Best (or at least Better) Bass Amp

tracy · Post by **tracy** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 9:19 am

To recap for the crowd: Despite their quantity being a little low for worldwide demand, I can't say enough nice things about Rickenbacker bass amps. They're rich and robust and do everything you expect from a high quality bass amp, especially the B115 and TR120/75/50/35B etc. Aw, now I've gone and done it. Everybody's gonna want one. I can feel the prices inching up already.

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:42 am

I've got mine already!

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:12 am

Me too! TR35B....nice, nice amp!

....and VERY light!..easy on the back

tracy · Post by **tracy** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:23 pm

Wow, that's a late one Joey. Very handsome. Is it a 75, 90 or 120?

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:17 pm

Thanks Tracy! It is an RB120, an impressive sounding amp made in '86. What is the difference between the TR amps and the RB amps?

tracy · Post by **tracy** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:19 pm

A good guess would be that they're electrically identical, the main difference being cosmetic. I've never A/B'd them though. I have two TR120B's, a TR75B and two TR35 wedges. I used to have twelve (!) TR35B's I picked up one-at-a-time back when nobody cared. A virtual Rickenbacker wall. John really knows these amps well. Perhaps he'll weigh in with a more definitive answer.

tracy · Post by **tracy** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:53 am

Sure, no problem, but they only show up now & then. You'd dig an RB120 like Joey's. 120 lightweight watts and loud. The dual voice coil speaker provides active feedback for an incredible amount of headroom. You should put 'Rickenbacker TR120' and 'Rickenbacker B115' into your eBay 'Favorite Searches' and let nature take it's course. With a little patience, I've acquired may items from my want list, so it is worth the trouble. Best of luck!

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 7:05 pm

Tracy my old friend.... can you get in touch with my friend Mark Mortensen.. You have his Rick Amp and he really needs to get it back..

westtexasrickenbacker · Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:06 am

Wow, after reading these posts. I want a RIC amp.

I currently have a Crate and it's OK, but I'm not totally satisfied with it.

bigbajo60 · Post by **bigbajo60** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:50 pm

Does anyone know whether Rickenbacker had an "in-house" amp fabrication capability for these units back in the day?... or were they built by another company for RIC?

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:09 pm

I've got a RIC RA-300 stereo power amp that I've used to power my bass cabinets in the past. Sounds pretty good. It's currently being used to power the PA in my band's practice space.

As far as other amps go, I highly recommend the Ashdown MAG series combo amps. I've got the 1x15 combo. It's kicks some major butt, especially with a 2x10 extension cab. 307 watts in a small, very affordable package.

westtexasrickenbacker · Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:38 am

Does anyone here run their Ric bass through a Vox amp?

I've thought of either a RIC amp or a Vox.

fatcat · Post by **fatcat** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:11 pm

My new 4003FG sounds sweet thru my V1182 Westminster amp.Just grrrrrrrowls away.I might just haul the old girl out on the next gig.

40014002 · Post by **40014002** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:15 am

I have been using SWR amplification for a number of years now and they make all my Rickenbackers sound superb they can growl or punch thru at high volume and I do like running them in the Ric-o-sound mode with two cabs and amps the tone is breathtaking the only problem is the SWR SM400 bass amp has no fan and it gets very hot and I was wondering if anyone has been in the same situation as me and had fitted a fan like the one fitted to an SM400s or if someone could send me any pictures of the inside of an SM400s so that I can locate the fan correctly any help would be most Grateful.

all the best Dave Carr

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:04 pm

The fan would go on the end of the heatsink that is farthest from the vent holes on the left side of the chassis, blowing across the fins towards the vent. I haven't seen the inside of the older model SM400, but virtually all SWRs from that era were built exactly the same. I used to have the red face Bass 350, Super Redhead, WM12 (the original version) and currently I have a Baby Blue II combo, and have seen the insides of a lot of their amps. Hopefully they left the space in the SM400 to put the fan there.