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Double Bass Ampeg B100R. Flame war?

Greg Clinkingbeard

Greg Clinkingbeard

Commercial User
Apr 4, 2005
4,627
2,339
Kansas City area
Disclosures
Black Dog Bass Works
#1
Let it begin.
I just picked up one of these yesterday to mate with a P bass and flats for that classic old school tone but it sounds really good with upright too. A teacher once told me that the B15 is a good upright amp and I actually had another B100r at the time, but didn’t like it. At the time I was using Underwoods and similar pickups.
The secret is to cut the mids. With an Fdeck HPF and engagement of the mid cut button on the amp it sounds great!

Is it MBOL? No. It’s big and balsy with some attitude but I can absolutely see it working in certain situations.
 
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#2
db7d02570c639fb7dd3a8837f4f9117d.jpg


Nah, just kidding.
 
#5
A lot of amps that aren't supposed to be good for DB are actually pretty good for DB, unless you're comparing them to boutique MBOL acoustic focused jobbies. The SWR California Blonde was a great DB amp, though it doesn't add up to EA and AI on specs and weighed a ton more.

Most of them require an input buffer, though.
 
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#7
I have a nice wedding gig coming up which will require doubling, opening with background during dinner and then Motown stuff. This will handle it and I’m anxious to see how it does. Before everything shut down with COVID-19, I had a semi regular bar gig where it was more important to be loud than sound good. AAMBOML......
An approximation of my bass only much louder??
Although I play very few slab gigs, the GK 150 has been my best option so I’m glad to have this. Got to have more options to get what work is available.
 
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#14
I used to gig it with the BG. No matter how low I kept the volume somebody complained it being too loud. Maybe it was some frequency band that annoyed people or the non-directional nature of the 15" driver.
 
#15
elberon said:
The B50r sounds great too if the gig is fairly low volume and you don’t have to double on electric bass. It’s lighter than the B100r and has what I think is a tighter, more focused sound because of the 12” rather than the 15”.
Click to expand...
My B50 is a feedback monster with DB. I was thinking exactly what you are saying about it when I acquired one. I love the B100 but I can't get the 50 to behave.
 
#16
Greg Clinkingbeard said:
I know, but we’re conditioned to look for high input impedance, HPF, phase reversal, 10-12” drivers.......... DB amplification has come a long way in 60 years, I suppose.
Click to expand...

The B15n does have high input impedance, typically 5.6Mohms, where solid state amps of the same era would usually be <1M. It's one of the things tube input stages are good for. The deep lows are naturally limited by having to pass through the output transformer, and the Ampeg tone control circuit doesn't have a midrange scoop baked in like the Fender circuit. The design of the power amp also seems geared towards the clean and linear end of things, if it's not pushed into overdrive. The power output is of course limited and most versions of the cabinet produce a midbass peak, but it does seem a pretty astute design for it's time.
 
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#17
As Greg said in the original post, I think the real key to the DB +B100R connection is the mid cut and added HPF.
It makes a world of difference.

Also like Greg, I find for most gigs (and they will return) I grab my old GK lunchbox, in my case a 1984 200MB.

Two one hundred watt combo amps, one is 24 pounds, the other 65pounds,
you do the math...
 
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#18
Jay Corwin said:
My B50 is a feedback monster with DB. I was thinking exactly what you are saying about it when I acquired one. I love the B100 but I can't get the 50 to behave.
Click to expand...
Man that's too bad. Might be some combination of strings/pickup/preamp/bass. Hard to tell. Maybe with more power (and bigger speaker) you don't need to turn the B100r up as much as you would the B50r. I use it with a Shen Gemunder 7/8 willow flatback, realist pickup (original copper under one bridge foot), no preamp, spirocore weich strings. No issues.
 
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#19
Fretless55 said:
As Greg said in the original post, I think the real key to the DB +B100R connection is the mid cut and added HPF.
It makes a world of difference.

Also like Greg, I find for most gigs (and they will return) I grab my old GK lunchbox, in my case a 1984 200MB.

Two one hundred watt combo amps, one is 24 pounds, the other 65pounds,
you do the math...
Click to expand...
I used to have a GK 200MB, I replaced it with the MB150E but I always liked the 200MB better. I replaced the 12" speaker in it myself. That was a nightmare, believe me. Should have kept it. It was great for pit work.
 
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#20
I had and got rid of two MB150S before this one, and will NOT sell this one. It truly is a great amplifier for most of the gigs I do. This one is the early one with the 112 painted on the front so I think it’s probably 25 years old. I had to replace the speaker so I’m into it for $350. It’s not perfect but it always does the job. I also have a tiny DIY 10 loaded with a 4 ohm Eminence Legend that is a beautiful DB cabinet. I use that with a TC Bam because it is very convenient and has a warm tone. That combo is very natural sounding.
I have a MarkBass Nano and original Clarus which never gets any use anymore and is available if anybody wants it.

DB specific amps? I’ve had a couple of AI combos but not for long. It has been my experience that the ideal of MBOL isn’t practical on the bandstand. Even on quiet trio gigs, something like the GK sounds natural where the AI got lost.
We also have to ask other musicians what they want from us.
 
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