NAD Late 50's Ampeg "Bassamp"

[mobass55]

Well, pulled the trigger on this one. Seller had had it listed for over 2 years, I guess they were waiting on the right chump to buy it, LOL. Can't wait to see how a real 50's amp sounds with a 51 P style bass. Don't think I'll recover it, just remove all of the staples and re-glue.

 

[BlacknWhite]

Cool amp man. Was that the one that was up on Ebay?

 

[mobass55]

Yes, I finally talked them into shipping it.

 

[BlacknWhite]

I was gas'n for an old tube combo a while back and was looking at it lol. If you get a chance throw up a video or a sound clip. Wouldn't mind hearing that bad boy.

 

[BlacknWhite]

Ps you re kindled my GAS lol

 

[mobass55]

These old guys must be hard to come by, I did searches on all of the Bassamps and very little is out there on them. About the only place to see other pics is in the Ampeg, The Story About The Sound Book.

 

[beans-on-toast]

The original speaker is a rare find with these amps. It will be interesti g to see how original it is under the chassi.

Congratulations on the new amp.

 

[mobass55]

The original speaker is a rare find with these amps. It will be interesti g to see how original it is under the chassi.

Congratulations on the new amp.

What do I need to look for other than the obvious cap replacement/ tubes?

 

[okcrum]

Whoa. That's from the days when speakers with two-wire hookups (instead of 4) were new.

Nice. Besides tubes and caps, you want to check the small caps and resistors. Carbon resistors drift upward in value after many years, and paper coupling caps get leaky.

 

[mobass55]

I also can't tell if that is the original back panel either. I hear that guitar players took them off.

 

[beans-on-toast]

What do I need to look for other than the obvious cap replacement/ tubes?

Post an image. Sometimes resistors and caps have been changed. Non original power supply components are normal, anything to keep the amp operational is fine.

Also show it to Rich, Bass 45

 

[Bassamatic]

It is not going to sound good at all with that new handle!

 

[DoctorZee]

What in god's name is a crystal pickup?

 

[jthisdell]

Would be interesting to hear it with a modern, tuned cab.

 

[mobass55]

What in god's name is a crystal pickup?

That was Ampegs Amplified Peg that went into the standup basses at the time.

 

[dalkowski]

Just for that grill cloth.

 

[SAlcott]

I think the “crystal pickup” refers to either the mic-on-endpin (Amp-peg) or a DeArmond pickup that went under the bridge.

 

[mobass55]

Would be interesting to hear it with a modern, tuned cab.

I'm going to try to do that somehow without messing with the originality of it. Mark at Vintage Blue suggested building a new cab for it and keeping the old one intact. May change that huge hole in the back for a back with ports like on a 100 Rocket......

 

[mobass55]

Just for that grill cloth.

Yea, I'm going to figure out a way to make a stencil for that!

 

[BassmanPaul]

The tube with the white inside on the left will need to be replaced as it’s lost it’s vacuum.