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Weird Amps Nobody Remembers

#161
My first bass amp was a guitar amp pressed into service, a '60s Kustom 100 head with a 1x15 cab and (sfaik) the original J.B. Lansing speaker:
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Fortunately, somehow I didn't blow the speaker. My first actual bass amp was a '70s Woodson 250, with the matching 1x15, which a housemate abandoned in favor of something more portable. I still have the Woodson, but rarely use the head. The cab is ok.

woodson-250-bass-head-1x15-cab-xl.jpg
 
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#162
Hello @Pablo504 & @StatesideRambler ---- Wow does this subject bring back memories for me. I also built a Heathkit guitar amp in the mid 60's with my Dad. I do think it was this 212" quoted below. I do remember it had a distortion of some sort that sounded just like razer blades. Not "the Kink" tone I was going for. But later I discovered they actually sliced the speaker cones on their amps to get that tone.

Quoted-----
I built a Heathkit TA-16 when they were introduced. It was awful but our guitar god could finally be heard at a party. Unfortunately, I played bass and despite my adolescent wishfulness the TA-16 was beyond wrong in that role. Here’s a Heathkit catalog page for it:
6987058-6a023bbb93e1ea76ff5bdadb9e00ba46.jpg


I can say I don't remember whatever happened to that amp we built but I do remember it fondly when I think of time with my Dad. He also used to repair TV's in the basement and one day I set down a huge Altec 15" on a TV console. Wow did I catch hell!!! Little did I think that that huge magnet would mess with the huge TV picture tube which caused him hours to re-energize.
***That was also the basement were I built my first bass cab ---- they needed to be the bigger the better. It was a 2 x 15" and I carried all the wood down and built it up there, used Naugh-hide for the vinyl I remember.
It was so big I later realized it would not fit through the side door from the basement. It never left that basement until I cut it in half, years later.
I hope that means I made all of my cabinet design mistakes early on!!

On the subject of this thread ---- does anyone remember the huge guitar cabinet from the mid 60's? I believe it was called the "Tiny Tim" and I think was built by Magnavox. It was a 12 x 12" guitar cab or 8 x 12". Must have been 7 - 8 ft tall. I first saw it at Giant Music in Falls Church VA sometime in the mid 60's.
Later after I moved to AZ and our band at the time was playing in Tucson AZ, I found another one stashed in some corner at The Chicago Music store in downtown Tucson.
Must have been in the early 80's. Man talk about a shop with amps most people would rarely see, they had it all. Even had a VOX room with several Super Beatles and such in mint condition.
Thanks for this thread and trip down memory lane.
 
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#164
Jeff Genzler said:
On the subject of this thread ---- does anyone remember the huge guitar cabinet from the mid 60's? I believe it was called the "Tiny Tim" and I think was built by Magnavox. It was a 12 x 12" guitar cab or 8 x 12". Must have been 7 - 8 ft tall. I first saw it at Giant Music in Falls Church VA sometime in the mid 60's.
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They were supposedly created more or less as a marketing stunt to help promote a local band...
MAGNATON_01_Header1000watt.jpg

...Neil Young got ahold of one (and dubbed it "Tiny Tim"), and it's been part of his stage setup for a few decades now.
 
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#165
Michedelic said:
What years were those? Acoustic seemed to have pioneered that concept with the 360, then Sunn followed suit with the failed Orion series soon after, ‘68-ish. Some of those Ovations listed above where based on that concept, I believe. But if GBX was on it first, very interesting.
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It would be the late 60's till mid 70's out of Toronto. ... Being old school I remember the cabs being real heavy.
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#166
#167
Surprised these haven't come up in this thread yet:
trace-blx.jpg

I bought one of these brand new in '96. The amp controls were really cool, with the deluxe knobs and detents, and the overall construction was quite robust.
It sounded about how you would expect now from looking at it. Actually pretty good if a drastic mid-scoop is what you are wanting. In the designers' defense, that sound was kind of "in" at the time. But even young '90s me decided I needed to keep searching for a better stage blend.
I had the model with the tweeter.
 
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#170
Jefenator said:
Surprised these haven't come up in this thread yet:
View attachment 4639009
I bought one of these brand new in '96. The amp controls were really cool, with the deluxe knobs and detents, and the overall construction was quite robust.
It sounded about how you would expect now from looking at it. Actually pretty good if a drastic mid-scoop is what you are wanting. In the designers' defense, that sound was kind of "in" at the time. But even young '90s me decided I needed to keep searching for a better stage blend.
I had the model with the tweeter.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, I had one of those, without the tweeter. For awhile. Won it in a contest, along with a Wal bass(of course there’s a story, and I’ll get to it in a minute), and both actually turned out to be disappointing. While the amp portion was indeed cool, I couldn’t quite grasp the forward chamber/slot idea; was it to diminish the high end to make the lows seem louder? Was it to focus the soundwaves coming off the driver? I dunno. I used it on a drummerless gig, it was just OK, nothing more.
So, the contest…you might remember Musician magazine from the 80’s/90’s, great rag, covered all sorts of styles in an intelligent, witty way; it was almost like a print version of Night Music.
TE and Wal partnered with a German label, CMP, who was releasing an album featuring my favorite fretless bassist, Mick Karn, along with Terry Bozzio on drums, David Torn on guitar, called Polytown. Very King Crimson sounding stuff. He was a well-known Wal and Trace user, and the task of the contest(run exclusively in the magazine)was to compose some sort of review/overview of the band, and I did, although it ended up being like a PR sheet in a promo kit. I won, but then the entire context was so esoteric, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were just a handful of entrees. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just me. While the amp was meh, I had high hopes for the Wal, and while it was an incredible instrument, I just couldn’t get on with V-shaped neck, very pronounced, and I sold it a couple of years later.
I did see the band perform(they didn’t last long)at an in-store in a Virgin Megastore, Karn using a Trace 4x10 combo stacked on top of a 1x15 combo.
 
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#171
bass_case said:
Standells were good as I remember. PS I may have your bass!
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You saw a good deal of Standells onstage through the 60's and early 70's, but I've never seen these, which would have been their biggest bass rig, in any photos.The thing really sounded great, and there's nothing like standing in front of 6x15's!
 
#172
Freight Train said:
You saw a good deal of Standells onstage through the 60's and early 70's, but I've never seen these, which would have been their biggest bass rig, in any photos.The thing really sounded great, and there's nothing like standing in front of 6x15's!
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Here’s the Blues Magoos using a bunch of “candy dish” top models(although they are just lip-synching). This was a worthy follow- up to “WAGNY”, but didn’t get anywhere. Drummer Geoff Daking went on to found the high-end Daking outboard audio gear company…
 
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#174
packhowitzer said:
I always thought the Ampeg Isovent was kind of an oddball. Heavy, awkward, and just plain weird. I know it's just a cab, and not truly an amp... but I thought it was worth including. Does anyone know if it sounded good?

View attachment 4637600
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I use a similar design Ampeg PR-1528he and had the larger PR-1832he. both great sounding, but impractical to move around
 
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#179
Bob_Ross said:
Oh yeah, I've had mine since 1980 and it still gets used all the time...if not by me, then at least by my cat!

View attachment 4639647
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What model is that? 12" or 15"? Did you install the circular grille or did it come that way? I had one that I think was from the '70's and the plywood where the screws held the speakers was disintegrating. I used plumbers epoxy to reinforce it. I've replaced the speakers in all the Polytones I've had, some because the paper had come loose from the frame, some because they didn't have the frequency response of more contemporary speakers. The one in my picture has a refoamed Eminence manufactured for the old GK 200MB. Boy does it sound good.
 
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