Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Welcome to the forum David.

Welcome to the forum David.

David, welcome to the forum. I also have the SWR SM400 head. It's a great bass amp.

Funny...... you guys are taling about 'bass rigs' - wonder why I've never heard of a 'lead rig' or 'rhythm rig'?

I have heard of a Diana Rigg, though!!

Thank you all for the welcome! About the bass rig, guitar rig, rhythm rig question. It was true for most of the past that a "bass rig" was in effect a PA system for the bass made up of various amps and speakers. Bassists had to "rig up" some kind of system while the guitar set ups were amp systems, usually all components were from the same manufacturer. Like a Marshall stack or a Fender stack or a whatever combo. I remember two guitarists that you could say played through "rigs". Jeff Beck and Robin Trower both played through Fender/Marshall hybrid rigs, maybe still do. Maybe also Terry Kath from Chicago, I think he made his own first "guitar rig" building his own speaker cabinets and using a Bogen amp. Anyhow I could be right, I could be wrong. Just remember, no matter what the singer or guitarists say, the drummer and bassist are really the "lead" of the band.

Welcome David, you'll love it here.........

LowD wrote:Thank you all for the welcome! About the bass rig, guitar rig, rhythm rig question. It was true for most of the past that a "bass rig" was in effect a PA system for the bass made up of various amps and speakers. Bassists had to "rig up" some kind of system while the guitar set ups were amp systems, usually all components were from the same manufacturer. Like a Marshall stack or a Fender stack or a whatever combo. I remember two guitarists that you could say played through "rigs". Jeff Beck and Robin Trower both played through Fender/Marshall hybrid rigs, maybe still do. Maybe also Terry Kath from Chicago, I think he made his own first "guitar rig" building his own speaker cabinets and using a Bogen amp. Anyhow I could be right, I could be wrong. Just remember, no matter what the singer or guitarists say, the drummer and bassist are really the "lead" of the band.

Hi Dave and welcome, but I do have to say that Ampeg has been making self contained bass amps since the 40's and Fender has since the 50's and bass rig is a comparatively new name, I've only been hearing it for the past 20 something years. Bass players have used two and three amps at one time, first I remember was Tim Bogart who used to use several Dual Showman's. There was a fad during the late 70's and early 80's of using pre-amps, Crown power heads crossovers etc, and bi and tri amping, which was a waste of time and money to me. When I was a kid I used to play through a 50's console RCA TV that had a phono jack and a 12" speaker, was kind of cumbersome for gigs though.

As of about 6 months or so ago, I had finally put together the "Dream Rig" to give me the tone I'd always lusted after... a (now discontinued) Mesa Boogie Bass 400+, and two Mesa PowerHouse 212 cabs.
Unfortunately, due to some health issues and the weight of this awesome rig, I'm now downsizing to a Mesa combo+extension cab mini-rig. I've posted details in the Second Strum/Non Rick classifieds Forum:

http://www.rickresource.com/phpBB3/view ... 9&t=385078

It truly gave me my personal "dream tone"... maybe someone else will enjoy a Rickenbacker bass through it as much as I have!

In my opinion, I have never heard ANYTHING better than Ashdown. My rig--ABM EVO II head, ABM 4x10, and ABM 1x15--really represents my Rics in a way my former Ampeg rig just couldn't. My Jazz Bass also sounds much better now.

rictified wrote:When I was a kid I used to play through a 50's console RCA TV that had a phono jack and a 12" speaker, was kind of cumbersome for gigs though.

And the ol' man bitched like hell because it was gone! LOL!! I thought I was the only one here who had done that!

When I was a kid I used to play through a 50's console RCA TV that had a phono jack and a 12" speaker, was kind of cumbersome for gigs though.

I can relate to that,, I started with a Hondo II Pbass copy ran through a "Soundesign" stereo that had a guitar input on the back.

Talk about your "fartin" speakers...............

cheyenne wrote:

When I was a kid I used to play through a 50's console RCA TV that had a phono jack and a 12" speaker, was kind of cumbersome for gigs though.

I can relate to that,, I started with a Hondo II Pbass copy ran through a "Soundesign" stereo that had a guitar input on the back.

Talk about your "fartin" speakers...............

Hahaha! I would guess they would "fart"! I used an old b&w television my uncle gave me that had a phono input. No picture but I had it rockin! We graduated to an old Gibson 400 that all three of us played through. We thought we'd gone to heaven when our rhythm guitarist got a Heathkit Fender Twin clone amp with spring reverb. I finally had enough for a Sears Silvertone bass amp with 6 x 10" cab and a (probably 25W) head that stored in the back bottom of the cabinet. Ahhh, those were the days!

Aw, heck, my first bass amp (and bass for that matter) was a steel wash tub, a stick, and a piece of twine...

Really! I made that at summer camp in boy scouts way back when.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT????????



Actually, I just picked up an Aguilar DB728/DB659 combo - I don't have much seat time on it, but so far - holy ****!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v507/ ... mps003.jpg

1968 4001
1970 Dan Armstrong
1966 Showman
Recent Ampeg SVT 15E cabs.
I have since added a second Showman.

Stuart
Nova Scotia Canada