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Double Bass Ampeg B15

D

Dave Martin

Jun 16, 2006
638
17
Nashville, Tennessee
www.javajivestudio.com
#1
So I got a call for a last minute gig this afternoon, someone didn't show up, so all I had time to do was run out to the studio and grab my stuff. To save the few minutes that it would take to go from the studio to the house and pick up my SWR, I loaded up the early 70's B15 that I keep in the studio for electric bass. I figured that since it was a trad-jazz gig, that would be loud enough.

What I DIDN'T expect was how good it would sound - holy cow! Over the years, I've tried a whole bunch of different gear to try and get a sound that makes me smile - SWR and Eden amps, the Fishman Pro EQ, etc.; plugging the Realist pickup straight into the Ampeg gave me exactly what I wanted to hear from my Juzek.

I think I'll be taking the B15 out for my april gigs - Kansas, Alabama and Tennessee. Which means that I'm going to have to find another to keep in the studio...
 
#4
Do you suppose you'd get the same result with that head plugged into another cab or is it the total package thing with the 15 that makes it happen?

I've played DB through mine and loved it too, at least on quiet gigs, but I'm not going to haul that pig everywhere. It's power to weight ratio sucks.
 
#5
Maybe it's just me, but I didn't fine it to be a pig to carry. I've had a Super Redhead for years (the wheels have long since disappeared so I have to use a dolly), and it seems to be heavier than the B15, with the added advantage that the height of the Ampeg means that I could roll it without bending over. I just hold the handle on the top and wheel it in like a suitcase. Leaving the gig, I carried my upright, the B15 and a Manhasset stand in one trip. I find it very difficult to do that with either my SWR or my Eden Metro amps.
 
#6
The wheels are great, but getting it in and out of the car, and up and down stairs, is no fun. But, still easier than any stack setup. I've never used any of the new, lightweight combos but they sure sound dreamy to transport. 115 lbs doesn't sound quite right though. Maybe 50 or 60 (but mine is the old original one).
 
#8
Uncletoad said:
It's a pig in the sense that power for pound it's heavy for the headroom it has.
Click to expand...

Oh, gotcha. I hadn't thought about it that way. But then, in the far distant past I played Acoustic 360's, Sunn Colosseum amps (the full stack with 2 18" speakers), custom JBL setups that were taller than I am - and even into the mid-1990's, I was using a pair of road-cased Hartke 4x10's; anything I can lift out of the car alone is a 'small' amp. :)
 
#9
Dave Martin said:
Oh, gotcha. I hadn't thought about it that way. But then, in the far distant past I played Acoustic 360's, Sunn Colosseum amps (the full stack with 2 18" speakers), custom JBL setups that were taller than I am - and even into the mid-1990's, I was using a pair of road-cased Hartke 4x10's; anything I can lift out of the car alone is a 'small' amp. :)
Click to expand...

Don't forget the Fender Bassman cabs.....yikes! :eek:
 
#11
christ andronis said:
Don't forget the Fender Bassman cabs.....yikes! :eek:
Click to expand...

Oh, Jeez - I had two Fender 2x15" cabinets with my Bassman. At least when I had the same setup with Kustom cabinets (and the 2000 watt Kustom amp) a bit later, someone could sleep on the tuck and roll sides on the way home from the gig. But we also had a pair of Voice Of The Theater cabinets for the PA - THOSE were awful to carry....
 
#12
Gentlemen,
My first and only big amp was a Kasino 200 all in one with 2X15's. It had these two giant tilt back casters in the rear, so you had to lean the whole unit back to roll it around. This baby literally filled the back seat of a turquiose Chevy Bel Air. The sound was less than stellar, but It was very reliable, though not in a good way. I can't believe that I actually bought the thing when I could of had a new B-15 back then but I didn't want to shell out the extra 100 bucks. A couple of years later I bought a used B-15N (c) which was way lighter and sounded great. I still have that amplifier.

Ric
 
#13
This is quickly becoming the vintage dance of the old guys. I still have several SVT's with 810's I haven't brought out in quite awhile. I've still got a couple B15's and a B18, a '63 Bassman etc.

Truth is as much as I like them I'll take my focus and little EA cab to the gig every time 'cus they don't break, don't cost much to maintain, don't weigh a thing, and can be replaced with a phonecall.
 
#14
Uncletoad said:
This is quickly becoming the vintage dance of the old guys. I still have several SVT's with 810's I haven't brought out in quite awhile. I've still got a couple B15's and a B18, a '63 Bassman etc.
Click to expand...

We're not old, we're 'vintage'. :)

And really, I figure that the whole point of owning gear is to use it, so I don't mind taking the B15 on the road with me this month.
 
#15
To answer 'UncleToad' several posts up, I run my '64 Ampeg
B15N through a single 12" Bagend cabinet with the passive treble and bass tone controls run full open on the Ampeg. Still weights too much but the the sound is as good as it gets.
 
#16
Uncletoad said:
This is quickly becoming the vintage dance of the old guys. I still have several SVT's with 810's I haven't brought out in quite awhile. I've still got a couple B15's and a B18, a '63 Bassman etc.

Truth is as much as I like them I'll take my focus and little EA cab to the gig every time 'cus they don't break, don't cost much to maintain, don't weigh a thing, and can be replaced with a phonecall.
Click to expand...
Hey Phil, what's the B-18 sound like? Is the cab similar to the double baffle B-15 cab? Is it all low end or does it have some guts in the upper mids like the B-15?

BTW, you are right. The B-15 IS an SVT for old guys. I have no problem with that. I wouldn't use it daily, but I trot it out for the cool stuff.
 
#20
Dave Martin said:
Oh, gotcha. I hadn't thought about it that way. But then, in the far distant past I played Acoustic 360's, Sunn Colosseum amps (the full stack with 2 18" speakers), custom JBL setups that were taller than I am - and even into the mid-1990's, I was using a pair of road-cased Hartke 4x10's; anything I can lift out of the car alone is a 'small' amp. :)
Click to expand...

How about the Kustom with 3 15" speakers? That was a real killer. I used to have to get my wife to help me drag my Sunn 18" cab up the back stairs to our 2nd floor apartment. I didn't keep that one very long (or the Dual Showman cab I used to wheel around town in college)! :help:
 

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