How did you get to your back line?

[Number6]

Not sure i have got there yet. Still using my TC Electronic combo and an old Behringer head with 4x10 and 2x10 cabs.

[Roger2611]

Much as others on here, I started with crap (an Ohm Tramp...which I still have and actually still quite like!) Then through the Trace era with a nice SM300 head and the standard 1x15 4x10 set up, I then progressed to a Trace Twin Valve and a Mesa Boogie 1516E which was the best rig I ever owned, once that had completely trashed my back I finally found my way to Mark Bass gear because it sounded good but more importantly weighed a damn site less!

Still got the Mark Bass gear and added a Ampeg SVT 7Pro for that Ampeg sound......not that I think it actually delivers any kind of classic Ampeg niceness, so take the Ampeg as a back up class D amp if the Mark Bass ever gives up!

[sharkboy]

First amp was a very old Selmer valve combo that had had some serious abuse by the time it got to me, and didn't fare much better afterwards. From there we went to Carlsboro, before I decided to take this seriously and invest in a Trace Elliot 1x15 combo. That would have been around 1986, and it was pretty much Trace Elliot for the next 15 years, until I took a sabbatical from playing for 5 years. When it came time to gear up again, I decided to forego the weightlifting that came with the Trace gear and got a Mark Bass rig, which lasted about 2 years. From there, it was a short trip to the current rig of Schroeder cabs and TC Electronic Blacksmith head, and I can honestly say I've never been happier with a rig. The only change I'm considering is to move to a one cab option with a Barefaced Big Twin or Super Twin.


Having said that, the new Darkglass amp looks mighty interesting....

[jezzaboy]

In order:

10 watt Epiphone amp bought with 1st bass.

65 watt Ibanez amp. I think it had a 12" speaker but it was useless for the first band I joined, so replaced it with....

Ashdown Mag 300, 15" combo. Used this for ages and eventually removed the head and used it with a variety of cabs. Still have it as a back up.

SWR Tower of power head. Bought it as shop soiled for £200 from Guitarguitar. Big and heavy, 700 ish watts if I remember. Used it on a few gigs but moved it on as I was always scared of blowing up my cab.

Eden Nemisis 2 x 10 combo. Nice amp but sold on here, cant remember why. Back to the Mag 300..

Tc BG115 250. One of the early ones that went up in smoke. Piece of garbage. Back to the Mag 300..

Behringher BVT 450. Bought after reading Discreets review. Decent amp but large and heavy. Punted it for £50. Still going somewhere I bet.

Ashdown ABM 500 Evo 3. The best amp I have owned, one of the last ones. Used with 2 Mi cabs. Sold amp on (foolishly).

Peavey Minimax 500. Got this to downsize but it felt cheap and didn`t sound good to me. Sent back to Thomman.

Trace Elliott AH600. Bought from Thomman for the silly price of £280. Taking a bit of getting used to but a lovely bit of kit. Was going to pair it with a Markbass 2 x10 but the deal fell through so bought a Ashdown ABM mini 2x10 cab.

There we go.

[machinehead]

After moving from guitar to bass around 1985 I used a Peavey 15" combo. It was a great amp and I used it quite a few times in the Ulster Hall which is a huge venue and coped well. It makes me wonder why I now have one amp that has 750 watts.

After a break from playing from 1993 to 2003 it was another Peavey combo - a Databass 450, another super combo from Peavey.

After a couple of years I got interested in Markbass and owned LM I, LM II, traveller cabs 1 x 15", and a pair of traveller 2 x10" which were excellent. EDIT and a CMD121P combo which was excellent but the purchase of the Gen 2 Midget made the combo a bit redundant so it too was sold.

I was working in California in 2003 and heard about Schroeder cabs and bought one of the original angled 2 x 12. This was a good gigging cab and not hard to move about.

Next came Barefaced. I was one of Alex's first customers buying a Gen 1 Compact. When the Gen2 Midget was relased I got one of those as well. This was a big step up in sound quality. I bought a Mesa Walkabout around this time which I still have but don't use much.

I added a combo, an AER amp two which was intended for rehearsals and small pub gigs but ended up playing it at fairly large gigs. I really enjoy how this combo sounds and still have it but again, it's not being used much now. The reason appeaars below.

Inevitably, I ended up with Gen3 Barefaced, a BB2 and a Super Midget. A Thunderfunk was added to the arsenal, then a Genz Streamliner 900 (now sold).

A Reidmar 750 replaced the Streamliner which I use when I need to go lightweight. (I walk/ bus to some gigs with a trolley.)

Finally...I bought a Barefaced one10 and GK MB200 to replace the AER combo but haven't got around to selling the AER because I like it so much.

I'm certain there's other stuff I've left out.

Frank

Edited October 31, 2016 by machinehead

[stingrayPete1977]

1994-Laney B120(?) head and two 2x10 matching cabs, rubbish really.

1997-swapped one of the cabs for a Marshall 15" ,it was still crap.

1999-Peavey TNT 1x15" combo, great sound but lacking in a bit of volume.

2003-Ashdown evo ABM300 1x10 combo and 1x15" extension cab. Wooly but didn't set on fire! Died eventually mid gig.

