Ampeg B15 R Portaflex

Tried several and liked them*. That's why I bought my B-100R. Same warm sound, excellent low end handling and 1/3 the price didn't hurt, either.



*I've owned at least three original B-15's, too.

 

I have a 1965 B15-N. It is incredible, to say the least. I was first smitten by them when I saw the tubes light up behind the screen and the acrylic emblem light up.

I take mine to an occasional garage jam that I do with some buddys. They love it's tone, too. This is the tone, with a P bass that defines the Stax sound. I'm pretty sure that the little B-15 was used on Rescue Me by Fontella Bass. This was the typical studio amp of that time period.

It's not very loud with only 35 watts on it's best day. I'm running 7581 power tubes in mine which gives it a slight bump. I also have an original speaker that has been reconed so I can store the original speaker in a box. The magnet for that speaker is a big huge square and the speaker is a CTS.

I know of a gigging bassist that uses one regularly with an auxilary cab for Blues gigs in the Sacramento area. She gets a great tone with that amp and a Mustang bass. I guess if you really wanted to use the amp on a regular basis that you could mike it into the PA. I've heard that done.

As a side note - it sounds great as a harp (harmonica)amp.

IMHO, the new re-issue doesn't even hold a candle to the original.

 

You can call me a fuddy-dud but NOTHING sounds quite like an early B15-N. It is pretty unique in tone. It's by the nature of the circuits, the particular tubes and that CTS speaker that they sound the way that they do.

 

You're right, Jerry but the B-100R has been surprising quite a few players with it's warm sound. I've owned the originals and I really dig my B-100R. It's the antithesis of the current extra crispy amp genre.