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What do you know about Oliver amps?

pjmuck

pjmuck

Feb 8, 2006
1,183
68
New Joisey
www.naughtyhumphrey.com
#1
I've been cleaning out my basement this weekend, when lo and behold I found my very first amp. It's a 2 channel Oliver all-tube bass head. Stickers on the back say, "Model HB-150, serial #704005. Oliver Sound Massapequa Pk, NY." I used to run this through a huge Kustom blue sparkle cushioned cabinet (8 x 10? 2 x 15? I can't remember but it was huge! cabinet's long gone), and man if I didn't get the sound of Geezer Butler, LOL. I knew nothing about amplification or tone back then, so I probably overloaded my gear.

Anyway, what can you tell me about Oliver and my head? I do know that it was designed by Jess Oliver of Ampeg after he left Ampeg and started his own company, but I can find very little online about Oliver. I'm guessing it's at least 30 years old, since I bought it used from a guy in school in '78. Any idea what it's worth? It definitely needs some TLC and retubing, but all else appears to be working Might be nice to get it fixed up for having a tube head around for those occasions.
 
#5
In the late sixties I had an Oliver that had the head that came out of the cab being run by a motor. I still have the cab and it is split in two and have used it for my stereo system for a lot of years. The speakers were Altec Lansing 15's.

Wally
 
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#6
I know this is an older thread, but I thought that I'd share. This is my B200 that I'm in the midst of getting back into shape. Man it's got a KILLLER tone.

In this pic, the chassis is sitting atop the cabinet that it goes in. I hope to post some pics and a full review in a few weeks when I've got this little rig set up.

Peace...

100_6636.jpg
 
#7
Robert, your pic isn't showing up.

BTW, if someone wants to see some excellent pics of an Oliver taken apart, check the first page of the Official Ampeg Portaflex Club thread. Mark from Vintage-Blue has some great detailed pics on display.
 
#8
I saw one yesterday (Wedensday 1 Oct 08..what a coincidence!) at Guitar Maniacs in Tacoma Washington.
I'd heard of them and about them, made by Jess Oliver after breaking with Ampeg.
The really cool thing I heard was that they had a spring loaded mechanism that raised the amplifier up and lowered it back down, sort of an automatic fliptop.
When I saw the word "Oliver" on the cabinet I had a suspicion..then there was this little round hole, about 2 inches in diameter and 2 inches in depth with a toggle switch at the bottom. Being adventurous I went ahead and flipped the toggle..VOILA!!! accompanied by a cacaphony of mechanical noises the head rose up and locked into position! When I toggled it back the other way, the process reversed.
This particular Oliver was a 2X12 vertical stack I believe.
I did NOT bother trying to play thru it..it was pretty clean and looked like it had been well cared for, but I was there shopping for B-12/B-15 and I have a hell of a time maintaining focus!
I do feel like I've seen a rather rare bird...and flipped the switch on it a couple of times as well
 
#15
bass4worship said:
My First Amp I got with extension cab.
View attachment 675295
Click to expand...

What an awesome rig! That's the first Powerflex extension cabinet I've seen. Those appear to be a couple of the earliest models too since they have the sparkle grille cloth and chrome side handles.
 
#16
Vintage-Blue said:
What an awesome rig! That's the first Powerflex extension cabinet I've seen. Those appear to be a couple of the earliest models too since they have the sparkle grille cloth and chrome side handles.
Click to expand...
Yes it is, got it in 1969. To bad my boss spill his drink on the head, it started to smoke and die. I wasn't to upset cause I never liked the sound of it.
 
#17
I have a 502 w/1 15 in. I am the original owner. Purchased December 1971 at Lechmare Sales in Cambridge/Somerville as a Christmas present. It doesn't have the original speaker but some of the tubes are original and still work. The catalog is available on line along with all of the schematics for most of the Oliver family. Most of electronics are Univox. According to Jess himself, he only made 250 total of the Powerflex units with the motorized head. That includes the single and 2 speaker units combined.
VideoCapture_20190910-150553.jpg
The amp works and sounds awesome. I used to gig with it playing a blues harp through it. Oliver is now comfortably retired and is used for studio work only.
 
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#18
I bought one back in March. 502 Powerflex. Head needed to be gone completely thru, the motorized lift mechanism was not working and the wiring was fried. To top it off the grill cloth was an old "camo fleece" blanket.

I have repaired the mechanism and wiring so it all works beautifully now. Mine is a very early one so it has the sparkle silver grill cloth with horizontal aluminum strips. I sourced something as close as I could find and the whole thing looks great now.

Only fly in the ointment is I haven't gotten the Amp back yet. The guy is excellent but notoriously slow, but I knew that going in. So I'm not posting picks til its done! LOL.
 
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#20
pjmuck said:
I've been cleaning out my basement this weekend, when lo and behold I found my very first amp. It's a 2 channel Oliver all-tube bass head. Stickers on the back say, "Model HB-150, serial #704005. Oliver Sound Massapequa Pk, NY." I used to run this through a huge Kustom blue sparkle cushioned cabinet (8 x 10? 2 x 15? I can't remember but it was huge! cabinet's long gone), and man if I didn't get the sound of Geezer Butler, LOL. I knew nothing about amplification or tone back then, so I probably overloaded my gear.

Anyway, what can you tell me about Oliver and my head? I do know that it was designed by Jess Oliver of Ampeg after he left Ampeg and started his own company, but I can find very little online about Oliver. I'm guessing it's at least 30 years old, since I bought it used from a guy in school in '78. Any idea what it's worth? It definitely needs some TLC and retubing, but all else appears to be working Might be nice to get it fixed up for having a tube head around for those occasions.
Click to expand...
When I had my I never did like the tone, it sounded thin and never had power to push the cabs. I would replace the Amp with something newer if I still had it. Bought my back in '68.
 

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