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The amp controls are similar to those on the original hardware.

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You also get a selection of stomp boxes. These are well-voiced for bass, with the chorus pedal, for example, giving you instant access to that classic, swirling ‘ballad bass’ sound. There’s also a delay, an auto-filter, a compressor, a volume pedal, a bass wah, an octave divider, and a surprisingly usable overdrive pedal.

So how does it all sound? In a word, perfect. Everything that you’d expect to be able to do with a bass rig, you can do here. However, many (perhaps even most) home-based production teams may hit a pretty big problem when it comes to using Ampeg SVX: the limits of their own studio environment. The unfortunate truth is that the amplifiers and speaker cabinets modelled by Ampeg SVX are so good that they significantly outperform the limited bass capabilities of most people’s monitoring systems.

You can dial up any of Ampeg SVX’s presets in the full confidence that it accurately simulates some of the best bass equipment in the business, but unless your studio is equipped with some seriously heavy-duty speakers, you’ll neither fully appreciate the results, nor be in a position to modify them reliably.

Upgrade

So although Ampeg SVX is an excellent product, you might be best upgrading your monitoring system before buying, if your budget (and neighbours!) will allow. Otherwise you might be doing your music more harm than good by using it. This problem is nothing to do with SVX itself, of course – this is simply a word of warning before you part with

your cash. When it comes to bass, you really don’t want to be flying blind.

Speaking of cash, Ampeg SVX represents excellent value for money. Those who buy it will be getting top-class, signature-approved physical modelling at a price that’s a mere fraction of what you’d pay for the original hardware.

For those who want to create sophisticated bass sounds, Ampeg SVX is truly beyond fault. Simple, practical and useful, it will surely find favour among all who use it.