Portaflex information

[jakeox]

I'd like to have a classier home/recording amp than the Peavey 20 watter I've been rocking since I was 14. I finally have some extra space, and a "playroom" to keep it in (half is for the little guy's toys, half is for my toys), and pending the outcome of a couple deals, a bit of cash to get something nice. I've always been into the old-school vibe, and I'd like to get myself an old Ampeg Portaflex tube combo. Problem is, I know next to nothing about the details of the various models, what I should be looking for, or what I should be paying for each model. Does anyone have any good resources they could point me to? Power is not a concern, nor is portability (I do have to get it up to the 3rd floor, but hopefully only once!), but rather tone is the priority.

I know we have some Portaflex owners and enthusiasts around here, and if you are willing to educate a (more or less) young guy, I'm listening.

[woodyng]

excellent choice,young man! there are a variety of models out there,the b-15 model being the most popular. there is also that i know of,a b-18,b12n,sb-12(which i recently purchased) and even some models with 2 speakers. there is a website that has a lot of info,fliptops.com,i believe. i have not been able to use my new purchase yet,as it and i are currently in different parts of the country,but the use of these for recording purposes is very well known. i found mine in eugene,oregon for $650,which i thought was a good deal-it is in good shape,works,and sounds great. they show up on ebay and tend to go a bit higher (usually its the b15 model,which is more powerful as well) they do seem to be escalating in price,so as an alternate,you might consider getting a portaflex cabinet and a different vintage tube head,such as a sunn solaro,which can still be had for less than extortionate prices,unlike say a fender bassman head. (and some people would say the sunn is better,anyway...) also,in a more power category,traynor tube heads from the 70's are great.

[teb]

If we're talking about bass amps, my favorite was always the B-15N dressed in the old blue diamond tolex. Of all the amps I owned over the years I probably miss them the most. The original speaker was a CTS (I believe) with a square magnet and there were some others offered as an option, most notably a JBL that was likely a D-140. The B-18 had more power but I never thought the 18" speakers of that period had tone that could match the fifteens, Eighteen-inchers didn't really start to get much of a following until later years when Sunn and Acoustic started building big folded horn cabinets, most of them with the big Cerwin Vega 18's in them. The B-18 was also a pretty big and heavy block of stuff to haul around. A B-15 isn't particularly dainty, but it's a little better than the B-18 if you have to travel or move it around. I bought my first B-15 from a music store that happened to be on a street that was being repaired and was all torn up. Here I was, a skinny high school kid rolling this blue cube through two blocks of gravel and shredded concrete to get to my car. By the time I started buying amps in the mid '60's the B-12 models weren't big or loud enough to really keep up with the average high school rock band, so I never got to play with one. For a home environment, they might be plenty, but I can't really tell you much about their sound.

I keep my eyes peeled for B-15's and one of these days one will show up when I have some spare cash and I'll grab it. If you want a really nice one, the thing that is probably on top of the list is that the amp housing's chrome is in good shape without a lot of pits or corrosion. Just about everything else can be fixed with the help of Fliptops or even Jess Oliver (the man who invented the portaflex series for Ampeg and still reconditions old ones). Buying or not buying an amp because the chrome is or isn't still nice may seem pretty crazy, but you don't know where these old amps have been over the years and the chrome's condition may be one of those little hints that tell you what kind of care it got and what type of conditions it was stored in.

The "Holy Grail" of B-15's are most likely the rare "Double-baffle" versions. Oliver invented a model with a ported speaker baffle that was recessed behind the regular front grille baffle by an inch or so. He believed it had better sound than the standard model and a few of them were built that way. Ampeg decided that the double-baffle cost too much to make and returned to the normal,single-baffle design. The "ports" are small slots cut along the edges of the speaker baffle on all four sides. The grille baffle up front has only the normal round speaker hole with the bar down it's center. If you light it so that you can see through the grille cloth, you can see the speaker is recessed a little bit and on a different baffle. These amps are rare enough that it's not generally worth trying to hold out and find one, but if you do come across one it would be worth a serious look. Do they really sound better? I don't know because I've never been able to compare them face-to-face.

I can't really tell you much about a portaflex amp's ability to play modern "Klank and growl" styles of bass music. Back then we didn't play klank, and growl usually meant that your speaker was in the process of blowing. But if you want that thumpy, bassy, vintage Mo-Town bass sound you'll probably really enjoy a portaflex amp - and that little glowing plexiglass plate with your name engraved on it beneath the Ampeg logo is the coolest thing in rock and roll.

[jingle_jangle]

Portaflex. Now that's a bass amp. Jess Oliver will be immortalized thanks to this wonderful creation.

[jps]

Heights Guitars, near me, has an Oliver amp, with the amp rising out of the top of the cabinet by a motor operated "elevator". I have not played through the amp yet but the coolness factor is quite high, that's for sure!

[jakeox]

This is great information, thanks all. My normal instinct is to troll eBay for these, but it sounds like shipping is a bear. Thankfully Chicago's craigslist is pretty active, so I'll keep my eyes open. It's good to be armed with the knowledge to be able to make a quick decision.

It seems like the blue diamond tolex would go best with checkerboard binding, too!

[jakeox]

Heights Guitars, near me, has an Oliver amp, with the amp rising out of the top of the cabinet by a motor operated "elevator". I have not played through the amp yet but the coolness factor is quite high, that's for sure!

Ooh. You'd have to think anything he made would be good. It's not on their website, is it a bass amp?

[jps]

Yes. It is called a Powerflex. here is an interview with Jess; go down to near the bottom where he talks about it.

www.keithrosier.com/jess.asp

[blue330]

Definitely get a Portaflex- any of them! Nothing records better. Now, if you've got a 5-string active bass and need 140dB at 20Hz, they won't do it. But for placing a good, sensible bass part in a mix where you can really hear it, these amps can't be beat! And they're not very big or heavy, I mean unless you've been using some kind of box-of-air Class H digital switching ultramodern thing or something.

[jakeox]

Despite my obsession with vintage gear, I play through a GK 1001RB into an Avatar 2x12, and I really like both. As much as I respect the classic SVT -> fridge rig, it's just not warranted for where we play. My setup is relatively easy to move around, and surprisingly powerful. Now my bandmate's Sunn 2x15 cab that I sometimes use when running stereo -- that thing is a monster.

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for nice portaflexes, and now, powerflexes too!