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Official Ampeg Portaflex Club

#13,704
Yep, that's the mixup I mentioned. Beans requested that all the Portaflex Club threads be combined, and somehow or another, the admins accidentally rolled the Ampeg Club into it. We thought Floydian Animal would just start a new thread but I think he got bummed and bailed. I could be wrong, though.
 
#13,707
beans-on-toast said:
There have been some recent updates to this group's Portaflex Wiki. Pretty much everything that is in the Wiki has been inspired by the posts that have been made in this thread. I'd like to thank everyone who posts here for helping to make this resource available to the bass community.

Most notable is the new addition detailing Roberto's SB-12 cabinet restoration. Please take a look in the Restoration section. The cabinet turned out really well and how it was accomplished is presented in great detail. Thanks Roberto for sharing. Other sections have had some minor updates and revisions.

There's still a lot to do but it's taking shape pretty well. Any comments and contributions are welcome. In particular, any additional sales literature and brochures would be nice to include. Rich, if you have anything that you would like to include, please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.

It would be nice if we could get the word out there to let people know about the Wiki. I posted a suggestion (talkbass wiki's) and asked if a Wiki tab can be added at the top of the TalkBass header to help publicize the existence of the TB Wiki's. No word from the admins if this can be done. Jimmy, I don't have access to Facebook. Can a link to the Wiki be posted on Ampeg's FB page to let folks there know how to find it?
Click to expand...

I apologize David - I did offer to post some brochures quite some time ago - this was followed by a series of me forgetting and and/or not knowing how.

One of the catalogs I was wanting to post is already in the wiki - I believe it is a '62. This one is sized so that it would have fit in my scanner one page at a time. Others I have are fold out mailers or larger magazine types that I cannot scan due to their size. I have been trying to come up with a plan for them - and I think I have one now. I have a steel door on my studio - I am planning on using magnets to hang the brochures while I photograph each side (using a tripod).

David, do you think a photo of an un-folded mailer (about 20 x 25 inches) would be view-able/readable in the wiki - or should I edit it into smaller parts (in which case which I will need to get help from my daughter;).

I have a busy week - but I may be able to do the photos on Sunday evening.
 
#13,708
Bass 45 said:
I apologize David - I did offer to post some brochures quite some time ago - this was followed by a series of me forgetting and and/or not knowing how.

One of the catalogs I was wanting to post is already in the wiki - I believe it is a '62. This one is sized so that it would have fit in my scanner one page at a time. Others I have are fold out mailers or larger magazine types that I cannot scan due to their size. I have been trying to come up with a plan for them - and I think I have one now. I have a steel door on my studio - I am planning on using magnets to hang the brochures while I photograph each side (using a tripod).

David, do you think a photo of an un-folded mailer (about 20 x 25 inches) would be view-able/readable in the wiki - or should I edit it into smaller parts (in which case which I will need to get help from my daughter;).

I have a busy week - but I may be able to do the photos on Sunday evening.
Click to expand...

Rich, thanks and no need to feel any pressure to hurry. This needs to be fun or it isn't worth it. :banghead:

I'm not sure how to digitize large format documents either. Years ago I used to have access to something called a drum scanner. The document was mounted on a large drum which would spin and would be scanned one pixel at a time. Colors were scanned one at a time with different filters in front of the lens. The resolution was spectacular but data aquisition was very slow. Then flatbed scanners came along and the drum scanner went out the door. Out went our ability to handle large formats.

The way that the literature is in the wiki isn't ideal. We can't post pdf files for download in the wiki so the best I could do was to post images of single pages. It takes a couple of clicks on each image to expand them large enough to view them. It's cumbersome for anyone viewing them but despite the presentation problems, they are really interesting to have available. I also think that it's good to include the entire document as opposed to just the Portaflex related material. I love looking at these old documents.

Resolution and presenting images for viewing on computer screens, pads, and phones is also an issue. Thumbnails are good to use to minimize data transfer. I'm not sure how to best handle this though.

I think that it is worth a shot to try to photograph the mailer and see how it goes. One difficulty will be getting the lighting even over the entire surface. I've tried scanning sections of documents and then using cut and paste to assemble them. This approach works very well if you can fit the document onto the scanner. This can be a challenge because you don't want to risk damaging the document. When I tried assembling the parts I ran into problems because of limitations in the software that I was using. Maybe something like photoshop would have worked better but I don't have that available. Digitizing large documents is easy if you have the right tools. It can also be expensive if you take it somewhere to be done.

I think, when time allows, try photographing the brochure. If you're pleased with the resolution we can post the files.
 
