Obsolete bass amps

[rtslinger]

Fender Rumble live

 

[chadds]

My purchased new 1993 SWR BBII was gigged the most of every amp I own big and small. It still gets regular studio use and pre Covid house concerts. It's repairable, portable, functional within reason depending on venue size, has the "more me" studio function and sounds phat and articulate. So if it's extinct I'm not sure because I see it right there.

Obsolete? Now you're discussing some narcissistic players and singers who have removed themselves from rotation.

 

[Danny O Danny]

My first "real" bass amp was a Sunn 200S. My Dad bought it (used) for me, along with a Sunn 2x15 cabinet, when I was 16. That was over 40 years ago. After a few years I upgraded to an Acoustic 320, then eventually to an SVT, then later to a G-K, SWR, etc., etc. These days I use a Demeter class D amp with an Epifani cabinet. I still prefer an actual bass amp behind me, even if it's just a supplement to IEMs. But I've noticed lately that old Sunn 200S amps seem to be highly desired and are selling at a premium. The Guitar Center in Cerritos, CA has the exact Sunn rig I had when I was 16 for sale for $1,300.00! I bet my Dad paid no more than $200.00 back in 1978. I have no desire to go back to one, but I've wondered why there seems to be so much demand for them now. Then again, I haven't played through one in decades, so maybe I'm missing out.

 

[Benj-jammin]

I had a 320/408 stack and don't miss it at all... The 408 cabinet was crap, I had constant speaker failures, especially the two in the center.

The 320 was better on other cabinets, but I still don't miss it.

My big rig in the day was an Acoustic 370 head with an SVT bottom - I loved that 370 - very powerful and it just sounded great with the SVT 8-10". Couldn't afford the SVT head at the time, and it was, and still is a beast to carry!! I remember a lot of guys were intrigued with that pairing.

 

[rtslinger]

My purchased new 1993 SWR BBII was gigged the most of every amp I own big and small. It still gets regular studio use and pre Covid house concerts. It's repairable, portable, functional within reason depending on venue size, has the "more me" studio function and sounds phat and articulate. So if it's extinct I'm not sure because I see it right there.

Obsolete? Now you're discussing some narcissistic players and singers who have removed themselves from rotation.

I took it as no longer readily available to purchase in new condition. because the first one I posted the SWR hybrid amp is something you don't see all the time in a new amp offering that I am aware of?

 

[basscooker]

I think that obsolescence may not really apply with amp. Falling from favor, maybe. Losing novelty maybe. A bad first run can kill a product as well. Many things come and go. Firearms 200 years old are surely obsolete, but that doesnt mean none of them still work.

 

[D.M.N.]

I've heard for years now that all these big amps and cabs are obsolete due to PA improvements in venues, but given how many venues are on the brink of going under, is it possible that when live music starts back up again new venues won't have established PAs out of the gate, and return to some necessity for larger set-ups (at least potentially speaker wise)? Part of a reason I've continued to lug around big amps, besides liking the sound I get from my Sunns and Hiwatt, is not everywhere I play always has adequate PA support for the bass, and I'd end up looking a tad silly if all I showed up with has a DI or micro head and 1x12, expecting a full PA for support. Given the uncertainty of what the venue landscape is going to look like 6 months to a year down the line, I wonder if this issue won't become somewhat more wide spread?

 

[Passinwind]

I've heard for years now that all these big amps and cabs are obsolete due to PA improvements in venues, but given how many venues are on the brink of going under, is it possible that when live music starts back up again new venues won't have established PAs out of the gate, and return to some necessity for larger set-ups (at least potentially speaker wise)? Part of a reason I've continued to lug around big amps, besides liking the sound I get from my Sunns and Hiwatt, is not everywhere I play always has adequate PA support for the bass, and I'd end up looking a tad silly if all I showed up with has a DI or micro head and 1x12, expecting a full PA for support. Given the uncertainty of what the venue landscape is going to look like 6 months to a year down the line, I wonder if this issue won't become somewhat more wide spread?

