Amps of the Eightees!!!

[KingBollock]

I was working in a guitar shop right at the back end of the 80s, everyone banged on about how Trace Elliot stuff was the ultimate gear for a Bass player. Oddly the only Bass player working there was me and I had never tried any to have an opinion either way.

The only good thing I can say about my hated Carlsboro Stingray head is that I swapped it with a mate for my first ever PC, a 286 that couldn't even do colour.

[wally8]

[quote name='BobVbass' timestamp='1378207723' post='2196975']
Hmm 1980's eh!

Started with a Marshall 30 watt 12" speaker - pretty loud in the early eighties (had the option of this or the Roland bass thing - think I made the right choice)

Then Carlsbro Stingray head and Selmer Cab which changed the gravitation field of the earth wherever I placed it; it was that heavy.

The Trace BLX 80 when they first a came out - hated it

Then Peavey Firebass 4x10 and 1x15 black widow set up after that which was brilliant and kept it for years until I got fed up humping it about
[/quote]

I bloody love my firebass head, 4x10 and 1x15. Do u find it annoying that the 1x15 cab is smaller as i always want that on teh floor and the 4x10 on top.

[Nick Riffed]

I missed all the '80's stuff.
Not because I was too young.
Not because I spent the '80's in a drug induced haze but because I had never thought about playing a bass back then.
I do, however, have a little practice amp from back then.
A Custom Sound Cub 30.
Cheap as chips and works fine at home for noodling about.
It ain't too fond of the bottom B's on the 6 strings though, bless it.

[jaybass 70]

[quote name='rushbo' timestamp='1378149205' post='2196346']
I had a Peavey TNT 150. Bombproof. Got kicked around from 1988-2010. It rattled about in transit vans, on trailers, was manhandled by countless careless musicians and always sounded sweet. And loud. Teamed with my Ibanez 850 Roadstar, my 80's/90's rig was lovely. I really should have stopped there...
[/quote]

Me too , big fan of the tnt 150 , still got it in me shed along with a kb 300 ,both still work , great sound. had a trace elliot gp11 15 combo which kept blowing speakers !! Always preferred the sound of the peavey though.

[Dingus]

Trace Elliot all the way . They [i]were [/i]the 1980's when it comes to bass amps! I still have a big Trace combo at home and love it . Peavey was for people who couldn't quite afford Trace gear , or who were a bit wierd and didn't like it . Ampeg didn't resurface until the end of that decade , and Gallien Krueger and SWR weren't widely distributed in the U.K in that decade , either, so Trace reigned supreme.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1378139378' post='2196184']
In the 80s did everyone think Carlsbros were good? 70s Carlsbros are good, wondering how it all looked from the time.
[/quote]

They were a remnant of the age in which most bass amps were crap . They looked reasionable but were fairly ( very) unreliable with a grey , dull and depressing sound that was nowhere near the quality tones we have come to expect from a decent amp nowadays . If people are getting nostalgic about Carlsboro amps or they have developed any kind of vintage cache and desirability then anything is possible . Please tell me it isn't so . Avoid.

Edited October 19, 2013 by Dingus

[el borracho]

I don't think I'm particularly nostalgic towards Carlsbro. They were simply one of the only realistic choices alongside the likes of HH and gave you an amp loud enough to gig with for very little money. Trace Elliot in the 80s was out of my league (in fact new was out of my league ) - Peavey were what I aspired to then. I am sure a Peavey TNT at the time was about £300 or that might have been a Databass.
My Carlsbro 150W head cost £125 including 115 & 412 cabs, The 12" vintage Celestion speakers are still gigging today in our guitarist's Marshall 412 so not that bad a deal!!

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1378139378' post='2196184']
In the 80s did everyone think Carlsbros were good? 70s Carlsbros are good, wondering how it all looked from the time.
[/quote]
As far as I can gather (not being of that generation), I don't think the 70s valve Carlsbros had much cachet at the time. They were good solid utilitarian gear, but Carlsbro didn't do much on the advertising and artist relations front so mostly sold their amps to blokes in the Midlands playing working men's clubs. Marshall, Vox etc managed to get themselves associated with the big names and were desirable because of that, even though when you look at a 70s Carlsbro now, it's certainly not of lesser quality than Marshalls of the time.

