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Ampeg B-100r Rocket Aficionados

#221
B50R user here. I know its not the 100R but I have to shout out my love and devotion to this spectacular little amp. Ive had it for almost 14 years and I didnt know just what I had for the longest time. But now that I do, I play it every day and love the tones I get from it. I only wish it was a larger wattage amp, I would play this thing out all the time! I could easily DI it out with the line out in the back but it wouldnt make a very good stage monitor for my band as we are pretty loud. I cant say enough good things about these Rocket Bass amps, they are so smooth and creamy yet can get very aggressive as well. Love mine :)
 
#223
whitespikebass said:
In what way has the PF-350 and 2X210AVs been disappointing you?

I'm surprised people can play live shows with the B-100r. I wouldnt think there would be enough volume.
Click to expand...

I've used my B100R on several stages, and at several venues, and have never had any issues with it not being loud enough. Then again, I'm not playing in a 5-string doom / death metal band. Oldies, classic rock, roots, grunge, modern rock - works great for everything I play.

I've posted this pic a few times - but here's my B-100R opening for Gretchen Wilson at an outdorr venue a few years ago alongside my B15. The B-100R was doing 90% of the work...

gretchen-b15-portaflex.jpg
 
#224
prd004 said:
View attachment 393257

I think a lot of the magic is in the cab, although the amp certainly gets a lot of credit. I have heard that the PF cabs don't fill a room the way these things do.
Get a second? Heck, I'll get a third if/when the opportunity pops up
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+1

I found that in an A/B comparison, the B100R does a better job of filling the room than the stock PF115/PF500. I ported one of my cabs and it really helped, but desite the increase in wattage, I still prefer the B100R. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/ampeg-portaflex-pf115he-mods-866811/
 
#225
My girlfriends B100R has developed a rattle at a certain frequency. I told her I would fix it for her - so I went to pick it up earlier and it seemed a bit light to me - so much so that I decided to weigh it on my bathroom scale - it was 52 pounds - then I weighed mine, which weighed 62 pounds! That is quite a difference. I know they both have the original speakers (I've worked on hers before).

I hope I can fix that rattle (and there is not 10 pounds worth of voids in the plywood:hmm:).

Hopefully it is an easy fix - and she will be able to brag about her lightweight LE B100R.
 
#227
Bass 45 said:
My girlfriends B100R has developed a rattle at a certain frequency. I told her I would fix it for her - so I went to pick it up earlier and it seemed a bit light to me - so much so that I decided to weigh it on my bathroom scale - it was 52 pounds - then I weighed mine, which weighed 62 pounds! That is quite a difference. I know they both have the original speakers (I've worked on hers before).

I hope I can fix that rattle (and there is not 10 pounds worth of voids in the plywood:hmm:).

Hopefully it is an easy fix - and she will be able to brag about her lightweight LE B100R.
Click to expand...

My American-made B100R weighs about 60 lbs. The only plywood in it is the baffle board. The rest appears to be MDF. I'll bet that hers has some lighter weight materials in it (like more plywood - not a bad thing). Let us know what you find.
 
#228
AstroSonic said:
My American-made B100R weighs about 60 lbs. The only plywood in it is the baffle board. The rest appears to be MDF. I'll bet that hers has some lighter weight materials in it (like more plywood - not a bad thing). Let us know what you find.
Click to expand...

Yeah, mine is an older american made model that is probably MDF - hers is a newer Chinese made one that is probably all plywood.

Interesting - I have tried two B200R's - and they the both had the infamous rattling that they tend to be inflicted with (same as my girlfriend's B100R - which I also braced/repaired about 3 years ago already, but the noise is back now). I think nearly all of the B200R's were made in China.

I don't think I am going to get a chance to look at it for a few days - but I will report my findings.
 
#229
stiles72 said:
I've used my B100R on several stages, and at several venues, and have never had any issues with it not being loud enough. Then again, I'm not playing in a 5-string doom / death metal band. Oldies, classic rock, roots, grunge, modern rock - works great for everything I play.

I've posted this pic a few times - but here's my B-100R opening for Gretchen Wilson at an outdorr venue a few years ago alongside my B15. The B-100R was doing 90% of the work...

gretchen-b15-portaflex.jpg
Click to expand...

I love the "balloon volume control" the other drummer's using!
 
#233
cellkirk74 said:
My b100r developed some crackling noise on lower notes recently.