My guess is that used PA gear will be going for pennies on the dollar, so all the lame old excuses for insufficient systems will go away. Doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be lame new excuses though...

 

[Plain Old Barry]

My big rig in the day was an Acoustic 370 head with an SVT bottom - I loved that 370 - very powerful and it just sounded great with the SVT 8-10". Couldn't afford the SVT head at the time, and it was, and still is a beast to carry!! I remember a lot of guys were intrigued with that pairing.

The best cabinet I ever used under the 320 was a mid to late '70's Yamaha 6x10. It was super smooth all the way up and down the neck and consistent in tone from right in front to quite a distance. The cabinet turned out to be stolen, and the guy who sold it to me ended up replacing it with a Peavey 1810 when I gave the Yamaha back to it's rightful owner

At various times, my 320 sat on the 6x10, a Peavey 1810, a pair of JBL loaded Joe's Sound and Salami 1x15's (very similar to Bag End), Marshall 4x12 B's, an Acoustic 2x15, and of course the coffin sized, crappy sounding 408.

The 320 got sidelined at various times for a V4B and Music Man heads, but was eventually replaced by a 200 watt Lab Series head, in turn replaced by a preamp and AB1200 power amp in a rack. I actually wish I still had the Lab, but the others don't give me the same nostalgia.

 

[D.M.N.]

My guess is that used PA gear will be going for pennies on the dollar, so all the lame old excuses for insufficient systems will go away. Doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be lame new excuses though...

Shhh shh shhh...let me come up with new excuses to haul 2 2x15s and a pair of 4x12s to any and every gig.

I'm only one cab short of this rig, which I think is totally reasonable for small PA shows:

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, some of the old heavy SS amps are getting cheap to the point of almost being disposable.
Someday I'd like to buy an amp on CL, have the seller bring it to my weekend gig, use it.... and then leave it there for the next guy.
That'd make a great story.

 

[JimB52]

Proud Old Obsolete Tube amp owner with updated lightweight speakers is how I roll.
Marshall JCM800 SuperBass 100w with Ampeg 1x10s with replaced eminence drivers. Warm tone.

Lot easier to haul around than that Red flocked ARB head (SS but very heavy) and Sound City Cab

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I don't quite follow the supposed logic of this topic. In some form of thinking newer amps and technologies will obsolete the older ones but in another form of thinking we may find - if not usefulness - then at least nostalgy and appeal in the older stuff. Musical instruments and technology doesn't neccessarily "age" like common household Items such as dishwashers and microwave ovens.

If we, for example, compare good modern violins to Stradivarius the modern ones are built better and in a blind test the modern ones even sound better. By all means in theory modern bulk instruments should have obsoleted the Stradivarius violins but in practice it just didn't go that way. In other fields of life people are still getting their kicks from more than 50-year old tube technology or 200 years old steam engines. Art and hobbies are a strange thing.

Even from old amps with horrible reliability and very limited functionality some folks will always find some sort of vintage appeal or just the right unique tone that works in that single specific arrangement and nowhere else.

OP here...old tube amps are still by far preferred by guitarists because of simplicity, ease of repair and are still a benchmark for tone....otoh, all kinds of modelers are out and being used.

How many bass amps are not worth repairing due to cost or lack of available parts, let alone features and tone?

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I traded my Eden Metro for my 800RB a dozen years ago, so I can comment. Part of it is that the calculus of how heavy is too heavy has changed. The Metro is a heavy combo, full of features, but with a 1990's sounding scooped cabinet that defines its tone.

That's the other part -- the tone. The Parametric EQ seems, in retrospect, best designed to decide what kind of scoop you want. The Metro/XLT tone is of an era, and not really a classic.

The 800RB on the other hand is a classic. It's still on the lighter side of class A/B solid state amps, and having the portability and flexibility of a head, is less likely to be obsolete. I sold mine off in favor of a 700RBii, but mainly to skip out on likely upcoming maintenance with a few scratchy pots. The 700RBii responds and sounds basically the same.

