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Ampeg versus Fender thoughts

#41
pudgychef said:
I miss the Fender TV Bassman Amps - great sound, thick and powerful
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Loved these amps.

sub-commandante said:
i use both in tube flavour, SVT and Studiobass for different tastes. Both sound great.
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My Fender Studiobass amp (all-tube) sounds awesome with my Passive P's, J's & my Duesenberg Starplayer. A match made in heaven. Not so great with other types of basses as you can't EQ out the baked in tone.

My Jule Monique M700 (tube pre, based off Ampeg design) sounds great with every bass I plug into it, including DB & piezo-equipped basses (acoustic bass, Rob Allen basses). It's also 1/4 of the weight so it goes to all the gigs.
 
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#42
Years and years ago, back in 1977, I used to have a Fender Bassman 100 head and a 4x12 cabinet that I loved. Then I went on to become a keyboard player. When I finally gave up the keyboards to get back to bass I went thru a number of different amps and ended up with the SVT in my profile pic and a V9 (910) cabinet. Before I moved to Florida i sold them both off. Now I have an Ampeg PF800 which I use with a number of cabinets depending on the venue (I have an older Hartke 410XL, a Hartke 410XL cabinet that I loaded with Eminence Kappa Pro speakers, an Acoustic B210neo and a combo with an 800 watt Carvin speaker that I hook into its speaker).

As a tech I've repaired and played thru a number of different amps and brands but I always return to Ampeg. I have nothing against Fender. They just don't have the sound I'm looking for.
 
#43
58kites said:
I believe Ampeg focused on bass guitars and bass amps right from the beginning of their company.
And have focused on bass amps since the bass guitar thing did not take off for them.
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They actually focused on upright bass, as Ampeg started in 1948 :D But they did branch out into guitar and accordion amps, though bass was their priority. The original owner felt Fender was his arch rival, and he would never allow a Fender bass in the factory. In the early 60's they started importing Burns basses, and soon after started making the Scroll Bass electrics and the Dan Armstrongs, but while they had their fans, they never quite caught on.
 
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#44
JimmyM said:
They actually focused on upright bass, as Ampeg started in 1948 :D But they did branch out into guitar and accordion amps, though bass was their priority. The original owner felt Fender was his arch rival, and he would never allow a Fender bass in the factory. In the early 60's they started importing Burns basses, and soon after started making the Scroll Bass electrics and the Dan Armstrongs, but while they had their fans, they never quite caught on.
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Some upright electrics first, yeah?
Wasn't the AUB-1 the first fretless electric bass?...and then they did the AUB-1 fretted to go along with it.
Back in 1974 when I worked in a music store, We had some of the Ampeg Dan Armstrong lucite clear guitars and basses come through.
 
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#45
58kites said:
Some upright electrics first, yeah.
Wasn't the AUB-1 the first fretless electric bass?...and then they did the AUB-1 fretted to go along with it.
Back in 1974 when I worked in a music store, We had some of the Ampeg Dan Armstrong lucite clear guitars and basses come through.
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I think Bill Wyman's customized Dallas bass was the first. Maybe the first production electric fretless? Not sure of that one.
 
#46
I'd agree that the old Fender Bassman amps from the 70s may lack some bottom end. But there've been some terrific Fender tube amps with active eq (like the Ampegs ) since then. The best of them, imo, is the current Super Bassman 300w all tube amp. A HEAP of @ss end even from the passive (vintage) channel. ..and a 2nd channel that IS active.
Superb amp.
I love both Ampeg Tube amps and the current Fender tube amps.
I've got a Super Bassman and an Ampeg V4B (100w ). .. both superb amps
 
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#48
I gigged with an mti era svt for a long long time. It worked very very well for my hard hitting fast and loud motorheadish band. It does it and it is unbeatable at it. When I bought it, it was sharing a cabinet with what was then the brand new classic series. When I a/b'd the 2 it was a night and day difference. The classic was..... held back? hard to describe, but I don't know if they ever worked out those issues. I have played guitar with bass players using the classic and heritage models with much success except for the occasional tube bias circuit issues.

fast forward!! I played guitar in a band with a bass player who got his hands on the fender bassman pro 300 and I borrowed it a few times when my svt was in the shop. After using that fender for a few gigs, I got the svt sorted.. brought it to 2 different techs and gigged it a handful more times to make certain it was in great shape and then, with no regrets, flipped it for a sunn 300t at an even trade.

They are both amazing amps, the ampeg was more of a one trick pony, but that trick was like a 720 mctwist with a triple lindy at the end.. The fender does the mctwist and can almost nail the lindy at the end, but it also has a whole other bag full of tricks and can do them all at any volume through 2, 4 or 8 ohms.
 
