No GK, Trace Elliot, Sunn Colosseum, Fender Bassman, or Hartke. Since when is the Markbass a classic?
Last edited:
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Six classic bass amps
- Thread starter elgecko
- Start date
I am pretty sure Markbass has secured their place in bass guitar history...they are definitely a modern classic and the LMII will go on to be remembered as the first great lightweight head. Hell, they basically spawned the lightweight head revolution.
The Bassman was revolutionary in its own right. It's almost on par with the old Ampeg Flip top but fell short of it's capabilities.
especially since they beat walter woods to market
Ok, I 'll stand corrected on that. They did pave the way for Class D heads. I would say Eric hit the nail on the head with the Eden WT being the first lighter bass head.
Walter Woods may have had a lightweight head before Markbass but they fail miserably at marketing their products. You really have to reach alot of users before your stuff can really be considered classic. Look at the '57 Chevy Bel Air, not a finely tuned auto by any stretch of the imagination but one of the most iconic cars in history based almost solely on familiarity.
Aguilar are a little too "boutique" to be true classics - they just haven't achieved the iconic status as there aren't that many around.
Amazing amps if you can afford one, but just not the same league, influence-wise - as the amps on this list.
walter paved the way for all the class D stuff being made today. back in the 70s and 80s people were freaking out to have such a great amp that u could pick up with your pinky. that stuff just didnt exist yet. because markbass bought more adds in bass player magazine does not make them innovative at all
Well, I was a pretty astute bassist through the late 80's and 90's...well read when it came to the trade pubs and frequented many a music shop in my day...Walter Woods flew completely under my radar, I can't recall even hearing the name before I joined this site in 2005. I may have passed over a back page classified or an article but they never really made any successful attempt to really market their stuff from my point of view...perhaps by choice in order to keep it under their control I suppose but then you are doomed to be unrecognized even if you are the true innovator.
Well, they kind of created the hifi/clean/slap tone/tweeters in bass cabs thing.... that's why they're classics.
Also, I'm anything BUT a hifi/clean/slap tone kind of guy and they're among my personal faves as they can do a lot MORE that that with a twist of the gain, character and enhance knobs you can go from very "hifi" to very NOT hifi.
I have to agree - they are way too "new kid on the block" to be classics yet. It struck me a little odd when I read it, but I tried not to be negative about them in particular.
Also, while they're great amps I find they have little personality (deliberately to be versatile) and do sort of everything rather than their own thing.
I've never heard of those amps but they are certainly innovative in the small amp design. Although maybe not a classic, but Phillip Jones would definitely fit into the category of small amp innovations as well.
When did Eden first put out a lightweight amp? It was always my understanding that the Ampeg Portabass heads were the first commercially made micros, as opposed to Walter Woods, who was a boutique builder, but if Eden beat 2001, then maybe they were.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
On the PS, apologies in advance if any find this in poor taste, I find it funny:
I think it was these guys. Though where he got the Roland in '63....
It's not just in poor taste, it's my avatar.
Looking at a gutshot, it uses a smaller iron power transformer. Pretty sure the PB heads used an SMPS, which makes them more what the definition of "micro" means to most of us.
Fair enough, although the Acoustic 360/361 were pretty spendy in their day. I'm wondering if the issue isn't *just* that the Aguilar stuff is boutique, but that it's also retro. Hard to become influential and iconic looking backwards.
Definitely a factor - all the others have taken things from the past and added something.
Just like a lot of beautiful and well crafted boutique guitars/bass will never be "classics" precisely because they are just extremely well-crafted versions of classics. Doesn't make them less "great" just not so iconic.
As for the Acoustic - it was heavily copied, and somehow it was popular enough that a LOT of people had them - I don't know how so many people justified the expense - but there's a lot of them out there still. And their "little brothers" and imitators were reasonably plentiful.
Last edited:
