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New ampeg speculation - A true B15 Reissue? part 2

#101
Hnz said:
And more 'road resistant' aswell.
I don't think I would like to gig with the Heritage B-15 in the bars and clubs I do now.
If ever I could afford one, it'll become somewhat of a museumpiece, I guess. :eyebrow:
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the absolute most road resistant amp i ever owned is my 64 b-15. when i got it, it had a bashed in power transformer and the chassis was all bent. i used that amp an average of about 3-4 gigs a month, plus i recorded with it more often than that, and for 7 years i didn't put a cent into it. i finally got sick of looking at it and put some money into it 3 years ago, and since then, i've used it on about 6-7 gigs a month, and it's taken 5 or 6 really good tumbles, and i haven't had to replace so much as a fuse on it. they may look delicate to the untrained eye but they're tanks. wouldn't take it to a joint where fights break out onstage, but i'd gig the crap out of a heritage.
 
#102
Ofcourse it's not realy an alternative; Like the Micro VR isn't to the SVT VR. If it would, the price difference would be offensive.
But as an easy to carry around - affordable and good sounding rig for us not so wealthy gigging bassplayers, it probably is the best alternative to the real thing.

I've never owned an original b-15 and can imagine they're indeed built like a tank.
I'd be afraid to take a Heritage B-15 to gigs because of the price versus all the riscs like beer, drunks and me being afraid of it getting damaged or even stolen...
 
#103
tombowlus said:
Here are a few more shots from the Ampeg room:





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Geez, now I feel even worse for not bumping into you at the show! Obviously someone from the magazine was still there when I got there Thursday morning:

namm1.jpg


By the way, the fellow sitting on the floor is Zane Williams. The new Portaflex line is pretty much his baby.
 
#104
CDweller said:
Who refurbished your B-15, Tom? Mine's kind of beat up, but I also like its honest appearance- it is an amp that was used as intended, and shows it.
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Tom Lees did the amp work, and Mark (Vintage-Blue) did the cab. I am extremely happy with the results. :cool:

Here's a shot showing my old enclosure next to the new B-15N:

051.jpg
 
#105
Vintage-Blue said:
Geez, now I feel even worse for not bumping into you at the show! Obviously someone from the magazine was still there when I got there Thursday morning:
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Yup, we were all there! Someone mentioned that you were around, and I asked for an intro, but we got interrupted. Bummer... :hmm:

By the way, the fellow sitting on the floor is Zane Williams. The new Portaflex line is pretty much his baby.
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Yes, Zane really poured a lot of himself into the Portaflex line, and he did a fantastic job, IME/IMHO. :cool:
 
#106
tombowlus said:
I also need to give Ampeg some major props for the new PF lineup. Those heads and cabs sound flat-out great, and they do an exceptionally good job of delivering what they were intended to deliver. The price points are awesome, as well. $299 for the PF-350, $399 for the PF-500, and $399 for either the 2x10 or 1x15 cab (which will be sealed cabs when they go into production - I played ported and sealed versions of the 1x15, and the sealed cab is most definitely the superior of the two).

:
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:crying: No ports?

Tom - can you elaborate on the reasons behind this, or the differences you notice between the sealed vs. ported? IMO, the thing that really hurt the B-15R when it came out was that it was a sealed 15, and wasn't ported. The B-100R on the other hand sounds great, but it's rear ported.
 
#108
Does the new PF set up sound similar to the b100r? I sure hope so. Never having a b15 I'm not really sure of the tonal difference between the b100r and a true b15. The b100r is my favorite Ampeg amp. It does have it's limits on volume and I'm really hoping the new PF is just a louder more versatile version of the great b100r.
 
#109
bass dan said:
Does the new PF set up sound similar to the b100r? I sure hope so. Never having a b15 I'm not really sure of the tonal difference between the b100r and a true b15. The b100r is my favorite Ampeg amp. It does have it's limits on volume and I'm really hoping the new PF is just a louder more versatile version of the great b100r.
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believe it or not, the b100r sounds darn close to a b-15. it's more solid state sounding, but the tones are right up there.
 
#111
stiles72 said:
:crying: No ports?

Tom - can you elaborate on the reasons behind this, or the differences you notice between the sealed vs. ported? IMO, the thing that really hurt the B-15R when it came out was that it was a sealed 15, and wasn't ported. The B-100R on the other hand sounds great, but it's rear ported.
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I don't know the entire rationale behind the sealed versus ported decision, but Zane did say that they did a bunch of listening tests and preferred the response of the sealed enclosure. I must say, after listening to both, I preferred the sealed option, as well. It had more balance and focus to the mids, and seemed to go just as deep (Zane says slighter deeper, but it sounded very similar in that regard to my ears).
 
#112
tombowlus said:
I don't know the entire rationale behind the sealed versus ported decision, but Zane did say that they did a bunch of listening tests and preferred the response of the sealed enclosure. I must say, after listening to both, I preferred the sealed option, as well. It had more balance and focus to the mids, and seemed to go just as deep (Zane says slighter deeper, but it sounded very similar in that regard to my ears).
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Sealed? I just got more interested in these cabs!
 
#115
tombowlus said:
I don't know the entire rationale behind the sealed versus ported decision, but Zane did say that they did a bunch of listening tests and preferred the response of the sealed enclosure. I must say, after listening to both, I preferred the sealed option, as well. It had more balance and focus to the mids, and seemed to go just as deep (Zane says slighter deeper, but it sounded very similar in that regard to my ears).
Click to expand...

Just seems strange to not have ports on a "Portaflex" (Portable Bass Reflex) cabinet. I do find it a bit hard to beleive that a sealed cab will go deeper than a ported cab, but I suppose anything is possible. I'll be curious to hear them regardless. And really, it's nothing a couple of port flanges, cardboard tubes, and a Jig saw couldn't fix ;)
 

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