Big Amps will come back one day!!!

[jazzyvee]

Everyone has their own preference. But for all the TalkBass back hurts / silent stage, while that is a real thing it is still the case that just about every show I've seen major or club in the last few years is still guitar stacks or at least Twins and big bass amps.
In my own experience I see bare stages with cover and review bands more often than with original bands.

o
Lovely Alembic Europa 5 there.

 

[Bergerman]

I recently started using a big rig with the band…Carvin 810 and B1500 head. I was running late to setup for a recent gig and the guys were starting setup without me. They texted me to say that they taped off my designated area so nobody would cramp my space on stage. This is what I saw when I arrived:

 

[jthisdell]

My music preferences evolved throughout my 40 years of mixing touring acts, everything from jazz, folk, country, rock, a little metal and a variety of international world music acts. Nothing is (or has to be) static.

i run into so many players who play the 40 songs they learned 40 years ago and that’s it

 

[Killing Floor]

that’s Zuri Appleby. She plays with Lizzo and others. Very good player.

 

[amper]

My music preferences evolved throughout my 40 years of mixing touring acts, everything from jazz, folk, country, rock, a little metal and a variety of international world music acts. Nothing is (or has to be) static.

Sure, I'm the same way, but we're not "most people". As the saying goes, "the exception proves the rule".

 

[Coot]

I've had a Mesa TT, Markbass, GK MBF800, and played through others.
Did the Quilter bring back the feel of your heavy weight heads?

Yeah .. I really liked the Quilter. I had a really early edition and there were some extraneous noise issues or I would still have it. Those early issues were fixed as I understand but I had moved on though. The Quilter BB800 is a great amplifier and I spoke with Pat Q himself about the noise issue... so the customer service is excellent as well. I think the heavy iron valve amps have a feel and sound that is unique and I love them, but many of the new class D offerings are excellent as well. I'm very impressed with the Mesa D800 line and many of the other brands we have available. IMO The Quilter is superb and also deserves to be in that bracket .

 

[Aussie Player]

i run into so many players who play the 40 songs they learned 40 years ago and that’s it

True, but singers are the common cause. They join your band, ignore your set lists and want the band to learn their's, so they get a free ride. Staggeringly so in my area.

 

[David A. Davis]

My little big rig. All 45 lbs of it. Today is not the day.

 

[groovepump]

True, but singers are the common cause. They join your band, ignore your set lists and want the band to learn their's, so they get a free ride. Staggeringly so in my area.

often true.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Updating my earlier comment about not being able to sell my 8x10 SVT Cab on Craig's list for $350.
I had it listed for over 5 months going from $550. to $350 and only got low ball offers. I then took the advice of a local music store owner, bit the bullet and created a Facebook / Meta account, put it on Market place and sold it in one week for $450. It was actually the lowest listing there for a Ampeg 8x10 cab and should have started higher. Point is, where you list an item makes a difference.

 

[jwilson67]

Bottom line, what does it really matter?? If you like the way you sound through a big, heavy amp great. If you think you sound fine through class A amp and neo speakers great! If you think you sound fine with a modeler straight into a PA more power to you. If it sounds good in the end that's pretty much all that matters.

To say that only weaklings use light amps is the most backward thing I've ever heard.

 

[Aussie Player]

Updating my earlier comment about not being able to sell my 8x10 SVT Cab on Craig's list for $350.
I had it listed for over 5 months going from $550. to $350 and only got low ball offers. I then took the advice of a local music store owner, bit the bullet and created a Facebook / Meta account, put it on Market place and sold it in one week for $450. It was actually the lowest listing there for a Ampeg 8x10 cab and should have started higher. Point is, where you list an item makes a difference.

Timing and price which is really luck helps too.
When I was selling my Sunn Model T with matching 4X15 cab back in the 80's, I couldn't get a bite and started dropping the price. Still no takers.
Pulled the listing for a couple of months then relisted it for a couple of hundred more than the original price and it sold straight away. Thats life in the used market.
These days, I live by the motto of refusing to be everyone elses great deal. Having said that, I have given instruments away to young players who genuinely couldn't afford them.

 

[Geddyfleaharris]

Updating my earlier comment about not being able to sell my 8x10 SVT Cab on Craig's list for $350.
I had it listed for over 5 months going from $550. to $350 and only got low ball offers. I then took the advice of a local music store owner, bit the bullet and created a Facebook / Meta account, put it on Market place and sold it in one week for $450. It was actually the lowest listing there for a Ampeg 8x10 cab and should have started higher. Point is, where you list an item makes a difference.

Craig's list is almost non-existent in my area. It's Kjiji or Marketplace. I have had way more success on Marketplace. And no spam texts from grifters.

 

[mikeswals]

Updating my earlier comment about not being able to sell my 8x10 SVT Cab on Craig's list for $350.
I had it listed for over 5 months going from $550. to $350 and only got low ball offers. I then took the advice of a local music store owner, bit the bullet and created a Facebook / Meta account, put it on Market place and sold it in one week for $450. It was actually the lowest listing there for a Ampeg 8x10 cab and should have started higher. Point is, where you list an item makes a difference.

When was that? I'd say two years ago around Seattle it was possible to find Ampeg classic 810's priced as low as 350-400 dollars, but they've gone back up since then.
I see this happen in different markets, if things people still like start going low in price, they get snapped up quick, then the next waves start going back up. Same thing was happening to all tube heads...they had a lull, then went back up

 

[Jugghaid]

i run into so many players who play the 40 songs they learned 40 years ago and that’s it

Really? That's kinda sad imo.

I hope they are really good at those tunes.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

When was that?

When: Started in the fall of 2023 when my Father in law passed away and I inherited more stuff. The big cab was just sitting.
Where: Metro Detroit, Wayne County.
Sold 5-04-2024 to a young man from Ann Arbor.

 

[srxplayer]

Have fun with that, I plan to be dead by then.

 

[Fishheadjoe]

My thoughts on this come back to a TB GTG that happened prior to Covid. There were probably 20 local bass players that attended. I brought my Marshall VBA400 and my Berg NV610 for folks to try. Many kinda looked at me like I was some kinda crazy for dragging almost two hundred pounds of gear to the GTG; then I turned it on and let folks have at 'er. The look on their collective faces was one of astonishment and smiles.
Yah, there were other set ups available, but no one asked if they could crank the Class D stuff there and when we really hit the cab hard (cranked the amp) the discussion centered around the virtues of speaker saturation and the sound, that only a tube amp can make.
I have other amps that i can use, but the Marshall gets my gigs.
Again, just one man's experience.
Fishheadejoe

 

[agedhorse]

If the heavy legacy amps were so darn great, so much better than modern offerings, how come they went out of production years or decades ago?

95% of the market has spoken loudly and with their wallets. For the other 5% there is a thriving used market plus a service industry that’s still stuck in the 1960’s and 70’s. Win-win.

 

[Aussie Player]

My thoughts on this come back to a TB GTG that happened prior to Covid. There were probably 20 local bass players that attended. I brought my Marshall VBA400 and my Berg NV610 for folks to try. Many kinda looked at me like I was some kinda crazy for dragging almost two hundred pounds of gear to the GTG; then I turned it on and let folks have at 'er. The look on their collective faces was one of astonishment and smiles.
Yah, there were other set ups available, but no one asked if they could crank the Class D stuff there and when we really hit the cab hard (cranked the amp) the discussion centered around the virtues of speaker saturation and the sound, that only a tube amp can make.
I have other amps that i can use, but the Marshall gets my gigs.
Again, just one man's experience.
Fishheadejoe

And my experience. Have seen it every time I use it.