Svt or v4 for bass?

[bl6cks6bb6th]

I recently bought a 70s v4 head that was misadvertised as a svt blue line so now im not sure whether i should keep it or get a svt.

Im just a bassist looking for that "legendary" ampeg sound

Which do you prefer?

[Hangman]

The SVT is definitely the amp more people associate with the classic ampeg sound. The preamp of the v4 and SVT are pretty similar. But the power section is where the difference gets made.

V4 breaks up more abruptly, and has a more compressed sound. The SVT tends to have a more gradual break up, it breathes a bit more.

To me the v4 always sounds too aggressive for bass,

[neddyboy]

++ to what Hangman said. Depends on what you're after. I play a bass through a V4B BUT it's a short scale midrange-heavy bass and I like lots of overdrive in a punk rock sort of way. If I try to play a p-bass through the V4B with its lower lows, the V4B doesn't have the oomph to amplify low bass. To much distortion at low volume. If you want more headroom go SVT.

[Hangman]

Thats a good point, I didn't even think of the perceived frequency response.

I will say that I modified a V4B to have a more SVT-like power section, meaning that I got rid of a lot of the negative feedback and it definitely softened up and the bass was more prominent. But it still didn't have the headroom of the SVT.