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Double Bass My First Bass Amplifier

Ric Vice

Ric Vice

Supporting Member
Jul 2, 2005
14,301
12,474
Olivette, Missouri
#1
Sometimes the internet is just amazing. I was goofing around today looking for my first amp, and lo and behold there it was. I ordered it from Montgomery Ward in 1968. It was an Airline with a 15" Jensen and a totally open back, I believe they were actually built by Supro, at least that's what it said on the chassis. My next amp was a Casino 200 that I called Igor, it ended up in a river when the person who bought it second hand from the local music store drove the car over and embankment. I finally ended up with a B-15 NC that I still have to this day.

Ric
 

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#2
Well if you're asking my first bass amp was a Fender Bassman with the 2x15 cab. bought it used in 68 or 69 from the local music store in my hometown of Beaumont, TX and used it to gig with 3 different bands at the time. Ended up selling it to my high school for them to use with the jazz band when I graduated in 71. Wish I still had it!

Now if I could just find my first bass - a big red Silvertone that my parents bought me from Sears for Christmas.
 
#4
I had one of these when I was maybe thirteen and wish I still had it.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=557287

That, and my Kalamazoo bass with a big EB whatever pickup and nylon tapewounds was not a bad rig in '74 for a young kid.

My next amp was a Kasino 'snake eyes' head with a 15. Believe it or not, my high school bought an SVT with two fridge cabinets and I was able to borrow that from time to time. Cool stuff. Now I'm trying to get everything in one trip.:help:
 
#8
When I had my first DB I hadn't seen a BG - anywhere. Johnny Hawksworth was the bass player with the Ted Heath Orchestra and he had a contact mic going into a custom made amp from Teddy Wallace. About 1963. I didn't like the contact mic sound so tried a Reslo ribbon mike looking straight at the G f-hole about 4" away. I used a Leak 50 watt hifi amp chassis (twin KT88s) and my young brother who was a bit of a genius made me a one valve preamp. Speaker? I started out with a Goodmans 12" speaker and made an enclosure for it, later 'upgrading' to an 18". The cabinet was so huge that we put a door in the back and the band suits used to travel in it like a wardrobe (closet?). I was playing behind a great female tenor player of the day, Cathy Stobart, and had a loose joint in the preamp so I had a lot of clicks and buzzes. She broke off from her solo and enquired whether i thought I was playing a gieger counter.

I noticed that the DB players stayed with the contact mic but the Ampeg B15 became the amp of choice. I couldn't possibly afford one - still at school. Later the DBs almost became extinct with the arrival of the Fender bass guitar. First group I saw with one was the John Barry Seven. He played trumpet in those days.

Sorry to go on so much and hope that some of these names are recognisable over there.
 
#11
Roger Davis said:
When I had my first DB I hadn't seen a BG - anywhere. Johnny Hawksworth was the bass player with the Ted Heath Orchestra and he had a contact mic going into a custom made amp from Teddy Wallace. About 1963. I didn't like the contact mic sound so tried a Reslo ribbon mike looking straight at the G f-hole about 4" away. I used a Leak 50 watt hifi amp chassis (twin KT88s) and my young brother who was a bit of a genius made me a one valve preamp. Speaker? I started out with a Goodmans 12" speaker and made an enclosure for it, later 'upgrading' to an 18". The cabinet was so huge that we put a door in the back and the band suits used to travel in it like a wardrobe (closet?). I was playing behind a great female tenor player of the day, Cathy Stobart, and had a loose joint in the preamp so I had a lot of clicks and buzzes. She broke off from her solo and enquired whether i thought I was playing a gieger counter.

I noticed that the DB players stayed with the contact mic but the Ampeg B15 became the amp of choice. I couldn't possibly afford one - still at school. Later the DBs almost became extinct with the arrival of the Fender bass guitar. First group I saw with one was the John Barry Seven. He played trumpet in those days.

Sorry to go on so much and hope that some of these names are recognisable over there.
Click to expand...

My first amp was a Leak TL12 Plus with a made up one valve preamp. My first band was with Geoff Whitehorn (I first knew him when he was 12), as we went to the same school. The cabinet was open back and ready for a 12" speaker, and I got a Fane. Worked pretty well until the drummer picked up his sticks. The bass was a cheap Vox, crap then as now, but at least collectible now (no, I don't have it still). I went through many different amps, INCLUDING a Ted Wallace head also. But I mostly used a Vox AC50 with a custom 4x12 for several years in the late 60s.
Many years passed, and I now have Ampeg Portabass 800w stuff, and a collection of basses including an NYC Sadowsky 5.
So, demonstrable progress.
Can't compete with Roger Davis's story though.
 

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