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New ampeg speculation - A true B15 Reissue?
- Thread starter coreyfyfe
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Well, I probably misled myself, but I really thought the launch of the Heritage was the sign of a trend that is starting here and there in all kinds of industries : re-locating at home after experiencing Far-East manufacturing. I really thought the Heritage series was the start of such a strategy.
Today, I just learned I was wrong. Ampeg won't be an American company anymore, such as it was until 2006. Now, Far-East is the standard, and American the exception.
There's a thread here where I was explaining I had planned the purchase of an Heritage SVT-CL and matching Heritage SVT-810E for next Spring. That was my way of saying Ampeg, "hey guys, you're going the right way again".
Due to that "50 rockstars only" policy around the B15, my plan now seems useless and pointless. I'll buy a Mesa next Spring.
Today, I just learned I was wrong. Ampeg won't be an American company anymore, such as it was until 2006. Now, Far-East is the standard, and American the exception.
There's a thread here where I was explaining I had planned the purchase of an Heritage SVT-CL and matching Heritage SVT-810E for next Spring. That was my way of saying Ampeg, "hey guys, you're going the right way again".
Due to that "50 rockstars only" policy around the B15, my plan now seems useless and pointless. I'll buy a Mesa next Spring.
well jay, you as a consumer should vote with your money. and you're probably right that it's not a sign of moving production back to here. but i realize any righteous indignation i might have isn't going to matter if i can't get my rental svt on the road, so i've made my peace with it.
I'm not starting a war against Ampeg either...
I was so really and sincerely happy seeing Ampeg (looking like) going back on the right way, I wanted to support that. But, simply, there's nothing to support there, except the most of a range a products that will keep on being assembled by slave-droven machines on the other end of the planet.
So the support is over, and the Heritage won't be ordered. Not a worldwide or intergalactic tragedy : just a disappointment I wanted to explain in - hopefully - polite and acceptable wording.
Good luck to y'all, especially if you are among the rock stars who may get a B15.
There was a guy on Youtube a while back that took a B-100R, unscrewed the "head", and mounted it on a flat board so that it looked like a B-15T. It's a simple mod, and would work if you added latches and a speaker jack to the head. Not exactly a necessary or practical mod, but gives you a little more of a "Portaflex" look.
From Facebook:
Very nice - I think I just wet my pants a little!
Diamond blue for sure...
What is that where the old "polarity switch" was? Is that a bias switch? "1964 / 1966" ? Can't see too well from here...
I think the middle switch says 1964 bias - 1966 bias.
If so, it would be switchable between cathode and fixed bias.
makes sense based on the hints dropped. but that's something i don't get. why bother with that?
Marketing probably thought that it would be a selling point. If you want the three switches on the front, what else are you going to put in there? For the cost of a couple of components, you have a "feature".
You know, I'd swear that Mark made that prototype cabinet
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You know, I'd swear that Mark made that prototype cabinet
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Cathode bias will be more "squishy" because the bias voltage floats with changes in current through the cathode resistor.
Fixed bias stays the same value regardless of signal though the tube - cathode bias is effected by the signal being amplified.
- Feb 13, 2008
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- Owner, Vintage Blue (repro cabinets)
Nah, that would mess up my whole Vintage Blue thing!You know, I'd swear that Mark made that prototype cabinet
interesting...have to say i didn't notice much of a difference between the squishyness of my old 77 b-15n vs my 64. but maybe it's just that i don't ever apply enough volume to notice.
I'll be damned... I wasn't able to access Facebook at work to see the info/posts on the color. Just figured it was the monitor!
It isn't a huge difference IMO.
...but then, I generally don't think the sag of a tube rectifier vs. a solid state rectifier is all that noticeable either.
I'm guessing (hoping?) that at least one of them is a mini-fridge (full of beer, of course), with a box of donuts on top.
my complete hazard of a guess is that's it's maybe a class D micro head version of a B15? maybe the same type of baxandall tone stack, 2 channels, but class D power and weight. the "cabinet" looks around the same size as the B15 cab in the foreground, and the little bump on top would be around the size of those micro heads everyone seems to love these days. call me crazy...
oh well, not like it hurts to have it on there. i'm sure most will have a preference one way or the other.
man, ampeg are evil bastards! how dare they threaten my marriage by making a limited edition b-15 reissue that's pretty much exactly what i like!
so i guess we know pretty much everything about it now except what speaker's in it. looks like a jbl d140 but could they have actually talked jbl into making new d140's for it? i doubt it. maybe a weber clone? maybe an eminence clone? something else altogether?
the mind wobbles.
Cathode bias also becomes apparent with dramatic input swings. If you aren't playing or are playing a quiet passage and then dig in, the dramatic voltage swing shifts the changing bias too far. This overshooting results in a gritty short lived distortion. The bias then settles back to where it should be. This is a characteristic of cathode biased amps. This is coupled with the sag in the power supply that also causes some grit.
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