mrtcat Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hartke Kilo. Amazing sound but terrible reliability. Constantly breaking down and spent more time on the engineers bench than on top of my cab. It seems it was a problem Hartke knew all about but did absolutely nothing to rectify. Sadly the customer service from Hartke was woeful despite claims that they are great. Id never ever ever buy from Hartke again. Got shot of it over a year ago and I still get really angry just thinking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregBass Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 For me it must be a Selmer TnB 50 and Goliath cab. Sounded like someone kicking a cardboard box. On the plus side, they were dirt cheap back then. I really can't understand why they sell for big money nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Controversial here, but I think the worst amp i've ever gigged was a Genz Benz Streamliner 900. Awful, un-intuitive (to me) controls (Gain, Volume & Master?!) and just couldn't get a workable sound through my Barefaced cabs. Quickly sold it and bought another Markbass LM2 (which sounds infinitely better and louder lol) Oh well Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 The only amps I`ve disliked has been due to not being powerful enough. I`ve never used an amp that I couldn`t get a sound I was reasonably happy with, but then using a Precision you can get a workable sound from most amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 [quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1438172038' post='2832220'] Controversial here, but I think the worst amp i've ever gigged was a Genz Benz Streamliner 900. Awful, un-intuitive (to me) controls (Gain, Volume & Master?!) and just couldn't get a workable sound through my Barefaced cabs. Quickly sold it and bought another Markbass LM2 (which sounds infinitely better and louder lol) Oh well Si [/quote] oh, you blasphemous infidel!! Burn him! BURN HIM!!!!!!!!! (I love the Streamliner 900, through my Barefaced cabs) (But I'm partial to the MarkBass LM2 tone, so I'll let you off this time ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 [quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1438172038' post='2832220'] Controversial here, but I think the worst amp i've ever gigged was a Genz Benz Streamliner 900. Awful, un-intuitive (to me) controls (Gain, Volume & Master?!) [/quote] I actually found the Streamliner controls pretty... you know, streamlined, simple. It's one reason I like it. You want unintuitive? Try the Aguilar ToneHammer.. everything interacts with everything else *a lot*... I could get lots of good sounds, I just wasn't able to do that in a directed or reproducible manner The TH sounded really good, I have to say... it doesn't belong in a "worst amps" thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1438174139' post='2832248'] I actually found the Streamliner controls pretty... you know, streamlined, simple. It's one reason I like it. [/quote] To be fair to the controls, they're probably fine, I was probably just angry that it sounded so guff Couldn't even blame the three rooms/gigs I played it at, took my LM2 along to A/B it, and on the second sets used that, great sound lol Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Ive been watching in the shadows waiting to see if someone else was going to say the GB Streamliner. Must agree. Might have been me but i didn't get on with it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 [quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1438180302' post='2832327'] Ive been watching in the shadows waiting to see if someone else was going to say the GB Streamliner. Must agree. Might have been me but i didn't get on with it at all. [/quote] Yes, it was you. Definitely you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Funny how the Streamliner divides opinions so. I thought it was a pretty good little amp, and it didn't take me long to start pining for it after I traded it for a Shuttle 9.2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1438186795' post='2832397'] Yes, it was you. Definitely you. [/quote] Probably was to be fair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1438173277' post='2832235'] I`ve never used an amp that I couldn`t get a sound I was reasonably happy with, but then using a Precision you can get a workable sound from most amps. [/quote] AMEN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) [quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1419868473' post='2643345'] In defence of the LC - it was never intended to be a bass amp - as a general purpose slogger I recall one doing quite a reasonable job of 'powering up' the downstairs disco room at the Kingston Cellar Club, back in the day.......... [/quote] Our first PA amp in 1962. With a Grampian DP4 mic and a pair of home made 1x12" boxes.... Re nasty amps, we probably ought to discount anything under 50 watts as not really being a bass amp proper. Other than that, anything I have ever used made by Laney or Carlsbro. YUK! Amazingly, I gigged a Peavey Combo 300 I was given when working in Nashville from 1983 to 2002, when I sold it to a pupil who couldnt afford a proper amp. PA engineers loved it - I would point it across the stage so everyone onstage could hear it and FOH got NOTHING but the DI signal. Ashdown? I have a pair of 10" neos in one of their cabinets. Speakers in it were utter doody. But I am not ashamed to announce that I use one of the Behringer 450watt bass heads. It actually does a nice job with a decent Precision, but you DO have to replace the cooling fan with a decent one. Kept cool, they do fine. And CHEAP! (grin) like me.... Edited July 31, 2015 by ivansc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxter Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 [quote name='GregBass' timestamp='1438170283' post='2832208'] For me it must be a Selmer TnB 50 and Goliath cab. Sounded like someone kicking a cardboard box. On the plus side, they were dirt cheap back then. I really can't understand why they sell for big money nowadays. [/quote] I use one of those, best amp I've ever had......