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Double Bass Using a big old tube amp for amplifying an acoustic?

H

hublocker

May 17, 2007
265
4
#1
I used to play electric in rock bands and have this old 100 watt Ampeg V4B.

What are your thought on amplifying my upright bass using an Underwood pickup through the Ampeg?

I'm playing western swing music now.

I see a lot of people use small but powerful solid state bass amps now.

I have a Roland Cube 60 too, but not a lot of head room.
 
#2
If your drummer is using sticks, the V4 will kick, and will match the Underwood well without any external preamp. Of course you already know about maintaining it ad moving it around. What kind of cabinet are you using?
 
#3
I have an old Fender Bandmaster 2x12 cab and an Ampeg 2x15 that I don't take anywhere any more.

I should find a smaller more modern cabinet with some good speakers in it. This is all hypothetical. the amp needs repair.

And no, I don't know anything about maintaining it and moving it around.
 
#5
As I've posted time and time again, I see no particular advantage to a tube power amp for use with the double bass. To the contrary, there are several disadvantages. The usual stated benefit of tubes is the spectral profile and dynamics of their distortion. When amplifying the DB, distortion is usually not desirable. Given that's the case, the reliability and light weight of modern solid-state amps make them far better suited to the task. BTW, I say that as a tube hobbyist and one who has restored vintage tube amplifier circuits.
 
#6
stiles72 said:
Depending on the cab you use, that V4B should sound killer for upright!
Click to expand...

Not to be a tool, but no where in the very long list of currently and previosly owned instruments do I see an "upright". What are you basing this statement on? We try not to just say stuff over here. If you've got some basis in fact for the advice you gave, it would be nice to hear it.

Direct answer to the question:

1) You'd almost definitely need a pre-amp to buffer the impediance
2) It's going to be much heavier than you really need, but that's okay if you're okay with it.
3) Ultimately it depends on whether you like the sound you get from it or not. It goes against what most of us are trying to do, but you may dig it. If it doesn't cost you too much to find out, go for it and let us know.
 
#8
I have tried my upright with my Ampeg v4 tube head. Was not really thrilled with it. I was using a Ampeg svt15e cab with it. I did put a fishman preamp in front of it to buffer my full circle pickup and also was not thrilled with that way or plugged straight in.

It may have to do with the cab more than the amp though. I have a acoustic image amp that I tried the 15e cab with, and with my set up it was not very good either.

I also depends what your going for. If you play with a loud rock or country band it may be perfect for you. Unfortunatley with double bass you have to try different amps with your bass and pickup to find what works for you. It's not as simple as electric bass to give advise over the internet. You pretty much know what your going to get with a Fender bass and a Ampeg amp and its easy to say that will sound good. Upright bass is much more difficult because everyones bass is different and reacts differently.

Good luck finding something that works for you.
 
#10
there are clips on youtube somewhere of someone playing an upright through the Orange all tube amp and it sounds awesome. warm and fat. also, there is a clip somewhere of someone playing an upright through the sadowsky all tube amp. equally awesome. these clips made me consider an all tube head, but when i picked one up i changed my mind. with regards to distortion and upright bass, some say that's what makes the walter woods sound so good. small amount of transistor distortion in the preamp gives the illusion of a fatter, warmer sound. i have experimented with adding a touch of drive to my tone with my sansamp para driver pedal (just a touch) and no one ever notices that there is distortion per se, but everyone comments on how good my tone is.
 
#11
i heard Richard Davis play with Laura Nyro. he was using an SVT all tube with a single 15". sounded great. i heard Ron Carter many times with a B-15, same thing, great. i owned SVT and used it with upright, sounded great, but very impractical for my needs. i used a tube pre with various Crown and Crest and Dynakit power amps i now own a walter woods ultra and that sounds great. i often use a modern yamaha pa head with the little 8" monitor speakers, and that rig sounds great too. some of the old Polytone are real sleepers, you can get a great deal on the right one. i have an old Altec all tube pa head (20 hi fi watts) that really sounds great with upright. sadly, the crappiest amp i ever owned was the first series Acoustic Image, total garbage, these days those guys got it together and make great amplifiers. if you tried the V4 and didn't like it, i'd say don't mess around with it. move on, just try some other things, decide for yourself what advantages or disadvantages an amp system has for you personally. you are the expert for your sound.
 
#12
I used to drag an old Fender Bassman around with various cabs, Acme 1B, Aguilar 12, etc. mostly because it was all I had at the time, and I was really into finding great tubes for it. I wasn't able to A/B it with anything but in my opinion it worked very well for the background music gigs for rooms full of talking people. The fuzzy warm tone spread nicely.
 
#14
I'm hardly an expert when it comes to DB, but ... I recently purchased a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0-12T combo. Solid state, and very hi-fi. I love it! With the 12" cab it easily handles my five-piece country band's needs with room to spare, and only weighs 30 lbs (head and cab!). It replaced an Ampeg rig with 4x10 and/or 1x15 cabs.

I just ordered (will be delivered Monday) the STL-8T cab. I heard an acquaintance use one, with his Shuttle 3.0, at an open mic, and was amazed at how well it reproduced even the lowest notes. That cab with my amp would be just 12 lbs.

For the music I play most (jazz, blues, country, bluegrass) the new solid state micro rigs are "the bomb". The Ampeg rig is sold, and I'll never look back.

Edit: I should have listed this ... Strunal 50/4 bass, Upton RevII p/u, K&K Pure preamp
 
#15
dkziemann said:
I use an ampeg b15 for upright bass and it has one of the most natural sounds I've ever heard. It sounds killer for upright. Obviously, it depends on your setup but playing with a tube amp can sound great, just like playing through a solid state amp can sound great too.
Click to expand...

The B-15 was designed and built by a Double Bassist. It's voiced to be complimentary to the instrument. They even used the JBL D130 and Altec 421 A as their speaker upgrade, because they favored the upper midrange. Provided you have one of the upgraded ones, the stock Jensen and CTS speakers that they used weren't all that impressive IMHO. That said, it weighs 80 lbs. A V4B was Ampegs smaller brother/sister for the SVT. To my ears, it would take some pretty creative EQ to use that amp with a Double Bass.

Ric
 

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