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Vintage Bass Rigs


BlacknWhite
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Hey guys what's up. I love vintage bass gear. Everything back in the 50's, 60's and 70's was just built better and looked cooler lol. Plus the tone you can't beat. My current rig is an early '70's Ampeg BT-25 bass head going through a 1978 Ampeg B25-B 215 bass cab. I also own a early 1970's Northern Pbass and a Fender Jazz.

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[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1437815252' post='2829205']
The closest I get to vintage gear is are a Boss OC-2 and CE-2. There is something about the ol' Black/Silverface Fender Bassman which really does it for me though. I've never had the chance to play through one of the classic shallow 2x15's, and have heard nothing but bad things, but they are also cool as anything!
[/quote]

I was a little iffy about buying the shallow 215 as I have never played through one before and I bought it online without trying it lol. But had to have it and it sounds amazing! The low end it produces is insane and my highs are clean as well. It has the classic Ampeg tone and is built to last a couple life times. It's in better shape than my newer cabs lol.

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Not sure about 30 year old speakers tbh...

I've been through plenty of ragged 810's and the most polite thing
you could say about them is that they sounded somewhat 'tired'..

Where has the cab beed stored..what sort of playing life has it had.
Old chassis ..and especially the cheaper ones, were pretty poor to start with...
that is why premium brands like JBL, EV, Gauss, got the reputations they did.

I'd be interested in the JBL and EV cabs, but not the stock units...
You may possibly be able to recone JBL and EV today pretty easily..not so sure
about the stock ones..and also..why would you bother..??

The old Ampeg 10's..Marshall 15's etc etc were very low powered and IMO,
par for the day.. but those units have been massively been overtaken by recent tech..

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I like viintage valve amps although the limitation of cheap old bass speakers like Oxford and the like don't do much for me. Vintage JBL and EV on the other hand still sound cool to my ears. I like to think I have the best of both worlds with my Trace / SWR setup..

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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1437818664' post='2829243']
Not sure about 30 year old speakers tbh...

I've been through plenty of ragged 810's and the most polite thing
you could say about them is that they sounded somewhat 'tired'..

Where has the cab beed stored..what sort of playing life has it had.
Old chassis ..and especially the cheaper ones, were pretty poor to start with...
that is why premium brands like JBL, EV, Gauss, got the reputations they did.

I'd be interested in the JBL and EV cabs, but not the stock units...
You may possibly be able to recone JBL and EV today pretty easily..not so sure
about the stock ones..and also..why would you bother..??

The old Ampeg 10's..Marshall 15's etc etc were very low powered and IMO,
par for the day.. but those units have been massively been overtaken by recent tech..
[/quote]

I was pretty shocked actually. For 37 year old speakers they sounded pretty good. It's almost like the cab just sat in a jam room or basement for years with no use as the cab and speakers were in amazing shape for being that old. The tolex is almost perfect, no dings in the wood... the only wear is faded color on the grill cloth. I popped out the original speakers and put in two [url="https://www.amazon.ca/gp/r.html?C=28VHL5UCHS8OH&K=A1X8BLZL4C1OPB&R=2EV3TGN2QJGYF&T=C&U=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.ca%2Fdp%2FB0002Z243Y%2Fref%3Dpe_386430_126088100_TE_item&A=YCVFGZVPPVHRCDOMJ1BYFQN2PYWA&H=CJYI3T6H0VCFMNQJ4GMHHM2VQ8AA&ref_=pe_386430_126088100_TE_item"][color=#000000]Eminence BETA15A[/color][/url]'s just so It could handle my higher wattage heads. I am very impressed with the workmanship on the cab though. It will out last any of my newer cabs thats for sure.

Edited by BlacknWhite
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The idea of vintage bass gear is nice, but the real life situation of maintaining, transporting the stuff just seems like a nightmare and back buster. I am pretty glad to get some fantastic vintage tones from my current lightweight setup without busting a gut :)

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I´ve always been into vintage rigs from my early days on. Whenever tone was important I chose my Ampeg SVT, B15, Hiwatt DR103 or Bassman 135 rigs. Back in my days as professional player most often serving certain types of music was more important than my own tone, though. Therefore I used to play Trace Elliot and SWR amps + Boogie cabs. That combination always delivered but never hurt anybody or came into their way. Since I don´t gig that much anymore but mostly record originals in my own room I´m back to those old mofos. Not having to carry them doesn´t hurt either.... I don´t miss the days when I had to load my cased SVT and 8x10 into my car ALONE :wacko:

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