Double Bass Sustainable Amps?

[turf3]

...

Just buy a backup of the same model you currently own and like. They made a ton of AI equipment and there is a thriving used market. You may not be able to purchase one immediately today, but with a month or two of patience, they come up for sale. There are also plenty of amps that don't weight as much as a soda can that work great. Buy the two channel option so one side can go bad and the other will keep kickin' on the job....

Yeah, well, I'm not sure that I'm committed to the R2D2 amp. I mean, it's a lot better than what I was using before, but I'd surely like something lighter (not that R2D2 is all THAT heavy, but still...) - I'm not sure I want to have two of R2D2. I hope to run R2D2 till he dies, then I expect the judgement will be "not economically feasible to repair" - and then I'll be looking for something lighter and maybe a bit more defined - but my question was, "when that day comes (or if I decide to just go ahead soon), what would be some choices that are likely to remain serviceable the longest?" Whether that means actual new repair parts, or NOS parts, or cannibalization parts.

I'm over 60 now and financially doing well, but if my one amp craps out when I'm 80 and maybe not in great health and maybe really needing to watch my money, it would be nice to be using something that can be repaired - yeah, I know, predicting the future ain't so easy.

 

[atlbassist1987]

My AI Clarus 4 died recently after several years of abuse and over 1000 gigs so I was in this predicament being described. I went with a new GK head because of they have been around for a while and they can be serviced in the USA. The boutique stuff is cool and fun but at the end of the day I need a bass amp that is reliable and can be easily serviced. It is a shame about the demise of AI because Rick was easy to deal with and communicative.

 

[shadven]

You’ll be able to repair an Ampeg B-15n for years. My 1966 B-15 is indestructible and easily repaired by any hipster vintage tube geek. Every city has several people who make their living keeping Fender blackface Ampegs an old Ampegs gigging. Yes, it’s heavier than a solid state disposable amp. But, the B-15 has a dolly and we’re bass players!

 

[Bruce Calin]

The Woods MI-100-8 is a very simple straightforward amplifier except for his hand built SMPS. He actually drew up.a schematic for that amp
and placed it inside the cover. As long as the power supply is healthy they’re golden for the most part. Since they dissipate heat through the vents in the top and that massive heat sink in the rear the amp is “self cooling”. The chassis is aluminum to prevent corrosion. Just make sure you open it up,
and gently blow all the out and lubricate the pots and jacks with a small amount of Deoxit 5 once a year.

I once loaned out my MI-100-8 after years of use and it was damaged. After reading me out for loaning out my amp, Walter told me he could fix anything except the circuit board. Luckily, that was okay and he fixed it for free.

 

[statsc]

Still looking for someone to repair my WW Electroacoustic Green Light Stereo amp. Fuchs passed on it. The problem seems to be in the power supply, possibly caused by me trying to play it bridged into 4 ohms.

 

[Ric Vice]

My AI Clarus 4 died recently after several years of abuse and over 1000 gigs so I was in this predicament being described. I went with a new GK head because of they have been around for a while and they can be serviced in the USA. The boutique stuff is cool and fun but at the end of the day I need a bass amp that is reliable and can be easily serviced. It is a shame about the demise of AI because Rick was easy to deal with and communicative.

The crazy thing is, apparently, Rick Jone’s son is an electronics tech wizard. I was told this buy one of Rick’s employees at the ISB convention in Rochester NY. held at the Eastman School of Music. Unfortunately, once Rick passed it just wasn’t viable to continue with Acoustic Image as a company. Since he was a professional bassist Rick was the heart and soul of the company. We used to have long chats at every convention held
Over the last decade.

 

[Ric Vice]

You’ll be able to repair an Ampeg B-15n for years. My 1966 B-15 is indestructible and easily repaired by any hipster vintage tube geek. Every city has several people who make their living keeping Fender blackface Ampegs an old Ampegs gigging. Yes, it’s heavier than a solid state disposable amp. But, the B-15 has a dolly and we’re bass players!

Until you’re not Years ago, before Ampeg was a part of St.Louis Music Supply, the suppliers for new B-15 Output Transformers
closed up shop when Selmer Musical instruments stopped production on the B-15N. As I understand it, the windings on the B-15’s OT are interleaved. The only way to get them repaired was to send them to one single Electronic Service Center (somewhere in Texas) where they could be rewound and repotted. My beloved 64 B-15N(C)went down around that time on a gig ,due to a gas powered AC generator malfunction on a summer street fair. It took 10 years for me to get a single, long forgotten NOS OT that had sat, back on some dusty warehouse shelves in the SLM facilities, destined for shipment to Loud’s facilities in China, when they bought Ampeg. Fortunately, Fliptops now has all the parts to repair a B-15N and the knowledge to rewind those transformers is SOP among the new hipster vintage tube geek squads. When Loud Technologies took over SLM a un named “Uninformed” corporate executive at Loud Tech, had all their back stock of tubes (acquired in the merger with SLM ) disposed of before anyone intelligent realized that they were sitting on a large supply of quality 6SL7 NOS replacements. Sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw. Just my take however.

