At age 5,in '63 my dad bought me a noname acoustic guitar w/pickup & came with a noname teeny amp! But in '70 he bought me a Univox hollowbody like a Hofner. All black. It had a headstock like a cello. And a Univox head and cabinet. I think the speaker had a 12. It had a volume and tone knobs! In '71 he bought me Jazz bass at SamAsh on 48st in NYC. Still played it through the Univox for a while. The Univox had two inputs and my friend played guitar through it with me!
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What was your first amp (old guys only)
- Thread starter TheCreature
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My first experience playing thru an amp was through an Ampeg Gemini 2 that the whole band plugged into courtesy of a Lafayette 4 input mixer. Three guitars one bass and two mics! Sounded fabulous at the time. 1966. The next year I got my first bass amp a Supro Thunderbolt with 15 inch speaker which sounded horrible. So distorted, no wonder everyone loved them later as guitar amps. Next up was a Solid State Standel Custom something or other with two 15" speakers that sounded perfect. I loved it and had for several years. I never had a tube bass amp again as I really fell in love with the clean power of transistors for the electric bass.
My first amp was a Fender Bassman which I bought in the very early seventies. I believe the head was 50 watts. The cab had one 15" woofer. Played my AGS bass through it until I was able to afford to buy my 1971 Fender Jazz bass. The bass was a good investment, the amp.....not so much.
Peavey TKO 80, bought used for $80 in 1981-ish. Had to replace the speaker before long, but it worked fine until getting stolen in '87.
Not a particularly great-sounding amp, but it did the job for me.
Not a particularly great-sounding amp, but it did the job for me.
First bass amp: 1965 Kent w/5" speaker and open back. Possibly the worst bass amp ever made.
Second: 1966 St. George bass, head/cabinet w/ 2x12s". Possibly the second worst bass amp ever. I had it 6 weeks. It was in the shop 5.5 weeks.
Third: 1966 Fender Bassman, At the time the best of the best. Sold it to buy a car. OOps!
Now: Gallien-Krueger 400 w/1-15" cab & 2-10" cab. Love it.
Second: 1966 St. George bass, head/cabinet w/ 2x12s". Possibly the second worst bass amp ever. I had it 6 weeks. It was in the shop 5.5 weeks.
Third: 1966 Fender Bassman, At the time the best of the best. Sold it to buy a car. OOps!
Now: Gallien-Krueger 400 w/1-15" cab & 2-10" cab. Love it.
The first amp of my own was a Kay (1965) with one 10" speaker. I forget how many watts it was, but it was a tube amp. My Dad got it for me along with my Kay electric guitar. Not bad, actually.
But, my first "real" amp was a Silvertone Twin Twelve tube amp with something like 40w, I think. I still have it, heh, heh, and it still picks up the radio and anything else on the airwaves. Other than that, it's a great ole amp. dad bought it, too, but I (me, myself) had just bought a Gretsch Tennessean to go with it.
Oh, ya mean my first bass amp? Well, that was a Peavey Mark IV (or was it III? can't remember the title). Anyway, big head with two 115 cabs. That was wayyyy more sound than needed for the gigs I was playing at the time (1988). But, it did me good for many years until I got my Trace Elliot and SWR, and now markbass stuff. Actually, my second amp was a Peavey Combo 300, which I still have. Then, a Fender Bassman 60 (sold it), Bassman 150 and Bassman 25 for practice at home. I still have five bass amps. All I need is the Markbass, though.
But, my first "real" amp was a Silvertone Twin Twelve tube amp with something like 40w, I think. I still have it, heh, heh, and it still picks up the radio and anything else on the airwaves. Other than that, it's a great ole amp. dad bought it, too, but I (me, myself) had just bought a Gretsch Tennessean to go with it.
Oh, ya mean my first bass amp? Well, that was a Peavey Mark IV (or was it III? can't remember the title). Anyway, big head with two 115 cabs. That was wayyyy more sound than needed for the gigs I was playing at the time (1988). But, it did me good for many years until I got my Trace Elliot and SWR, and now markbass stuff. Actually, my second amp was a Peavey Combo 300, which I still have. Then, a Fender Bassman 60 (sold it), Bassman 150 and Bassman 25 for practice at home. I still have five bass amps. All I need is the Markbass, though.
My first Bass Amp (in I believe 1970) was a Vox Essex (2x12) Combo Amp, with the wheeled cart. I bought it for $50 off a bass player friend who was is a band called Eulogy (whose guitar player was Rusty Anderson), now Paul McCartney's Guitarist. Anyway, the amp quit working and I wired a 100 watt Sears Silvertone Guitar Tube amp head to it and promptly blew the speakers. Oh yeah, right after that I upgraded my St. George bass to a '64 P Bass that I got at Whittier Plaza Music for $200.
A 60's vintage 100 watt Stromberg Carlson (tube, 4-6L6's) power amp with a home made copy of a Fender pre-amp section from an old (tube) bassman design.
First amp I bought was a '74 SVT that I still have, big jump I know but I saw no point in buying and wanting the bigger model. As a young bassist I HAD to have an Ampeg, now I have a small collection of Ampegs.
First amp I bought was a '74 SVT that I still have, big jump I know but I saw no point in buying and wanting the bigger model. As a young bassist I HAD to have an Ampeg, now I have a small collection of Ampegs.
A Drive CD 200B, part of the standard bass/bag/amp combo deal. Moved up to a 180w Ashdown combo deal, so it took on another role:
Much more productive as a stereo.
Much more productive as a stereo.
Fender PA-100 system with 2 Columns (4-6" speakers each column) for $200. I ran Bass, and 3 Vocals through it for rehearsals when I was 14 yrs old ...It was flooded by a burst pipe in our basement. Not knowing any better, when it didn't power up, my parents claimed insurance and we threw it away....speakers and all. Stupid Stupid Stupid...
First amp: Fender Musicmaster tube amp. Wish I had that now!
First gigable amp: Acoustic 150b with a2x15 Acoustic cab.
First gigable amp: Acoustic 150b with a2x15 Acoustic cab.
First amp -
Standel Studio xx guitar amp, it was a 4x10 but I got it without speakers for (iirc) $5 and put in a radioshack paper cone 15" on a custom plywood baffle. Pretty sure it was haunted. It had a habit for shocking people through the 1/4" jack. And then it caught fire. Actually had a pretty good bass tone, the 15 overdrove nicely if you fed it enough human sacrifices.
Standel Studio xx guitar amp, it was a 4x10 but I got it without speakers for (iirc) $5 and put in a radioshack paper cone 15" on a custom plywood baffle. Pretty sure it was haunted. It had a habit for shocking people through the 1/4" jack. And then it caught fire. Actually had a pretty good bass tone, the 15 overdrove nicely if you fed it enough human sacrifices.
An old Peavey Combo 300. It has a Black Widow 15" speaker in it, built in compression and limiter and an equalizer. It was sweet. Solid state but nice enough tone. This was the early 80's.
Peace.
Peace.
Are we twins? My first amp was a 70w Crate combo that was quickly superseded by your exact setup. The 1810 cab weighed a ton, but I dug the sound.
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