Jess Oliver's legacy - AMPEG PORTAFLEX CLUB part 9

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by jnewmark

I never knew this, but I hardly ever see an " authentic " B15N extension cab come up for sale, anywhere. I occaisionally see an empty B15N cab, but never just an extension cab meant for the B15N. I'm on the hunt !

Since there were only two amps in the B-15 line that had matching extensions, I'm not sure that you'll have much luck finding one for your amp. The B-15ND was a black vinyl cabinet, but it had the Silver trim stripe around the front of cabinet, and the shape and design of that particular cabinet is different than the later B-15's, you own. Good luck, I hope you are able to score one.

Ric

[PJRL]

New (old) B15N is the house. It is an F which I believe to be the 65-68 (please correct me if I don't have that right, B15N-"F"= 65 or later) version. From what I can tell this one is a 66 from a couple of the pot codes. It's a bit rough but for the most part all there, a hole in the back of the cab is the worst of it. It has original tubes and they are working just fine, it sounds great ! I will be visiting fliptops.net for hardware, trim parts and such. I'll try to get pics at some point.

These are such great amps !

[stiles72]

The extension cab for my '67 BT15D stack has the threaded hole, as well as rubber feet. It also came with an extra long 4 pin XLR speaker cord so that the cabinet could be set up on the far side of the stage as another option.

[JimmyM]

#321 59Pan
#322 PJRL

Love that B-12N, Jack!

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by jnewmark

Having some fun this Christmas Eve, noodling around with my new to me, B15N, '71 style, portaflex. It's been over 40 years since I played an Ampeg with the Ultra High and Low, rocker switches. Can someone refresh my memory on what position engages the effect; is it when you " rock " the switch to the left, so that the sort of triangular , thick shape of the switch is on the right side ? There is definitely some tonal changes there when combining them both, even a jump in apparent volume , but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be hearing. Also, Channel Two seems to be a tad louder with it's volume knob at same position as Channel one. I'm also kinda digging the Bright channel with a P bass. Have'nt tried my Jazz yet. It's also a different kind of feel, tone wise, to the '67 B15N I had. Interesting.

Quoting myself here, hoping some one can give me the skinny on those rocker switches, and what position does what.

[JvN]

As you described the position of the rocker switches, you disengaged the ultra low and/or ultra high boost. And as Nouroog describes below, the boosting is so huge that everything else seems to disappear. I'll leave the technical side to the experts... plenty of them around in this thread. Anyway - it's always best to start exploring a new amp from neutral positions of all knobs, if you ask me. I never use the ultra's on any Ampeg amp and I doubt anyone ever does.

EDIT: thanks Nouroog - my amps are 1500 miles away, and my memory too ;-)...

[nouroog]

Originally Posted by jnewmark

Quoting myself here, hoping some one can give me the skinny on those rocker switches, and what position does what.

If you press the rocker on the left, so that it's down on the left and sticking out on the right, it's off. You engage it by depressing the right side.

IMHO, the ultra low is a mid cut tone sucker. I can't talk about the ultra high, I'm not sure I ever tried it

[59Pan]

Originally Posted by stiles72

The extension cab for my '67 BT15D stack has the threaded hole, as well as rubber feet. It also came with an extra long 4 pin XLR speaker cord so that the cabinet could be set up on the far side of the stage as another option.

Your handles appear to be pointing down. Is that correct. The B12XY that I'm presently restoring back to health has them turned up, but this amp has had a lot of hands-on. And, I'm just recently getting it back to an original condition.

I'm relatively new to Ampegs, as old amps. Old Gibsons, Valcos, etc. are what I'm used to working on. Thanks.

Jack

[stiles72]

Originally Posted by 59Pan

Your handles appear to be pointing down. Is that correct. The B12XY that I'm presently restoring back to health has them turned up, this amp has had a lot of hands-on. And, I'm just recently getting it back to an original condition.

I'm relatively new to Ampegs, as old amps. Old Gibsons, Valcos, etc. are what I'm used to working on. Thanks.

Jack

I've seen the chrome handles both ways on B18s and other blue check flip tops. On the solid state BT's I've only seen the handles pointing down. The newer Kasson replacement handles have a hollow spot on the underside, so those should point down.

[beans-on-toast]

The advantage of the handles pointing up is that you can hook things like cables onto them.

I've seen Ampeg catalogs with B18 handles pointing up, others are pointing down. As always, they were always changing things around .

[beans-on-toast]

Interesting page from the 73 Ampeg catalog. They show how extension speakers can be used with various amps.

