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Ampeg B100R: Worth the Weight?
- Thread starter Fretless55
- Start date
Another +1 for the B100R. I liked it so much I bought a second one. I guess that's +2
The last thing I needed was a third space-eater as I already have a B-100R and GK Backline 110... That said I could not resist when a B-50R popped up FS locally.
So is that like +2,25 or something?
;-)
I get a big smile every time I roll out the B100R. It just looks so solid, and has that to-die-for mid-dominant tone. The B100R has an upper bass- upper mids tone with a real nice upper bass punch. However, it lacks 'deep' bass, even in the non-hifi dense. It will not produce a gut-punch thump. This amp does get loud for its power rating, in part due to a graceful 'marginal' overload. When pushed hard, it gets dirty (but still more usable than most of the competition). It seems pretty 'fart-out' proof.
The 400RB doesn't look like much, but the tone, GK growl and spl capability make it a classic. The tone is solidly rock and blues, but is strongly influenced by the cab its partnered with. Not familiar with the Bag End cab. You can choose a cab for just about whatever tone you want. Its one inability is the modern, clean and articulate tone. It just won't go there (but neither will the B100R). The 400RB will go considerably louder than the B100R (with most cabs), and sounds better when pushed hard.
I have both and cannot part with either of them. Tone-wise, they are 'apples and oranges'. Pick the one you want, or get both!
The 400RB doesn't look like much, but the tone, GK growl and spl capability make it a classic. The tone is solidly rock and blues, but is strongly influenced by the cab its partnered with. Not familiar with the Bag End cab. You can choose a cab for just about whatever tone you want. Its one inability is the modern, clean and articulate tone. It just won't go there (but neither will the B100R). The 400RB will go considerably louder than the B100R (with most cabs), and sounds better when pushed hard.
I have both and cannot part with either of them. Tone-wise, they are 'apples and oranges'. Pick the one you want, or get both!
I had one I thought very highly of, Good stuff. Louder than you think. About the heft of an over-stuffed suitcase. Ampeg mojo out the wazoo.
Started out 18 years ago on a GK400rb and a Bag End 15. Wound up two years ago with same head and an LDS 1x15 cab. Beautiful tone. Three weeks ago, got a B100r. Whoa! Can't stop playing it.
If you like the B100R, but want more spl, consider replacing the stock driver with an Eminence Delta 15A. You will get nearly the same bass response (with the stock tuning - no tuning mod required) and very similar mids and highs, but with 3-4 db more spl. Then add a speaker jack wired in parallel with the Delta 15A and buy (used?) an Ampeg Portaflex PF-115HE cab (very similar driver and tone with horn off). Stack the B100R on top. Similar 4 ohm load for the B100R amp, but now you have a 215 and 6-8db more spl. And the speakers are not stressed at all. Go ahead, crank it up!
S
snoopcat
Guest
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Thanks for the suggestion, I will check it out.
They've both turned it down a notch since I posted here, so life is good
This is technically beyond my experience at the moment but I could figure it out and I'm going to look closer.
What could I do without modifying the amp, considering there is a line out and a good PA, and I'm willing to buy an extra cab or amp.
Is it possible to run the line out of my B100R to another amp to increase output, for example the BA115?
Thanks for the suggestion, I will check it out.
Upgrade the drummer and guitarist
They've both turned it down a notch since I posted here, so life is good
This is technically beyond my experience at the moment but I could figure it out and I'm going to look closer.
What could I do without modifying the amp, considering there is a line out and a good PA, and I'm willing to buy an extra cab or amp.
Is it possible to run the line out of my B100R to another amp to increase output, for example the BA115?
If you're going to do that, see if you can find a second B100R or a B50R!
If you you use pedals, a nice bonus using a pair of combos is that you can split your signal before your pedalboard, and then run the affected signal into one amp and an unaffected signal into the other. This way, even if you have some pedals that are bottom-end-suckers, the amp with the clean signal holds down the bottom end. Another advantage is that if you stack them, it gets one of the speakers up closer to your ears, and you can hear yourself better than having just the one combo on the floor.
I use a second B100R. Lining out into the second amp never worked well for me - YMMV. Instead, split the signal before the two amps (the Radial Big Shot works great for this). I've also found it useful to have a box in front of everything that allows you to control the volume of the two amps as a single unit. I use a Yamaha NE-1 parametric, but almost any unit with a level knob should work.
Just out of curiosity, what was it that "never worked well" for you about lining out to a second amp? Like you, I prefer splitting the signal (for reasons I noted above) rather than lining out from one amp to the other, but I'm curious....
The 'line out' produces a 'line-level' signal. The level is independent of the amps volume control setting. While the line out signal could be used to drive another amp, you would have to adjust the volume control of each amp separately. A line-level' signal is typically strong enough to drive many amps to full output, so you would have to turn the second amp down, and adjust it every time you wanted to change your rigs volume. As mentioned in a previous post, this can be resolved by inserting a pedal (with a volume control) ahead of both amps and splitting the signal between the two amps. That way the pedal volume control would adjust the volume of both amps.
Adding a BA-115 would not preserve the tone of the B100R. There is really no way to tell just what a combination of two dissimilar combo amps (or cabs) will sound like. You may get more deep bass by adding the BA-115 to the B100R, but it would not be surprising to also get a few unexpected (and potentially unpleasant) peaks and suckouts. Hence the advice to combine two of the same.
Primarily noise issues. The Radial Big Shot has an isolation transformer that helps filter out the buzz and hum nasties. It also has a phase reversal switch that actually has a cool and sometimes useful effect on the tone of the amp.
- Sep 4, 2010
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- Endorsing: Martin Keith Guitars
Actually the combination of 15" Bag End / GK is a great one (one of my fave players Tim Dahl uses it) however old school sounding it certainly is not
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I'm not much of an Ampeg guy, aside from B15 lust that just means I'm a bass player. But, a friend has a B100R and it is a great little amp. I have thought about looking for one to play the upright through in small venues where the 361m is absurd overkill.
If you happen to come across a B50R, by all means consider that too. The tone is very similar to the B100R, but with a little less bottom-end booty. It's stupid loud for 50w, and will easily keep up with the 100 within the volume range you're likely to use. My own experience is with one of each: I stacked the 50 on to of the 100, and ran my pedalboard into the 50 and clean signal into the 100 (to preserve the booty).
