Ampeg SVT II Pro peak LED

[GainFreak]

Hi,

I have an SVT II Pro for preamp tubes replacement and when testing it with a regular guitar I noticed that the peak LED would start lighting up with the Gain at noon. Is that normal and at what settings it is expected to do that?

[Enzo]

It isn't about settings, it is about how large the signal is. After all you can turn the gain DOWN and turn the guitar UP and arrive at the same loudness.

[J M Fahey]

That, and also:in general distortion is avoided in Bass amps, VERY easy to get into farting area quickly, so they go an extra step to show it from the very beginning.

On guitar? .... be my guest

FWIW a Fender Twin is considered a"clean" amp, go figure.
Hook a scope across speaker out when playing at rehearsal-Club levels and get ready to be horrified ... serious .... yet nobody complains.

YouŽll do fine, trust your ears more than the Clip Led.

An Ampeg SVT will get ear splitting bone crushing LOUD with Guitar without breaking a sweat.

[Jazz P Bass]

The schematic indicates an 11mv input signal.
At that you can expect a 25 v signal at the cathode of V3A.
From there it goes to the peak led.

[GainFreak]

Actually there are several more sources (1M/33-47k voltage dividers) for the peak signal marked "P" before the CF going to the MPSA13 base.

[Mick Bailey]

I've had lots of questionable moments when testing bass amps with a regular guitar, so use the guitar as a rough and ready check and I've never had any problems or amps returned. Guitar signal levels and dynamics can be very misleading and lead you to think something is wrong when it isn't. If I have a bass in for repair all the better for testing, but I don't own a bass. So, a guitar and signal generator is mainly what I use.