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 A Macgregor 100w 15" combo, my first "big amp". Utter rubbish & weighed a ton! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipperydick Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Carlsboro Stingray, everytime. The solid state thing with the push buttons on the front. Carlsboror did make some usable kit, but that wasnt one of em. I used a mates in the 70s and compared to my HH ic100 it was rubbish. then years later used a rehearsal room in Bilston that still had one, and it was every bit as bad as I remembered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UglyDog Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Headline act bassist's Superfly (going back quite a few years). I wanted to use my rig, but the engineer asked the headline if I could use his amp to save time between sets and he was ok with it. I should have stuck to my guns but, as we know, rule #1 is Never Piss Off The Soundguy. Anyway... I wanted to like it, I really did -- same as every time I've tried an Ashdown, I've always tried desperately to find positives -- but oh dear oh dear, what a dreadful little thing it was. No redeeming features apart from possible use as a grill/hotplate. Next time I saw the headline bassist, he was using something else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kedo Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Going back to the 60s I had a Vox T60 which was a 15" & 12" combo with Vox's first transistor amp. Good for first 10 minutes then just farted. Vox took it back and replaced it with Foundation valve amp. Long time ago now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 The worst amp I've ever owned was the Ashdown Superfly. In theory it would have been excellent. A programmable amp with plenty of memory locations, 500 W of power in a tiny and light (by the standards of the time) form factor and very competitively priced. Mine developed the classic output whine within 3 months of buying it and after another 3 months wouldn't power up half the time. Ashdown were totally disinterested in fixing it and I couldn't take it back to the shop under Trading Standards because the place I had bought it from had gone bust. Eventually I sold it for parts on eBay for a fraction of what I had bought it for. I will never ever own another piece of Ashdown gear. I also couldn't get on with Genz Benz. There's one in a rehearsal room that we use (not a Streamliner - something older). The gain structure makes no sense and the tone controls don't appear to be centred on what I consider to be usable frequencies. Maybe with the manual it would all become clear, but at rehearsals and gigs when I'm using unfamiliar gear I just want to adjust the input gain so it's not clipping, flatten the EQ and use the master volume so that I'm in the right place in the mix, and not have to spend ages tweaking things and still not get a decent sound. Now when I see it at rehearsals I always ask if I can use one of their Peavey heads instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1438174139' post='2832248'] The TH sounded really good, I have to say... it doesn't belong in a "worst amps" thread. [/quote] Maybe time for a new 'Difficult-to-Use Amps' thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 (edited) I've read this thread and I've had virtually everything that people slate including Crate, Laney, Marshall, Roland, Peavey and G-K. Luckily I was not sufficiently "aware" until more recently in my bass purchasing journey and it's after trying some cheapish combos like Fender Rumble and Ashdown Rootmaster, just last week, I realise how good my MarkBass stuff sounds and perhaps more importantly, how easy it is to get a good sound. Edited August 20, 2015 by yorks5stringer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Jones Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 GK MB150E. The little, supposedly 150w combo (do they still make them?). I only bought it because it was cute and supposedly portable. In reality, while it was small, it was also extremely heavy and a nightmare to carry on the tube.Plus the cab rattled something awful. Replaced with my Eden rig which was a revelation.The older Eden heads remain my favourites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1438173277' post='2832235'] The only amps I`ve disliked has been due to not being powerful enough. I've never used an amp that I couldn't get a sound I was reasonably happy with, but then using a Precision you can get a workable sound from most amps. [/quote] Quite. It's not these amps that are at fault, people - you're playing the wrong basses!! *Hides in wardrobe with wife's panties on head* Edited August 23, 2015 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I discount things like PV, Carlbro, H/H as they come from the stone age and I wouldn't dream of using them, but once you get beyond Trace which I never really took to even tho they were everywhere back then, I've have to say GK 700 thingey as the worse. Hon mentions also go to Ashdown ABM 500 EVO altho I don't consider myself an Ashdown basher in general, just not my thing usually but that amp was ugly sounding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I have to say my precision has sounded good through almost everything I've ever played it through. One or two notable exceptions (Peavey, Behringer, Laney and Ampeg) found in rehearsal rooms though. Conversely, my Acoustic 220 has made every bass I've ever heard through it sound brilliant. One mans meat is another mans murder etc.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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