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What was your first ever bass amp?
- Thread starter bassistheplaceofcourse
- Start date
![IMG_20150417_173805_935[1].jpg](/data/attachments/3019/3019844-1350fce57a397ffb7efa3c5eee49e71d.jpg?hash=E1D85Xo5f_)
The first Amp I ever got was in 1965 or so, my folks got me this one. It somehow disappeared a few years back. Might be in my son's
black hole room or something. It had reverb and tremelo. 12" Jensen speaker iirc. Kind of heavy, point to point from Kalamazoo and transformers built like a tank. Built in limited numbere in 64 and 65, Nowadays I have seen them offered for a grand. Sheesh!
That CTS speaker is not original - I found this listing on eBay. With it came a really a really crappy guitar for Xmas. Swapped that out in 1970 for a 1969 LPB strat now listed somewhere in the Gear Stolen forum (lost in 1977). A TB'er did possibly sight it at a show in NYC. I had tried to remove the poly, so it's messy, and it has a yellow sun painted on the upper horn.
Upon transition to bass in 1975, I got a new 1974 EB-3 (also stolen in the same robbery in 1977 in Boston area) and this bad bay, which did not get stolen later as the cab alone weighed in at 135 lbs. For it's all "100 watt" rating, (Acoustic watts are a lot louder than today's watts), it is the loudest bass amp I have ever owned. I still own it thought this is not an actual picture of mine. Acoustic 146 rig. (140 head and 2x15 106 cabinet).
Here's a 150 with a 106 pic from a TB'er Bill Goodwin. Very similar. Guitar version, similar chassis.
Specs from catalog page:
That CTS speaker is not original - I found this listing on eBay. With it came a really a really crappy guitar for Xmas. Swapped that out in 1970 for a 1969 LPB strat now listed somewhere in the Gear Stolen forum (lost in 1977). A TB'er did possibly sight it at a show in NYC. I had tried to remove the poly, so it's messy, and it has a yellow sun painted on the upper horn.
Upon transition to bass in 1975, I got a new 1974 EB-3 (also stolen in the same robbery in 1977 in Boston area) and this bad bay, which did not get stolen later as the cab alone weighed in at 135 lbs. For it's all "100 watt" rating, (Acoustic watts are a lot louder than today's watts), it is the loudest bass amp I have ever owned. I still own it thought this is not an actual picture of mine. Acoustic 146 rig. (140 head and 2x15 106 cabinet).
Here's a 150 with a 106 pic from a TB'er Bill Goodwin. Very similar. Guitar version, similar chassis.
Specs from catalog page:
As a high school kid I could not afford a bass amp. I bought a very used set of Sony house stereo speakers and a Fischer stereo amplifier. It had a mic input and a mic level control. Worked great for years.
I could blend the bass and song I was trying to learn from the cassette player. I went through two cassette players learning songs. The constant play, rewind, play over parts of a song was tough on them
That's so cool. I had a buddy whose band used as their PA head an old Sansui receiver that I gave them for free. Man, I wish I had that back now (for use at home, not as a PA!). It definitely did the trick - lots of power, great sound.
So my very first ever amp was a crummy little Gorilla practice amp, not good for anything other than playing at home or when I jammed with a buddy we had to keep the volume super low. It sounded terrible, and looked like this:
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My first "real" amp was a Peavey Basic 50. Heavy as heck, not much louder (although I could at least jam with guys), and also sounded terrible I eventually blew the speaker because I ran it dimed all the time to get any sort of volume out of it, and I can't even remember what I did with it after that.
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Crate B40, then B80. Both were pretty awful. Neither was loud enough to really deal with a drummer, but they weighed more than a little practice amp.
The first amp I used was a Fender Bassman 100, it was loud and heavy.
At home I practiced on an old speech speech amp from my dad's school. It was horrific.
My mom eventually bought me a Roland Spirit Bass 50, which I played for years until I found a Yorkville Sound Bloc80B.
That was my main amp for 25 years and it just never let me down. I still have it and use it regularly.
A couple of years ago I bought a Genz Benz Shuttle 6... I've had tons of basses, but only a handful of amps.
But that Bassman 100 and the Spirit were my first ones.
At home I practiced on an old speech speech amp from my dad's school. It was horrific.
My mom eventually bought me a Roland Spirit Bass 50, which I played for years until I found a Yorkville Sound Bloc80B.
That was my main amp for 25 years and it just never let me down. I still have it and use it regularly.
A couple of years ago I bought a Genz Benz Shuttle 6... I've had tons of basses, but only a handful of amps.
But that Bassman 100 and the Spirit were my first ones.
Peavey TNT 115S - 150W Solid State. The "S" stood for "Sheffield" speaker instead of the Black Widow which was the "BW" model. Bought it from someone who placed an ad in my local newspaper. Didn't own it long. Chose it over an 80W Trace Elliot Combo which was for sale at the Guitar Clinic which used to be run out of the F-Bass Factory a while back (it's now defunct). I kick myself for buying the Peavey because the Trace sounded better…..and I thought since it had twice the power rating of the Trace, it would was WAY more powerful. Wrong!
When I switched to bass from guitar in 1997, I bought a Peavey Combo 300. 300 watts, 15" "black widow" speaker. I was broke, and it was $300 used. I played that thing on so many gigs... It was a true performer. I would not put it into the same category as Ampeg or GK, but it thumped and was consistently reliable.
Always wanted a Kustom. That is all I saw back in the mid 70's early 80's. Never could afford one then
It wasn't even mine (it belonged to the guitar player in the band) but I used it for a while: an old Kuston head with some home-made 4x10 speaker cabinet.
Fender silverface Bassman. Piggyback 50 watt head on the tall cabinet.
I bought it used in 1972 (I think) from a classified in the newspaper for a couple hundred bucks. Went and picked it up at some guy's apartment.
It had "Soul Invaders" stenciled on the back in pink. I wish I still had it.
I bought it used in 1972 (I think) from a classified in the newspaper for a couple hundred bucks. Went and picked it up at some guy's apartment.
It had "Soul Invaders" stenciled on the back in pink. I wish I still had it.
CosmicRay
Supporting Member
I remember these amps! There were three bands on my block in 1967, (when I was 13)My first amp, circa 1967, was a used Guild Thunderbass ... about 75W (all tube) into the matching 2x12 cab. I wish I still had it! Mine was in like new condition ... this is a pic I found on the web.
all rehearsing in the basements of three houses.
One of the band's bass players had one. I always thought that it looked like a robot...very cool.
Went thru a lot of equipment back then. Nothing for very long. Wish I still had the Traynor YBA-1 with 2x12 bottom. Maybe one of the best lead amps ever made.
I still have the little 15w Peavey practice kicker from when I first started all those years ago.It was a birthday gift IIRC.My first rig was a Peavey Mark 3 I think and a Peavey cab that went with it.Man that was ages ago.
