When I ran another amp into the SVT-200Ts power amp section, I got nothing.That was the Super Valve Technology amp which pumped out, a then unheard of, massive 300 watts from six huge valves (or tubes).Marshall invented THE rock guitar amp and Ampeg followed it with THE rock bass amp.
Sure, they had a few other good products, in-between changing ownership as numerously as Michael Jackson was changing his nose. So in the late eighties, they just started throwing the SVT name around like baby batter at a bukkake convention. And hence, the SVT-200T, produced from 1987-1994: featuring no valves at all. When I bought this SVT-200T solid-state amplifier, I thought I had an SVT. It was loud, the right shape, it said SVT shit, I just played grind core, what did I know It had that Ampeg tone they dial all their amps towards and it sounded awesome. Sounded. One night in 2005 it took a dump. Did I have the wrong speaker set up Was the clubs power screwy Was it just old It took me a lot of learning over seven years, but I finally got this tubeless, sad sack out of the closet and farting again. It was refused. I was literally told by one, Thats on the short list of amps I refuse to work on. That comparison would be ludicrous, largely because Id never play an amp that ever came in blueberry. Thats what happened the first time I took this in for a service. Testing all those tiny components is time consuming and would cost me more for their hourly wage than to throw half the amp out. And thats why this time I did it myself, because Im an environmentalist (and Im poor). Before its opened up, you need to make sure the electricity stored in it is discharged. Luckily, the SVT-200T does discharge itself and rather quickly in about 20-30 seconds. I tested it along the 69 volt power rails coming from the bridge rectifier and to ground using my multimeter until it read zero. When this amp fried, it made a popping noise and the tragic smell of a baby burning emanated from the insides. I like a good barbecue, but its never good when it happens indoors. I sourced the resistors locally and ordered the relay from Mouser Electronics. For the resistors, I scraped away as much carbon residue from the toasted ones as I could and carefully taped electrical tape over the PCB wound. Carbon residue from something blowing up can conduct electricity and needs to be cleared for new parts. Not by a long shot. I fired up the amp, the relay clicked, and nothing. ![]() Diagnosing the myriad problems was less about what had broken, and more about what was even working. This section was working great, and thank goodness, because I didnt relish unscrewing every knob and every pot to get the PCB out.
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