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#13,709
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#13,710
I just took a camera phone pic of my 3 old girls. I recently sold a 197X B-15 and added a 1966 B-15. I can't get enough of these iconic amps. I gig and record with these amps as often as I can.
My 3 Flippers.jpg
 
#13,713
I want to add a speaker section to the wiki but am way over my head when it comes to the details. I have some basic information but there are a lot of holes that need to be filled in. Hopefully when the speaker models have been identified, some images and maybe even specs can be found.

Does the Ampeg book have any of this info in it?

Here's what I've sketched out. If anyone has the details, the info needs to be confirmed and any additional info supplied.

B-15
8 ohm speakers
B-15 Jensen 1960 alnico model?
B-15N same speaker as above?, Jensen Concert ceramic EM1500 in 1963
CTS 1964-till when?, optional JBL (D130F?) in B-15NL
early 70's 15" speaker, 2" aluminum voice coil, 54 oz ceramic magnet moel?, optional Altec Lansing 418B or 421A was available

recommender substitute speakers: Eminence Delta 15A good CTS replacement, JBL D130F , Jensen C15N, others?

Heritage B-15, Eminence/Loud OEM model number ? was this version based on the JBLD130F
Heritage B15N EminenceLoud OEM model number?

B15S 15" speaker, 2" aluminum voice coil, 54 oz ceramic magnet, optional Altec Lansing 418B or 421A -- seems to be the same as the 70's B-15N

B-12N alnico initially?, 62/63 ceramic 12" model?

SB-12 12" speaker Jensen C12N, optional Altec Lansing 417B
recommended replacement speakers: Eminence Delta 12 or Beta 12A, Jensen C12N, EV ?, JBL D123
reference: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/ampeg-sb-12-replacement-speaker-options.874866/

B-18N 18" speaker: C18N Cleveland 8 ohm, Fane 16 ohm, Goodman 4,8, or 16 ohm
 
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#13,714
Guys, not to distract from this thread too much, but as I was PM'd and I see some inquiries about the Ampeg Club aka the Ampeg Family Reunion Club (a name added by the mods when starting one of the followup parts to the thread) I'll start a new "Part 5" today. Parts 1, 2, and 3 still exist standalone but Part 4 as has been noted has been rolled into this thread. I still have the members list and we'll just move forward from there. Sorry I've kind of procrastinated starting a new thread but due to renewed interest I'll get the thread going again.
 
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#13,716
RutherfordBrave said:
Alright, dangit -- who got this one? I got sniped while sniping -- local pickup only, but I have plenty of family nearby. I'm a bit bummed that I got outbid on this one, but hope that it's someone here that picked it up.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Amp...Guitar-Amp-1960s-ORIGINAL-OWNER-/281390355889
Click to expand...

I had it on my watch list - but even though I have been after this model for many years, I did not bid due to the train crash that is my financial situation right now. I probably would have bid about $500 or $600 more then the winning bid - a couple of years ago.

I was watching your tolex sale too;) Interesting to see.
 
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#13,717
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#13,719
Bass 45 said:
I had it on my watch list - but even though I have been after this model for many years, I did not bid due to the train crash that is my financial situation right now. I probably would have bid about $500 or $600 more then the winning bid - a couple of years ago.

I was watching your tolex sale too;) Interesting to see.
Click to expand...

After seeing that B12 come up, I realized I'd rather look at an amp with character than smell that new tolex smell on an old amp. I've become quite accustomed to the beat up looks of my B15, and having A/B'd it against some others I can't say I'm really looking for anything else out of it. Freeing up a little cash for another amp purchase isn't the worst thing in the world. Right now the B15 doesn't leave the house, and if it ever does I'd most likely get a road case for it.

That, and I don't have a whole lot of room to add more amps in the small place I live in. My wife can have a couple dozen pairs of shoes, but I don't want her to get the bright idea that she can start using my amps as storage containers :)
 
#13,720
RutherfordBrave said:
After seeing that B12 come up, I realized I'd rather look at an amp with character than smell that new tolex smell on an old amp. I've become quite accustomed to the beat up looks of my B15, and having A/B'd it against some others I can't say I'm really looking for anything else out of it. Freeing up a little cash for another amp purchase isn't the worst thing in the world. Right now the B15 doesn't leave the house, and if it ever does I'd most likely get a road case for it. :)
Click to expand...


Rutherford Brave,
+1 I do like the look and design of the B-12, but, just like yours, my B-15N(C)'s in pretty good shape. I did some cosmetic upgrades, giving it a new leather handle, lucite logo, and replaced the dolly screw and rubber bumpers. The power transformer, caps, and rectifier tube were either replaced or upgraded, so other than a tolex face lift, which I've considered it looks pretty good. I even had the original blue tolex slip cover, but apparently, it got misplaced when we moved to our new home 14 years ago. I replaced the CTS speaker with a Altec 421 8H Series II, and I think I still have the CTS somewhere around the house.


Ric
 

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