 

[AGCurry]

You’ll be able to repair an Ampeg B-15n for years.

Yes, long past the point where I can carry it up the stairs. I don't know any amp repairmen who make house calls.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

You’ll be able to repair an Ampeg B-15n for years. My 1966 B-15 is indestructible and easily repaired by any hipster vintage tube geek. Every city has several people who make their living keeping Fender blackface Ampegs an old Ampegs gigging. Yes, it’s heavier than a solid state disposable amp. But, the B-15 has a dolly and we’re bass players!

Well 1. you have to like the sound of a mic'ed upright through a B-15, which I personally do not.
and 2. carrying a double bass (which I don't see in your list of past and present equipment) and a B-15 is a vastly different proposition to carrying and Fender P bass and a B-15.

 

[Ric Vice]

Yes, long past the point where I can carry it up the stairs. I don't know any amp repairmen who make house calls.

Amen to that Andy, their to busy with the long lines of repairs that trail out the rear doors of,their shops and down the street.

 

[Ric Vice]

Well 1. you have to like the sound of a mic'ed upright through a B-15, which I personally do not.
and 2. carrying a double bass (which I don't see in your list of past and present equipment) and a B-15 is a vastly different proposition to carrying and Fender P bass and a B-15.

as a song writer once so aptly wrote “walk a mile in my shoes” It’s a pretty daunting task up or down two flights of stairs to a gig with a B-15N and Double Bass dejour. Even with just a Fender Precision and B-15N in hand, it’s still a challenge navigating the labyrinthine passages that lead into and out of most clubs and stages I’m familiar with here in St.Louis. Just my take.

 

[AGCurry]

Well 1. you have to like the sound of a mic'ed upright through a B-15, which I personally do not.
and 2. carrying a double bass (which I don't see in your list of past and present equipment) and a B-15 is a vastly different proposition to carrying and Fender P bass and a B-15.

Yes to both points.
That sound may have been as good as it got in the 1960s, but my little Traynor SB12 runs circles around my B-15N (recently sold to a BGist, who was happy to get it).

 

[Bruce Calin]

I sold mine to a recording studio 20+ years ago where I'm told it still lives a happy life.

 

[bassmanbrent]

I sold mine to a recording studio 20+ years ago where I'm told it still lives a happy life.

That's where they belong, IMHO. Right beside the Hammond B3.

 

[Michael Milner]

I have had good luck with Traynor amps. I use the SB106 as my practice amp and have done gigs with it using my double bass (going through a Fishman preamp). It is super portable, and the firm is highly unlikely to ever go under. Traynor has an excellent reputation for reliability. Now, the gigs I use this amp for a coffee house type jobs where you don't need much volume. For gigs needing more volume, I have used a MarkBass combo. Although I like the amp, I'm not sure if the company will be around forever.

 

[statsc]

The Woods MI-100-8 is a very simple straightforward amplifier except for his hand built SMPS. He actually drew up.a schematic for that amp
and placed it inside the cover. As long as the power supply is healthy they’re golden for the most part. Since they dissipate heat through the vents in the top and that massive heat sink in the rear the amp is “self cooling”. The chassis is aluminum to prevent corrosion. Just make sure you open it up,
and gently blow all the out and lubricate the pots and jacks with a small amount of Deoxit 5 once a year.

Hi Ric; was it you that posted specific instructions from Walter on how to clean/lubricate the pots and jacks? If so, could you point me to that post or re-post it? Thanks!

 

[Martin Beer]

On the concept of valve/tube amps being more sustainable because component level repair is more accessible - I wouldn't be too confident that replacing a pair of power tubes or a transformer is meaningfully lower in environmental impact than replacing a whole ICEpower module in a modern Class-D head.
Class-D/SMPS amps using off-the-shelf power modules might have more resilience for future repairs beyond manufacturer support than ones using proprietary modules, perhaps.
I have both types (GK MB200 and an Ampeg PF50T), so I'm not trying to make some devil's advocate point with this, it's something I've wondered about.

 

[Ric Vice]

At this point, I don’t think anyone could predict whether or not a particular amplifier will have longevity. As I think back to what did I can only point to this one singular amp. Even with this B-15N there was a period of nearly seven years, when the OT went down after playing an outdoor festival, with a faulty portable AC generator. So nothing is bulletproof proof.