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Has Ampeg made a BAD bass amp

#21
Sad story that I experienced and was also experienced by several others here at TB is that of many of Ampeg's China-built B200R combos.

Sad because this amp sounded GREAT - one of the best amps I've ever owned - but it was so shoddily built that it began to rattle after about 6 months of moderate (read: non-touring) use. Got to the point where the rattling was a real distraction that rendered the amp useless.

I've read stories of folks who've never had a problem with certain manufacture runs of this amp, and wish I was among them! Notice that this amp has been discontinued.
 
#24
I owned a solid state Ampeg head back in the early-mid 90s that didn't impress me at all. Heavy as hell, sterile sound and not a lot of volume. I didn't keep it around very long.

Any Ampeg with a tube though can't go too far wrong, IMO.
 
#25
Dang everyone hates my B2re. ): Well, now that I think about it I had to put a BDDi in front of it to get it to sound any good ---- now it sounds great but maybe its not that good if it can't roll on its own. anyway I think I paid 150 for it so you get what you pay for? My bandmates and more importantly I am more than happy with my tone so I guess thats all that matters. So yeah, B2RE...kinda crappy ! HAHA!
 
#27
Ripping on Carvin in an Ampeg thread?!!! :spit:

In all honestly though, I know for a fact both the new Ampeg PF line of heads and the new Carvin heads are great heads, especially considering price point. I own them both!

:bassist:
 
#31
Yes. But strangely enough,& even tho I owned one for a few months, the B2R. I played one- B2R the other day & really liked it!

Perhaps it was coz I've been mucking around with a very popular amp on here, which has virtually no mids, & for me just wouldn't cut thru in a band mix.

Then played the B2R that was a supplied backline, & I was able to, not only add bass & cut mids, but it actually cut thru in our 10pce bands, rather clutterred mix just fine.

I agree, it ain't one of Ampegs finest moments, but there are far worse amps out there, & for the $ I, for one don't think it's too bad at all.

Some other Ampeg models are worse imo.
 
#33
My STV 4pro is reliable (I never take it out (too heavy). My STV 5 was also. My CL was a disaster. Very unreliable. I looked at the STV 7 but went with all MarkBass stuff (LMII and LMIII with a 210 and a 115 cabinet) light and sounds great with a Sans Amp DI. Foolproof.
 
#34
Had an early SVT-3. Would have thought "300 watts" would have been enough, especially since I had plenty of SPL using a 210 watt 70's vintage Peavey. Never had enough SPL w/it, eventually replaced it w/a SS Bmax/DCM600 combo..

One Ampeg product I was not impressed with was the BA-115. Dimed everything, and a medium-loudness drummer rendered it inaudible.. However, it did come in handy on one gig.. I had problems w/a bad capacitor on the Bmax, and the preamp shut down.. Took the preamp output fron the BA-115 and ran it through the DCM600.. Sounded OK..
 
#35
I actually liked the tone of my 350H, but could never get it to power an 810 enough. I could get a pretty gnarly growl with it though. Switched up to an SVT5 to get the same but more loud and more growl.
Really not sure why I got rid of my SVT5, oh well :(

As for bad amps, I definitely remember a slew of bad SVT3's in the late 90s. And again, at the time, I think the SVT3 was a little under-powered.
 
#36
Man, glad it wasn't just me who didn't like the 350H. Granted, I've never been a big Ampeg guy, but I respect the tone and quality of their amps. However, I remember trying a 350H years ago and just thinking the thing sounded incredibly sterile and bland. No amount of EQing seemed to bring the head alive.
 
#39
dereksilloway said:
Im just curious.
Im a huge fan of Ampeg. Ive loved the tone I get out of everything Ive played through.

Now I know some people dont like the Ampeg tone or whatever, but in all seriousness has Ampeg ever made a truely disaster of a head?
I hear a lot of praise for them and me and a buddy asked this question and I thought itd be interesting to see what Talkbass thinks.

And if they did, what made it bad?
Click to expand...

Well, the SVT7PRO(the first edition of it specifically), had problems with the main board going on them. I had 2, and both of them died within hours of me buying them. They were both sent back to Ampeg. For the most part I have never really had any problems with Ampeg. Especially the older stuff.
 

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