Using a Ampeg B15-R, comments please.
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
At a lower, non-distorting volume, the tube B-15 flip tops have to be one of the purest, sweetest sounding amps ever made. ANY bass sounds good coming from a B-15 as I can state this due to experience. However, for low power (40wattts rms I believe), any cranking creates distortion and this amp is not practical for a gig that needs power at all. For demo's. easy practice playing, and of course any recording, it can't be beat, IMO. ALL RICK BASSES SOUND SUPER SWEET PLAYED THROUGH A B-15.... BUT sold mine long ago for updated equipment.
Rick bass fanatic. I own and play several professionally. I have a passion for the S models.
Oh yeah, they do sound great and are only 30 watts although a loud 30 watts. A 70's tube SVT can sound just like one except kill all the bugs in the club at the same time. I regularly use an SVT head with two early 90's 4 ohm B-15 cabs for blues gigs, sounds great and I get all the volume I want. I think B-15's are great amps for practicing in the house. I have a 35 watt Ampeg Bassamp which predates the B-15, it sounds great though and looks cool in my bedroom. The 8 x 10's are a much better all around cab though.
Yeah, and they sound even better with both cabs and bands were a lot louder during the 70's. The original 70's cabs were rated at 240WRMS and the heads put out 300WRMS and with tube amps they always recommended a bigger rating for the cabs, just the opposite of SS amps., so to be on the safe side they recommended two cabs and a lot of people used to do that. I'll occasionally use two cabs and two heads on an outside gig, I just don't crank them up too much, and I get the nicest cleanest warm bass sound. i have a brochure from 1879 on my wall of a head with two cabs which was the complete SVT system.
The original speakers are only rated at 30 WRMS but are really tough and way underated, I've usually used one cab and haven't blown a speaker in years. They will distort at loud volumes though before the head will.
The original cabs also have a higher cut off frequency than the new ones, you get more high end out of them as the cones are lighter, you don't need tweeters with them for ear searing treble if you like that.
The original speakers are only rated at 30 WRMS but are really tough and way underated, I've usually used one cab and haven't blown a speaker in years. They will distort at loud volumes though before the head will.
The original cabs also have a higher cut off frequency than the new ones, you get more high end out of them as the cones are lighter, you don't need tweeters with them for ear searing treble if you like that.
