the gigging situation better, as I didn't want to bring a rack to those gigs. Now that I'm playing g metal again, I'm back to the 2 Pro.
It blew up on me right after the pandemic. The tubes wore out and it went into fault mode. I retubed it, and it lasted 6 months or so before the same thing happened. I took it to a tech who said a proprietary part went bad and he couldn't replace it, but he did a bypass and got it running again. We were hoping it was all good, but the band disbanded by that point, so it just sat in the rack case.
I started using it with the band I joined with mixed results. It wasn't quite what it was, and then it went into fault mode again after a few practices. When I brought the Classic Head over, I realized that it was WAY louder than the 2 Pro. The CL did on 3 what the 2 Pro struggled to do on 9. They are supposed to be the same exact power section.
I just retubed the 2 Pro hoping it would come back to life, but it's still just the same as it was. I ran a set with it and smelled something like burning plastic and shut it down. I gotta take it somewhere to be checked out again.
What do I do if I can't get it running? Do I get another SVT 2 Pro? Do I go to a modeler and use a power amp for the cab? I want the SVT 2 Pro sound, and I got it out of the Helix stuff, and the Quad Cortex will do it. I'm at a loss.
It blew up on me right after the pandemic. The tubes wore out and it went into fault mode. I retubed it, and it lasted 6 months or so before the same thing happened. I took it to a tech who said a proprietary part went bad and he couldn't replace it, but he did a bypass and got it running again. We were hoping it was all good, but the band disbanded by that point, so it just sat in the rack case.
I started using it with the band I joined with mixed results. It wasn't quite what it was, and then it went into fault mode again after a few practices. When I brought the Classic Head over, I realized that it was WAY louder than the 2 Pro. The CL did on 3 what the 2 Pro struggled to do on 9. They are supposed to be the same exact power section.
I just retubed the 2 Pro hoping it would come back to life, but it's still just the same as it was. I ran a set with it and smelled something like burning plastic and shut it down. I gotta take it somewhere to be checked out again.
What do I do if I can't get it running? Do I get another SVT 2 Pro? Do I go to a modeler and use a power amp for the cab? I want the SVT 2 Pro sound, and I got it out of the Helix stuff, and the Quad Cortex will do it. I'm at a loss.
I love the old school Ampeg stuff & if the svt 2 is your sound you could always get one through GC used & see if it has the magic. That gives you 45 days to put it through its paces. If you know the proprietary part you could always reach out to Encore in Dayton to see if they might have a spare/willing to work on it. Jeff has worked on & built all sorts of stuff throughout the years, & sometimes has parts laying around that you wouldn’t expect. A good friend of mine who plays bass for a few bands down here in Dayton just switched to the Darkglass Anagram for live use. If you do consider a modeler he highly recommends it. I hope you get things resolved brother. 
