Members Mistersuperfly Posted March 31, 2007 Members Share Posted March 31, 2007 I've been talking to an amp builder who makes guitar amps and is quite respected in the guitar community about building the bass player in my band a bass amp. Given that most high end bass gear now-a-days is marketed at really modern bass players, and there isn't much as far as vintage style tube powerhouses around. The bass player in my band has up until recently played a Sunn 2000s, and is now looking for a good quality high output vintage style tube head... but has a distaste for Ampeg. I've been talking to the builder about cloning a Hiwatt DR405... which as most of you know is a beast of a 400 watt tube head (actually peaking at 445). He said depending on the transformers, which he would either use partridges or a mercury mag clone of them, it would cost around 1500$ for the head. He was saying he would do it as a one off, but I was wondering what the general bass playing public would think of an amp like that... Boutique point-to-point clone of a hiwatt dr405 with high quality transformers, made to the aesthetics of your choice for the price of an SVT? Another idea we shot around was a clone of a Sunn 2000s with 6 output tubes instead of 4... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted March 31, 2007 Members Share Posted March 31, 2007 Well, tube-wise there is still Orange, Mesa, or the fabulous Peavey Classic 400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 31, 2007 Moderators Share Posted March 31, 2007 and Traynor, Peavey, Markbass, all the rock solid vintage gear on eBay and Craigslist... your bassist doesn't like Ampeg, but lots do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 31, 2007 Moderators Share Posted March 31, 2007 That is not a bad price for a quality made high power tube amp, nice transformers, good service, customer input on design, etc. I don't think there is a big market for it, but no doubt it would be a quality amp at a fair price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted April 1, 2007 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2007 and Traynor, Peavey, Markbass, all the rock solid vintage gear on eBay and Craigslist... your bassist doesn't like Ampeg, but lots do... Well that's a given as nearly every band we've played with in the past 2 months has had an SVT/8x10... but there are always people who are looking for something different... hence the Sunn 300t/Bassman 300, Orange, Peavey, Traynor etc. But none of those are really clones or reissues of older amps, I don't know how bassists are so I can just try to relate it to the guitar world which is swamped with boutique versions of the old Fenders and Marshalls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dragon9666 Posted April 1, 2007 Members Share Posted April 1, 2007 Tell him to get over it and get a Ampeg.Or 2nd, a Mesa 400+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 82Daion Posted April 1, 2007 Members Share Posted April 1, 2007 I can't imagine such a clone, be it of the Hiwatt or Sunn, sounding less than fantastic. The SVT is the closest analogy to some of the old guitar amps that you mentioned, but since they're still readily available and probably somewhat difficult to duplicate, they haven't been widely (if at all) cloned by boutique manufacturers. I'd hit it if I had the money to buy such a head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted April 1, 2007 Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2007 Well that's a given as nearly every band we've played with in the past 2 months has had an SVT/8x10... but there are always people who are looking for something different... hence the Sunn 300t/Bassman 300, Orange, Peavey, Traynor etc. But none of those are really clones or reissues of older amps, I don't know how bassists are so I can just try to relate it to the guitar world which is swamped with boutique versions of the old Fenders and Marshalls. The market is not swamped with clones because the typical bassist is better served with a modern design than a classic. As technology has progressed the typical bassist is now able to get sufficient clean volume in a portable package. I understand the attractiveness of the classic designs for specific uses, I have several all tube amps for that very reason. There just simply isn't a big market for it. As to your point about the current amps not being reissues or clones, I disagree. If you mean a clone or reissue in name and appearance I agree, but if you take a look under the hood, most modern tube bass amps are just a spin on the classic Fender AB763 circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted April 1, 2007 Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2007 The SVT is the closest analogy to some of the old guitar amps that you mentioned, but since they're still readily available and probably somewhat difficult to duplicate, they haven't been widely (if at all) cloned by boutique manufacturers. Readily available: A Sunn 2000s in great condition just sold locally last week for $350. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted April 1, 2007 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2007 Yeah, in Chicago (that's a great deal by the way)... most people have to search or wait for one to pop up on ebay, the only one on ebay in the past while was the one I just sold for my bassist. It went for 1006$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted April 1, 2007 Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2007 That's a fair point. I am so used to being able to find anything I need new or used locally that I forget some people live in areas that are gear deficient. If it turns out there is a market for the amp, I'd be happy to build a few myself. In fact, if anyone is interested and patient, I'd be happy to build one for just the cost of materials just to see what the cost would be and how much time it actually takes to build one from the ground up. I've never timed myself to see how much labor is actually involved in the amps I've built. I'd guess the cost of parts for a high powered all tube bass head is probably right around a grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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