Ampeg B-100r Rocket Aficionados

[Papersen]

I`ve been using one for 11 years now and it`s been my only amp. I`m really tempted to go the TC Electronics route
(RH450 + RS210 or RS212) but I don`t know if I`ll get better results. I truly love this amp but a bit more flexibility and feature won`t hurt either.

 

[Lobster11]

So, I finally got around to experimenting with stacking my B50R on top of my B100R, and liked it so much I gigged with it last night at an outdoor pool-patio party. Wow. I did just what I imagined it would: It is the killer combo-combo.

Details: I didn't use any effects other than the Sansamp BDDI that I used to split the signal; I sent the effected signal (blended in at about 12:00) into the big boy, and the unaffected signal to his little sister. (I find the BDDI into the 50 a little too much tube emulation, but just the right amount into the 100 sounds great.) I boosted the lows and low-mids a little on the 100 and left everything else on both amps pretty flat. The tonal range was unbelievable, with big fat bottom end from the one, all the highs you'd want from the other, and the overlapping ranges of thick, juicy, tube-y mids from both. I've always thought that the only drawbacks of these two combos are that the 100 lacks a little in the top end, and the 50 lacks a little in the bottom, so there you go.

Another nice benefit was the one on top of the other, I could hear myself so much better than having just one of them on the floor behind me blasting my ankles.

While experimenting with this setup last week at home, I had discovered that if the Sansamp was plugged in, I got a nasty ground-loop hum. Sure enough, as advertised, plugging in one of the amps through an Ebtech Hum-X completely solved the problem. But I also discovered that if I ran the Sansamp unplugged on battery power, I didn't get the ground loop, so I went that route at the gig for simplicity.

BTW, the gig was a blast. We hardly ever play out -- we've always been primarily a just-for-fun garage band -- but we were a big hit. OK, granted, everybody in the audience was seriously hammered, but they had a blast and thought we were the S***. We might've played all night if the cops didn't come shut us down. (We were so proud.) We're gonna have to do this more often... and now I know what rig I'll be bringing!

 

[countrybass007]

Only problem I had with mine was not enough volume, the sound is great.

 

[Xavier Zed]

Love all the B100-r talk. Just broke mine out of storage. I've been using my GK MB212 but been missing the sound of a 15 or maybe just missing that Ampeg tone I've gotten use to.

 

[Rob Martinez]

Love all the B100-r talk. Just broke mine out of storage. I've been using my GK MB212 but been missing the sound of a 15 or maybe just missing that Ampeg tone I've gotten use to.

I agree! I never tire of hearing about this amp! It is one of the best out there.

 

[Xavier Zed]

I agree! I never tire of hearing about this amp! It is one of the best out there.

I've been playing mines all day. Its one of the MIA versions steady as she goes, I've had her for about ten years now and the only thing wrong is my blue light went out.

For a hot minute those new Acoustics caught my eye and ears with that sweet 70's tone, but the Rocket is the real deal bury me with mine so I can give the devil his due

 

[prd004]

I have had my B100-R for just about five years now, and I love it more and more each time I play it. I wish I could get this sound out of my other amps, it's just a magical little combo! Seems like I can plug any bass into it, in any type of music and make it sound right!

There were quality controll issues when Loud first bought Ampeg, and it was discontinued shortly afterwards so for that fact I would persue a USA model. Jimmy M will tell you Ampeg fixed all their early Loud problems by changing upper management, but I'm not sure if they did that before dicontinuing the B100 or not. Seems like the general rule is the newer Ampeg stuff is just as good as the USA, but there were a few years in between where it was iffy, but you could certainly find good ones from that era, and many posters on this forum have.

 

[Rob Martinez]

Yeah, mine is made in Asia. It works fine. Never have had an issue, it is a really sweet sounding combo. I agree, no matter what bass I put into my B100R, it just sounds "right."

 

[JimmyM]

There were quality controll issues when Loud first bought Ampeg, and it was discontinued shortly afterwards so for that fact I would persue a USA model. Jimmy M will tell you Ampeg fixed all their early Loud problems by changing upper management, but I'm not sure if they did that before dicontinuing the B100 or not. Seems like the general rule is the newer Ampeg stuff is just as good as the USA, but there were a few years in between where it was iffy, but you could certainly find good ones from that era, and many posters on this forum have.

the b100r was disco'ed last year. the loud shakeup was late 2008. regardless, i'm pretty sure the b100r was one of the least affected products. i played a handful of them back then, and they worked fine. b200r's had some rattling problems back then but the b100r's i played always worked like champs.

it does help ease the sting of not having the b100r anymore by these new portaflex heads and cabs coming out. that's why they disco'ed it and the b200r. but the b100r was a doozy.

