AMPEG SVP-BSP Owner's Manual

2

Important Safeguards and Precautions:

All Ampeg products are designed for continuous safe operation, as long as common sense is used and steps are taken to
help avoid certain problems. Abiding by the following rules can help prevent damage to your preamp, yourself and others.

• The preamp is equipped with a three-pronged AC power cord. To reduce the risk of electrical shock, NEVER
remove or otherwise attempt to defeat the ground pin of the power cord.

• Connect the preamp ONLY to a properly grounded AC outlet of the proper voltage for your preamp.

• Avoid sudden temperature extremes, rain and moisture. Also, avoid sudden and intense impact. (If the pre-

amp has been subjected to any of the preceding abuses, have it looked at by an authorized service center.)

• Unplug the preamp before cleaning it. NEVER spray liquid cleaners onto the preamp. Wipe it with a slight-
ly dampened, lint-free cloth to remove dirt and film.

• Don’t use the preamp if it has sustained damage to the chassis, controls, or power cord. Refer the unit to
an authorized service center for inspection.

• When using tall or stacked speaker cabinets, use them ONLYon a level surface. NEVER set tall or stacked
cabinets on a surface with more than a five degree incline since tipping or falling could occur, possibly caus­ing serious injuries.

• NOTE: Amplifiers capable of producing high volume levels are also capable of inflicting permanent hearing
loss or damage, if the exposure to such levels is prolonged. Such damage is progressive and irreversible!

Caution is advised and ear protection is recommended when playing at extremely loud levels.

The chart below shows the U.S. Government Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations
which were in effect at the time of this publication for permissible noise exposure, per 29CRF1910, Table G-16.

According to OSHA, any exposure in excess of those listed above could result in some hearing loss.

CAUTION

RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

DO NOT OPEN

CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK,

DO NOT REMOVE COVER.

NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE.

REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.

ATTENTION

RISQUE D'ELECTROCUTION

NE PAS OUVRIR

ATTENTION: POUR REDUIRE D'ELECTROCUTION NE PAS

ENLEVER LE COUVERCLE. AUCUNE PIECE INTERNE N'EST REPRABLE

PAR L'UTILISATEUR. POUR TOUTE REPARATION, S'ADRESSER A UN

TECHNICIEN QUALIFIE.

VORSICHT

ELEKTRISCHE SCHLAGGEFAHR

NICHT OFFENEN

VORSICHT: ZUR MINIMIERUNG ELEKTRISCHER SCHLAGGEFAHR NICHT

DEN DECKEL ABENHMEN. INTERNE TEILE KONNEN NICHT VOM

BENUTZER GEWARTET WERDEN. DIE WARTUNG IS QUALIFIZIERTEM

WARTUNGSPERSONAL ZU UBERLASSEN.

THIS EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN DESIGNED AND ENGINEERED TO PROVIDE SAFE AND RELIABLE OPERATION. IN ORDER TO PROLONG THE LIFE OF THE
UNIT AND PREVENTACCIDENTALDAMAGES OR INJURY, PLEASE FOLLOW THESE PRECAUTIONARY GUIDELINES:

WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT OPEN CHASSIS; DO NOT DEFEAT OR REMOVE THE GROUND PIN OF THE POWER
CORD; CONNECT ONLY TO A PROPERLY GROUNDED AC POWER OUTLET.

CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.
CAUTION: NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.
CAUTION: OUR AMPLIFIERS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HIGH SOUND PRESSURE LEVELS. CONTINUED EXPOSURE TO HIGH SOUND PRESSURE

LEVELS CAN CAUSE PERMANENT HEARING IMPAIRMENTOR LOSS. USER CAUTION IS ADVISED AND EAR PROTECTION IS RECOMMENDED IF UNITIS
OPERATED AT HIGH VOLUME.

"IT IS NECESSARY FOR THE USER TO REFER TO THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL"
"REFERREZ-VOUS AU MANUAL D'UTILISATION"
"UNBEDINGT IN DER BEDIENUNGSANLEITUNG NACHSCHLAGEN"

EXPLANATION OF
GRAPHICAL SYMBOLS:

"DANGEROUS VOLTAGE"
"DANGER HAUTE TENSION"
"GEFAHLICHE SPANNUNG"

=

=

SOUND LEVEL dBA DURATION PER DAY

SLOW RESPONSE IN HOURS

90 8
92 6
95 4
97 3

100 2

SOUND LEVEL dBA DURATION PER DAY

SLOW RESPONSE IN HOURS

102 1-1/2
105 1
110 1/2
115 1/4 or less

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Important Safeguards and Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

The Front Panel Controls and Their Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

The Rear Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Some Suggested Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Changing the Tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

System Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .back cover

SVP-BSP Bass Preamp

3

An Introduction to your new Ampeg SVP-BSP Bass Preamp

When a living legend asks you to design a bass preamp, you don’t cut corners – you deliver.
So when bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan turned to Ampeg for his preamp, we listened to his
needs, found out his wants, and made real his dreams: behold, the SVP-BSP bass preamp! A
unique piece of gear for the discriminating bassist, with two separate channels – clean and over­drive – and the ability to combine the two channels into a third, at the touch of a button. We even
gave each channel its own effects loop and level-controllable balanced XLR output jack.

In designing the SVP-BSP, we were careful not to lose the harmonically rich sound of Ampeg’s
SVT bass amps. This dynamic preamp still delivers unsurpassed quality, reliability and tonal flex­ibility, and offers the classic vibrancy of tubes as well as many new features.

All of the features and controls of your SVP-BSP are covered in detail within the pages of this
owner’s guide. We recommend going over them before you use the preamp.

And a hearty “thank you” from Ampeg – and Billy!

Features

In the world of high performance bass amps, Ampeg’s SVT amplifiers stand alone. Keeping
with true Ampeg tradition, the SVP-BSP Bass Preamp offers you more performance and flexibil­ity than any other preamp in its class. Listed below are some of the outstanding features of your
new preamp - features which set it apart from the competition! Additional information on these
features can be found on the pages indicated.

• PAD: Perfect for basses with active electronics or very “hot” pickups (page 4)

• MUTE SWITCH: Cuts the sound from the preamp, letting you tune your bass in pri-

vate (page 4)

• TWO SEPARATE CHANNELS: Choose between the clean channel, the overdrive
channel, or both, for a wide variety of sounds (page 4, page 6)

• COMPRESSOR SWITCH: Evens out your volume by governing the dynamic range
of the preamp (page 4)

• ULTRA LOW, ULTRA HIGH AND GAIN BOOST SWITCHES: For additional tonal
flexibility – lets you further tweak your sound (page 4, page 6)

• VARIABLE MIDRANGE SELECTOR:Custom select your center frequency point to
get just the right midrange voice (page 4, page 6)

• GATE SWITCH: Keeps things quiet in between bass riffs (page 4)

• FOOTSWITCH CONTROL: Use a two-button footswitch (like Ampeg’s AFP-2) to

control channel selection and muting (page 5)

• TWO EFFECTS LOOPS: Lets you add your effects to either channel (page 5)

• TWO PREAMP OUTPUTS: Each channel has its own 1/4” jack to send its signal to

separate amps/speakers if desired (page 5)

• TWO TRANSFORMER-BALANCED XLR OUTPUTS: Each channel has its own
XLR jack (with level control) to send a balanced signal from the preamp (page 5)

SVP-BSP Bass Preamp