New ampeg speculation - A true B15 Reissue?

[Shadi]

Mics pick up too much leakage from the drums and guitars.

Buddy, you need to tell your drummer and guitar player to take their instruments to the doctor!

My dad played his '66 B-15 in several different types of bands using stage volume, mics, and with PA support for 40 years and never had a problem.....I continue to use the same amp to this day. It's my personal opinion that if you're cranking 400 watts and that's not enough:

A) you're either deaf, B) the rest of your band is too damn loud, C) all of the above.

It's all about personal preference....an age old argument that we could spend 200 pages on this thread on. Whatever floats your boat man, I hope there was no harm done w/ my little jab....I prefer to relish the possibility of a true-to-God reissue of my favorite amp of all time!!!

Cheers

 

[Shadi]

those heil mics are really pretty dang nice.
i grew up in st lou, so i kinda knew them guys back in the day when they were heil sound.

They're still around at the same place!!....and yes those Heil mics kick @$$.....the PR40 is great for recording bass.....especially the B-15!

 

[JimmyM]

There may be a strategic decision involved that Ampeg could use the B15 style amp more than Blackheart needs it. We'll see what happens.

there's also the strategic decision that an ampeg b-15 will sell a lot more than a blackheart b-15.

 

[svtb15]

I guess no one read my post at #104 of this thread.. A Quote from Bass Player Live site.
Ill get pics for everyone.. wont be back home till Tuesday so many will most likely beat me to it..

there's also the strategic decision that an ampeg b-15 will sell a lot more than a blackheart b-15.

 

[JimmyM]

i saw it, kirk...i assumed that by this point it was fairly common knowledge, though.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I could see where 25w may not be enough for everyone, but it's certainly enough for me, and when i use an extension cab, i actually have a good bit of headroom, and i can hear myself plain as day.

A 25 Watt B-15 is all that a great player needs. Everyone else is going to turn down because they'll want to hear you.

 

[Tom Howland]

No one loves B 15's more than me.
My first good amp, growing up was a 1966 B 15N.
For recording, and practice, they can be beat.
If Ampeg is going to reissue this, price is a biggest factor.
If street price is in the $1500-$2000 range, it won't fly.
Go find a old used B15R, or just buy a B100R. (100 watts each)
These two amp can be played live, for gigs.
If, it come in around $1000 it might sell?
A 25 watt tube amp, other than recording and practice, is a novelty.
Jimmy M. withstanding, I have not seen anyone gig live with a real B 15, in over 20 years.
Recording, hell yes.

 

[s_mcsleazy]

well the b-15 is one of the few ampegs i like so id like to know more

 

[JimmyM]

A 25 Watt B-15 is all that a great player needs. Everyone else is going to turn down because they'll want to hear you.

believe it or not, that strategy works. i've successfully gotten bands to turn down by doing that. not that i'm a great player, just a good one, but they do like to hear me.

 

[sedan_dad]

Jimmy M. withstanding, I have not seen anyone gig live with a real B 15, in over 20 years.
Recording, hell yes.

Well I do also. It has to be the right place. When it is , it's awsome. No mic,no Di . Just pure B-15.

 

[sedan_dad]

believe it or not, that strategy works. i've successfully gotten bands to turn down by doing that. not that i'm a great player, just a good one, but they do like to hear me.

I do the same thing. "If you want to hear me, turn down."

 

[Mastermold]

I guess no one read my post at #104 of this thread.. A Quote from Bass Player Live site.
Ill get pics for everyone.. wont be back home till Tuesday so many will most likely beat me to it..

This is good news (I hope).

Maybe Jimmy will let me join his rather exclusive B-15 club???

 

[Chef]

I was in a band that was so loud that I actually quit playing and no one noticed.

I quit at the end of that night.

 

[Rob Martinez]

I gig on a regular bassis with an Ampeg B50R or a BA112. It works. Mind you, we play 50s and early 60s stuff, our drummer uses brushes, and guitar player is using an Allen 10w guitar amp. But our sound is ballsy, has presence, and audiences and club owners LOVE it.

