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What amps did bassists use in the 70s?


1970

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I worked in a retail and hire music shop in the late 70s (when I should really have been at school).
My memories of the bass stock were little WEM combos, old and unloved Sound City stuff, HH, Marshall, Sunn, Ampeg and Acoustic.
Acoustic was what all the pros seemed to be after around 1978. I progressed from a WEM westminster to a HH VS100 head matched with an 18" ex sound system bass bin. Truly shocking wooly sound.
Everything weighed a ton. Even the little stuff.

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[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1331400003' post='1572443']
Anyone remember Custom Sound/Trucker amps? Late 70's into early 80's and truly horrible.
[/quote]

I had 2 different custom sound guitar amps, and really liked them. particularly my 60w one, which after being drowned in a flooded cellar, dried out 6 months later and started working again with a really fat sound like it never had before. Wish I hadn't sold it now... :(

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[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1331513949' post='1574129']
The OHM stuff was pretty pokey for it's size and sat between Laney and Peavey pricewise.
I can remember using one for a pub gig one night just to try it out and it was pretty reasonable, just not as good as the Peavey stuff.
[/quote]
Oh I remember the Ohm stuff too, I thought it was 80s though so I didn't mention it. My dad had an Ohm for a while he traded it in for a Polytone Minibrute 1! Weren't the ohm cabs concrete lined or something? - they were very heavy iirc...

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Sunn, Ampeg and Kustom amps were very popular with Motown/Soul players. American amps took a long time to get to the UK and there weren't many brands available in the market over here. Vox, Orange, WEM, Acoustic, HI-WATT, Marshall and HH were probably the most common amps seen on big stages over here during the 70's.

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1331553237' post='1574528']
Oh I remember the Ohm stuff too, I thought it was 80s though so I didn't mention it. My dad had an Ohm for a while he traded it in for a Polytone Minibrute 1! Weren't the ohm cabs concrete lined or something? - they were very heavy iirc...
[/quote]

I think they only just squeezed into the 70's (1978/1979?).
As for the cab construction, I seem to recall the OHM rep enthusiasticaly telling me that they were built of a new material which they used a computerised cutting system to shape.
Probably an early CNC setup and MDF.

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1331553237' post='1574528']
Oh I remember the Ohm stuff too, I thought it was 80s though so I didn't mention it. My dad had an Ohm for a while he traded it in for a Polytone Minibrute 1! [b]Weren't the ohm cabs concrete lined or something?[/b] - they were very heavy iirc...
[/quote]

There were a few odd ideas like that at the time. There was definitely a cab that had 2 'skins' of plywood with a cavity full of sand between them, and I know of at least one Bass Player who had pieces of paving slab inside his cab. one of the sales guys in a shop I worked at was running a mobile disco using a 100W marshall and a 1X18 that was literally full of old carpet offcuts. weighed a ton and sounded rubbish.

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[quote name='BRANCINI' timestamp='1331549189' post='1574406']
just npticed that FAL owned Roost. Now Roost was good kit iirc.

FAL stuff was also rebadged as RSC. Anybodt else remember them ?

[attachment=102278:info1c.jpg]
[/quote]

I vaguely remember Roost but I don't recall RSC.

I do remember Linear though, and FAl and RSC seem to have derived from them - [url="http://www.chambonino.com/work/linear/info1.html"]http://www.chambonino.com/work/linear/info1.html[/url]

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I wasn't playing in the 70's, but I still own and use a HH vs bassamp (around 1976) and a peavey mark III 400 (1978-9). Both sound interesting and somewhat different, but they really need modern cabs.

My earliest memories of kit are full of old italian names, none of which would anything to anyone. Davoli? FBT?

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[quote name='BRANCINI' timestamp='1331567072' post='1574934']
There were a few odd ideas like that at the time. There was definitely a cab that had 2 'skins' of plywood with a cavity full of sand between them, and I know of at least one Bass Player who had pieces of paving slab inside his cab. one of the sales guys in a shop I worked at was running a mobile disco using a 100W marshall and a 1X18 that was literally full of old carpet offcuts. weighed a ton and sounded rubbish.
[/quote]

The two skins and sand trick was a Wharfedale thing to reduce cabinet resonance but I can vaguely remember people filling speaker cabinets with all sorts of rubble. :)

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[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1331568420' post='1574968']
My earliest memories of kit are full of old italian names, none of which would anything to anyone. Davoli? FBT?
[/quote]

Not come across those two.
But, back in the early 70's most cars on the road in the UK were manufactured here and Italian food was only just starting to appear on supermarket shelves.

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I'm slightly too young to properly remember the 70's, but my first decent bass amp in the early 80s was a marshall valve bass head ... I can't remember how many watts it was, it might have only been 50, but it certainly wasn't very loud so I ended up part ex'ing it for a Peavy TNT130, which was a big step forward at the time. The Marshall did have a good rock sound though... I wish I'd kept it in a way as it was in really good nick and would no doubt be worth a few quid now.

I remember seeing a lot of old Selmer, Wem and HH stuff around back then...I did know one guy who had a Wal and and Orange Amp/Cab setup, but I think that kind of gear was quite rare in those days.

