worst amp you have owned or had the luck to use

[EBS_freak]

Ashdown... oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

[4 Strings]

Two. First was a Peavey TNT combo in the late 70s. Our then bass player of our school band bought it brand new for £200. It always sounded terrible, all low mid but no punch.

Second was a Behringer goodness knows what which was house backline at a showcase. A 115 combo, but clearly a poor frequency response as the bottom E and one an octave higher sounded identical. Wooly in the extreme.

[Bassnut62]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1359585738' post='1957265']
We've obviously been traumatised by our ownership of the Carlsbro sh*te in our youth. I think we should sue for compensation.
[/quote]

and another for the CarlsBollox ShitBay 150w combo - those push button EQ filters were shocking; best to pop them all out and grit your teeth to get thru the rehearsal/gig....

[Bass-Driver]

Oh, I forgot.

A Warwick Mosfet head and 1x15 cab in one rehearsal place... I'd just say that their amplification is even worse than their basses. No matter what bass I plugged into that steaming pile of cr4p, no matter how long I tried to dial in any usable tone, it all sounded the same - a massive cloud of dark, muddy BOOOOOOOOOO. I don't even want to imagine how a Warwick bass would sound when plugged into that abomination - my brain could implode from the horror.

Yes, I hate most things Warwick, sorry.

[paulmcnamara]

In my very early days, (1974) I thought I'd be clever and buy a Carlsbro Marlin PA amp and put it through my 4 x 12 so that I could connect not only my bass but also a couple of mics for our 2 singers. The bass sounded really crap! Later I also connected a set of EKO bass pedals too, and yes you guessed it, they sounded crap too.

Recently I used a hire amp at our rehearsal place: it was a 300watt Laney...... really crap too. Nothing like my Aguilar!

Cheers, Paul.

Edited April 13, 2013 by paulmcnamara

[liivmusic]

Ashdown, laney, swr, ampeg, hartke, roland. All of them have made some terrible amps. Ampeg and swr have some exceptions fortunatelly.

[barkin]

[quote name='liivmusic' timestamp='1366323808' post='2051203']
Ashdown, laney, swr, ampeg, hartke, roland. All of them have made some terrible amps.
[/quote]

They've all made some cracking amps as well.

Which tells us...?

[hollywoodrox]

ive bought a ashdown perfect 10 mini stack off someone on here and the bloody thing crackles and drops out all the time sometimes it sounds fuzzy and strangled, really fed up, paid for a taxi to take it to local shop to be tested but when they played it it flipping behaved itself so taxi back and next day its back to its tricks, it seems if i leave it a day or two without playing it does it, bloody fed up as cant really afford to get it fixed now and have wasted money on taxis, so ven if I find somone to jam with now I wont be able to as bloody amp is sh*t, and ive only been using it at a level that you could quietly talk over so as not to avoid the neighbours so god knows what it would do if i cranked it up a bit to jam. fed up with it all

[DarkHeart]

mine was a Fender Bassman 100, it made a great practice amp for a bedroom but that was it, major letdown!

[spacey]

Marshall 400w valve head, sounded like Thunder, lovely and sweet, but so unreliable, spent years at marshal under warranty.; A bloke broke in the van and ran off with it and I shouted him, mate, take the *&*&****** thing ! Good luck...
Trace Elliot 300w 1x15 combo, again always breaking down, always at the wrong time.

Bought a peavey 700w fire bass well over 10 years ago as an emergency last resort, dreading it I plugged it in and it just sounds fantastic with no need to adjust anything, over 10 years later and it refuses to die, loud clean bass.
Thought about replacing the peavey 4x10 with a new cab (Harkte vx410) well the peavey swallowed it and spat it out in seconds and a £350 cab turned in to someones £20 bargain on here.
Tried an Ashown to see if they were up to anything, what on earth are they on ?

The Fire bass 700w head and 1 peavey 4x10 or two at big gigs , thousands of gigs, every time as good as the last.

[Gordon Thudmaster May]

There's been some really great amps slated here! You DO need a GREAT BASS GUITAR before you slate an amp!

Edited April 21, 2013 by Gordon Thudmaster May

[Protium]

[quote name='Gordon Thudmaster May' timestamp='1366576037' post='2054425']
There's been some really great amps slated here! You DO need a GREAT BASS GUITAR before you slate an amp!
[/quote]

For example?

[Musky]

[quote name='Protium' timestamp='1366577631' post='2054464']
For example?
[/quote]
The Ampeg SVT?

I'm taking this thread with a pinch of salt really. Some people are describing broken amps and others perfectly reasonable amps that don't happen to do what they'd like. All of which is fine as it fits the thread's title, but it doesn't necessarily mean the amp is rubbish.

My candidate was an old Marlin combo which once might have been fine for bedroom use, but it was supplied as backline and had a completely knackered speaker.

