Jess Oliver's legacy - AMPEG PORTAFLEX CLUB part 10

[ddbassGA]

Originally Posted by shadven

The s/n seems to indicate early '67. The speaker definitely connects through the latches.

Early '67 = late '66. Changes were generally later in the year.

[spacebassed]

Originally Posted by ddbassGA

I watched that auction. Very tempted but....

There are 3 complete double baffle-era B-15Ns on there now...a sweet NRF one, a '64, and a '61 with pilot light that was retolexed with blue check! ouch.

That "Pilot Light" B15n on ebay is 107224, the '61 cab I used to have (that I bought from Bass45) was 107220. Whoever recovered that NRF cab with blue check should be drawn and quartered. They got rid of the diamond grill cloth too.

There's a '64 NC with a replaced output tranny on there for $700 with a $1000 buy-it-now - someone here should nab it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-Ampeg-B...item4ac1485bfb

Edit: Looking at the pics of the recovered "Pilot Light" B15... Whoever has it widened the speaker hole and front mounted the speaker - no wonder the baffle is sticking out so far.

[Bass 45]

Originally Posted by spacebassed

That "Pilot Light" B15n on ebay is 107224, the '61 cab I used to have (that I bought from Bass45) was 107220. Whoever recovered that NRF cab with blue check should be drawn and quartered. They got rid of the diamond grill cloth too.

There's a '64 NC with a replaced output tranny on there for $700 with a $1000 buy-it-now - someone here should nab it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-Ampeg-B...item4ac1485bfb

Edit: Looking at the pics of the recovered "Pilot Light" B15... Whoever has it widened the speaker hole and front mounted the speaker - no wonder the baffle is sticking out so far.

What a shame. They probably front loaded the Altec so there would still be space to flip the head.

[beans-on-toast]

Below is an SB-12 schematic dated May, 1966. It shows 7868 power tubes but doesn't show the speaker connections in the same way that they did with the contacts on the latches like on the earlier schematics. At the same time, they don't show a jack for the speaker connection or an ext speaker out.

Notice on the schematic that there is a reference to US patient 3183305. Here is Jess' patent, filed July 27, 1962, granted May 11, 1965. In the patient, they mention two ports. They hadn't worked out all the details for the classic double baffle porting although it looks closer to what was done on the SB-12.

[Apex_speed]

Originally Posted by spacebassed

There's a '64 NC with a replaced output tranny on there for $700 with a $1000 buy-it-now - someone here should nab it.

I have been looking at that one and am SOOOOOO tempted to hit the buy it now as I have friends in SF that could ship it for me.

But with a mint B-15N, B-15R, and Oliver Powerflex P500, do I really need a B-15NC for anything?

I suppose having a '64 NC and '67 N would represent the ultimate B-15 era tone sampling (and another project to get it up to snuff).

[ddbassGA]

Collect them all!

You still need:
'64 (cathode bias/double baffle);
70's B-15N (w/ Thiele cab);
70's B-15S (50 watts w/ bigger cab)

Then there's the alt speakers, the BT-15 and B-15T solid state models, the B-15NC ( 2x15 column) and ND with 2 single baffle cabs and a 50 watt head.

You've got your work cut out for you!

[salcott]

I have an SB-12 currently being checked out by Blackie Pagano. It formerly belonged to Steve Davis, who played on Coltrane's "My Favorite Things". The speaker connection is made through the latches.

[xoir]

Hey guys just wanted to share some pics of the cover I was talking the other day.

[Apex_speed]

Those covers look fantastic. It would be great to have one for the amp head.

[Apex_speed]

Originally Posted by ddbassGA

Collect them all!

You still need:
'64 (cathode bias/double baffle);
70's B-15N (w/ Thiele cab);
70's B-15S (50 watts w/ bigger cab)

Then there's the alt speakers, the BT-15 and B-15T solid state models, the B-15NC ( 2x15 column) and ND with 2 single baffle cabs and a 50 watt head.

You've got your work cut out for you!

LOL, that would get a bit out of hand.

[spacebassed]

Originally Posted by Apex_speed

I have been looking at that one and am SOOOOOO tempted to hit the buy it now as I have friends in SF that could ship it for me.

But with a mint B-15N, B-15R, and Oliver Powerflex P500, do I really need a B-15NC for anything?

I suppose having a '64 NC and '67 N would represent the ultimate B-15 era tone sampling (and another project to get it up to snuff).

Well, you don't own a double baffle... soo.... YES! But, if you wanted to, you could turn the ground switch that isn't being used on your '67 B15NF (if you have a 3-prong grounded power cord) into a bias switch to select between cathode bias (NC) and fixed bias (NF).

Originally Posted by ddbassGA

Collect them all!

You still need:
'64 (cathode bias/double baffle);
70's B-15N (w/ Thiele cab);
70's B-15S (50 watts w/ bigger cab)

Then there's the alt speakers, the BT-15 and B-15T solid state models, the B-15NC ( 2x15 column) and ND with 2 single baffle cabs and a 50 watt head.

You've got your work cut out for you!

Yep, you can't have just one. I've got a '61 "Pilot Light" B15N with the convertible side ports (5u4 rectifier, cathode bias), a late '64/early '65 B15NC (5ar4 rectifier, cathode bias), and a '65 B18N head (5ar4 rectifier, fixed bias) on a '62 NRF B15 cabinet - all 3 eyelet board construction. I'd have more if I had the room (and the money ), but I'm pretty content with my cross section of double baffle B15 goodness.

[JimmyM]

I only have one. Used to have two...my 64 and a 77 with a 71 CTS in it. Liked the 64 better ultimately. Can't say I I feel like life is passing me by but I would like an orphaned head so I can put my 64 head back on my 64 cab.

[shadven]

Originally Posted by salcott

I have an SB-12 currently being checked out by Blackie Pagano. It formerly belonged to Steve Davis, who played on Coltrane's "My Favorite Things". The speaker connection is made through the latches.

Very interesting history. I picked up a 1967 SB-12 this past weekend. It also has the latches / speaker setup. Great little amp! Good luck with yours.

[spacebassed]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I only have one. Used to have two...my 64 and a 77 with a 71 CTS in it. Liked the 64 better ultimately. Can't say I I feel like life is passing me by but I would like an orphaned head so I can put my 64 head back on my 64 cab.

Jimmy, I use the same one about 90% of the time, but that doesn't mean I would want to deprive myself of the fun of owning the other two.

[Apex_speed]

Originally Posted by spacebassed

you could turn the ground switch that isn't being used on your '67 B15NF (if you have a 3-prong grounded power cord) into a bias switch to select between cathode bias (NC) and fixed bias (NF).

Why didn't I think of that already?!

[JimmyM]

Whoa! You can mod the old heads to have the two different biases? I have to quit cursory reading through all this tech stuff I don't understand!

[TheDialog]

I absolutely love my '61 B15 NRF (pilot light), but it has a slight crackle that I can't figure out. It's not always there, but it comes through the speaker here and there. Sometimes it's there for a while and sometimes it's not present at all.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what this could be?

[Bass 45]

Have you tried jiggling the speaker connection?

[Bass 45]

I got a new Iphone with a panoramic camera option.

Here is a shot of my Ampcave.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Bass 45

Have you tried jiggling the speaker connection?

And jiggling the tubes? I've had crackles that have come and gone from a bad tube before.