Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

i just got home from checking-out the amp:

i had hoped to go with cash in hand, but the fellow that was to buy the Fender Mustang i have for sale flaked-out on me today...

the seller is a great guy. very nice and straight forward. he isn't too interested in the lineage of the amp - but has held on to it as it's been the nicest SVT he's owned. originally, he had it listed just as any old SVT for $1700 with mild interest. then, dropped it to $1500 and noted the Rush connection. since then, he's been bombarded with e-mails. while i was testing it out, another interested party called to set-up a time to check it out the next morning, with cash-in-hand.

the amp sounds great and has all the original pre-amp Magnavox tubes. some road wear (obviously), but no major tears on the tolex, etc. non-original grill cloth and a very authentic looking "RUSH" stencil on the bottom.

i explained to the seller that i do have the cash - just not available on the weekend. i gave him my word that i would buy it this week if he'd consider holding it for me a couple days while i get the money into my chequing account, he seemed quite sympathetic and will call me after he talks over my offer with his wife at dinner.

as the previous owner is a producer here in town still, i would hope to get in touch with him to confirm the provenance.

sold to the fireman that called last night...

Damn! You could have had a piece of Geddy, so to speak.

i'm pretty choked about it...so close.

At least you had the opportunity to check it out and play through it.

Wow. That's cool. Regardless of the GL connection, it's worth the $1500. Easily. I have a '74. OK, it's got BLACK lines and a three prong plug - same amp as a blue line. In fact, I had a blue line right before this one, and like the '74 better. They ARE the holy grail of all bass amps.

I've three Ampegs, a 1969 B-25, a 1973 B-15, and a 1996 SVT-2 Pro, each sounds a little different, but they all sound wonderful.

The SVT sounds best overall, but both the B-25 and B-15 have twin inputs so I can run Ric-O-Sound and tailor each channel to each pickup.

I should get pics posted of my Ampeg alley !!!

I'm an old-school Ampeg fan- and I can attest that Rickenbackers lend themselves particularly well to the Ampeg color.

My Ampeg gear- all SLM SVT-3PRO-swweeeet! Not powerful enough?? Pshaaaaaaw- Phhhhttttt...D.I. D.I. FOH FOH

SVT-15E
SVT-48HE (4x8) w/horn now discontinued= I can say this in reference to how this cabinet perforns:

Nyanyanya- Ihave 1 and YOU DON"T!

Thx, this is my Backline rig for LAAS Vegasssss! We have had the fortune of an excellent FOH and a great soundman, it rawks the howse. Believe!

V4BH= as the French say-magnifique. for recording (and small-med gigs-double track record it, Direct and a good cabinet mik'd. Oh hohohohoh!.

I posted this previously, it the amp warrant s being exposed again, as does the Builder. Ordered it at NAMM in "Rough Blonde" Tolex, medium tan small-weave Marshall type grille cloth. Ohohohohohoho.

Some words from Henry the builder:
http://www.jaguaramplification.com
Hi Larry,

Great! Thanks for your email and interest in Jaguar Amplification. I have
your business card in my NAMM stack. The response to the bass amp was
fantastic! Being a bass player myself, the bass amp is one that is close
and dear to me. I've have the opportunity to play through all sorts of
rigs throughout nearly 30 years of playing. The one amp that still gets me
going is my old 1970's Blueline SVT I have in the shop. When I went about
designing the Jaguar 200 I figured there was not point in just issuing
'another' bass amp. It had to be good, 1970's SVT good and I wasn't going
to offer one until I got there. As said once by the venerable founder of
Groove Tubes, Aspen Pittman, "playing through a properly set up SVT is an
experience you won't soon forget" Indeed.

I think the Jaguar 200 captures all of that glorious thump, punch and
warmth of the old SVT but with better clarity and detail.

The link below will take you to the tolex options our cabinet supplier
offers:

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/products.asp?id=45012

We look forward to setting you up with what we believe is the best
sounding bass amp currently available. Thanks for choosing Jaguar
Amplification.

Cheers,
Henry Clift
Jaguar Amplification
http://www.jaguaramplification.com
760-518-4236

Since you CAN'T have the Geddy Lee chromosone, why not get one of these?? Just don't order it in "Rough Blonde Tolex" m'kay??????

good start the weekend. the supposed buyer only left a deposit and flaked-out on the balance.

though i spent the cash i had set aside for this - i can't pass it up...

I Thought I had the Holy Grail of Ampegs!
Both the B-15R & B-15E are Serial #1

Hmmm- looks "suspiciously" like the re-issue,
either that or it's been in a bubble!
Pretty mint either way-
I had a B-15N which of course I wish I STILL had...

Edit- I see you "gave it up" in your post!
Those were cool, well-made units, same circuit as the V4BH in a flip-top.
Too bad they quit making 'em, too bad about Ampeg in general.
Maybe something good will happen with the brand.

Yes, in deed!

What's crazy about my stack is that I found the Extension Cab, Brand New $350.00, in Washington first. Then Guitar Center in Eugene OR. replied to an e-mail, asking for a used B-15R, saying they had two Brand New Floor models in their network Back East with some slight Tolex Damage that I could get for $1350.00 and to top it off they charged my only $15.00 in-house transfer shipping fee.