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Protium' timestamp='1366577631' post='2054464']
For example?
[/quote]
as I said earlier, all Carlsboro amps seem to get slated but I used a bass beasty for a few years with no complaints

[Billy Apple]

I'll stand up for the Carlsboro 150 stingray combo. Yes, the filter buttons are daft, but if you half press one of the buttons, they all pop out and it's not too terrible. I got one when I was 16 and for a lad of that age it was blimming marvelous, loud as f*ck, and bomb proof. I've lost count the number of times it's been dropped, bounced, surfed on and fired head-long down flights of stairs. And never once did it break down. I'm 46 now and i've still got the thing. It got lost in my dads shed, but I've brought it out of retirement to use while my holyier than holy Matamp GT200 is at the menders. I stick the DHA in front of it and it's not half bad. BTW, I bought it second hand, so 30+ never letting me down service is pretty good in my book.

[Tweedledum]

My first amp was a Carlsbro Rebel 45 combo which sounded quite OK. Played it for several years with no issues whatsoever. I gave it away for something bigger, because clearly, a 50 watt 12" combo has its limitations....

The worst amp I ever played was a Yamaha BBT 500. Way too many features. The sound is hard to describe. It just didn't sound live. Like the bass was coming from a CD. Does that make sense?

[gsgbass]

The Marshall MB410C played great until the cooling system of the head failed, and the head fried. The End.

[Ziphoblat]

Difficult to choose. I've had terrible experiences with a few. Always cringe when I see those nasty Ashdown MAG combos. I suppose they're alright if you despise having any definition to your sound, but if woolly messes aren't for you then they're a waste of time. A rehearsal studio we used to go to had a Carlsbro Beasty 1x15 combo that was terrible. The sound out of it was passable (but a bit polite) although it broke down on my on at least three occasions. The final straw was when I got a rather nasty shock from the front panel on it. Tried a Marshall MB head and cab at PMT once that was gross. Loads of hissing and noise flaw and the tone was brittle and unusable. Probably the worst amp I've ever experienced was a Peavey TNT combo I had to use at a rehearsal studio one time. Horrid sound. It couldn't handle top and bottom at the same time, you were limited to a horrible farting sound or a brittle thin glassy sound. Distorted on anything in the lower octave too. Didn't go very loud either. Absolutely not up to the job, wouldn't even use it for bedroom practice, let alone with a band. Had enough bad experiences that these days I always just bring my own gear wherever I'm going/

[HazBeen]

Easy, the Ashdown Giant 1000. Far and away the worst gain section I have ever had to suffer.

[Smythe]

[quote name='Pow_22' timestamp='1365058595' post='2034582']
I know this will cause some major abuse on here but i gigged last week using the headliners Orange bass terror. Have used them before so as soon as i saw it i though ''ohhhhhh bollocks''. To me they just sound like someone has put an angry bee in an empty ale can and stuck a micropohone next to the hole. Horrible things
[/quote]

Same, i used another bands gear late last year out of sheer laziness on my part, It was one of these terror heads (500w) with orange 2x10 and 2x12, the ones that where the speakers are stacked behind .... It looks the part but sound wise..... Terrible. Just mushy, farty and loud even on the lowest volume setting, couldnt get a half decent bit of clarity out of it.... After that i dont use anything but my own gear from now on.... Markbass all the way

[joeystrange]

I don't rember the model but it was a Trace Elliot 2x10 combo. The one that just has a graphic, volume and gain. Those things sound terrible. In fact, most of the Trace stuff I've used has been horrible.

[Bilbo]

GK MB150S - people use them be ause they are light. They sound sh** but at least you can take them on Ryanair as hand luggage.

Plus one for Carlsboro Cobra. Carlsboro Cobblers more like...

[bassmansky]

peavey 700w head,total crap and weighed a ton.,behringer 4x10 combo,sounded like a wet fart!

[graham1945]

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1359630069' post='1957744']
I started with a Linear cage amp, actually an RSC version, into a home made 2X15 with Fane pop60s, pretty bad. Had an Elgen 100W that sounded OK with the same cab but was so unreliable I swapped it for a Marshall 100 head, which was even worse.

Also had a Fender 100W Transistor amp circa 1993, Truly sounded crap,but iirc it only cost about £60 or £70 new.
[/quote]

Pretty much the same for me, Linear cage amp, couldn't get rid of it quick enough. Then, almost worse, Marshall 100watt head and two 4 x 12's. Sold it after one gig. Arne't we lucky nowadays?

[megallica]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1359627881' post='1957702']
A truly dire Gorilla practice amp. Just shocking.

[/quote]

This was my first amp - why this didn't make me give up and buy a playstation I'll never know.

My next amp was a Park 100 watt combo - Marshall's budget range, I'm sure you can imagine how good my Westfield bass sounded through it.