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Official Ampeg Portaflex Club
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
#22 esoxhntr
#23 jnewmark
Sorry bout the delay. Today was a travel day for me and I just got to the hotel.
#23 jnewmark
Sorry bout the delay. Today was a travel day for me and I just got to the hotel.
Thanks for your answers to my questions, Jimmy. Much appreciated!
I love the sound of the B15N cab so much with my Markbass SA-450 - beautiful in it's own right. I am thinking of ordering a fliptop.net lid so that I can just take the B15N cab alone out on some gigs with the Markbass driving it. Interesting thing to muse on...
I love the sound of the B15N cab so much with my Markbass SA-450 - beautiful in it's own right. I am thinking of ordering a fliptop.net lid so that I can just take the B15N cab alone out on some gigs with the Markbass driving it. Interesting thing to muse on...
I made a lid for my 77 cab out of a piece of pressboard and 4 lag bolts. Doesn't look so great but works well. I have yet to use it, though. I had a grand plan of using the 77 cab and the 64 head and cab, but I didn't like how it sounded. I have used my LMII and my Fliptops cab together, and you're right...it sounds pretty awesome in its own right. So I'm thinking of making a fliptop Markpeg combo out of it 
A Markpeg Fliptop combo is a very cool idea, Jimmy. A mating of 2 very soulful units. My SA-450 is physically too big to integrate into the lid, but I'm happy to keep is as a head unit in its 2 space rack bag/case. The LMII should fit nicely into the B15N lid...
I wonder what you'd get if you paired something like the Mesa 400+ with a portaflex cab? Magic? Fire? A black hole? Hmmmm......
I think that the MESA could sound awesome, as long as you are aware of the limits of the speaker installed in your cab of course. My newly acquired B15N cab sounds beautiful (but different) with both my Markbass and 1968 Bassman head. Can't wait until I get the Portaflex head working to see the differences between those 3 heads.
I also hooked up my Ampeg SVT 450H (solid state) head to the old cab. It was less interesting and less toneful than either my Markbass or Bassman. Like there were less harmonics or something - seemed more sterile but I was able to warm it up decently with extreme EQing. In contrast, I had no trouble getting a wonderful tone with the Markbass and old tube Bassman running pretty well flat.
I also hooked up my Ampeg SVT 450H (solid state) head to the old cab. It was less interesting and less toneful than either my Markbass or Bassman. Like there were less harmonics or something - seemed more sterile but I was able to warm it up decently with extreme EQing. In contrast, I had no trouble getting a wonderful tone with the Markbass and old tube Bassman running pretty well flat.
No offense but I find the SVT 450 to be the worst amp Ampeg put out since the 60's solid state heads. I'm not surprised you're having those results
No offense but I find the SVT 450 to be the worst amp Ampeg put out since the 60's solid state heads. I'm not surprised you're having those results
Ow Jimmy, that hurts.
I have both. A SVT350h/410he and a 67' BT15C.
As long as you don't expect them to sound like a tube amp both are all right.
But it's O.K.. You can hate them. I don't mind at all.
I actually use the 350 for the majority of the jobs I do.
It works out very well inside of small bars.
But hey, I kid the BT15C!
Sorry Dad...didn't mean to poop on your gear. I actually dig that big cab that comes with the BT15C. And the 60's heads at least have an excuse since they were among the first SS heads out there. But I was just being honest about my feelings about the 450/B2RE. Ain't my thing at all. But then again, there are people who hate my gear, too, so it all comes around to us all at one point or another
Sorry Dad...didn't mean to poop on your gear. I actually dig that big cab that comes with the BT15C. And the 60's heads at least have an excuse since they were among the first SS heads out there. But I was just being honest about my feelings about the 450/B2RE. Ain't my thing at all. But then again, there are people who hate my gear, too, so it all comes around to us all at one point or another
Bebop,
Would you mind passing a few more comments on the Bassman/Portaflex combo? I know where there are a few of those hanging around, and if I could make one work I'd be a lot happier hauling it to gigs and leaving the B15N at the rehearsal/recording space. Probably a lot easier to haul to gigs than a Mesa 400+, which would be total overkill anyhow.
Would you mind passing a few more comments on the Bassman/Portaflex combo? I know where there are a few of those hanging around, and if I could make one work I'd be a lot happier hauling it to gigs and leaving the B15N at the rehearsal/recording space. Probably a lot easier to haul to gigs than a Mesa 400+, which would be total overkill anyhow.
