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What was your first ever bass amp?

#247
I used to play bass (Ibanez EX-404) through a Fender Princeton Chorus, which served me fine in a jazz combo that played very small venues. Friends needed a bass player (I was a guitarist), and that's all I had at the time. I had to learn jazz walking in a very short time, my saving grace was recognizing chords (arpeggios) and knowing major and minor scales. I can't remember if my tone was awful, perhaps I just had tolerating bandmates.

My first real bass amp is a Fender Rumble 150 which I still use to this day as I don't have the need nor funds to get another amp. Luckily, I don't play with a loud drummer. The guitarist: somewhat loud but is well aware of band volumes as he's an experienced gig-musician. To be honest, I'll be slightly bummed if I get another amp as I'm very used to the Fender.
 
#248
Mine was a Garnet Stencil (amps made by Garnet--a now defunct Canadian amp builder-for other companies to put their name on--mine had the name of the music school I went to on it--and I got it used) these things are large & heavy & awkward to move around--but they were loud and I liked it.
Still have it as well, but I might sell it if I find someone who isn't put off by the size and wants a big ol' bass amp
IMG_0413.jpg
 
#253
My first bass amp was the stereo. I recall plugging right into a jack, maybe the headphone jack, although that can't be right. Then I had a Kustom Bass I. It was awful. It was so forgettable that I can't even find a picture of one like it on the internet. I sold it to a guitarist who knew what it was and wanted it specifically for some project he was doing. Good for him, good for me, and good for the amp. If he hadn't bought it I would probably have thrown it in a pond or something by now.
 
#255
The number of old s'coolers starting out playing through the stereo system is interesting and also not too surprising to me. Stereo amps and receivers were made kinda bulletproof in those days. More likely to blow a speaker if you weren't careful than to hurt an amp with too much signal.

I also went through a learning phase with retired hi-fi gear before buying an actual real bass amp.

I later acquired a big Sansui stereo amp which had L&R 1/4" "mic" inputs on the rear, perfect for jamming through the hi-fi!
 
#256
vistacruiser said:
The number of old s'coolers starting out playing through the stereo system is interesting and also not too surprising to me. Stereo amps and receivers were made kinda bulletproof in those days. More likely to blow a speaker if you weren't careful than to hurt an amp with too much signal.

I also went through a learning phase with retired hi-fi gear before buying an actual real bass amp.

I later acquired a big Sansui stereo amp which had L&R 1/4" "mic" inputs on the rear, perfect for jamming through the hi-fi!
Click to expand...
at some point, Phil Lesh of the Greatful Dead, was using those big old Mcintosh tube amps (2300's or 3500's) driven by an Alembic preamp to run his portion of the famous "Wall of Sound". So, stereo gear (high end) definitely has a place in bass gear history.
 
#257
Dad got me this Aus made Vase Bassman 100 with a homemade sealed 215 cab to go with. 1976. I was 12 yrs old and just starting to jam with others. He got me this rather than a small bedroom amp coz he said I'd need this to play with drums etc. .. He was right. Later that year the 3 piece band I formed with two older kids (16 & 17 at the time) joined the musicians Union and they got us heaps of gigs, all round our state. The end of the next year we got ourselves a residency at a holiday resort. .. 4 gigs /week (Wed,Fri & Sat nights and Sunday afternoons) and our meals and accommodation included for 12 weeks thru summer.
We'd bought ourselves a small PA, a keyboard that had a couple octaves of bass keys down left end that i played (loved JPJ of course ) and new instruments -me a 77 Precision, guitarist a new Les Paul, and the drummer, a new Pearl kit. Heaven. Oh, and back then even WE had groupies :hyper:

Screenshot_2014-10-17-08-29-49_zpstmyo7qw6.png


4 x 6CA7 power tubes
 
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#259
Alas, I found no pictures of my EBS Classic Session 60 combo, which was the first I owned. Actually a nice tone from all of 60w into 10". Easy to carry, and it could tilt back. But with a REAL drummer it simply moved too little air. So it had to go. But a very nice practice amp it was. I still recommend it if you don't need more punch.
 

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