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I bought my first acoustic a 450 head and 406 cab from Kingfisher in fleet, about £700 if I remember, an absolute fortune, and it was worth every penny. The first bass amp I had that did the business. I tried HH, Fender, Marshall, Simms Watt, and they didnt come close

I bought a 220 and a 406 four or five years ago [and er then a few more] and they are still emminently giggable even today, if you dont mind the size.

I still have a 320 and a 406 cab and its fun to rattle the glasses off the shelf.

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[quote name='bumnote' timestamp='1331571667' post='1575060']
I bought my first acoustic a 450 head and 406 cab from Kingfisher in fleet, about £700 if I remember, an absolute fortune, and it was worth every penny. The first bass amp I had that did the business. I tried HH, Fender, Marshall, Simms Watt, and they didnt come close

I bought a 220 and a 406 four or five years ago [and er then a few more] and they are still emminently giggable even today, if you dont mind the size.

I still have a 320 and a 406 cab and its fun to rattle the glasses off the shelf.
[/quote]
Is your thumbnail pic from the back of one of your Acoustic cabs? I seem to remember mine having something like that on a plate on the back...

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[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1331570780' post='1575039']
FBT are more Pro Audio these days - [url="http://www.fbt.it/"]http://www.fbt.it/[/url]
[/quote]

Yeah, FBT now market the Cicognani stuff, which apparently is the "must have" italian boutique guitar amp make. Never used or seen their bass stuff.
I had a small and solid FBT bass combo around 1988, left it as payment for practice room fees when I moved to the UK :)

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[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1331568420' post='1574968']
My earliest memories of kit are full of old italian names, none of which would anything to anyone. Davoli? FBT?
[/quote]

Yeah there were a few Italian brands still around, very likey spin off from the accordian business, which was still going strong into the late 60s. I'm told that there was an Italian semi acoustic Bass that was partly made of hardboard.

I still have a Lorenzo acoustic, A lot like an EKO ( were they italian as well ? I - think so) I used to repair a lot of Bontempi organs and keyboards for Woolies and mail order catalogue firms in the 70s and 80s. Real quality kit they were. :P

Edited by BRANCINI
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ear and who was associated with what back then, some people only bought albums[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1331555774' post='1574605']
Sunn, Ampeg and Kustom amps were very popular with Motown/Soul players. American amps took a long time to get to the UK and there weren't many brands available in the market over here. Vox, Orange, WEM, Acoustic, HI-WATT, Marshall and HH were probably the most common amps seen on big stages over here during the 70's.
[/quote]

People were snobby about gear and who was associated with what back then, This cant have done Kustoms image a lot of good..Impressive looking Bass rig, but
Donny Osmond as a Bass player - Very uncool.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiNnDpIW918"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiNnDpIW918[/url]

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[quote name='BRANCINI' timestamp='1331577545' post='1575214']
I still have a Lorenzo acoustic, A lot like an EKO ( were they italian as well ? I - think so) I used to repair a lot of Bontempi organs and keyboards for Woolies and mail order catalogue firms in the 70s and 80s. Real quality kit they were. :P
[/quote]

EKO were Italian, and they're back! (albeit made in Czech or China these days).
[url="http://www.ekoguitars.it/viewdoc.asp?co_id=79840"]http://www.ekoguitars.it/viewdoc.asp?co_id=79840[/url]

Just before they disappeared from the UK last time, they brought out two solid body instruments - a 4 string bass and a strat copy.
They were absolutely astounding at the time and looked like the Ibanez SR505 does today.

I thought Lorenzo was a Japanese make but I could be way off the mark there.
I do remember that they were imported by Fletcher Coppock & Newman who were also importers of Hagstrom and Westone.

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1331572443' post='1575084']
Is your thumbnail pic from the back of one of your Acoustic cabs? I seem to remember mine having something like that on a plate on the back...
[/quote]


thats the one

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[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1331581477' post='1575341']
I thought Lorenzo was a Japanese make but I could be way off the mark there.
I do remember that they were imported by Fletcher Coppock & Newman who were also importers of Hagstrom and Westone.
[/quote]

You could well be right, but its in my head that its Iti... Its buried in the spare room at the mo, aint been played for a few years. its not all that good tbh, orrible blue colour with a scratchplate like a hummingbird. Not nearly as good as my EKO 12 wss.The wife bougt it for me at an auction somewhere, so had to keep it.

Odd times I pick up an acoustic, its my old 70s Yammy FG180. Nice to play my 4 chords on, ctisp and loud, but Very battered from where a mate used it to beat his wife with.....really !

Edited by BRANCINI
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[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1331568045' post='1574959']
I vaguely remember Roost but I don't recall RSC.

I do remember Linear though, and FAl and RSC seem to have derived from them - [url="http://www.chambonino.com/work/linear/info1.html"]http://www.chambonin...near/info1.html[/url]
[/quote]

I remember the name Roost, and RSC had a shop on High St in Leicester, I bought a 50w 12" driver from them. They used to have a catalogue a bit like Andertons and it was mostly mail order....

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[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1331581477' post='1575341']
EKO were Italian, and they're back! (albeit made in Czech or China these days).
[url="http://www.ekoguitars.it/viewdoc.asp?co_id=79840"]http://www.ekoguitar...asp?co_id=79840[/url]
[/quote]

You don't need to go that far to ease any EKO GAS. IIRC the story is that when EKO folded Brandoni bought all their unmade parts.
http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk/ekogtr.asp

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