RJI777

You're absolutely right, their amps were not exceptional; and, like you said, neither is the power amp you built. But that's kinda my point. Our gear doesn't have to be exceptional to attain excellent performances. It has to be fit for purpose, but the prime factor in producing best in class performances is you, me or whoever is doing the playing. Unfortunately, it seems to me that we are losing sight of the things that matter. Equipment is being prioritized over human factors, which, IMHO, is not good.

It's now 10 years since the last post on this thread and, coincidentally, I have just retrieved my first proper bass head from long term storage: A Carlsbro Stingray Pro Bass 150. I also note that there are a lot of posts here in which it seems that bass players are mocking their amplification i.e., the bass heads made by Carlsbro back in the 80s. This I find a little strange as my sound was not at all bad. In fact, I was regularly complimented on my bass sound and the use of the word "amazing" was not infrequent. Simply put, I don't get it; the "amp blame game" that is; WTF? My bass head was usually played through a Carlsbro 1×15 cab, sometimes in parallel with an HH 4×12. Nothing special, right? I did (and still do) use an Aria Pro II SB900 bass, which helped, but it doesn't explain why my sound was not in the least as bad as described in the posts above. Makes you think, doesn't it? I mean, what is it that they say about bad workmen and their tools? Like I said, makes you think, right? Or, at least, it should.