Members WRGKMC Posted February 11, 2016 Members Share Posted February 11, 2016 A couple of these bring back memories. I'd probably add a few others not on the list like the Bassman a the Ampeg V4B, Standell, and Kustom/Casino bass amps. https://reverb.com/blog/6-classic-amps-every-bassist-should-know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted February 11, 2016 Members Share Posted February 11, 2016 Yeah, no Bassman? Seriously? I don't think of myself as a bassist but the Bassman is an iconic amp and it surely belongs on anyone's list. Sunn made some great bass gear as well, as I'm sure isaac42 will testify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted February 12, 2016 Moderators Share Posted February 12, 2016 IIRC, the Bassman was never really accepted by the bass playing community. It was guitarists who made it an iconic amp, not bass players. I've owned one and played through another. They're okay, but neither thrilled me. Sunn did indeed make some great bass gear. The 200S was lusted after by many, many bass players back in the day. Entwistle used Sunn amps for years, first tube amps, then the Coliseum series. Lots of other people used them, too. Felix Pappalardi and Noel Redding spring immediately to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members *BLEEP* Posted February 12, 2016 Members Share Posted February 12, 2016 IIRC' date=' the Bassman was never really accepted by the bass playing community. It was guitarists who made it an iconic amp, not bass players. [/quote'] You are absolutely correct about the original Fender Bassman amp. Some of the classic blues guitarists of the '50s and '60s started using the Bassman as their guitar amp, and the rest was history. A bit later in time, the Bassman preamp and tone stack circuitry was the basis for the Mark I version of the Marshall Plexi (guitar) amp. Otherwise, glad to see they didn't forget the original Ampeg Portaflex amp -- the bass amp that helped define the Motown sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 12, 2016 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2016 You're right about the early Baseman's as being used as guitar amps but I was referring to some of the bigger 100's. There were tons of them sold and used as bass amps. Few guitarists used them. If they needed big fenders they'd usually use something like a Showman that had reverb. You're right about the Sunn amps. I own two vintage Sunn cabs and a head and didn't even think of them. One of my Bass Players has a Model T head and single 2X15" folded horn cab. Talk about friggin loud. The head was 300W and had a warning against hearing loss on the back. He used a Gretch bass with those black tape wound strings that sounded pretty awful. He had allot of that muted mid tone. I never got to hear that amp with a good precision but you know it would have sounded crisp and clean with a punch that would feel like standing in front of a hurricane. I'm trying to think of some others. Like the article I'm thinking of amps that were really popular, not necessarily great. There were some Marshall bass amps used. The Who used them with an 8X12 cab for awhile. They came up with a 4X15 cab and bass specific head for awhile. They sounded killer with a Ric but never caught on for smaller bands, likely because of the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted February 12, 2016 Members Share Posted February 12, 2016 I never thought Fender bass amps were all that great - although I have recorded bass with a DI and a miced six watt SF Champ. When I saw the "Let It Be" movie I assumed the Bassman was part of an endorsement deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted February 14, 2016 Moderators Share Posted February 14, 2016 The 70s Sunn Model T amps were 150w, not 300w. Of course, that's only a difference of 3dB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Temporary Posted February 14, 2016 Members Share Posted February 14, 2016 This picture might be of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted February 14, 2016 Members Share Posted February 14, 2016 Odd. I used to see Bassmans (Bassmen?) from time to time back in my college days in the mid 70's, along with Ampeg, Kustom and occasionally Sunn. I just assumed they were well liked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 18, 2016 Author Members Share Posted February 18, 2016 The 70s Sunn Model T amps were 150w' date=' not 300w. Of course, that's only a difference of 3dB.[/quote'] You're right. 40 years is a long time to remember details. From what I read they came up with the design by using tow Dynaco Hi Fi power amps and building a separate preamp for them. He used one of these cabs with it. Its probably the cab that was rated for 300W. I wish I could find another one of these. I have the single 15" with a JBL. Fantastic live cab but a single 15" doesn't quite cut it. I run the cab with others but standing directly in front of it sounds weird because of the phase shifting that occurs between a folded cab and a front speaker design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted February 19, 2016 Moderators Share Posted February 19, 2016 Yeah, I'd think that using a folded horn and a direct radiator in the same frequency range could cause some problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FreestyleIntruder Posted May 28, 2017 Members Share Posted May 28, 2017 Good article, needs more game theory though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I enjoyed reading that - thanks for posting it! I played through an Acoustic 360 in high school. It's the only amp on the list I used extensively... I never used a SVT regularly - the 360 / 361 was big, but the SVT is waaay too big to cart around IMHO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted May 30, 2017 Moderators Share Posted May 30, 2017 Yeah, the SVT was for pros who had roadies and needed to produce prodigious amounts of sound from their rigs. Same with the Sunn 2000S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Yeah' date=' the SVT was for pros who had roadies and needed to produce prodigious amounts of sound from their rigs. Same with the Sunn 2000S.[/quote'] Oh, I've seen them, and have even played through them on a few occasions and have recorded them many times - but it was always up to someone else to cart it. That's the way I like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted May 31, 2017 Members Share Posted May 31, 2017 I have been fortunate to play through most of those. I would have included a GK 800rb in there also. I still dust mine off every now and then. Cool list though, I wish I still had my flip-top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FreestyleIntruder Posted May 31, 2017 Members Share Posted May 31, 2017 ACTOR ANALYSIS: the 800RB is included in his 'Part II' article https://reverb.com/uk/news/6-classic-bass-amps-you-should-know-part-II Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted May 31, 2017 Members Share Posted May 31, 2017 Excellent! I still have a 400rb and an 800rb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted June 1, 2017 Moderators Share Posted June 1, 2017 Perhaps I'm missing something, but I think the MarkBass amp is a bit out of place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted June 1, 2017 Members Share Posted June 1, 2017 They forgot these: Here's mine: I would like to add that the brilliance of the design has long been overlooked. The "heads" are really a preamp section with 4 x ganged [phone] output jacks. The bottoms contain 3x12" bass drivers and a 100 watt RMS power amp. Each cabinet has divots on the top that line up with the casters so you can stack bottoms as high as you want, plus they have output jacks so you can chain together more bottoms. So the real deal with the Yamaha system was - want more volume/power, add more bottoms. One is loud enough to shake out your teeth, a wall would be overwhelming. Needless to say, I keep looking for more ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted June 2, 2017 Members Share Posted June 2, 2017 I guess I think of it as representative of a "class" of amps. The small, light big powered heads. Heck I guess thinking that way though, I would have picked the GK MB-100 (maybe it was an mb200?) tiny combo that you could stand mount. It had a pretty big sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted June 4, 2017 Moderators Share Posted June 4, 2017 I wouldn't disagree that's why it's on the list, but when I think of "classic" amps, Markbass would be the last amp that would come to my mind. Were they even the first Class D amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted June 12, 2017 Members Share Posted June 12, 2017 If this thread continues long enough, the list will include every amp ever made These lists are always silly. OK, start with SVT, B15 and 360 and then the list compiler adds whatever thinks should be on the list. The last three on this list to my mind are hardly "must know" amps and good luck getting your hands on a 360 these days even just to try out. I haven't seen one in use for decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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