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worst amp you have owned or had the luck to use


stu_g

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ok i could be wrong but i dont remember a worst amp thread so im putting this out there to help people from buying a bass behemoth of the worst order!
mine was a custom sound trucker just very very dull also my worst through aggravation was a session sessionette bass 100 dont get me wrong i loved it when it worked but it started cutting out nobody could fix it (its your mosfets mate!)but they still charged anyhow! till i gave up and parted it out.
a lesson learnt i bought a trace elliot aH300SMX head in 1990 something have never looked back
stories pls do tell?

Edited by stu_g
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[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1359585518' post='1957259']
Another for the Carlsboro Stingray here. Only mine was a 100w head with separate speaker cab. It was the most toneless, lifeless waste of components I have ever had the misery of hearing. I hated the bloody thing.
[/quote]
[quote name='Gazm' timestamp='1359585546' post='1957260']
Also a Carlsbro Stingray 150W through their 2x15 "Pro" cab. Utter sh*te, no low end whatsoever!
[/quote]

We've obviously been traumatised by our ownership of the Carlsbro sh*te in our youth. I think we should sue for compensation.

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[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1359585738' post='1957265']
We've obviously been traumatised by our ownership of the Carlsbro sh*te in our youth. I think we should sue for compensation.
[/quote]

Saying that I also had one of their guitar amps + 4x12 from the same range and that was awesome!

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Carlsbro again, I'm afraid. One of those 'Stingray' monstrosities with four buttons for preset filter settings. Can't really remember much else about it, as my therapist says I shouldn't dwell on this sort of thing.

Funny thing is, they last forever. The same amp is still functioning just as it always has - same amp, same speaker. If only everything was made like that.

Used a Carlsbro Bomber too. sh*t.

Edited by paul_5
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Linear Concord 30w valve amp, bought from Tottenham Court Road, late '60's. I'd like to find one now, as I'm pretty sure I could get some decent guitar sound out of one, but for bass (admittedly into a home-made 4 x 12 cab, so not quite fair...) perfectly hopeless. I took up drums, instead. No idea what became of the 'crate' (too stoned to know, did I hear..? If only...).

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i do believe alot of the bass amps us bass players could buy back in the day where just adapted pa amps no effects no gain basically a very basic amp combined alot of the time with an inadequate speaker
i for one am glad of the choice we have nowadays

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I had a 100W "Sperrin" head. It was handmade by some fella in a shed. It hardly ever worked and when it did it cut out. Though it did sound amazing (to my totally uneducated ear). Especially when plugged into the the bass bin I got with it from the guitar shop. :lol: Wow they saw me coming...

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[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1359585899' post='1957271']
Carlsbro again, I'm afraid. One of those 'Stingray' monstrosities with four buttons for preset filter settings. Can't really remember much else about it, as my therapist says I shouldn't dwell on this sort of thing.

Funny thing is, they last forever. The same amp is still functioning just as it always has - same amp, same speaker. If only everything was made like that.

Used a Carlsbro Bomber too. sh*t.
[/quote]
I had to replace the bridge rectifier in mine.

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Fender bass combos from the late 80's sounded like there was a pillow over the speaker. The first amp I had was a NZ made Jansen 50. Built like a fridge with a 15" cone, 4 band eq and only 50w. But sounded like the Fender. Very low fi.

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My old rehearsal studio was equipped with a horrible selection of battered Ashdowns. All of them were awful but one was particularly appalling.

The only good thing that came of this experience was that it taught me to keep a little pre-amp in my gig bag at all times :)

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A festival/industry gig. Set up with 12 different venues in the town and music on constantly at them all, free to see anything. Deal was we all used the provided backline - which was great as some music shop had sponsored it all and it was all good stuff, you know brand new state of the art stuff....

except Ashdown had just brought out their superfly amp.

Now by choice I wouldn't play ashdown, but I regularly used an ABM300 head and they arn't awful- just not my flavour. The superfly however.... arrrgh the amount of time i sat hitting buttons to try and set the EQ vauguely right, you couldn't work out the gain and volume and worst of all I lent back mid gig and put my hand on it and you could have fried eggs on it. :(

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My first amp a Kustom 10 watt 1x10" combo has to be near the top

No bass whatsoever, huger hiss if you had the mid or high above 0, and weighs a f***ing ton for a tiny amp!

EDIT: I think I actually still have this lying around...

Edited by alstocko
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Nice topic.. :)

I used a Carlsboro keyboard amp as a bass amp once and that was pretty diabolical. I know it could be argued that it wasn't really fit for purpose but it had no balls and when asked to do a bit of low end, the speaker complained with that horrible paper/flap bottoming out sound.

The worst amp I ever owned was probably a '80s 100w Hiwatt L100H. It had no balls whatsoever and must have been really quite ill but my Linear L30 Conchord would have walked away from it. A new set of valves didn't improve it so I returned to the shop and he honoured by giving me my monies back. Don used to run a great shop. Shame becuase at low level it sounded really quite nice just a pain it wouldn't turn up! :(

And not meaning to jump on the band wagon but I'm not into Crashdowns either although I've never had one fail on me, I just can't get them to do my sound. :ph34r:

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