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#50
I've owned

74 v4, 76 v4b
65 b15, 67 b15, 71 b15, 70's b15s
played countless SVT's from vintage to heritage, SVT-CL, MTI, SVT-II on backline gigs

72 bassman, 74, bassman, 75 bassman, 80 bassman
69 super bassman
69 bantam (tube rectified bassman)

and I just don't like the ampeg tone. not sure what it is, but it sounds like a wall of undefined mud. Fender on the other hand is warm, clear, and punchy. I've always love the fender tone stack too, very musical since they all interact with each other. currently at 0 treble, 10 middle, .5 bass. sounds just like those 70's soul records bass :)
 
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#51
in the late 70's I had purchased a Fender Bassman 4X12" cabinet with the angled speakers and an early 70's vintage Ampeg SVT blueline. The two sounded great together.... I have never been able to duplicate that tone. Long story short, the Ampeg head was stolen at a bar so I purchased the Bassman 100 head from the guy I bought the cabinet from. Did not like that head at all. It was under powered and I never could get a sound I liked out of it having been spoiled with the SVT. I ended up selling it and moving on. Although looking back I now wonder why I didn't seek out another SVT? Young and dumb I guess.
 
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#52
My choice for cheap solid state 15' driver combo with great tone is Hartke KB15 > Rumble 200/115 V3 > BA150 V2.
Harke KB15 is not only produce cleanest tone over them,without HF Horn ,the Hydrive speaker still give me great treble tone, appropriate amount of MID tone and the much tight-focus LOW which i could't get from Rumble 200 and BA150.
With all EQ flat and No Shape mode engage, Hartke KB15 tone is fully present the bass guitar's pickups pure tone without any saturate or colouring like what Fender Rumble and Ampeg BA did.
 
#53
I agree that its a prefence sort of thing. To me the Ampeg tone is awesome when I do my personal practice but the tone I like from it gets covered up in the mix with the band. The Fender tone sounds more harsh on its own but sits well with the band. Its all relative but this has been my general experience.
 
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#54
I have always loved the Ampeg sound since I tried my first B-25B head and V4B cab in the early 70's, had owned a Dual Showman before that and currently own an early Silverface Bassman with 2 x 15 cab. I moved up to SVT's somewhere around 1976 and have stuck with them to this day, also love B-15's. I have always also like the Fender tone but always felt they were underpowered. When I was young and had never tried an SVT after asking a friend about them he told me "they would knock a wall over" which I found to be true the first time I used one. I still feel that way about them, they have a bottom which is so thick you can just about walk on it. You have never experienced how good and powerful a bass can sound until you plug a P bass into an SVT with two SVT cabs (8x10's), it WILL knock a wall over. That being said the new 300 watt Fender all tube amp does intrigue me. Anything with 6 6550's and 300 watts has to have some balls.
 
#55
growler571 said:
Why does it seem like Ampeg Bass amps just sound better than Fender Bass amps? It always seems like Fender Bass Amps are Shy on the deep deep lows and low mids where Ampegs seem too be so much fuller sounding in these frequencies. I know it's a matter of opinion and taste but it just seems like Fender Bass amps have always been more like guitar amps instead of real bass amps.
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It seems like it because that's your preference. I can make an Ampeg sound muddy or thin, and I can make a Fender sound thick in the low and low mid range with just some simple understanding and implementation of the EQ.
 
#57
growler571 said:
Why does it seem like Ampeg Bass amps just sound better than Fender Bass amps? It always seems like Fender Bass Amps are Shy on the deep deep lows and low mids where Ampegs seem too be so much fuller sounding in these frequencies. I know it's a matter of opinion and taste but it just seems like Fender Bass amps have always been more like guitar amps instead of real bass amps. Even the new ampeg ba series redesigned combos seem too blow away the fender rumbles in the low end low mids department. Any thoughts and opinions welcomed sincerely growler571
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I bought an Ampeg BA-110 less than two weeks ago. I spent a few hours trying out smaller combo amps at L&M and that was what I picked. It sounded great, still does. Lots of lows and sounds like a bass amp.

The Fender amps I tried though, they sounded weak and bland. When I first plugged it in I was very surprised how bass-less it was, I wouldn't play one if I was paid to.
 
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#58
winterburn69 said:
I bought an Ampeg BA-110 less than two weeks ago. I spent a few hours trying out smaller combo amps at L&M and that was what I picked. It sounded great, still does. Lots of lows and sounds like a bass amp.

The Fender amps I tried though, they sounded weak and bland. When I first plugged it in I was very surprised how bass-less it was, I wouldn't play one if I was paid to.
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Yeah i have a gig rig that is ampeg but i also have a ba108 that i love using for practice. I am impressed with how it sounds for a little practice combo.
 
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#60
winterburn69 said:
I bought an Ampeg BA-110 less than two weeks ago. I spent a few hours trying out smaller combo amps at L&M and that was what I picked. It sounded great, still does. Lots of lows and sounds like a bass amp.
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Same here......BA110v2 for my practice amp and a BA210v2 (with 2x10 extension cab when required) as my main gigging rig.

One of the features that I like as well is that I can dial in a tone that I like on one amp and those settings will carry right over to the other.

Personally, I don't DISLIKE Fender, I just happen to PREFER Ampeg.
 

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