Double Bass Ampeg baby bass

[andyz]

The Ampeg baby bass is a different animal. I would like to discuss optimizing setup of vintage Ampeg baby bass with people interested and knowledgeable on the subject, especially luthiers and players experienced with this instrument.

 

[Court Crawford]

Yo Andy, I got simlar questions. The word I hear is that Jason Brown in L.A. is the guy, more for the setup of the pickups than standard lutherie. Lots of cats go for wooden bridges because the shape of the original BB4 bridges has very little to do with the radious of the fingerboard. A wooden bridge would make a consistent string height on all the strings easier to achieve without replacing the ebony on the fingerboard. I'm hesitant to go that route since I love the ping of the alumnium bridge. I imagine Ray Ramirez (PR) and Carlos Guzman (CT) also are very experienced in these areas, just further from Seattle.

Ricardo Perez in Renton has done impeccable work planing and refinishing my fingerboard and neck. He also found a rattle and fixed it; it was caused by the bridge guard screws bottomming out but still not being tight enough. Custom-made foam washers was a great solution.

My next challenge is the end peg itself rattling inside the body when the pin is low. No matter how tight the sleeve at the bass is, I still get some rattle from within the body when the pin is not fully extended.

 

[robthorsen]

Yes when I was at Jason Browns recently he had done work on quite a few Baby Basses and he’s a great person to work with.
I have a total beater anpeg that’s a Zorko neck and Ampeg body bass. Looks like hell but plays great. I’m trying to find more about the different options for finishes on these originally, also I need to source an endpin as mine is some sort of pieced together affair, not functional.

 

[Bruce Calin]

I have a Zorko with the original double wooden bridge and pickup. It really plays pretty nicely although I don't use it much. The pickup is pretty useless but with a bridge one it sounds quite good. I also have a framed photo of Red Mitchell playing one in a Zorko ad with a Zorko amp, which has a real Space Age look. It would be interesting to see what could be done with the finish. It's really flaked. Otherwise, it's in good shape.

 

[Ric Vice]

I toured with a Baby Bass and a Ampeg SB-12 year’s ago in the Ball State University Wind Ensemble. It worked quite well for pizzicato but the metal bridge was difficult to play arco. You could distort the pickup. Pizzicato was good and it was easy to balance with ensemble.

 

[Fast Freddie]

I see the E Bevel radius on the fingerboard so yeah that's a pretty cool classic Ampeg you have. What type of music is it going to be used for? I have the traditional Jazz radius on my Ampeg. I cracked my fingerboard years ago and had it replaced. Steve Azola made my bridge because I also lost my original aluminum bridge years ago, (I wish I could find one). As far as finish goes, I wouldn't know, but I see some fiberglass on the surface of the body. I re-did mine years ago also because of all the dings from 40 years of playing it. Yep, I love that bass, good for Salsa and Jazz.

 

[bass player 53]

I realize that this is a thread of old
and new postings. There already is
an Ampeg Baby Bass Megathread on
TB.
I’ve had a good experience with
Ray Ramirez Basses, having had
him make a replacement neck and
thicker fingerboard for my ‘60’s
Ampeg Baby Bass.
You shouldn’t be put off by the
Puerto Rico location. We had great
communication, and the service was
done in a reasonable time.
The website is here:

Ray Ramírez Basses – Custom made Basses – Puerto Rican Luthiery