Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I found that my 100 watt Ampeg BA115 sounded great with my Ric 4003 but I felt a little underpowered as when the lead guitarist on a puny little amp would seemingly overpower me on certain songs. Hence, I purchased an Ampeg B2RE & Ampeg SVT 410HE on craigslist. [I just couldn't afford MesaBoogie, Divided by 13, etc. and it seemed like I found a great deal for $600 on gear supposedly only a year old.]

At a pub-gig on Saturday, at a place with poor acoustics (ie, a stone floor) my amp sounded okay, but by the second set it either sounded too boomy/muddy or worse too trebly and distorted. Perhaps I bought a bad amp or cab? I should say that there was a slight tear on the front the cab's grill but the speakers looked untouched and nothing vibrated poorly when I played it at home. It looks great, but I want to sound great too. Perhaps I haven't quite figured out how best to dial in a good sound. Perhaps I should keep the equalizer settings toward the middle or below? Perhaps I just prefer the nice old thud of a 15 inch cabinet.

I would appreciate any comments/thoughts.

Try these settings to start. All tone/eq on amp flat. Treble vol on bass full, bass vol 3/4. tones in the middle. When I had this setup, all I had to do was boost the mids on the amp a touch, and I had a great tone. YMMV It is true that 4x10's sound way different than a 15. I think it should be clearer with more punch with the 4x10.

Thanks Charlyg. I'll try those settings later tonight.

Oh, and the switch in the middle so both are on. I was able to switch between one or the other, or both without any changes in vol.

In a bad room I always start with all tones flat and go from there. I ask myself what do I need? Little more bottom, more mid? Top etc. Some rooms are just very hard to get a good sound in and it is doubly hard with a new amp. Ampeg tone controls really change the sound a lot and it is easy to overdo it and end up with a lousy sound but conversely you can also get a great sound if you take your time and play with the controls. Set up early and start flat, almost always works.
a 4X10 cab is the equivalent of using two 15's, has almost as much cone area, they are just quicker.

This forum is absolutely terrific. I really appreciate everyone's input. I followed Charly's formula and so far everything sounds pretty good.

I fell into the trap of thinking more was more (instead of less being more) as I moved the bass up on both the equalizer and the tone controls which as I said before sounded lousy in this particular pub. I love my Ric but sometimes it just seems so trebly and I think I was overcompensating by boosting my lows.

Great to hear, man!! Rock on!

Scott: Welcome. I suspect that as you move throughout the age span, less is more will apply to far more than your Ampeg.