Your Favorite "One Night Stand"?

[Diminishedfilth]

I'll never forget the first time hearing myself through an 8x10" cab. It was awhile back, just getting back into playing bass. I was trying out a Warwick FNA at a since-gone shop, and they also had an 8x10" Eden rig that the guy set me up on (can't remember the head model or wattage). My buddy guitarist and I had the place to ourselves, so they told me to let'r rip. I think I let a low C ring out, and my clothes and the hair on my arms were vibrating, violently! In not so polite language, I said "Holy cow! Was that me?"

 

[Mark_70]

I played with a couple guys for a few times - as a band it wasn't going anywhere so I didn't stay for more than a couple practices..
In their practice room, they had a massive rig with an SWR 6x10" and an Ampeg SVT 4 PRO. Whoahh.. that rig could move some serious air...

Regards
Mark

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I bet it FELT amazing too!

That's one hell of a rig! The giant rig stories are fantastic, really seems like a completely different tier of awesome for bass amps.

That it did. As good as it was, not a “ one night stand”, but my touring rig, about a year later was a Rick 4001 using Ric-O-Sound into an Ampeg SVT powering an Ampeg V4B 215 reflex cab for the neck pick up, and a Hiwatt Custom 100 into a 412 Hiwatt bottom for the bridge. It was glorious, the perfect fit for a power trio.

As good as they were and considering how little I paid out of pocket (gear mostly acquired through trading), the practicality of such a rig is about zilch today. If I were starting over as a young musician starting out, I’d have have a Mesa rig, WD-800 powering (2) 112 cabs and an IEM rig, including a transducer. (transducers are great for the tactile feel of a mega rig BTW).

Alas, I have a lifetime supply of Eden gear (see avatar), another rig I put together about 11 years ago, and mostly obsolete and not enough gigs to justify additional cash outlays for a good IEM setup.

 

[sheltjo6]

A friend of mine's Mesa Walkabout Scout.
We were comparing amps and his Walkabout sounded better than mine.
I'm not sure if his amp had a different make/model tube installed or if the speaker were different, but his amp sounded better.

Unfortunately, my friend passed away in 2019, and I presume his estate sold his amp to pay off debts.

 

[Blues Bass 2]

In 1971 I used a Bruce bass amp and needed to get it repaired so they loaned me and Ampeg . It was probably 50 watts and had a 215 cabinet , don't know the model . It really sounded great compared to my Bruce amp , it was my first hint that Ampeg was in my future . My first bar gig was a few months before that and the bar had an Ampeg fliptop that I used . I was less impressed with that but I for sure didn't really know how to run it either .

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Ampeg SVT Blue Line at a relatively small pub/cafe gig. Not a reissue. With the original cab. It was very noisy but the tone was insane!

I'm not even an SVT fan. I can't stand the SVT-CL with the current 810 cabs but that old Blue Line rig was truly exceptional.

 

[Standalone]

An older Ampeg V4 and 410. My band’s former bassist.

 

[Smoove-Groove]

I played through one of these in back in the 90’s. peavey series 400 with a 2x15 cab. It belonged to the bass player of the other band we were playing with that night. I thought it sounded really good. He even offered to sell it to me for $200 cnd. Should have took him up on it. Although years later I did buy a series 400 head.

 

[Isaac_James]

I borrowed a headlining act's Markbass Little Mark Tube 800 and a matching 210 cab at a show a couple months back. I've never really given Markbass much thought for purely aesthetic reasons (I think the speakers look like bumblebees with the yellow on black, and yes I know that's a silly reason to dismiss a product but I am a silly person) but damn that thing had some nice kick.

I also had an opportunity many years ago to play a '62 P bass though an Ampeg B15 fliptop during a studio recording session. Needless to say I've yet to come across a better vintage sound than what those two produced.

 

[ashtray]

I lived in a small 1 bedroom apartment for a while, with my wife and pets. No space to put an amp, so I took a Fender Deluxe Reverb, put it on its side, and used it as a night stand for my lamp, alarm clock, phone, glasses. I could also use it as an amp at low volumes.

Oh - that’s not what you are talking about! So my “one night stand” also involves a Trace Elliot. Are these amps just lurking in the shadows everywhere?? I opened for another band and used the bass player’s rig for our 8 song set. Trace Elliot. I didn’t touch any of the controls, just plugged in and turned it on. Sounded great. Don’t know which model it was. Think it had a 410 cab.

