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Vintage rig !!

vectra

Guest
Aug 29, 2014
18
0
55
Looking for a vintage rig for my 62 jazz bass.
I play in a blues/Motown band.
Need a warm, fat, clean but focus sound...
Interested by :
Aguilar DB359 or Ampeg SVT head
Ampeg SVT410-HLF cab
or
Ampeg SVT-15E cab

Any suggestions ?
 
Motown? Buy a B-15, and then make sure to give your wallet a shoulder to cry on.

But on a serious note, I would go with the SVT. Great quality build with a great sound and near endless tonal capability.
sure, go with a B-15 and then make sure you ALWAYS have FOH support because those 27 watts are mostly just not going to cut it by themselves.

seriously, there are tons of options out there that will get you into that 60's/70's Motown bass vibe.
Remember, tone is one thing, the visual effect/aesthetics is another. So, are you seeking just the Motown tone, or do you need the rig to look the part as well.
Some options to consider:
Ampeg B15R (reissue, this is a now discontinued 100w reissue version of the B15 from 10 years ago or so)
Ampeg V4B
Ampeg PF series (350, 500, 800) and one of the PF sealed cabs
Mesa Walkabout can easily be tweaked to do "B15"
Vintage Kustom gear was used widely for live Motown Review shows
Any number of amps with a Tech21 VTD pedal in front of it will do a perfectly usable B15 thing
and many, many more ....


good luck, and enjoy!
 
Anything "Ampeggy" should get you there if you dial it in just right. I'm not familiar with the Aguilar stuff, but I hear that "SVT" thingy is fairly popular.

I'm running a GB Streamliner head and I personally think it nails that tone when you get the gains staged just so.

For front of house you'll be wanting a REDDI.
 
Jamerson would take a Precision and a B-15, and he'd turn the bass all the way up and the treble halfway, then he'd crank the volume till it distorted. I don't know how he did it with other amps he used, but with his B-15 or the preamp he and the guitarists would plug into at Detroit Motown, he made overdrive a pretty critical part of his recorded sound. You don't HAVE to have it, but it does something to the overall sound that gives it some glue that a clean sound doesn't. As for cabs, I probably wouldn't use the 410hlf. You could use it but I would go for a 410he or one or two 212av's if I wanted to keep size reasonable and still put out some juice. They're higher tuned on the bottom end than the 410hlf. SVT 15e might be good too, but to tell the truth it's been years since I played one and I have no idea what the newer ones sound like.
 
IMG_00000055.jpg
Acoustic 360/361

Agreed! The acoustic 360 rig sounds amazing and looks amazing too. Just a pain to lug around.
 
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Well, I play a 62 (AVRI) Jazz w/ flats into a 76 SVT head and an Ampeg 410 (BSE or something, bought used, I keep the horn off). Sounds pretty old school to me.

When the room we are in can't handle the SVT, I have a GB NeoPak 3.5 (has a tube in the pre).

FWIW - I played around w/ several different Markbass heads in GC and with the VLE knob, always thought they could cop an old school vibe petty well.
 

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