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Your First "Real" Bass AMP (Caution, Old Guy Content)

#81
knockerjoe said:
There was a time not too long ago when men were "made of iron and amps were made of wood"!
Yes, you could not run into GC or Sam Ash and pick up a micro head and a 210 cab and be under 35lbs!
We men of a certain age had to lug Ampeg SVTs, and Sun Coliseums sometimes up two or three flights of stairs.
In the mid 70s starting out on a 50 watt Marlboro solid state amp, I began the search for a amp that could be heard over double bass drummers and half guitar stacks. In my local classifieds I found a Fender Bassmam 50 head with a 2-15" cabinet for $150. I consider this my first "real" amp even though the rattle of the cabinet would knock your teeth loose and it pales in comparison to any of my later amps.
What's your story?
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#83
One of these early Sidekick Bass 30s - very nice :)

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I still have it but it's parked - waiting for some doctoring.
 
#84
Invalid Link Removed I "recently" (approx. half year ago) bought a GK Backline 600 bass head of 300 Watt, love to use the overdrive on it better than the distortion of my Zoom 506 Bass stomp-box, sometimes i just feel the need to add that distortion also to the sound (in moderation off course).
 
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#86
I started at age 50, so my first was a Markbass 1x12 combo with the 112 extension cab. I still have that mini stack. I have other amps and cabs, but keep hanging on to the Markbass rig because it's still hard to beat for it's size. For most gigs I could get by with just the 112 combo which is about the size of a basketball and not much heavier. The other factor that keeps me hanging on to this rig is the fact that it contains one of the last Class AB LM3's and was made in Italy unlike the newer ones which are Class D and made offshore.
 
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#87
Moved "up" to a Peavey TNT. While the TNT was a major upgrade for me, it never felt pro. Not when my daily backline was all tube and Mesa was a holy grail. All of which tells me how wretched my original amp was. And now from an earlier thread we see early 80s TNTs are considered desirable. Weird with a beard.
 
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#89
knockerjoe said:
There was a time not too long ago when men were "made of iron and amps were made of wood"!
Yes, you could not run into GC or Sam Ash and pick up a micro head and a 210 cab and be under 35lbs!
We men of a certain age had to lug Ampeg SVTs, and Sun Coliseums sometimes up two or three flights of stairs.
In the mid 70s starting out on a 50 watt Marlboro solid state amp, I began the search for a amp that could be heard over double bass drummers and half guitar stacks. In my local classifieds I found a Fender Bassmam 50 head with a 2-15" cabinet for $150. I consider this my first "real" amp even though the rattle of the cabinet would knock your teeth loose and it pales in comparison to any of my later amps.
What's your story?
View attachment 1160412
Click to expand...

I had a great blackface Fender Bassman with two no-name 15" cabinets. The speakers were nothing but I wish I had kept the head. Then again, that was back in 1978 when nothing was "vintage" - just "old" and I traded up for a very cool rig - a Sunn Concert Lead on top of a a Cerwin Vega B36.
 
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#93
First "real" bass amp? Vox Essex bass amp. 2x12 combo, 35 whopping watts, and a volume and tone control only. By today's standards, it would be a horrible choice. Back then, it filled the bill and did everything asked of it. Of course, back then, a p.a. system was roughly 100 watts, in comparison.
 
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#95
My first "real" amp was a 1974 Fender Bassman Ten - 50 watts and 4 10" speakers. My dad bought it used for me in 1975. For 50 watts, that things is loud! I still have it. I've used it as a backup with PA support and it gets regular duty as a guitar rig. The Tolex is all ripped up but it's been recapped, retubed, and reconed. My first real "stadium" rig in 1980 was an Acoustic 301 1 x 18 cab. I used it with a 200 watt Peavey PA head. That thing was loud and proud! Woolly and deep, it would project forever. I wish I still had it and could find a the matching Acoustic 370 head. What a rehab project that would be!
 
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#99
Peavey Mark IV and a matching 2x15 cab that I got for FREE from a fellow TB'er who needed to clear some space in his basement. Crammed that thing into the back seat of my old 87' Integra more times than I can remember. I downsized a few years later when I could afford something more modern. Damn I wish I would've kept that rig, especially with the huge surge of doom metal bands in Portland right now...
 
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