• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Ampeg B-15 thread... first ever?

#201
This may be a REAL general question, but do certain basses sound better through the B-15 than others? I mean, brands and electronics??

My passive basses sound so fantastic through my Ampeg
B100R and B200R. They are Waterstones, but I have other brands that sound great too, just different.
 
#204
Yes, it does if its creator revives it after 2 months ;)

Well here, I love a good Ampeg story, especially if it's about my Ampegs...let me brag a little bit about sending my 66 to Jess Oliver! Talked to him today, very nice man, very Jersey. Didn't think I could have a 66 if my cab was double baffled at first, but then said I probably got one of the last ones. He asked if there were cosmetic things I wanted done, and other than getting the cab re-covered, I told him how beat mine is and told him that if he can do anything for it, please do but I'm not expecting cosmetic miracles on anything other than the cab ;)

At first, I thought I wanted a vintage restoration on everything and just make sure it was up to spec. But the more I think about it, the more I think I want one that incorporates his new ideas. I am definitely getting the no-name Eminence 8-ohm non-stocker replaced with a 4 ohm speaker like he suggests. And then I can run it and two small (or large) 8-ohm cabs daisy chained into the head for 2 ohms, and put out close to 100 watts and move a ton of air. He says you can safely drop the impedance down to that, so why not if it sounds good? Also, he recommends taking out the tube rectifier and putting in a solid state one for another little boost. I don't know much about this mod, but as long as it doesn't change the sound, I'm going to do it. Why not? There are lots of stock B-15's available if I want one. I figure take advantage of the guy's knowledge, he'll probably dig doing all that stuff, too. I imagine most people go to him for a vintage tweaking.

So now I have to strip the cab. But that can wait till the weekend. For now I have to play a little on this most excellent early 60's Montgomery Ward 10w guitar amp that sounds like a Fender Champ on steroids or a mini-Super Reverb for low volume power tube crunch. Just bought it today...totally rebuilt and revoiced for both guitar and harmonica, reconed vintage 12" of unnown origin...$225. You can get them cheaper but you usually have to get all that work done anyway, so now all I have to do is rock out!

Anyway, sorry to make it all about me, but tonight it's all about me ;)

EDIT: Whoa! Not a lot of love in this thread for either the 4-ohm speaker or the solid state rectifier. Now I'm having second thoughts. About the rectifier, not the speaker. I totally want to hear it crank at 4 ohms. If I don't like it, I can always put the Eminence back in it. But is the rec change permanent? I saw something about drop-in SS recs for the socket. Does that require a whole lot of monkeying about to change over if I don't like it?
 
#205
Psycho Bass Guy said:
I wouldn't do it. I have seen this recommendation before. Even though Jess Oliver designed the amp and I respect his thoughts, what he proposes is more for those who want a different sound out of a B15N and not simply to use a 4 ohm load. There's a lot of things that are touched on in that quote, such as output tube saturation, others that are ignored, such as damping and others that are assumed such as a better power supply with s/s rectifiers and upgraded capacitors that HAVE to be addressed before you can do what he suggests.

Given his comments about Everett Hull not liking loud music, I assume that he does not care for the sound of the B15N in stock form because it is "too weak" due to restrictions on the original design that Hull placed on him. The modifications he suggests won't leave the amp sounding very much like a B15N at all.
Click to expand...

I thought about doing the 4 ohm mod til I read this post. Given that there are other ways to get more volume out of it- I think I'll leave mine stock.
(5 sleeps til she ships to Australia :hyper:)
 
#206
The 4 ohm mod is that drastically different, huh? Gee, it would be cool to let Mr. Oliver crank up the guns, but not at the expense of THAT tone. Maybe I'll just settle for a vintage tweaking after all. It'll cost less, I'm sure.

Wow Ben, good thing you dredged up this thread...I might not have known that the mods change the sound so much.
 
#208
B15N---30 watts, uses two 6L6GC's, 3 6SL7's, and a 5AR4 rectifier tube.

B15S---60 watts, uses two 12AX7's, a 12AU7, a 12DW7, and two 7027's, plus I'm pretty sure that the S stands for solid state rectifier.
 
#213
JimmyM said:
Hmmm, what does it say about a Fender Super Reverb? They use 6L6GC's too and are rated at 45w.
Click to expand...
I'll look it up later. The B15N's op points are straight out of the datasheet, and that's where I got the numbers. The output transformer might be undersized or something though.

FWIW- I found someone to make me a B15N chassis and matching head enclosure out of solid Aussie hardwood. Thinking of Blackwood (v similar to Koa). Not cheap though, but beautiful work.
 
#216
Ah, OK, I'll bet that's the 4-ohm load watt rating then. I wouldn't think anyone would lie about the wattage downward, except maybe Everett Hull, who hated loud music. I know Mr. Oliver put the 8-ohm on it so he could "lie" about the wattage to Everett Hull, but it's not exactly good business practice to lie downward.
 
#217
JimmyM said:
Dude, you HAVE to do that! Aussie wood is amazing. It's so unlike anything we can get in the US.
Click to expand...
Got to save some pesos first, but apart from the cabinet, total cost would be <$50 as I have all the other parts. This build would be a simple clone, not the bigger version I mentioned earlier. I could add the additional channels in a seperate enclosure.

As well as Blackwood, Jarrah is a possibility for the same money.

JimmyM said:
Ah, OK, I'll bet that's the 4-ohm load watt rating then. I wouldn't think anyone would lie about the wattage downward, except maybe Everett Hull, who hated loud music. I know Mr. Oliver put the 8-ohm on it so he could "lie" about the wattage to Everett Hull, but it's not exactly good business practice to lie downward.
Click to expand...
I'm working on the power delivered to the primary, not the secondary, which assumes a correct load for the transformer, not a mismatch as Oliver suggests. The original CTS driver was 30W/8R according to all I've read, so maybe that was the 'limiting' rating for spec. Specs also tended to be a bit more honest back then, ie engineering based, not marketing based.
 
#218
JimmyM said:
B15N---30 watts, uses two 6L6GC's, 3 6SL7's, and a 5AR4 rectifier tube.

B15S---60 watts, uses two 12AX7's, a 12AU7, a 12DW7, and two 7027's, plus I'm pretty sure that the S stands for solid state rectifier.
Click to expand...

The S is like 1/2 of the old BT140 cab and very similar (IMO) to 1/2 of a Sunn 200S

My B15S was with me from Jan. 1975 through spring of 2004(?), coulda been '05. I pushed many different speaker combinations with it. I hope the current owner is treating it well.
 
#219
Well if that's the case, then that would explain why my B-15N can carry a pretty loud band. I'd say by the looks of my speaker, it's only a guess but I'd guess that no-name Eminence could do 200w. I wish I knew what it is. Even Eminence themselves couldn't ID it from pictures.
 
#220
My B15S was with me from Jan. 1975 through spring of 2004(?), coulda been '05. I pushed many different speaker combinations with it. I hope the current owner is treating it well.
Click to expand...

Which leads me to yet another question - is there any reason that the B15S can't power a separate additional cabinet, like my Carvin 1503? Its a 8ohm cabinet.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back