 

[MrKpawz]

First memorable one - Played through what I guess was Ashdown Evo 600 through an Ashdown 6x10. Belonged to one of the other bassists on the bill for that night. Touched nothing but the volume and it changed my perspective on punch.

Second and longest lasting feeling - Mesa store in Hollywood, played the M6 through both the 410x115 cab and a 8x10, separately. My body still resonates those frequencies. This has since been my favorite feeling of playing bass. Not the shows or performances I've done, but playing inside the mesa store standing 3' in front of the cabs.

 

[BritFunk]

Back around 1986 I played bass through an ancient Sunn bass amp and 2x15 cabinet - I was playing bass for the show choir at my high school, and we were in a choir competition at a local college. Fell in love with that sound. Alas, never found one like it anywhere else.

 

[BOOG]

To be honest, it would probably improve my playing.

If that’s the case, I know a guitar player or two that I’d like to flip onto their head.

 

[groovaholic]

There are a couple...

I was in Guam for a few weeks toward the end of my time in the Air Force, and stopped into the guitar shop on the island.
They had a Mesa Buster 115 combo and I plugged into it with a MusicMan StingRay 5 (same electronics as the MM Sterling that was my #1 at the time).
That was a REALLY tasty combination - like a perfect combination of clean, but warm - vintage, yet modern.

The other not-quite-1-night stand (let's call it a brief dalliance) was when I was using a Peavey Classic 400 through a pair of Sunn 410 cabs.
I found a great deal on a Peavey 810TX cab, and wanted to use all of them together, so I wired up a series cable and set the output tap to 8 ohms.
400 tube watts into sixteen 10" speakers in a 15x20' basement was a memorable wall of bass but between the series cable and the 810 it was totally impractical.
Total weight of that rig was somewhere around 375 lbs.
I sold the 810 shortly thereafter.

 

[drpepper]

A backiline company in town has a 1001RBII into two 410RBHs as one of their supplied stacks.

Played through it twice - absolutely loved its simultaneous deep tone and massive grind.

Cool deal! Mine was a similar story, different cabinet and setup but same experience. The setup was two 1001s into separate 410s (Neo 410s?) that I got to use twice. It was a backline that wasn't my call. My one SVT and 810 was on the same stage and this was better...I wasn't expecting it because it seemed so run-of-the-mill, but it was just this thick, deep, substantial perfection. During setup, the guitarist and I were noodling some, and I was just really stuck by it.

And coincidentally, it's something of a pickup band called "1 NITE STAND"

 

[drpepper]

Back in 2005 I think, played a show opening for Los Lobos. Their gear was our backline, which was extremely generous. Conrad’s old Ampeg SVT/810 rig made me very happy.

Nice!

Did he have the cabinet on its side? Not sure if that was the norm for him, but that's how it was setup a few years ago when I saw them.

I had the great pleasure of hanging with Conrad for some beers and bass talk. Such a gracious man. Dream In Blue has been stuck in my head since then.

 

[BOOG]

Nice!

Did he have the cabinet on its side? Not sure if that was the norm for him, but that's how it was setup a few years ago when I saw them.

I had the great pleasure of hanging with Conrad for some beers and bass talk. Such a gracious man. Dream In Blue has been stuck in my head since then.

There are some that will say “vintage” guys are not hip. There are even quite a few that say vintage guys in cargo shorts are even less hip. Thank you for providing proof otherwise.
As if us vintage guys really cared in the first place.

 

[drpepper]

There are some that will say “vintage” guys are not hip. There are even quite a few that say vintage guys in cargo shorts are even less hip. Thank you for providing proof otherwise.
As if us vintage guys really cared in the first place.

And that is what he wore on stage...

Also answering the question, "Is it ever ok to wear shorts on stage?" If it wasn't ok, he wouldn't have done it, right?

 

[Dr. Keebs]

Nice!

Did he have the cabinet on its side? Not sure if that was the norm for him, but that's how it was setup a few years ago when I saw them.

I had the great pleasure of hanging with Conrad for some beers and bass talk. Such a gracious man. Dream In Blue has been stuck in my head since then.

That’s awesome! We had a couple green room beers with them as well. For that show, the cab was upright.

 

[G On Bass]

I got to play through an Ampeg SVT>Ampeg610 rig at a rehearsal studio once. Once. Still the gold standard and just in a different category. Just way more than I would ever need and could ever carry.