Giffro Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Back in the early 70's I had an Aussie made Lenard GB-150 bass amp which was quite a good amp coupled to a Lenard cab with 4x12" Etone speakers. One night at a gig in a 3 piece pop type band I blew a fuse in the head and didnt have a spare so the guitarist said "here plug into my amp". I refused and said that I would likely blow it up. He insisted and I reluctantly agreed and said I'll just play very quietly. 1 note on the bass, pop and magic blue Genie smoke appeared from the top of his amp. Admittedly his amp was a guitar amp and I shouldnt have plugged up but hey..he insisted lol It was an early 70's Yamaha TA-60..see the pic. Probably my first bass amp in the 60's was a Goldentone BassMaster 60 (Pic supplied)..definately the worst amp i've ever had..no guts or glory loll 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burno70 Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 My least favourite amp was the Peavy TNT combo. I think it was 150w are thereabouts. Woolly, no real tone definition, no punch and weighed about same as my car. Pity I wasn't driving around the time I owned this piece of stinky poo excuse for an amp. The only plus point I can think of was that it loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stofferson Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Yamaha bbt 500. I was young I didn't know anything. Sounded poo, had no power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmo Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Horses for courses and all that, but I like Ashdown drophead LB 30. Seems a lot don`t like Ashdown though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Line 6 was the brand but I can't tell you the model. Hated it twice. Also I am being unfair as on one occasion it got me a gig, and on neither occasion did I have time to learn how to set it up. First up an audition. So appalled was I by the mix of duvet and fluff coming out of the provided backline amp that I kept fiddling with it trying to get a sound recognisable as a bass guitar. They were impressed because I was the only one who bothered to try to get the amp to sound any good so I got the job! Lord knows they couldn't tell if any of us could actually play. Second time a showcase of many bands (translation : fill the stage on an otherwise quiet Sunday with unpaid acts) all using their backline. Same bloody mess of indecipherable buttons and nobs and no time to get anything other than the sound of a wooly mammoth snoring. In a cave. Heard from the other side of a hill. Maybe with an instruction manual and a week or so to fathom it, I might have made it useable, but I'm scarred now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 I can't remember ever hating an amp. I've not got on with a few, but that was my fault, not theirs. I had the bass version of a Fender Dual Showman and the sound didn't do anything for me. I swapped after a week with the keyboard players Hiwatt stack. I was much happier after that move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) For me it was a blonde blackface Fender Bassman 50 with it's matching 2x12 cabinet. Bought new in the late Sixties it lasted a weekend of torture before I could return it. They had sold my trade in but I left it anyway! Ugh - I still get nightmares about the thing!!! Edited April 12, 2020 by BassmanPaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 I've mentioned a few practice combos previously. But the worst I've ever came across is the Vox pathfinder bass. Two 5 inch speakers, open backed. Phil Jones it is not! Fidelity of a 90s alarm clock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 (edited) My second worst amplifier was the VOX AC50 with it's 18" Foundation cabinet. VOX didn't even put handles on the cabinet so I had to add a pair in order to move it about. The amp had no treble at all as it was EQ'd out by circuitry in the pre-amp. Another ugh! I redid the whole amp to make it better for my use. If anyone has an AC50 with two channels, an engraved fibre control panel and chrome knobs that was my old unit. It was last seen in Liverpool. Edited February 28, 2022 by BassmanPaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagsieblue Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Mesa Subway D800, without a doubt. Completely gutless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 2 hours ago, BassmanPaul said: My second worst amplifier was the VOX AC50 with it's 18" Foundation cabinet. VOX didn't even put handles on the cabinet . . . . I had one of those. What did I know, I was 17! It wasn't a great sound, wasn't particularly loud and lacked any definition. No handles on the cab, yet another UK design triumph! