Does it have bluetooth and an associated app?
Ok, I will go away now
Ok, I will go away now
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So I bought a thing today...
- Thread starter Jeff Michael
- Start date
I don’t know if anyone’s tried it on bass, but the Taylor Circa 74 amp is a great looking piece of furniture.
Historic! It’s a Holy Grail-like find. Congrats! Bigtime!
Looks like something that was used for those living room Hammond or Lowrey organs that were so popular in the '60s. Two keyboards some sliders foot pedals volume pedal yeah kind of reminds me of something that would be used for that application. Looks nice!
You can save the cord and restuff the sleeves of the original capacitors so they at least look original. You might be successful in just reforming the electrolytics if they haven’t popped, used to be very popular but I don’t know if any techs still do that. I do agree it’ll sound much better for guitar than bass so I can understand if maybe you want to collect it instead. Id rather have a working collectible but I understand some people would rather have all the old components untouched even if they make the whole place smell like burst electrolytics forever.
- Jan 1, 2014
- 1,016
- 3,480
- Disclosures
- Decendant from the Clovis culture. "Emitting that wonderful bass effect since 1970".
Not sure when that one was made, but it started in 1946 and only lasted a year or two before Michaels left to do his own amps under the name Sano.
Thank you for your kind offer, but as luck would have it, I do have a turntable.If you don’t have a turntable, it’s useless. I’ll give you my address so I can dispose of it carefully
Here's a video of Lionel Hampton's band in 1958. Monk Montgomery is playing an electric bass (a pre-'57 Fender Precision) through what looks like a 1956 Ampeg Bassamp down next to the guitarist. So yeah, I think that was the expected usage style for those first few years of bass amps.
Also, that whole video is a treat, well worth your time. Funny thing, it starts out with Hamp and Monk on a vibes/bass duet. Hamp is just playing nice spacey chords while Monk walks in a two feel, and damn me if it doesn't sound almost exactly like something Jaco would have done all by himself 20 years later.
Check out "Uncle Doug's Amp repairs" on Youtube . He's a very good tech with old amps. I think he's still doing challenges like that.
I have been trying to pin down exactly what it is I have here.
The Michael-Hull Bassamp pictured in the Ampeg book has a more complex front than mine. There’s a frame around the baffle, or maybe it’s recessed some.
Mine has a flat face as you can see in my first post.
Also there’s some wiggle in the features. Here’s what the book has about the earlier Bassamp’s guts:
Here’s what they say about the later Bassamp (the 770).
Here’s the control plate and guts of my amp.
So I think my new old amp is cosmetically a pre-770 Bassamp, mostly, but the control panel and tube complement are 770-era features, mostly. Of course, this is a bit of an abuse of the term ‘era’, as the entire Michael-Hull period was no more than three and a half years. And based on Everett Hull’s appraisal of those days, production was probably pretty ad-libbed, much like how Leo Fender used flathead screws until they were gone and then switched over to Philips heads, driving Fender historians batty.
Anyhow, given that the book describes the first Bassamp version as running from 1946 to 1947 and the 770 from 1947-1948, I am officially dating this amp to 1947! And declaring it a Bassamp 385: half of this, half of that.
The Michael-Hull Bassamp pictured in the Ampeg book has a more complex front than mine. There’s a frame around the baffle, or maybe it’s recessed some.
Mine has a flat face as you can see in my first post.
Also there’s some wiggle in the features. Here’s what the book has about the earlier Bassamp’s guts:
Here’s what they say about the later Bassamp (the 770).
Here’s the control plate and guts of my amp.
So I think my new old amp is cosmetically a pre-770 Bassamp, mostly, but the control panel and tube complement are 770-era features, mostly. Of course, this is a bit of an abuse of the term ‘era’, as the entire Michael-Hull period was no more than three and a half years. And based on Everett Hull’s appraisal of those days, production was probably pretty ad-libbed, much like how Leo Fender used flathead screws until they were gone and then switched over to Philips heads, driving Fender historians batty.
Anyhow, given that the book describes the first Bassamp version as running from 1946 to 1947 and the 770 from 1947-1948, I am officially dating this amp to 1947! And declaring it a Bassamp 385: half of this, half of that.
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Well, there's been an interesting development (to me, anyway): the guy who sold me the amp messaged me a couple days ago saying "I found the cover for your amp if you want it." So yeah, I definitely do! He's throwing it in gratis. I sent him some dosh for shipping, so I'll now be watching the front porch for a package.
I wonder what this cover will be! I'm inclined to think it'll be a homemade thing, like a bunch of gingham sewn together by the original owner's missus. But I can't help wondering if it was an original inclusion from Michael-Hull. Could you imagine that? I've never even heard of such a thing existing. That would be peak case candy!
I don't even know if Michael-Hull had a logo, so it'll be hard to tell, I imagine, if it's well-made home craft or an OEM item. Hell, at this point I have no idea what it'll be. It could be the back plate that's (currently) absent. Anyway, it'll be an interesting week or so!
I wonder what this cover will be! I'm inclined to think it'll be a homemade thing, like a bunch of gingham sewn together by the original owner's missus. But I can't help wondering if it was an original inclusion from Michael-Hull. Could you imagine that? I've never even heard of such a thing existing. That would be peak case candy!
I don't even know if Michael-Hull had a logo, so it'll be hard to tell, I imagine, if it's well-made home craft or an OEM item. Hell, at this point I have no idea what it'll be. It could be the back plate that's (currently) absent. Anyway, it'll be an interesting week or so!
I'm still waiting for my Sunn 415M cover that was supposed to come with the cabinet in 1973!!!!
Some schematics here.
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/schematics/#21-pre-portaflex-amplifiers
I’ve seen many variations from this era. Look for date codes on the speaker, transformers, pots, tubes, and other parts.
By the way, if there are any Ampeg collectors out there following this thread, the gentleman who sold me the amp also had an original Ampeg connector cup probably from around the same period. He wanted to throw it in for a little extra bread, but all I really wanted was the amp.