Sure, glad to comment. My Fender Bassman is a '68 so it's Silverface with the regular 165 guts. I haven't got my Portaflex head up and running, so I cannot comment on an Ampeg/Bassman comparison yet.
I assume that the Bassman will have marginally more headroom (45 vs 30 watts). An efficient 4 ohm 15" driver would give even more usable volume with the Bassman (those heads really like 4 ohm cabs). even at 8 ohms, it kicks enough for most non-rock gigs, honestly. It looks good on the cab as well (same width) and 60's vibe.
I found that a fairly flat tone (bass and treble near 5) sounded great with both my P and J basses right off the bat. I like the normal channel more than the bass channel on the Bassman through the B15N (but I like the normal channel's more full and natural range most of the time). You might get more actual volume through the bass channel as it has that strong mid-bass bump.
Scoring a BAssman 100 or Bassman 135 instead of the regular Bassman head would give you the headroom you'd need without concern. An Ampeg V4 series would do the same (all these are around 100w of tube power).
Hope that helped. I really liked the Fender/Ampeg combination as it drips with tone - I wonder if the Portaflex head will give me even more tone-mojo (but less volume). I will know in the next month or so.
I used my Markbass head with the B15N cab tonight for a practice. It was a truly beautiful small stack and has all the gigable volume I need. - easily. I wonder if I will be selling some of my big Ampeg rig (SVT-450H, SVT-15E) and just keep the SVT-210HE for a more modern tone when needed or when more cone area is needed for big stages. Yikes, that is how much I like this new (very vintage) sound...
I assume that the Bassman will have marginally more headroom (45 vs 30 watts). An efficient 4 ohm 15" driver would give even more usable volume with the Bassman (those heads really like 4 ohm cabs). even at 8 ohms, it kicks enough for most non-rock gigs, honestly. It looks good on the cab as well (same width) and 60's vibe.
I found that a fairly flat tone (bass and treble near 5) sounded great with both my P and J basses right off the bat. I like the normal channel more than the bass channel on the Bassman through the B15N (but I like the normal channel's more full and natural range most of the time). You might get more actual volume through the bass channel as it has that strong mid-bass bump.
Scoring a BAssman 100 or Bassman 135 instead of the regular Bassman head would give you the headroom you'd need without concern. An Ampeg V4 series would do the same (all these are around 100w of tube power).
Hope that helped. I really liked the Fender/Ampeg combination as it drips with tone - I wonder if the Portaflex head will give me even more tone-mojo (but less volume). I will know in the next month or so.
I used my Markbass head with the B15N cab tonight for a practice. It was a truly beautiful small stack and has all the gigable volume I need. - easily. I wonder if I will be selling some of my big Ampeg rig (SVT-450H, SVT-15E) and just keep the SVT-210HE for a more modern tone when needed or when more cone area is needed for big stages. Yikes, that is how much I like this new (very vintage) sound...
Hmmm, more cone area? That's a tough one. I guess it all depends on how much you like to feel it. A mid-60's B-15 cab has plenty of balls and can fill most stages with volume when you use a heavier duty speaker at loud volumes, but more coneage is a cool thing, especially if you can get a cone pointed more toward your head. I'll often stack my Markbass 12" combo on my Fliptops cab just for that reason.
I'll tell you, I really don't know why more people don't use them. Since they're old, people associate them with a vintage sound, which is fair to say about the 70's Thiele cabs. But those little 60's cabs are amazingly efficient and surprisingly modern sounding if you want them to be.
I'll tell you, I really don't know why more people don't use them. Since they're old, people associate them with a vintage sound, which is fair to say about the 70's Thiele cabs. But those little 60's cabs are amazingly efficient and surprisingly modern sounding if you want them to be.
Interesting... ya know, I'm thinking that it might not be a bad idea to grab a Bassman head just to play around with some. I can use it on my Thiele cab and my Berg HS210 just to see what's what, and if things look really promising I can buy a Fliptop re-issue double baffle cab and play with that. If nothing else, I'll have a few heads and cabs around to mix and match to find "that sound". Maybe I should throw my Genz Benz Neopak on top of the portaflex cab and see what happens? Portabenz? Neoflex? Genzapeg?