Is there a way to get a replacement for the speaker? I just could not find a 150 Watts 4 Ohm Eminence over here that would match the specifikations. What's the exact item number with Eminence or which other replacement will maintain the sound?
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Have you checked the inside solder points yet?? I had the same issue with my B50R once and thought the woofer was blown. I took the grill off, unscrewed and took the woofer out, everything looked fine. No rips or tears anywhere. Put everything back together and the crackling went away. Which leads me to believe it was just a touchy solder joint that I jostled when I opened er' up. Works wonderfully now.
 
#234
cellkirk74 said:
My b100r developed some crackling noise on lower notes recently.

Is there a way to get a replacement for the speaker? I just could not find a 150 Watts 4 Ohm Eminence over here that would match the specifikations. What's the exact item number with Eminence or which other replacement will maintain the sound?
Click to expand...

When I hear the term "Crackling" I my first thought is that there is a loose connection or a bad solder joint somewhere. I would start by checking the speaker's connectors.

If you do need a speaker - here is a good replacement option:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...=c&network=g&gclid=CPeosf3Y9rwCFY6Rfgodd0MA6Q
 
#237
If the crackling is associated witht he low notes (sometimes only certain ones) then it indicates that a lose connection is being vibrated. I found one of the speaker leads was lose and soldered both of them. I also had one of the port tubes lose and rolling around inside. I put a couple small dabs of silicone (aquarium) glue where they fit on the plastic collars. No problems since.

In the event that you do need a new driver, The Eminence CA154 (as recommended by Bass 45) is an excellent replacement. It is a close match tone-wise (after around 20 hours of breakin), will take all the power the B100R can dish out and not fart out.

Good luck!
 
#238
AstroSonic said:
My American-made B100R weighs about 60 lbs. The only plywood in it is the baffle board. The rest appears to be MDF. I'll bet that hers has some lighter weight materials in it (like more plywood - not a bad thing). Let us know what you find.
Click to expand...

I got a chance to work on the GF's B100R yesterday.

I sort of did a shotgun approach rather then try one thing at a time and possibly having to put it back together again and again.

First I braced the baffle board with three pieces of 1" x 1/2" x 7" hardwood (screwed and glued behind the baffle/side panels) at the two sides and the top.

Also, I plugged the hole that the speaker wire runs through (between the amplifier and the back of the cab). I have found that that hole makes a low frequency flapping noise on this model after the speaker has broken in to a certain point (it did it on my B100R - and it seemed to be doing it on this one - in addition to the rattle). I added a 1/4 inch jack and installed a 1/4 " plug from the amp. The cab could be used with an external amp now if needed.

I removed the speaker wire clips and soldered the wires to the speaker terminals.

When I was re-installing the speaker, the t-nuts kept falling out inside the cab. This was very frustrating. They would usually fall out when I was screwing in the 7th or 8th screw:hmm: I found the wood was compressed and worn from the t-nuts being over tightened - so I just knocked all the t-nuts out and rotated the speaker a few degrees - and screwed it into the plywood with short drywall screws.

The t-nuts for the amp chassis were also falling out - so I replaced them with new larger ones that stayed in place better.

The amp sounds great now. I feel motivated to dig out the rattling B200R that has been sitting idle in my storage room for the last year or two - and try to solve it's issues.
 
#239
I forgot that I plugged the hole for the speaker wire as well. I also was dismayed to find the speaker wire to be remarkably small gage - much smaller than some wimpy 18 ga Radio Shack speaker wire I had (so the stock wire was 20-22 ga). I initially soldered the stock wire. The more I thought about that wimpy wire the more it bothered me, so I replaced it with 16 ga speaker wire. I wouldn't mention it if it were not for the fact that it made an obvious improvement in the sound. The amp sounded significantly more powerful. I tried adding and adjusting the amount of acoustic insulation, but ultimately preferred the stock padding.
 
#240
AstroSonic said:
I forgot that I plugged the hole for the speaker wire as well. I also was dismayed to find the speaker wire to be remarkably small gage - much smaller than some wimpy 18 ga Radio Shack speaker wire I had (so the stock wire was 20-22 ga). I initially soldered the stock wire. The more I thought about that wimpy wire the more it bothered me, so I replaced it with 16 ga speaker wire. I wouldn't mention it if it were not for the fact that it made an obvious improvement in the sound. The amp sounded significantly more powerful. I tried adding and adjusting the amount of acoustic insulation, but ultimately preferred the stock padding.
Click to expand...

Cool

I did forget to mention that I also replaced the stock speaker wire with a larger gauge - and for good measure I used green and black colors - like in a vintage B15 :)
 
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