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E sharp Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Probably a bit unfair, as I didn’t hate it as such, but the Handbox WB100 - their all value 120 watt jobbie. Did loads of research, and was in contact with the owner a fair bit too. Now playing Northern Soul, so I thought that it would be ideal, but it wasn’t. My little Eden WT400 blew it away. People talk about ‘valve watts’, but I couldn’t get enough volume out of it at all. My Eden head, was also considerably warmer sounding too- which was a major surprise. I realise that I had far more tone shaping on the Eden, but I wasn’t bothered about that, and I found it easy to get a nice tone, but it had no oompf at all. Guy I sold it to really likes it, so it may just be me maybe expecting it to be something it was never going to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 The way that I look at it, no matter how poor the amp I am playing through is, it's still better than playing an electric bass with no amp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 2 hours ago, BigRedX said: The way that I look at it, no matter how poor the amp I am playing through is, it's still better than playing an electric bass with no amp. Indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 17 hours ago, chris_b said: I had one of those. What did I know, I was 17! It wasn't a great sound, wasn't particularly loud and lacked any definition. I was around the same age and also knew no better but still felt like I had 'arrived' 'cos I had a VOX. LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 18 hours ago, BassmanPaul said: I was around the same age and also knew no better but still felt like I had 'arrived' 'cos I had a VOX. LOL To be fair there was nothing else and no one, not even the manufacturers new jack shite about bass amplification. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkydoug Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 My worst ever amp was, I’m sorry to say, an underpowered Laney combo, I think it was called a BC120. It was 1x15 120w and I was asking too much of it back in my uni band. I knew nothing about amplification at all, just that it fit in my room and could be carried to wherever I was playing. I should have paid more for a better amp! I’ll admit that I’ve not studied the entirety of this thread, but are there any manufacturers who are conspicuously absent ?? Seems like everyone from Mesa to Marshall and Ampeg to Ashdown have been named and shamed… which makers have escaped our wrath?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shug Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 I had a Sperrin transistor head - my first amp - that was utterly useless. Think they were made in the NW area. Maybe one o' yous knows about 'em? It had a rocker switch marked 'Click' whose sole function seemed to be to go 'CLICK' when toggled with no discernible effect on the sound. Man, the 70's was not a great time for affordable and effective bass gear... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilebodgers Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 8 hours ago, shug said: I had a Sperrin transistor head - my first amp - that was utterly useless. Think they were made in the NW area. Maybe one o' yous knows about 'em? It had a rocker switch marked 'Click' whose sole function seemed to be to go 'CLICK' when toggled with no discernible effect on the sound. Man, the 70's was not a great time for affordable and effective bass gear... There must be some bass amp that has a button labelled “thump” that does nothing but make a thump noise when pressed? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Probably the first amp I ever had: a Sound City Slider. Bought by my dad as a Christmas present, he probably just went into a guitar shop and said 'My son's taken up guitar. I need a cheap amp for him to start on'. I blew it up in a matter of months. But the worst amp I have ever played through was a Trace Elliot Boxer combo. Rattled like a jakey with the DTs and sounded like a whale farting. That experience is closely seconded by a Maine head and paired 1 x 15" cab I once used at a rehearsal. All mid/low mid which gave me none of the 'sparkle' I needed back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 9 hours ago, shug said: I had a Sperrin transistor head - my first amp - that was utterly useless. Think they were made in the NW area. Maybe one o' yous knows about 'em? It had a rocker switch marked 'Click' whose sole function seemed to be to go 'CLICK' when toggled with no discernible effect on the sound. Man, the 70's was not a great time for affordable and effective bass gear... Not on a budget, it wasn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Honorary mention for the Behringer Ultrabass, the rack model. Used it ok at home, setting up presets, and at rehearsals. First time I gig it, it cuts out intermittently in the first song and several times thereafter, necessitating me going through the PA. Sold the next week on ebay with its controller baord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 On 10/04/2016 at 01:22, Twincam said: [quote name='andytoad' timestamp='1460240598' post='3024031'] Trace Elliott commando. Terrible amp. [/quote] I disagree on the terrible bit, I had one and while not great they were certainly better than say a carlsbro cobra etc etc Anything was better than Carlsbro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Warwick ProFet 3.2, my first proper amp, never worked properly, always let me down. Despite having it looked at no one could find anything wrong with it as it was an intermittent fault. Traded it in for a Peavey Tour 700 which served me very well for the next 10+ years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 It was a guitar amp. Solex ML10 It was a swarm of bees in a tiny box. But it was my first ever amp so I have a soft spot for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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