Some solid state amps are true classics and will see long use, just like some of the Ampeg tube gear. I've been to giant festivals within the past decade and seen 800RB's in the rack (Levon Helm's bassist at the Vibes in 2011, iirc)

John Rider of Max Creek still rocks his Eden preamp -- the same preamp as the Metro basically. Lesh was using his forever, not sure what he plays now.

But the old Acoustics aren't in use in the same way -- GK's eighties stuff seems to be the inflection point of solid state obsolescence.

As i stated, i own an Eden Metro and GK 800RB but i pulled out the chassis to a head box and dont use the Metro cabinet (though it is great sounding and less heavy now).

Thru the same cabinet the Metro and 800RB sound close but yes a distinct difference as well...the 'enhance' feature works well with my 65 Epiphone Newport w neck 'mudbucker' fwiw plus the extensive EQ is great.

 

[braud357]

Recently, I listed to a bunch of live recordings of bands I was in - going back to 1974 !! One thing that I noticed is that my bass sound was good on some - not quite so good on others. I realized that on every recording where I liked my sound - the was a common denominator - I was using Peavey amps ! Different combinations, but the same good result. I have used Fender, Kustom, Carvin, and Ampeg - the Peavey's beat them all ! Now, I know that this is far from a "scientific" sample, but it got me to thinking. Over the past couple of years I have been using a Ampeg PF800 head with either (2) Avatar 2x10 cabs or a single David Eden 4x10 cab. I "parked" the Ampeg and tried a Peavey Headliner 1000 - VAST improvement !! All of our ears are different, and like different things - and this Peavey is closer to "the sound in my head !"

 

[Jazzdogg]

I have several bass amps, the oldest of which are from the sixties.

To me, an "obsolete bass amp" is one that cost more to keep running than is justified by its sentimental or market value - provided that, when properly maintained, it sounds good.

 

[Johnny Fingers]

Used Sunn and Peavy before with no problems. I’m just an old traditional kind of player, whatever that means.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I like your illustration about the Stradivarius violin. And, I am not taking issue with it. A good point to remember about "vintage" especially with old string instruments. Perhaps the basic instrument is 200 to 300 years old but usually many repairs and replacement parts have been added. Wood cracks. Fret boards wear out. Tuners go bad. Etc. We're not going to find a Stradivarius that is 100% original or untouched.

Which leads us to the subject of vintage bass guitars and bass amps. Old amps sometimes need speaker replacement, capacitor replacement and sometimes transformers and other electrical parts replaced.

New stuff is hard to beat. YMMV

How 'serviceable' is new stuff? Flimsy circuit boards, pots mounted to the boards plus less and less 'qualified techs'...is my GK 400RBIII worth repairing?

I can do just about anything to my old tube amps except diagnose some things...everything else is fairly simple after study...not the same with modern stuff.

 

[seamonkey]

If you have a big old head - and the Amp part fails then just swap out the amp for a class-d module that includes an SMPS. They small sized to fit in any old big amp chassis, and they've fallen in price because they have a huge crossover to other audio products. Cooling requirements are less than they original amp, but there will be plenty of room to add a quiet fan.

Many class-d modules include enough in the SMPS to power a pre-amp. If you need to power a tube pre-amp use a DC to DC converter just like many of the new hybrid makers use. The tone is from the pre-amp anyhow.

Retrofit, don't obsolete.

 

[Mastermold]

To each their own for sure, but man that would be of no interest to me. I had a church gig for awhile and we played the second(contemporary music) service, the parking lot was still full from the first service folks so it was usually a 100 yard walk to the front door, then up some stairs. Was no problem with ~39lb amp in one hand and my bass on my back. Especially in the winter, an 85lb SVT plus whatever cab to go with it does not seems like it would have been worth whatever tonal improvement there might have been in the mix. For some folks it would be worth it though. I love me a good tube amp, I have several 20-50watt tube bass amps at my home studio and love that sound for sure.

I used to leave one of my SVT's at the church for when I played -- problem solved. But after they got an Aguilar TH 500 as a backline I decided it sounded good enough that I started using it instead. Got to be pragmatic sometimes, and that's okay.