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Ampeg B15 volume question

K

Kulchinski1993

May 16, 2013
3
0
#1
Hello!
All you B15 owners can help me out with this one.
I've heard a lot of people claiming that the B15 is not loud enough for live use. Is there a way to beef up the power to make it suitable for gigging? This is for a rock band with a drummer who hits hard. Thanks!
 
#3
For a rock band with a drummer who hits hard, I'd at least get a V4B with a 410, 212 or 215. I use a B-15 with two repro cabs sometimes, but lately I find myself sometimes running out of clean juice because we've bumped up our stage volume levels a bit. Our drummer hits medium hard.
 
#6
I always found it a bit frustrating gigging my B. it just takes one musician to bring the overall volume up - others turn up to match - and you're toast. If you're miking and running through a PA you're basically using it as a glorified effects unit. A very heavy, bulky one. Personally I only used it in situations that I knew wouldn't get loud.
 
#7
Can't say I ever thought of it as a glorified effects unit but I'm a DI hater except for the REDDI, though I will agree with your assessment of it otherwise. Still love mine, though, and I still use it sometimes. One really super cool thing about it is you put a heavy duty speaker in one, crank it up into the red, and it makes a balls sounding overdrive, the likes of which pedals just can't duplicate. It's not overly loud, but it's usually enough to fill a room on a rock gig.

I'd still at least get a V4B or an SVT if you can swing it for rock with a hard hitting drummer.
 
#9
I ended up with my EBS for just his reason. My old '65 just didn't cut it. I still lust for a 70s model with the theile cab, when I a/b'ed my old one the 70s model was noticeably louder and more full range. But we're still dealing with a 35-40 watts tube amp. Thats barely enough (IME) for a clean GUITAR sound when amps are providing FOH sound.
 
#10
Use a Bass POD with the emulation setting, run everything through a good house PA and monitor system, and let the sound man deal with it.

Or get your drummer to calm down.
 
#13
JimmyM said:
Better than nothing, but not quite the same ;)
Click to expand...

yeah sure JM, but ultimately in a full band mix you will not really hear the difference.

in a recording situation, or where the B is loud enough to be heard clearly, totally different situation.

even if you mike the B15 through FOH, unless you have lots of input to how the sound guy does the final house mix, you are just going to get whatever they decide on for bass tone. A little closer would be to use a line level/or speaker level DI out to FOH, but still, what ultimately (and usually) comes out is what the sound guy wants.
 
#14
pfschim said:
yeah sure JM, but ultimately in a full band mix you will not really hear the difference.
Click to expand...
People have told me this for years and there was a time I actually bought into it, but I think I was just trying to rationalize going solid state after 20 years of using pretty much nothing but tube amps, because I definitely hear a difference when I use tube amps on gigs, even when they're not mic'ed into the PA, and even when the PA isn't the best. Is it make or break? Of course not. But I hear it, most certainly.
 
#15
JimmyM said:
People have told me this for years and there was a time I actually bought into it, but I think I was just trying to rationalize going solid state after 20 years of using pretty much nothing but tube amps, because I definitely hear a difference when I use tube amps on gigs, even when they're not mic'ed into the PA, and even when the PA isn't the best. Is it make or break? Of course not. But I hear it, most certainly.
Click to expand...

well, we'll have to agree to disagree on this point. I have used tube as well as ss amps for 45 years of playing in a wide variety of venues and across a wide selection of music styles (like you) While I feel that I hear the difference in my immediate vicinity (tubes rock!), when I have had the chance to hear the stage mix from the audience perspective, or a decent live recording of any given venue, I do not (or rarely) really hear a significant difference in the bass tone.

For me the only real exception to this is when the venue is quite small/intimate, has great acoustics, and the band/music style is intended for close listening. In those kinds of settings each players gear, and resulting tone, is much more clear - both to the band and the listener. This is the scenario where a great tube amp like a B15 can really shine. IMO/IME.

Now, of course, I am convinced that this has as much to do with FOH and how soundpeople do their mixes, but still .....
 
#16
I'm not a fan of taking the B15 to gigs.
Did it for a while when I first got it, to break it in, but it is heavy and lives in a downstairs studio now.
Yes, it sounds great, looks cool, has mojo for days, but really, nobody else cares but me. (sad face)
I use it for practice and recording now, and it is happy. I don't intend to move it any time soon.
 
#18
Kulchinski1993 said:
Hello!
All you B15 owners can help me out with this one.
I've heard a lot of people claiming that the B15 is not loud enough for live use. Is there a way to beef up the power to make it suitable for gigging? This is for a rock band with a drummer who hits hard. Thanks!
Click to expand...

When I used to play Ramada and Holiday Inn Lounges, the B-15N(C) did those gigs really well. Mind you the P.A.'s of that period were Kustom's and Shure Vocalmasters. Ampeg built that amp in a time where power just wasn't as necessary. When rock moved out of clubs and into stadiums, they built the V4's and SVT's to deliver great sound into those venues. A B-15 wasn't built with that in mind. They tried it with the B-15S, but it was heavy and still didn't move the air that you need for big venues. So it's loud enough for it's original intended purpose. If you wan't the B-15 sound then using a mic on the amp is always an option. IME, the Double Baffle Reflex Cabinets, have a great deal to do with the B-15N's sound. I used to have a pair of them loaded with JBL E140's. Using a Walter Woods MI-100-8 I got very close to the sound of a B-15N only louder. Even with that combination, there were volume limits that you couldn't go past.

Ric
 

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#19
Babbitt uses one in the SITSOM movie and it sounds killer to me. How he has it rigged(FOH,ect.); I don't know, but the venue is a good size place and the on stage sound is incredible. I use my 63 in the studio so I can't really speak fist hand on it's gigging capabilities.
 
#20
Johntheson said:
Babbitt uses one in the SITSOM movie and it sounds killer to me. How he has it rigged(FOH,ect.); I don't know, but the venue is a good size place and the on stage sound is incredible. I use my 63 in the studio so I can't really speak fist hand on it's gigging capabilities.
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Johntheson,

I was told that the B-15N on stage was just for show, as it possibly belonged to Jamerson. He's actually playing through a different amp, if you take a closer look.

Ric
 

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