Would you mind passing a few more comments on the Bassman/Portaflex combo?
this is my main gig rig believe it or not, so i can add some things. my cab is a B15T(1st version solid state). if you have the ampeg book mine's the one mingus is leaning on in that promo photo. loaded with an eminence kappa pro, 102db efficient. i have to re-grill it as the cloth is quite loose. the B15T is a real curiosity to me as it was amprg's 1st attempt at a thiele type design. it's a couple inches taller because of the port shelf, but it has the picture frame wide front lip of the N cab. the problem is that the lip obscures 2/3rds of the available porting! ampeg got it right with the B15S cab. but the only "solution" i can see with this cab is to maybe add a rectangular opening on either side of the cab, at the bottom and towards the front edge. at least this way the port shelf would function better, if not optimally. there's a whole lotta bottom that Wants to get out of there but can't.... i dunno though. the cab sounds real good but it could be a killer. i'm open to suggestions, anyone? homemade caster tray with 4" blue Guitel casters, 2 swivels 2 lockers.
the bassman is a bf modded to hell with 6550's and a blonde showman ot, for about 65 watts of incredible whoop ass. clean, deeeep and super fat sounding, a freak of an amp.
my other cabs are a Kustom 2-15 and Bag End S15L-D, other heads are an Oliver B200 and Plush 1000S
this is my main gig rig believe it or not, so i can add some things. my cab is a B15T(1st version solid state). if you have the ampeg book mine's the one mingus is leaning on in that promo photo. loaded with an eminence kappa pro, 102db efficient. i have to re-grill it as the cloth is quite loose. the B15T is a real curiosity to me as it was amprg's 1st attempt at a thiele type design. it's a couple inches taller because of the port shelf, but it has the picture frame wide front lip of the N cab. the problem is that the lip obscures 2/3rds of the available porting! ampeg got it right with the B15S cab. but the only "solution" i can see with this cab is to maybe add a rectangular opening on either side of the cab, at the bottom and towards the front edge. at least this way the port shelf would function better, if not optimally. there's a whole lotta bottom that Wants to get out of there but can't.... i dunno though. the cab sounds real good but it could be a killer. i'm open to suggestions, anyone? homemade caster tray with 4" blue Guitel casters, 2 swivels 2 lockers.
the bassman is a bf modded to hell with 6550's and a blonde showman ot, for about 65 watts of incredible whoop ass. clean, deeeep and super fat sounding, a freak of an amp.
my other cabs are a Kustom 2-15 and Bag End S15L-D, other heads are an Oliver B200 and Plush 1000S
esox -
the Portabenz might be awesome. I know that my Markbass sounds ideal for me with my vintage single baffle B15N cab. I get the whole range of vintage to quite modern sounding and everything in between. All of them sound really musical with loads of volume. I'm having some thoughts of picking up a Fliptop repro cab and going with one or 2 B15N cabs (depending on venue size) with the Markbass head. And I can use the Bassman and Portaflex heads for recording dates.
But then I won't have the huge Ampeg SVT stack behind me on stage. Hmmmm... is it time to give up the big rig?
the Portabenz might be awesome. I know that my Markbass sounds ideal for me with my vintage single baffle B15N cab. I get the whole range of vintage to quite modern sounding and everything in between. All of them sound really musical with loads of volume. I'm having some thoughts of picking up a Fliptop repro cab and going with one or 2 B15N cabs (depending on venue size) with the Markbass head. And I can use the Bassman and Portaflex heads for recording dates.
But then I won't have the huge Ampeg SVT stack behind me on stage. Hmmmm... is it time to give up the big rig?
It's not time to give it up for me, but it's time to make it a special treat my band gets when I feel they've earned it
Well, I sold my Ampeg SVT 15E and 210HE yesterday and have my SVT 450H head on consignment for sale. I'm taking the plunge into a small stage rig. Markbass SA450 and Fender 410Pro cab for most gigs and my 1965 B15N for smaller stages (sometime using the Markbass as the head with that great old cab). So, I have 4 rig possibilities (in desending stage sizes):
Markbass head, 410 and B15N cabs
Markbass and 410 cab
Markbass and B15N cab
Ampeg Portaflex B15N
Was I nuts? Feels good at this point. I have 7 more gigs this month to try it out. I have used the $ from the sale of the modern Ampeg pieces to pay for the B15N and the stuff I've ordered to restore it.
Markbass head, 410 and B15N cabs
Markbass and 410 cab
Markbass and B15N cab
Ampeg Portaflex B15N
Was I nuts? Feels good at this point. I have 7 more gigs this month to try it out. I have used the $ from the sale of the modern Ampeg pieces to pay for the B15N and the stuff I've ordered to restore it.
