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First Bass Amp you ever had?

#101
Ha! I have you all beat! My first bass amp was...... A mid 80's 100 watt Fisher home stereo system, played through the input of an Aiwa cassette tape deck! After a year of that, and not sounding great, I bought a Fender Sidekick 30. It was all I could afford. And I ended up liking the sound of my old Fisher better... up till the day it blowed up!

PS. I wasn't playing bass with it at the time it died, and it didn't so much blow up as it did just stop working.
 
#103
I'm very new (couple of months) to the bass and don't have a bass amp yet. I'm using my Roland KC-550 amp (180W, 15" + horn) from my keyboards for now. So I guess that's my first bass amp.

It's actually not too shabby and can get me up to a drummer's volume. I just can't pull the exact sound I want out of it without messing up the keyboard sound. After a year of practice or so, I'd like to move my bass to a nice 4x10" setup and return the KC-550 to the synths. Still, my silly setup works fine while I learn the instrument. I can't complain.
 
#105
My First amp was this Univox 2x12 amp Think it was about 50 watts.

univoxfull.gif
 
#106
Waaaay back in a time before a lot of you were even born, my parents bought me a Marlboro Bass/Keyboard/PA amp. Single 12" speaker, unknown wattage. It had a bare metal on/off toggle that often provided a bit of a shock depending where it was plugged. I'd use part of a broomstick eventually just to avoid the jolt.

Marlboro Amplifiers

Amplifiers previously produced overseas during the 1970s and 1980s. Distribued by Musical Instrument Corporation in Syosset, New York.
Marlboro was a line of amplifiers imported to the U.S. They were produced in the 1970s and 1980s. When they were first introduced they were economy (budget line amps), and like then, that is what they still are today. They made a variety of models that were all solid-state and had various power outputs and speaker configurations. Almost any Marlboro can be found for under $100, and the smaller amps fall into the $35-$60 range, while the bigger models can push $100.
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Similar to, but not exactly:

marlboroampbig.gif
 
#107
In 1972, a Baldwin Professional 2x12 ss combo amp with the colored plastic "tone" keys. Hilariously bad ! and weighed a ton (think it had a metal case).

I used a bunch of borrowed gear before that (Kustom 200 blue sparkle tuck and roll, Ampeg B15). But the Baldwin was the fist piece of gear that I bought myself. Dumped it about a year later for a Fender Bassman 70 and a pair of JBL D140F loaded TL606 cab, huge improvement to say the least.
 
#108
dalahorse said:
I'm very new (couple of months) to the bass and don't have a bass amp yet. I'm using my Roland KC-550 amp (180W, 15" + horn) from my keyboards for now. So I guess that's my first bass amp.

It's actually not too shabby and can get me up to a drummer's volume. I just can't pull the exact sound I want out of it without messing up the keyboard sound. After a year of practice or so, I'd like to move my bass to a nice 4x10" setup and return the KC-550 to the synths. Still, my silly setup works fine while I learn the instrument. I can't complain.
Click to expand...

Dude, those are sweet amps IMO. I was in a band where the keyboard player and the drummer (e-drums) both had one. I briefly considered buying one of my own so we would all match.

Didn't play through them enough to have a real strong opinion of their tone for bass, but I do know that that amp gets loud, and handled our keyboard player's heavy left hand with ease.

Not too shabby indeed!

--Bomb :bassist:
 
#109
My first amp was a (post cbs)Fender Bassman 50 watt head with a Dual Showman cab 2 x12 rather than 2 x 15 of a bassman cab. I had no idea the cab was loaded with Altecs until I opened it up a few years later. I paid $70 for bt pieces in 1977 from a kid who had gone away to college. I sold the amp 3 years later for $225...man I thought I was smart.
 
#110
Sonicfrog said:
Ha! I have you all beat! My first bass amp was...... A mid 80's 100 watt Fisher home stereo system, played through the input of an Aiwa cassette tape deck! After a year of that, and not sounding great, I bought a Fender Sidekick 30. It was all I could afford. And I ended up liking the sound of my old Fisher better... up till the day it blowed up!

PS. I wasn't playing bass with it at the time it died, and it didn't so much blow up as it did just stop working.
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Doesn't count! I blew up various radios, boom boxes, and stereos in the early 80's. This popped my cherry, sounded damn good too!

peavey.jpg
 
#112
Mine was a Bruce in 1968 . 215 cab with the 100 watt amp built into the cabinet . The head was just the preamp , you ran a shielded cable from it to the cabinet . They came with JBLs or a generic 15" and mine was not JBLs so it really didn't sound that clear with my EBO or my Framus bass . They were pretty loud and sounded good with the JBLs and were ahead of their time . Three Dog Night and Soft Machine were a couple of bands that used them back then .
 
#114
Kalamazoo Bass 30. Not the low, wide tube version with the flip out back panel, but the tall skinny solid state combo with two 10's. Louder than my friend's acoustic guitar, but not by much. 1969. Thanks, Dad.
 
#115
Line 6 Studio 110. I started playing just 3 years ago. At the time, this amp was pretty new on the market. 75 watts into a single 10" speaker. In the last 3 years, this amp has proven it's mettle: I've gigged coffee houses with it, jammed with as many as 14 acoustic guitarists and a violin (long story ...), and used it as an onstage monitor (I love the XLR out). The presets are kind of 'meh', but if you spend an afternoon tweaking one of these you'll be rewarded with some surprisingly good tone. I've managed to find a few very, very nice tones that suit what I've played. I'll probably sell it soon to defray the costs of upgrading to a more capable amp, but it has been good enough to be my only amp for 3 years. That's sayin' something for a 1x10.
 
#118
1st thing I used as an amp in 81 was my stereo (radio shack special), then I moved up to two 5 watt advantage amps My first real was one like this Link Removed. Paired with two sets of 2X15

Earth kinda stole their design from peavey but this thing was earth shaking loud.
 
#119
Buster Brown said:
OK....I'll play!!

First "real" bass amp......Baldwin Exterminator, followed by a Fender Bassman.


However, if you want to get REAL technical...it would have to be a Sears Silvertone amp built into the case...


There you go!
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wow you owned the "amp in case" I did a project at University last year researching them, and re designing it using modern technology. I'd love to actually play one! watching you-tube video's is just not the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poxRomtf_x8
 

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