I don't even have a clue what to say about it being Serial #1. It was wild enough just fing the B-15E much less it turning out to be Serial #1. Then just a couple months later to be handed the matching Combo to set on top of it! Insane!!!!!!!!!

This was in June and August of 2006! I believe Ampeg told me they reissued these in 1997.

My first Bass Amp was an Ampeg B-18N!

Elnjaybass wrote:Hmmm- looks "suspiciously" like the re-issue,
either that or it's been in a bubble!
Pretty mint either way-
I had a B-15N which of course I wish I STILL had...

Edit- I see you "gave it up" in your post!
Those were cool, well-made units, same circuit as the V4BH in a flip-top.
Too bad they quit making 'em, too bad about Ampeg in general.
Maybe something good will happen with the brand.

You're serious about Serial #1 then, huh?
That's got to be something to like, along with the amp, primarily of course.
Really nice job on the re-issues- Nice 15 w/ a horn; half-power function, mid eq points, and with an added 15, you're good!

As I mentioned, I know the circuit was the equivalent of the SLM V4BH, one of which I own/use, and certainly am glad of that!
I'll never let it go, like I did my B-15N!
For recording it can't be beat, and I've used it, stand-alone with a 4x8 Ampeg cab at a rather large outdoor gig, ArcoSante Festival in Arizona, as well as with FOH in good-sized clubs in SLC, Provo, and Ogden UT, and HOB Orlando eg, and it rocks, just rocks. Tone for miles.

Some said that it "wasn't like the real B-15" well of course not , no 6SL6 et al, but give me a break!
It was/is very Ampeg-colored, real true to the sound that is/was the studio standard, and in many ways defines bass, at least to my ears...(My ears and about 10,000 recordings!)

Hold on to that, what a nice rig.

Wow I love the Gibson Ripper, still wish I had mine, extremely regret parting with it, I traded it in along with a 72 4001 back in the 70's to get a Ampeg SVT with two 8-10 cabs, that was an awsume bass.

Elnjaybass wrote:You're serious about Serial #1 then, huh?
That's got to be something to like, along with the amp, primarily of course.
Hold on to that, what a nice rig.

Yes, on the Serial #'s!
A good friend wanted to sell me his B-100R, which was cool as heck. To get it I'd have to sell my Peavey Max (800w head) and Peavey 412-TFX. I knew the only way I'd be satisfied would be to have an extension cab under it.
When I had my B-18N I knew a bass plyer who had a 60's B-15N 2-15 Stack, so I knew Ampeg had originally had a 1-15 extension cab.
So, I contacted Ampeg and asked if there was a reissue 1-15 ext. for the B-15R. They said they built a limited run of 75 or so and were no longer available. I then asked about a custom order, they said that they only do that for "Artist Endorsers"!

It should have ended there. But No!

I checked their nearest Retail Store finder and for some reason it pointed to a small store in Richland Washington, which is one of the Tri-Cities, in the area my family still lives in.

So, I go up to the Tri-Cities to celibrate my Brothers 50th Birthday. On Saturday of that weekend I convince my brother into stopping by this little store, just to see what they had on hand.
Starts out very good, with a 1970 Ampeg B-15N in thier display window. All the highschools in the area had B-15's. I talk to the sales guy about the B-15 a bit and then I ask, "do you know anything about an extension cab for these"? And without blinking he says "Ya, we have one in back that we use as a Rental", "Let me go get it"!
I'm standing there, with my Jaw in my hand, as he nicely rolls this thing right out to me cool as can be. Diamond Blue Tolex and all.
I'm dieing, but I try to be cool and say "How much"? He goes behind the counter and fiddles with a PC and says "It's never been sold, so it still has full warranty but we can give you a break, having used it as a rental". "$350.00"!

I must have stood there for a while, cuz my brother says to me "What's up, what do you need"?
Point is, he loaned me the money while I sold some other gear to pay for it.

Then the sales guy runs the sale, checks the serial number for the paperwork and says "it's serial #1, I didn't know that"!
Obviously, no-one knew or cared! They're only 100w cabinets and everyone has to have 400w's or more to be cool right!

So now I have the first B-15E, but no B-15R to set it on. So now I have to have one. I sold my friends B-100R for him.
It did make a cute stack though! I've already told you about the B-15R!

What I haven't told you about is that the B-15R Head is Serial #1, but the cabinet is Serial #2! Very odd!
What makes sence to me is that the Guitar Center back East received both #1 and #2 and someone wanted to buy one, but there was some minor tolex dammage and a salesman swapped heads to create the cleanest pair!

This led me down a long list of corespondence which ended with a good e-mail conversation with "Jess Oliver"! He's the man who designed the original B-15's and the B-15R.
He told me he thought he was givin the First B-15R and checked his Serial numbers. His Head and Cabinet were both the same serial number, which answered that question for me, but his Serial Number is AJYDJ00001 and mine is AJYDQ00001 on the head and AJYDQ00002 on the cabinet!
We agreed that mine must be the first one off the line for Distribution!

Anyway, this all makes for a fine story and I love my "Little 100w Tube 2-15 Stack"!

Jess was very kind and sent me these!