Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

This old Selmer is the most badass bass amp


GrowlyBassDude

Recommended Posts

Anyone else using old valve amps for bass? 
 

I bought this old beast right before the first lockdown as a DOA amp. It needed a full restoration (electronically). I finally got it finished and tried it out.
 

Wasn’t expecting much, but it actually sounds great for bass. Balanced across all of the strings, and the G string sounds FAT, whereas I’m used to my Ampeg (PF-500) sounding a bit thin on that string. 
 

It’s a bit impractical to gig with (weight), but that aside, it’s a very cool amp for bass. 

9358EACB-CF51-4F59-B1C8-4E3486EA444A.jpeg

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a lot of talk about boutique amps and a lot of money that can be spent on tubey stuff, but despite owning at one time or another the most expensive all-tube amps that both Mesa and Ampeg produce - silly money in the case of the former (north of £3000) - as well as loads of top end hybrid/non-tube gear by Aguilar, Mesa, PJB, Markbass etc (and don;t get me started on how many expensive cabs I've owned), without doubt the best bass tone I ever had was from an early 70's WEM 15" combo that cost me £300 🤔

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL I remember those old PA amps from back in the day.  As for the TB50 it simply didn't have the power to produce a reasonable volume without distortion. Some folk like Lemmy just went with the crap and made it part of their sound. The engineer in me could not so I started on my quest to sound like a bass and not a distorted low tuned guitar!

 

If you like what the TB50 does for you more power to you - enjoy. :D

Edited by BassmanPaul
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

LOL I remember those old PA amps from back in the day.  As for the TB50 it simply didn't have the power to produce a reasonable volume without distortion. Some folk like Lemmy just went with the crap and made it part of their sound. The engineer in me could not so I started on my quest to sound like a bass and not a distorted low tuned guitar!

 

If you like what the TB50 does for you more power to you - enjoy. :D


I used to own a few Selmer T&B heads that were my main amps, but for guitar. They were amazing. I was buying them for £50 twenty years ago. Those were the days. 
 

I did some bass recording with one, but it really didn’t have much about it in that application for my needs. Managed to record fairly well at lower volumes before it began to fart out, but didn’t have the grunt to gig with it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, FinnDave said:

I had a Selmer T&B 50 valve amp from the mid 70s until the mid 80s - never left me down and always sounded great.

I had a Selmer T&B 50 mk3 bought on HP from Bells catalogue. Initially used with a DIY 1x12 Goodmans cab then with a Selmer Goliath 1x18 100w cab, absolutely fantastic tone with a Hagstrong Futurama bass. Most bassists moved up to the Selmer PA 100 when they needed more power. There was something special about the frequency ranges chosen for the pre on the PA 100, somehow a very full and rounded tone . Fantastic amps and very versatile, congratulations on finding and refurbishing the PA 100, I've still got a Selmer T&B 50 mk2 in the basement pacticently waiting for me to rebuild it. Enjoy your PA100.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to gig my T&B 50 with a homemade (well, actually made in the school woodwork shop) 2x15 cab. I remember taking the bus to Wilmslow Audio to collect the speakers.

 

I used to gang the treble and bass channels together, probably sounded terrible by today's standards but I thought it was great back then.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, FinnDave said:

I used to gig my T&B 50 with a homemade (well, actually made in the school woodwork shop) 2x15 cab. I remember taking the bus to Wilmslow Audio to collect the speakers.

 

I used to gang the treble and bass channels together, probably sounded terrible by today's standards but I thought it was great back then.

I did the same😁

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first amp (1981) was a T&B 50, the snakeskin covered one. Got it from a charity shop for £20, with a matching 2x12 cab. Gigged mine with a home-made 1x15, dunno how it really sounded but it impressed the f*** out of teenage me!

 

It died when our drummer's basement (where we used to practice) flooded. The annoying thing (devastating at the time) was that I'd just left the band but hadn't picked my gear up yet.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

It looks very cool, so many options , I’m guessing the rows of knobs work for the various outlets at the bottom?

Each vertical  row of knobs constitute a channel with the sockets under them high impedance inputs for each channel.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I paid the princely sum of £5 for this Selmer treble n bass 50 from a chap who was moving house and didn't want to take it with him. 

 

When I turned up, I was sure he was going to say that he had missed a zero off the price, but nope..... £5!

 

What really narked me was that he told me he left the selmer speaker cab that he used with the amp in the loft of the house he lived in previously!

tb.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, GlamBass74 said:

I paid the princely sum of £5 for this Selmer treble n bass 50 from a chap who was moving house and didn't want to take it with him. 

 

When I turned up, I was sure he was going to say that he had missed a zero off the price, but nope..... £5!

 

What really narked me was that he told me he left the selmer speaker cab that he used with the amp in the loft of the house he lived in previously!

tb.jpg

 

You were robbed ... those knobs aren't original.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, GlamBass74 said:

I paid the princely sum of £5 for this Selmer treble n bass 50 from a chap who was moving house and didn't want to take it with him. 

 

When I turned up, I was sure he was going to say that he had missed a zero off the price, but nope..... £5!

 

What really narked me was that he told me he left the selmer speaker cab that he used with the amp in the loft of the house he lived in previously!

tb.jpg

 

That brings back some memories! I recovered mine (not too well) and changed the knobs…left the frontplate with the original Selmer harp logo and a red and white mushroom. I'd love to know what happened to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice amp.

 

I had a SUPER ZODIAC 50 for a while, it belonged to my friends Father who played organ, I would have kept it but I needed the space so sold it to a guy in France who played keyboards in a Math Rock band, DHL trashed it and he had to have it rebuilt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Rumple said:

Nice amp.

 

I had a SUPER ZODIAC 50 for a while, it belonged to my friends Father who played organ, I would have kept it but I needed the space so sold it to a guy in France who played keyboards in a Math Rock band, DHL trashed it and he had to have it rebuilt.

 

I sold my old T'n'B to a guy in Croatia. I took out all the valves and wrapped them individually in (newly-washed) old socks before packing the thing up. 

 

I'm glad I did. On arrival in Croatia the local Customs guys completely dismantled the whole thing looking for drugs.

 

The buyer wasn't even slightly concerned; he'd been expecting that to happen. He re-assembled the amp, fired it up, and away he went.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

 

I sold my old T'n'B to a guy in Croatia. I took out all the valves and wrapped them individually in (newly-washed) old socks before packing the thing up. 

 

I'm glad I did. On arrival in Croatia the local Customs guys completely dismantled the whole thing looking for drugs.

 

The buyer wasn't even slightly concerned; he'd been expecting that to happen. He re-assembled the amp, fired it up, and away he went.

 

Brilliant! Mine had been dropped from a great height and the whole case had come apart, UPS paid for the repairs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...