If an amp had an external speakers jack, they offered cabinets to go with it. They indicate which cabs have optional speakers that can be ordered.

Note that they show B-15N extension Thiele cabinets.

[59Pan]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

#321 59Pan
#322 PJRL

Love that B-12N, Jack!

Thanks. I thought that it was a heavy amp, until I took it down and put the B-12XY up there. The chassis will come out next time, before I lift that one up again. Made the 'N' feel like a toy.

Jack

[59Pan]

Originally Posted by stiles72

I've seen the chrome handles both ways on B18s and other blue check flip tops. On the solid state BT's I've only seen the handles pointing down. The newer Kasson replacement handles have a hollow spot on the underside, so those should point down.

Thanks. I'll leave them pointing up. Maybe it was something the dealer installed, when unboxing a new amp. Then, it became dealer discretion.

Jack

[59Pan]

Originally Posted by beans-on-toast

The advantage of the handles pointing up is that you can hook things like cables onto them.

I've seen Ampeg catalogs with B18 handles pointing up, others are pointing down. As always, they were always changing things around .

Makes good sense. That's exactly what I've been doing, while working on the 'XY'. The handles have been a good place to hang stuff/cables.

Jack

[Smedz]

Merry Christmas ya'll! I just got a 1x15 PF Cab for the holidays and i was wondering if I would encounter any problems by plugging in an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500w head into it. Would the tone suffer?

[JimmyM]

#323 Smedz

A Th500 would likely sound pretty good in that cab.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by beans-on-toast

Interesting page from the 73 Ampeg catalog. They show how extension speakers can be used with various amps.

If an amp had an external speakers jack, they offered cabinets to go with it. They indicate which cabs have optional speakers that can be ordered.

Note that they show B-15N extension Thiele cabinets.

David,
Taking a look at that catalog it's also interesting that they paired two B-15N cabinets with a V4B head that produced 100 watts at 8 ohms. So the cabinets were obviously designed to handle 50 watts.

Ric

[beans-on-toast]

Although the V4B was rated at a 100W, I've seen them putting out as much as 120W. Those big transformers were great. So the cabs would have to handle a bit extra power. In the 71 catalog they say that the cab is optionally available with the Altec Lansing 421A, and the Altec Lansing 418B, both are rated at 100W continuous so it would be an good match with the V4B. A 200W cab with a 100W amp is a good rule of thumb to follow. Maybe they would have recommended upgrading the speakers if you were buying that rig.

I can't recall ever seeing a Thiele extension cab. They clearly show them in this catalog. It would be interesting to know how much they went for.

[ddbassGA]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

David,
Taking a look at that catalog it's also interesting that they paired two B-15N cabinets with a V4B head that produced 100 watts at 8 ohms. So the cabinets were obviously designed to handle 50 watts.

Ric

I have that as a plan myself as an alternative stack for my V4. (My V4 412 cab is loaded with guitar speakers). Over the last couple years I have picked up 2 orphan 70's B-15N Thiele cabs. I don't believe either was originally an ext cab; one even still had the amp tray with shock mounts. I was going to load each with an Altec 421A, but I like how they sound with JBL K140s better -- so now that's the plan. Not authentic, I know. Waiting for a day when I can take the cabs apart - got new grill cloth!

There's bass player in town who also has one of these 70's Thiele cabs, loaded with an Eminence 3015 Neo. Youser! That thing sounds great and it makes for a light rig. Got me thinking. I do have one of those...

[Bass 45]

Originally Posted by beans-on-toast

Although the V4B was rated at a 100W, I've seen them putting out as much as 120W. Those big transformers were great. So the cabs would have to handle a bit extra power. In the 71 catalog they say that the cab is optionally available with the Altec Lansing 421A, and the Altec Lansing 418B, both are rated at 100W continuous so it would be an good match with the V4B. A 200W cab with a 100W amp is a good rule of thumb to follow. Maybe they would have recommended upgrading the speakers if you were buying that rig.

I can't recall ever seeing a Thiele extension cab. They clearly show them in this catalog. It would be interesting to know how much they went for.

Here is a price list from '75. At that time the "EXB15N" was $240.00 without a dolly or an Altec upgrade.

Other things in this document that I found interesting was the price of the Altec upgrades - which are very high - and the B15N head was available separately. I guess some of those cab-less heads were not orphaned after all Also, no dolly for the SVT cab. I used to have a '74 square back - that must have been the last year for that style 810.