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Obscure bass amps...

#61
pfschim said:
well, beauty is in the ear of the beholder for sure, and its been a loooong time since I owned mine. I just remember being very happy when I moved to a Bassman 70 and two JBL D140 cabs from the Baldwin.

Interesting that you like the sound given your very tube-y tendencies.
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well, IMO, a vintage tube fender thru JBL's is still as good as it gets, so i don't blame you for being happier with it, but the funky old discrete transisitor baldwins have their strengths. they're definitely not in the same league of a vintage fender, but i think that they have a certain 'charm' to them.
 
#62
Never had a Marlboro Amp but the ad is too cool! Its from 1978.


MarlboroAmp.jpg
 
#63
johnk_10 said:
well, IMO, a vintage tube fender thru JBL's is still as good as it gets, so i don't blame you for being happier with it, but the funky old discrete transisitor baldwins have their strengths. they're definitely not in the same league of a vintage fender, but i think that they have a certain 'charm' to them.
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you got me thinking about this amp. I used to use it in a 70's power trio. I would stack the Baldwin on top of a Kustom 200/2x15 rig vertically, cut the lows on the Baldwin and crank the living daylights out of it, using it as a distortion monster on top of the (somewhat) cleaner Kustom.

ah, yes the old days. what the kids would call vintage now.:cool:
 
#64
I was given a Risson cab recently, unfortunately the driver was gone. It was a rear firing single 15 and weighed about 100lbs empty. The guy I gave it to was a former employee and had some interesting stories to tell about the bass amps Risson used to make.
 
#65
Man, coolest thread we've had for a while. Went through half a box of kleenex!

Sorry I have no obscure bass amps to contribute. Got a little Danelectro Airline 15w guitar amp from 1962, that's about it. But this has been a really cool stroll down memory lane. Hope it continues.
 
#67
Those Baldwin amps were plentiful in Ohio when I was growing up. I remember that bass amp as being kind of useless except for low volume situations...it really couldn't keep up with a drummer and a fender super. I played with a guitarist in high school who had a Baldwin Exterminator. :help:
 
#69
MEKer said:
Never had a Marlboro Amp but the ad is too cool! Its from 1978.


MarlboroAmp.jpg
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YEAH!!! That one on the left was my first amp. Nothing bad to say about that little puppy. I was such a weedy runt in high school that I installed casters on it. Besides, all pro gear has casters, right?

This is one of thee best TB threads in the history of ever.
 
#70
Just picked up a "Sound X202+" last night. It was mentioned in a strange CL post about wanting to trade for something else, but the guy was really just interested in getting himself a Boss multieffects pedal. To each his own :)

Here's a [crappy] picture:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The only info I can find on it so far is from this site, so it seems I'm might be on my own for schematics and such... I haven't had much of a chance to play it at home, but it sounded pretty darn good at the sellers house. It's a closed back 15", and when I took off the back panel I discovered a Jensen C15-N stamped something like 220537, making me assume this is a 1965ish amp. It runs a pair of 7868s and two 12AX7s, all of which are original RCAs. When I get a chance, I'll probably post better pictures and a more thorough description of what I find inside (which I expect to be point to point). It will be interesting to compare between it and my SB-12.
 
#72
1968 Gibson THOR. 50 watts tube, I beleive it has 6EU7's in the preamp and a pair of EL34's in the power section. Originally it had a pair of CTS 10" speakers - but they sounded like a Fisher Price record player so I replaced them with a single Eminence 10" driver and left the other space vacant so that it would act as a port. Added some foam inside the cab, and now it sounds nice and big and deep without farting out.

800-tbirdIVTHORRR.jpg
 
#74
johnk_10 said:
i guess i'm the opposite. i've always liked the sound of the old baldwins, and this one sounds how i remembered them. maybe i'll get it out and post a sound clip of it.
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I've got to say that I think the format of this would be about perfect for a modern 1x12 cab- so much easier to carry one handed than anything resembling a cube. I've been thinking my next DIY effort might resemble this in dimensions. I love the aesthetics of this too- looks like it would be right at home riding Bart.

Edit: ^ The THOR too, all but the aesthetics / Bart part.
 
#77
JdoubleH said:
I've got to say that I think the format of this would be about perfect for a modern 1x12 cab- so much easier to carry one handed than anything resembling a cube. I've been thinking my next DIY effort might resemble this in dimensions. I love the aesthetics of this too- looks like it would be right at home riding Bart.

Edit: ^ The THOR too, all but the aesthetics / Bart part.
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I seem to recall that they were actually kind of bulky "ankle beaters" because of the sloped suitcase design and metal casing. If you go DYI on something like this, just don't use a metal casing and you may be allright. IMO, the color scheme was also kind of turquoise and avocado green, retro early 70's, but aesthetics/beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. There was also a version of this amp that had multicolored "style" controls set up like tab/buttons along part of the top aluminum box. They were not particularly useful and looked goofy.

Again this IMO
 
#78
Elk Miyuki Custom 30 from a factory that burned down in Japan. Absolute best guitar OD I've ever heard and one hell of a bass amp to boot.

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I don't think all these Sound City 120's are too obscure. I've got one too! :p

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#80
johnk_10 said:
i had one of those for 15 years (i sold it about a year ago). the stock speakers sounded great in mine
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I kept the original speakers just in case I decided to sell it down the road - but they sounded really bad. Maybe they had issues that could be fixed with a recone or something but I'm not sure. It's a shame because the amp sounds great with just about every other cabinet or speaker I've hooked it up to. Reminds me a lot of my Oliver PA100XR.
 

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