Edited October 19, 2013 by Beer of the Bass

[Marvin]

I was too young to own an amp in the eighties

[Dingus]

I can vividly recall the day I got my first Trace Elliot amp and how it was streets ahead of anything else I had tried or owned .

Looking back now , when I was seventeen I had an Ibanez Musician Bass , a Trace Elliiot amp and a dodgy mullet haircut, and that's all you really need in life , (apart from sex , and they had that in the '80's too and it was far more exciting than nowadays ).

Edited October 19, 2013 by Dingus

[Kiwi]

I started playing bass in 1986...my first amp was a NZ made Jansen 1x15 combo that was as big as a small fridge and put out 50w. I then swapped to a Peavey TNT150 but didn't like the lack of focus in the mids so then changed to a Trace Elliot AH250 series 6 with a Peavey 410TX cab but didn't like the lack of warmth from the amp, or the complete absence of mids from the cab. In the 90's I saved up for went for an SWR Basic 350 and Triad which was much more my thing. I had that set up for quite a few years.

[songofthewind]

Frunt! Anybody remember them? I borrowed one before I got my Laney Linebacker.

[MoonBassAlpha]

[quote name='songofthewind' timestamp='1382204444' post='2249313']
Frunt! Anybody remember them? I borrowed one before I got my Laney Linebacker.
[/quote]
I remember seeing an ad with them and Percy Jones. The amps had big metal heatsink/handles on the sides which I thought was a really good idea.

[Japhet]

I had a Peavey Mk 6. Couldn't afford Trace at the time. Also had a Fender BXR at some point (didn't like it though) and can't remember when. I know my Peavey had numerous pints of beer spilled into it and it never missed a beat. I know where it is now and it's still going strong and as far as I know has never had a single problem. It did feel like one end of it was full of concrete though.

[clauster]

I had Peavey combos for both guitar and bass in the 80s. But I lusted after Trace Elliott and a Fender valve combo for the guitars.

[RhysP]

[quote name='songofthewind' timestamp='1382204444' post='2249313']
Frunt! Anybody remember them? I borrowed one before I got my Laney Linebacker.
[/quote]

I've still got an old magazine with a review of a Frunt bass head.
It's got the Percy Jones ad in it too.

[lee4]

Marlin 25w amp to start(still got it).

[BluRay]

Indestructable Peavey Mk6 with stupid sized Peavey1820 cab to go with it. Seemed like the best rig in the world at the time!

[Bassman Steve]

I was using Acoustic throughout the 80's and converted to Boogie in 1989. That said I was using a Peavey 1820 cab (18 and 2 x 10). Great idea but the sound disappeared completely around the middle register of the bass!!

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1382274575' post='2249895']
I was using Acoustic throughout the 80's and converted to Boogie in 1989. That said I was using a Peavey 1820 cab (18 and 2 x 10). Great idea but the sound disappeared completely around the middle register of the bass!!
[/quote]
Their 410TX cab had the same issue. I thought it might be because the drivers were wired to be out of phase.

[W11ATO]

Had a trace head and 4x10 cab but discovered the GK RB800 and stuck with that for years

[Twigman]

[quote name='stu_g' timestamp='1377976634' post='2194361']
i had a session 100 4x10
[/quote]
snap

I loved it - I sold it to Moonbasealpha

[Twigman]

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1378154746' post='2196470']
Another Sessionette 4x10 here too. Did me for years, only just loud enough though for the band I was in at the time, but not too heavy either. They've got a very quiet preamp and might be good in to a class d power amp.


[/quote]
That one used to be mine right there!!


Before that I had a Carlsboro Cobra 90 head and a very DIY looking 1x15"

Edited October 23, 2013 by Twigman

[Rumple]

I had GAS for Trace gear during the 80's but only ever owned their GP11 pre amp which went into a Peavey power amp feeding a Peavey cab with (i think) 15" 10" & 6" speakers which was so heavy it spent most of it's life in a big caged trolley we pinched for behind a supermarket!

Ended the 80's with a more sensible Peavey TNT 150

[johnDeereJack]

Definitely Trace Elliot. I still have all of the Trace gear I bought from '80's and have added some more from that era too.