Not sure where I stand yet on this reissue. On the one hand, if it is 100 watts, I have no real use for it. Esp if it is pricey. My B50R does the job perfectly. A 25 watt all tube combo may suit me just fine. We shall see what Ampeg comes out with!

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I do the same thing. "If you want to hear me, turn down."

Bah! I just turn up louder. Then when they say I'm too loud, I ask the guitarists to turn down.

But it all depends on the style of music you are playing. Right now I'm in several loud rock bands. For jazz or worship music, I play quietly.

 

[Tom_RCJ]

it's not? you mean all those countless gigs i've done with a b-15n and had supremely great sound and it's not useful for live gigs? wow, now i seriously have to rethink my whole way of life.

lol totally with you guys on that. Lower volume is great. I play a 50W (or 40W, not sure) 1x15 Magnatone from the 60's and it's too loud for me at halfway to max. We play blues and classic rock and always get compliments on our sound, and our stage volume is incredibly low compared to average.

This may be just personal preference, but nothing beats coming back from a good gig that sounded great and not have your ears ring. That goes for the band and the audience. And the audience rarely brings earplugs.

25W? Yes please. Just so long as it's road worthy, under 100 pounds and sounds legit. Affordable would be nice too.

 

[Tom_RCJ]

A 25 watt tube amp, other than recording and practice, is a novelty.
Jimmy M. withstanding, I have not seen anyone gig live with a real B 15, in over 20 years.

If Ampeg doesn't drop the ball on this, I'll try to get one and post a video of us playing with it.

Not that I feel the need to prove people wrong, but I am a strong advocate of low stage volume. The whole "louder is better" mentality, and all the adjustments and compromises it spawned, is... something I try to offer alternatives to.

And I have to say it, not that it should be a deal breaker, but holy crap fliptops look sexy. Dear God almighty please let me get my hands on one! They makes me want to do things I can't post about on this forum.

Ok, got it off my chest now. Carry on.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

You can use any amp you like, but the fact that Ampeg didn't get really popular with bass amps until the SVT should tell you something. Yeah, some studios had B-15s or B-12s, but some also had Fender Bassmans and Acoustic 360s. Most studios did and do, record direct. That included Motown. Their B-12 was just a studio monitor. I have never recorded in a studio that used a B-15 to lay down bass tracks. Two weeks ago was the first time an engineer insisted I also run through an amp (which was an SVT), along with a Demeter tube pre.

I did use my B-15 for home recording.

Back in the 70's Acoustic and Sunn (and even Marshall) owned the market for concert worthy bass amps. Amps like the B-4B were considered underpowered.

That's history, not an opinion. If you were a local band you had to lug around your own PA, so very often it didn't have enough power to run the bass through it. Big bands could have used anything they wanted, but go look at some concerts from back in the day. You wont see too many B-15s.

Bass amps have gotten progressively louder because there was a need for it. Unfortunately tube amps are heavy. I'd use my Mesa 400+ more if it didn't weigh a ton. That's why hybrid amps are popular. What solid state power amps are lacking is an output transformer. That's why tube power amps sound like they do, not so much the tubes (unless they are under powered).

That's just the observations of an old geezer. I do miss my B-15n though. But my 150 Watt Trace is going to need to be replaced with something larger soon.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Buddy, you need to tell your drummer and guitar player to take their instruments to the doctor!

You have to match the level of the drummer on stage. You can't ask the drummer to play softer, unless you like wimpy sounding drummers.

If no one needed a loud bass amp, why do so many people use SVTs? Let's face it, that amp put Ampeg on the map.

Also why do sound men prefer to DI the bass?

 

[JimmyM]

geez david, you sound like you're trying to talk yourself out of one. why do you keep restating your negative opinion over and over if you're not? we get it...you don't want one. fine. keep telling yourself that

mastermold, the portaflex club isn't very exclusive anymore with over 160 members. we'll be happy to let you in...just get a fliptop