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Worst amp you played through

#106
GORILLA!!!

lol, when I first started playing, everybody had these Gorilla practice amps. I collected 5 or 6 of them in my basement, as that is where everybody came to jam. I built a little box out of a 15 that sat snuggly upon a garbage can I had lined with foam. I made gator clip jumper wires so I could run each Gorilla through it at practice till they overheated and then switch to the next one.
My first "Real" amp was a Fender BXR 300c, which has gotten a few mentions in this thread. I have also rocked the SWR Workingman's for hundreds of performances. Neither is as bad as described here and both were certainly light years beyond my trusty ol GORILLA.
 
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#107
Lots of Fender Rumble mentions. I haven't played them much, so I have no basis to opine on their actual quality. However, that name is everything I don't want in a bass amp. It's obviously not the name a bass player would pick. Rather, it sounds like a product manager's market-tested name -- and the test market was 14-year-olds. Might be a great line, but I've kept my distance.
 
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#111
I had a supplied backline of a Crate head and cab ... no idea what models, but the amp was unusable ... it was a good thing I had my MB200 in my shoulder bag, I pulled that out and it was a vast improvement, but the cab was still junk, but usable with the GK ...
 
#113
MrCash said:
As the title says what is the worst amp or combo you have actually played through and why?

Worst head
I have a Ampeg b2r and I'm nominating it for the worst amp I've played through.
I do like its tone although nothing special its not bad at all, that's where the love ends.
As many members note the output is pathetic and especially if you use the pad switch even with a powerful active bass. I'm sure I've heard 25w amps that are louder and even with the pad switch out at 8ohms I'm sure it only just about equals 100w.
It has no right to be as heavy/big or as expensive as it was originally, especially as the build quality is so so too.
Not the worst amp but too me it's the worst I've played through and own.

Worst combo
Now far enough this was only a tiny practice amp but still I had the misfortune of owning a peavey micro bass the later foreign made ones and it sounded honestly like a glorified alarm clock and then it went with a fart and blew up! Which is a shame as in general I've think peavey stuff is alright.
Click to expand...


worst combo = randall roadwarrior 1x15
 
#115
Crate, downright crap. The Fender BXR series as well. I also didn't have much luck with.....Markbass, Ampeg, Eden, TC....I found out way too late that I am a GK guy. I also found out that I am way more fond of passive pickups....It's not them.....It's me!!!!
 
#118
Worst amp I ever bought? Bass: Yorkville BM200 1x15 Guitar: Tied: Fender Princeton Chorus 2x10.

Worst I've ever played through? Bass: Peavey TNT something or other. Guitar: Traynor Bloc 1ooGT

That's in retrospect, though. At the the time, they were the best I could afford!
 
#119
My first bass amp was a Vox Kensington combo, with like 20W driving a single 15, and both volume AND tone controls that sounded like crap no matter where you set 'em. It weighed like 70lbs, so the screw-on wheel set was critically important. But for 15 bucks it got me through a couple of years, and my bass was no better than the amp, so it worked out.

I see one on Reverb today for $695. I wouldn't recommend it for a tenth of that.
 

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