 

[Mastermold]

Love my B200R. I use it every day.

 

[stiles72]

Yeah, mine is made in Asia. It works fine. Never have had an issue, it is a really sweet sounding combo. I agree, no matter what bass I put into my B100R, it just sounds "right."

+1


I got my B-100R used at Music Go ROund back in '09 for around $250. The first time my girlfriend heard both my Thunderbird IV and my P-bass through the B-100R at a gig- she said "Wow - that sounds amazing! Gee, arent you glad you spent all that money on those other big Ampeg rigs you haul around???"

 

[JimmyM]

+1


I got my B-100R used at Music Go ROund back in '09 for around $250. The first time my girlfriend heard both my Thunderbird IV and my P-bass through the B-100R at a gig- she said "Wow - that sounds amazing! Gee, arent you glad you spent all that money on those other big Ampeg rigs you haul around???"

women...sheesh!

 

[Xavier Zed]

+1


I got my B-100R used at Music Go ROund back in '09 for around $250. The first time my girlfriend heard both my Thunderbird IV and my P-bass through the B-100R at a gig- she said "Wow - that sounds amazing! Gee, arent you glad you spent all that money on those other big Ampeg rigs you haul around???"

Women, they know exactly what to say and when But you gotta love them since they r the only game in town, at least for me

B100-R got disco'd because it nailed that classic Ampeg tone, vibe and its sexy as hell. Be honest, would you look at another rig with this beauty sitting next to it making it look ugly

 

[Rob Martinez]

+1


I got my B-100R used at Music Go ROund back in '09 for around $250. The first time my girlfriend heard both my Thunderbird IV and my P-bass through the B-100R at a gig- she said "Wow - that sounds amazing! Gee, arent you glad you spent all that money on those other big Ampeg rigs you haul around???"

I gotta agree with your girlfriend! Ha ha!

I use some other combos sometimes , but when I use my B100R or B50R, they just have something "special" about them.

 

[stiles72]

She meant it as a good thing. She's got a pretty good ear when it comes to bass, and she's pretty opinionated about it This is also the same girl who gave me the original "Hair" soundtrack and told me to check out the groovy bass work - and said that "Any good bass player worth his salt should own a P-bass and a B-15" LOL

 

[EricF]

She meant it as a good thing. She's got a pretty good ear when it comes to bass, and she's pretty opinionated about it This is also the same girl who gave me the original "Hair" soundtrack and told me to check out the groovy bass work - and said that "Any good bass player worth his salt should own a P-bass and a B-15" LOL

She's a keeper!!!!

 

[iamthebassman]

 

[bass dan]

I've been using mine in a loud blues/rock band with a p-bass and my upright. I'm bit concerned about pushing it too hard. I have been pushing the gain up around 8 and the master about the same, a little less with my upright.

The tone has been amazing, although it seems to handle it just fine, it is a bit concerning having it jacked up like that for 3 or 4 hours at a time. It does'nt sound like it's under any real strain but the band is so loud at times it's hard to tell sometimes.

I just bought a v4b and played it thru a Mesa 4x10 tonight at a gig. Unreal tone and unreal loud. While it sounded great it was'nt b100r good tone wise. I'm in the process of running down a svt 15e. I.m hoping that it will give me similar tone to the b100r with out having to push it so hard. If it does I'll run down another 15e.


The vb4/mesa 4x10 did'nt quite do it for me on upright bass. It was way too whooly and the low end was a bit uncontrollable when things got really loud. The b100r sounds great with a fishman pre in front of it. I'm using the fishman as a buffer for my pickup but bypassing the eq on the fishman.

I'm really hoping the vb4/15e combo will get me the b100r sound.

 

[JimmyM]

mind you, i'm just going by recordings i've heard on youtube, but that new pf115 ampeg has coming out sounds like it could cop that vibe.

 

[bass dan]

I may hold out for one of the pf115 cabs. My only concern is that the cab is 23 inches wide and the v4b is 24 inches. I know it's no big deal if the amp hangs a little over the edge......but that drives me nuts.

I also thought about getting another b100r and use a splitter to run both but I already have the v4b and would like to use it. Plus I'm still kinda confused about splitting the signal. If I understand it right the splitter will cause my signal to be weaker to the 2 amps as opposed to just plugging straight in one amp. My fishman has a 1/4 output and a tuner out, I thought I could use that to split the signal between 2 amps but I'm not sure.