2008- Genz shuttle 6.0 and a NEOX2x12T 4 ohm cab, brilliant.

2010- added a Genz 1x12T cab

2011- added a Genz shuttle 3.0

2012- added the might Genz Shuttlemax 9.2, loads of knobs!

2016- di box and monitor when possible.

[AustinArto]

I haven't really chopped and changed that much. My first decent rig was an SVTIII into an Ampeg 2x15, I replaced that because I moved continents and it wasn't practical to take it with me, ended up with a Hartke head and a SWR 410 which was fine for ages. Replaced the Hartke (HA) with an LH500 for a bit, then finally went lightweight with what I've got now; a GB head and a Schroeder 2x12.

I would swap out the Schroeder for a Barefaced cab ideally, but the Schroeder has been really good backline and I haven't had any issues with the sound. The GB head is fine but a couple of the pots are noisy so I should get it serviced really. Never bothered...

[Telebass]

Oooh, where to start?

Around 1970, had a smallish Selmer valve combo. Took it to Swaziland, where it probably still is!
Didn't have an amp of my own again until I found one when clearing out an RAF camp in 1974, a home built 50W 2x12.
Next was a Selmer Treble 'n' Bass 50 combo, followed fairly swiftly by a Roost 1x15 folded horn fed by a Vox AC50 head. That was a great sounding rig!
The Vox was replaced by a solid state 120W head which I had until I gave up completely around 87/88.
Roll on 2003 and a fat redundancy cheque has me buying a Sting bass and an Ashdown Electric Blue 15-150 (UK-built!). Once I got seriously gigging, I added a Deep115 cab which made it a pretty good rig, although it had to work hard.
On that note, I went to Mansons looking for a Mag 300 115 combo to go with the Deep 115. Guy in the shop says, "Have a go through that, you won't believe how nice it sounds!" Well, the Mag was sounding nothing special, so why not?
Markbass CMD121H...my wife is not at all musical and even she said how lovely it sounded! Take my money! It woke up that Deep cab too...
Since then (2006), it's been MB amps all the way, either the combo and cabs (currently a Traveler 121H) or an LMIII and a Barefaced Super 15, now both sold.
So there we are...

Edited November 3, 2016 by Telebass

[Dan Dare]

Where to start indeed. Around 1975, got my first "proper" set-up, a Sound City head (Remember them?) with a 2x12 (bought an empty cab and added drivers). Added another home made 2x12 later. Used that for a few years and then got fed up with the weight/bulk, so sold it and got the inevitable Carlsboro combo. Never liked it a lot (less good sounding than the old rig, but a lot easier to get in the back of the car. Followed that with an Ohm combo and additional power amp and cab for more volume.

In the early 1980s, walked into my local music shop and saw a Bassman 135 and 2x15, used but clean and reasonably priced. Tried it and had to have it. A couple of years later, one of the drivers blew, so replaced both with Peavey Black Widows, which made it sound pretty fab. Then we all went Trace crazy, so sold the Bassman head (wish I'd kept it at the prices they fetch now) and got a Trace AH350. That set-up served me well for a few years.

Eventually, wanted something a bit more transportable, so sold the cab and got an Ampeg SVT 4x10HE and 1x15HE. Next step was a bi-amped rig - stereo power amp (RSE 900w) and BBE pre. This was probably the nicest sounding rig I've owned. Smooth, fat and had endless clout and the BBE eq was very effective. Followed that with an EBS 350, which I never really got on with. Loud, flexible and easy to schlep, but always sounded too aggressive for my taste.

So back to a separate pre/power - Basswitch (which I still have) and the RSE power amp (which I kept). Then went shopping for a small combo and discovered Phil Jones cabs. For their size, they are pretty astonishing. Ended up with two C4s and a B4 and sold the Ampegs. Drive them either with the pre/power or a little Carvin class D head. They do the job, although I still hanker after the old Ampegs occasionally. However, my advancing age (63) and the fact that it all has to come up the stairs to my flat at the end of the evening means that's no longer an option.

Sorry to go on.

[TrevorR]

Started with a 75W Laney Linebacker combo in 1982.

Graduated to a Trace Elliott Series 6 1215 combo in 1988 (thanks to some industrial sponsorship money which went along with my university research grant) which I played for the next 20 years.

An SWR Workingman's 10 joined as a practice amp in about 2002.

In 2007 the TE fell off a luggage trolley on a load in and died. Having a gig the following Saturday it was rapidly replaced with an Ashdown MAG300evo and Ashdown 4x10 (act in haste and repent in leisure) which over the course of a year I grew to loathe. I just couldn't get it to sound good to my ears. I bought it because my chum had an old, black (UK built I later learned) MAG300 which my bass sounded amazing through. So...

In 2008 I got a Markbass Little Mark II, a 2x10 Traveler speaker and a 1x15 Traveler speaker and now I'm in hog's heaven with my sound. I love that amp set up. Sold off the SWR (which I was really sad to see go) and the cursed Ashdowns on eBay. No inclination of changing amps again at the moment. Ask me in 2028...

Edited November 1, 2016 by TrevorR