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What was your first amp (old guys only)
- Thread starter TheCreature
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A Linear Concord similar to this one, http://www.chambonino.com/work/work1.html cab was a home made 2 x 12 with one of the 12s blown. Didn't know that at the time though. That was 1966.
Way back in '64... a Harmony w/ either a 10" or a 12". I used to play my Gibson Melody Maker through it.
1965-Kay guitar amp with one 10". First amp and first band.
1966-Silvertone Twin Twelve guitar amp (same band).
1971-Fender Bassman black face with 212 cab. (Played a '64 Gretsch Tennessean through it six-nights-a-week for a couple of years, woohoo!).
1988-Peavey Mark IV with two 115s.
c. 1990-Peavey Combo 300.
c. 1992-Trace Eliott GP7-SM combo with one 15.
c. 1993-SWR Workingman's 12.
c. 1994-Fender Bassman 60.
2001-Fender Bassman 25 for practice only.
c. 2002- Peavey Classic 30 guitar amp.
2007-Fender Bassman 150.
2008-Markbass CMD 121H combo.
2011-Markbass Little Mark III head with two 151P cabs.
1966-Silvertone Twin Twelve guitar amp (same band).
1971-Fender Bassman black face with 212 cab. (Played a '64 Gretsch Tennessean through it six-nights-a-week for a couple of years, woohoo!).
1988-Peavey Mark IV with two 115s.
c. 1990-Peavey Combo 300.
c. 1992-Trace Eliott GP7-SM combo with one 15.
c. 1993-SWR Workingman's 12.
c. 1994-Fender Bassman 60.
2001-Fender Bassman 25 for practice only.
c. 2002- Peavey Classic 30 guitar amp.
2007-Fender Bassman 150.
2008-Markbass CMD 121H combo.
2011-Markbass Little Mark III head with two 151P cabs.
First amp was a small practice amp:
1. Loco MXB-120 - I needed something to play my rented Ibanez Roadster through. I think I rented both bass and amp and then bought them. The amp sounded fairly good at lower volumes - it was very small but did the job as a practice amp.
First "real" amp:
2. Acoustic 136 (I think it was this model) - it was a big combo with a 15" and huge bottom port in the front. Had casters on it (thankfully). It got pretty loud, and the tone was also OK, but nothing spectacular. I purchased it used.
First amp I liked:
3. Traynor TS-25B - not very loud, but a pretty nice tone and more portable than the Acoustic. I remember I "inherited" this one - I think from a drummer, who said a bass player left there years ago. At least I put it to use.
1. Loco MXB-120 - I needed something to play my rented Ibanez Roadster through. I think I rented both bass and amp and then bought them. The amp sounded fairly good at lower volumes - it was very small but did the job as a practice amp.
First "real" amp:
2. Acoustic 136 (I think it was this model) - it was a big combo with a 15" and huge bottom port in the front. Had casters on it (thankfully). It got pretty loud, and the tone was also OK, but nothing spectacular. I purchased it used.
First amp I liked:
3. Traynor TS-25B - not very loud, but a pretty nice tone and more portable than the Acoustic. I remember I "inherited" this one - I think from a drummer, who said a bass player left there years ago. At least I put it to use.
When I switched to bass, I was using a Vox Buckingham head and a Super Beatle bottom. It was terrible for bass.
The Buckingham was listed as a 60 watt amp. However, that was peak. RMS wattage was 30 watts. Even with the limiter those Thomas/Vox heads had, it wasn't enough for bass. My Super Beatle cabinet was open back and didn't work for bass. Perhaps if I had put solid panels on the back, it might have been OK. It sure did look great though.
The Buckingham was listed as a 60 watt amp. However, that was peak. RMS wattage was 30 watts. Even with the limiter those Thomas/Vox heads had, it wasn't enough for bass. My Super Beatle cabinet was open back and didn't work for bass. Perhaps if I had put solid panels on the back, it might have been OK. It sure did look great though.
My first amp wasnt an amp at all. It was a lafayette combo stereo with turntable & tuner all-in-one. It had a mono input that played thru the single 12" cab my dad had built as an add on to our Magnavox stereo console. I stole it, attached it to the Lafayette and Viola! Bass rig. Learned the entire "all the worlds a stage " Album ( rush ) thru that rig. Then my Guitar player recieved a settlement from a car accident, and loaned me the funds to purchase my first real rig. SVT Cab with V4-B head. Head was grossly underpowered for the cab, but who cared. It made a sound, and looked way cool. Played my Univox p Bass copy thru it, till I got my Black ric in 79' which I own to this day and is in my pic.
Mine was purchased used in 1969 - a Gibson Mercury head and cabinet. The cab had a 15" speaker and a 10" speaker - with a crossover ! Head and speaker were kind of "pyramid" shaped- more narrow at the top than the bottom. It was weak, and did not sound very good. I saw one recently on "Ebay" - brought back some memories ! Also bought at the same time new was a Sears BXL60 combo with a 15" speaker - green vinyl covering - it was almost as loud as the Gibson - I ended up using both of them !
Sunn Concert head and a 2x15 cab circa 1980. It was left at my house by a bass player friend who didn't want it. Terrible thing to lug around but I used to shove it into a '72 Chevy Vega and later a '73 Mercury Capri. It got sold to the movers 16 years ago when I moved into my house.
My first amp was a Tiesco head with an open backed 2X15" with tilt back bars that I got from an old country dude who had played for Loretta Lynn. I was 14, it was 1970. It came with an old Kent hollow body violin bass, the strings were about an inch from the neck at the 12th fret... I blocked the open back with a discarded piece of panneling and it sounded much better....
My first amp was a Fender Bantam Bass amp. Kind of a weird amp given that it was an open back and had a really weird trapazoidal Yamaha speaker with a styrofoam cone.
A late 70s solid state Barcus Berry combo with a single paper cone 15" speaker. It was just loud enough for my church, but easily drowned by a rock drummer. The wheels it had under it were the best thing about it. The sound was pretty bland as i recall. It had a parametric equalizer I didn't understand. I sold it to a friend and he still uses the cabinet as the head fried years later. An old Fender Bassman would follow. That would be all I needed for years until the glam rock thing made me buy Ampegs. How sick is that?
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