Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have a chance to buy an Ampeg bass cabinet which stands about 60 inches high and about 48 inches wide. It has the ampeg label in the top left hand corner. It is from 1971 and a beast. I would hate to carry it around.

The speakers appear all original and one in the bottom left hand corner is torn. If you can believe it there are nine, yes 9, 10 inch speakers inside.

Has anyone ever seen one of these. Would it be worth $500 US. The cabinet is in great shape but there is some torn tolex.

Peter....don't know much about Ampegs, but saw an Ampeg bass cabinet somewhere the other day with 6, 10 inch speakers in it going for $800 plus(used)...you would have to think 500 bucks would be a pretty good deal. Nine speakers? Six sounds like a lot to me.

Ampeg had an amp called the V9 which that cabinet is from.

Yes that's a V9, the biggest GUITAR cab ever made, haha! Actually they are pretty rare. The head that went with it was a three hundred watt tube head with the same power amp as an SVT and a different preamp voiced for guitar with reverb I'm pretty sure, which are even more rare. That cab is the same size as an SVT cab, I lug those things around all the time Peter. It would also sound very good for bass I would imagine, I just wouldn't pump an SVT head through it, but a Fender Bassman, sure. It's a 4 ohm cab.
I think $500.00 US is a fair price or maybe even a little high at least here, I would try to get him down a little. You can't ship them so they don't sell on ebay, but then again there are people in Canada who would want it as it is similar to an SVT and they are not common in Canada. Those speakers are very hard to find, they are not 32 ohm speakers like SVT's have, I forgot what their impedance is but they are unique and were made specifically for that cab. I would buy one just to have it. How bad is the rip, can it be repaired?

Peter, here's your V9 cabinet. All 166 lbs of it.

Mine are light, only 135 lbs. A good set of wheels are manditory
A bass maxim: the heavier it is, the better it sounds. Still true today even though most people will disagree with me.

Yes that is it Jon. Bob, the speaker is beyond repair. I would use a 1972 Silverface Bassman 100 as an amp. Would this drive all these speakers? I really wouldn't go out looking for this, it just came out of the woodwork.

Peter FYI, these are rated as 4 ohms. I would think your Bassman 100 would sound better driving a 2x12 or 4x12 cab than this monster.

I agree Jon. I am happy with my Traynor Cab at present and can move it as it only weighs a 100 lbs or so.

Peter,
If you can get it fairly cheaply I'd pick it up anyway, you'll probably never see another one. You never know when you might run into an old Ampeg head, they all will run fine at 4 ohms, except maybe the B-25. You could maybe get the speaker reconed at close to the correct impedance.