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What amps did bassists use in the 70s?


1970

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From '72 to '77 I had a Marshall (respect) 50 watt top and 4x12 sloped cabinet.I dragged that little thing round Germany,and other European hovels and only once did I need to replace 1 EL34.Thing was,it was RED,and when I tried to find a straight front 4x12 to make a stack, it was well nigh impossible.The slanted cab had the word 'Bass' on the front although what made it different from a regular 4x12 I've yet to find out.A Marshall amp and a Fender Precision.What a combination!?!

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  • 7 years later...
On ‎09‎/‎03‎/‎2012 at 18:54, Jazzneck said:

ELGEN 100W Valve

Brilliant amps ......when working. Mine, which I bought second hand in Doncaster in the mid 70's caught fire on stage and we had to stop mid song to put it out. Have to totally agree with Musky, Carlsboro bass amps were a waste of solder, wood and wiring!!!!

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On ‎16‎/‎03‎/‎2012 at 16:02, Riddler said:

My first rig at school and for years after was a Selmer Treble n Bass 50 and a homemade 1 x 15" with a Fane driver. Still got them both!
I used to dream of an Acoustic 'stack'

I had a Selmer Treble and Bass 50 bought from Wilsic Sounds in Doncaster for £70 and I also made my own cabinet and put a 100w 18" Goodmans speaker in it......sounded great but not very loud.

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4 hours ago, Woody1957 said:

I had a Selmer Treble and Bass 50 bought from Wilsic Sounds in Doncaster for £70 and I also made my own cabinet and put a 100w 18" Goodmans speaker in it......sounded great but not very loud.

My mate had a T&B 50 with matching 18" cab in crocskin! First 'big' amp I ever plugged in to.

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I used a Leak TL 50 mono hifi  amp with a pair of KT88s at the output. A home built valve preamp and Goodmans 18” completed the rig. With a DB, of course. I had that in the sixties, there wasn’t much else around in those days. We played support to a band who had a very young Elkie Brooks on vocals. When they wheeled in a B15 I’d never seen anything so cool.

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Back in the late 70's early 80's when I started playing I had a Carlsbro Cobra 90 and then a used Carlsbro Stingray Bass which I think was a 150 watt. Both had 15" drivers and a switch system on the front called Band Pass Filters. The Stringray Bass had an interesting front porting design. HH was always pretty popular but was outside my budget at the time.

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24 minutes ago, CJBassman64 said:

Back in the late 70's early 80's when I started playing I had a Carlsbro Cobra 90 and then a used Carlsbro Stingray Bass which I think was a 150 watt. Both had 15" drivers and a switch system on the front called Band Pass Filters. The Stringray Bass had an interesting front porting design. HH was always pretty popular but was outside my budget at the time.

Remember a lot of people using these, especially in club bands up here in Yorkshire. The game changer was when Peavey brought out their 400 series amps - a huge 210 watts, 2 channels ,graphic eq, switchable compressor etc etc. Sounded ace by comparison and although costing more money were definitely a massive step forward. Ruled the roost until the advent of Trace!

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I went from a Kustom 200 315c to a Vox Westminster with two 18 cabinets. Absolutely no improvement in sound (1970). That Vox sure looked good. Most locals used a Peavey 215 and a Peavy head. This was a fairly loud,reliable amp. When I got 2 SVT cabinets in1975 people started to take notice. Little amps never were as good. Now my ABM 610 sounds as good as the Ampeg- I just can't lift it !

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Here in USA  the 70's Popular Amps were;

Ampeg SVT W/ 810

Acoustic 360/361-370/371 with 18" folded horn reflex 

There was some Peaveys [tube], Sunn's and Fenders mixed in.

I started with Peavey tube head and their 18"  folded horn, then moved to SVT/810

Most[ not all] solid state amps back then were weak, a 100 watt tube amp had considerably more dynamics , balls and volume compared to most 350 watt solid state amps.

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Just now, bassace said:

Nobody remember Ted Wallace? A bit boutique but surely someone.

Wallace amps were great. I didn't see many in use and never saw one for sale but they were certainly loved by their owners.

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On ‎03‎/‎06‎/‎2019 at 13:28, casapete said:

Remember a lot of people using these, especially in club bands up here in Yorkshire. The game changer was when Peavey brought out their 400 series amps - a huge 210 watts, 2 channels ,graphic eq, switchable compressor etc etc. Sounded ace by comparison and although costing more money were definitely a massive step forward. Ruled the roost until the advent of Trace!

Up to the start of the year, I was using a Peavey 400 Series Mark IV head; it weighed a ton, sounded huge and cost £100. If I was still gigging I would have kept it but I found a Peavey Century bass head for even cheaper so I sold it, but the Mark IV through a matching Peavey 2x15 is the best sounding rig I've ever owned.

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2 hours ago, Jono Bolton said:

Up to the start of the year, I was using a Peavey 400 Series Mark IV head; it weighed a ton, sounded huge and cost £100. If I was still gigging I would have kept it but I found a Peavey Century bass head for even cheaper so I sold it, but the Mark IV through a matching Peavey 2x15 is the best sounding rig I've ever owned.

The one I had ended up being a rental amp with a local PA hire company. As far as I know it’s still going strong, must be around 40 years old now! Great amps. 

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At the age of 16 (around 1973) I bought an old 40 watt Viking (tube) Bass Amp and shabby 2 x 15 Viking cab. I really thought I'd arrived.......

It was purchased from Allan Gordon Studios in Markhouse Road Walthamstow, London. A bit of a junk shop by today's standards, but then it was a wonderland that did a bit of everything musical. Sadly the amp packed up only a few weeks into using it and blew the speakers. The speakers were replaced by a no name 4 x 12 and the amp was repaired and replaced soon after by a Carlsbro Marlin PA amp. Why I bought a PA amp for bass I don't know.... I guess it was to put the vocals through..... The good bad old days!

Viking amp.PNG

Edited by paulmcnamara
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I didn’t begin my playing adventure until the early ‘80s but even then I was buying 2nd-hand gear made in the 70s. My very first big rig was a Marshall 100 amp head paired with a Fender Bassman 2x15 cab. Gi-normous! And of course required the whole band to carry it around.

A bit later I switched to Acoustic amps, again from the 70’s, which I loved and used into the 1990’s. In fact I sold my Acoustic bass combo on here a few years back. 🤖

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The best gear I remember seeing, probably very late 70’s was a local guy who had a fretless Wal, with a Wallace head and EV 15” cab, and a Polytone combo for small gigs.  Other than that it was all 70’s Fenders, some Ibanez and Aria and loads of Peavey and HH.  The Sound City heads were quite popular, and not very old then either..and a lot of TV’s still had valves and were rented 😳

Edited by BassBod
Further thoughts..
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Thinking back...there were a few Rickenbakers around as well..which I found surprising, even then.  They were very expensive in a place like Bristol, so I assume most had been acquired in that London rather than locally.  

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