Maine Bass Combo

[Hutton]

I came across what looked like a 2X12 combo today. It was badged 'Maine' on the grill and had 'Bass 12/60' marked on the panel which was coloured red. It looked like an ok piece of kit which I have access to if I need to use it. Does anybody know anything about these combos or the Maine make?

[crez5150]

[quote name='Hutton' post='863433' date='Jun 10 2010, 04:22 PM']I came across what looked like a 2X12 combo today. It was badged 'Maine' on the grill and had 'Bass 12/60' marked on the panel which was coloured red. It looked like an ok piece of kit which I have access to if I need to use it. Does anybody know anything about these combos or the Maine make?[/quote]


I had a Maine 2 x 12 valve guitar combo for years..... it was great. Bloody heavy but great..... don't know anything about them though

[chris_b]

As far as I know, British made Maine were sold in the 70's and early 80's. they were bomb proof, very heavy, never broke down and sounded pretty good for guitar. I've known 3 guitarists who used them but have never heard a bass version.

[Hutton]

Thanks chaps. Much appreciated.

[casapete]

[quote name='chris_b' post='863458' date='Jun 10 2010, 04:40 PM']As far as I know, British made Maine were sold in the 70's and early 80's. they were bomb proof, very heavy, never broke down and sounded pretty good for guitar. I've known 3 guitarists who used them but have never heard a bass version.[/quote]

+1

Maine made guitar amps/combos/cabinets, which often featured metal domed speakers (McKenzies?), and I think did make a bass range (Maine Bassman), but cant remember a 2x12 combo. Seem to remember a fairly compact 2x10 guitar combo
being one of their designs. (the guitar amps usually featured reverb and a master vol/distortion control.)
AFAIK all of Maine stuff was solid state - cant remember seeing any valve designs. Was briefly in a band which had a Maine PA head -
200 watts/graphic /5 channels etc which was a hell of a lot at the time! Was well made honest gear that took a fair bit of abuse,still see
the odd item for sale so must have been ok!

[Hutton]

[quote name='casapete' post='863541' date='Jun 10 2010, 06:07 PM']+1

Maine made guitar amps/combos/cabinets, which often featured metal domed speakers (McKenzies?), and I think did make a bass range (Maine Bassman), but cant remember a 2x12 combo. Seem to remember a fairly compact 2x10 guitar combo
being one of their designs. (the guitar amps usually featured reverb and a master vol/distortion control.)
AFAIK all of Maine stuff was solid state - cant remember seeing any valve designs. Was briefly in a band which had a Maine PA head -
200 watts/graphic /5 channels etc which was a hell of a lot at the time! Was well made honest gear that took a fair bit of abuse,still see
the odd item for sale so must have been ok![/quote]

Thanks. This combo may well be a 2X10. I have only seen it under a stage where it is being stored so it was pretty dark. I'll have to investigate it further.

[geoffbyrne]

I had a Maine guitar head & 2x12 sealed cab for a long time - the cab was 16 Ohm & the amp produced about 65 w through it, but would go down to 4Ohms & round about 150w.

Later, when I took up bass, I found an open-backed Maine Guitar & Bass 2x12 combo on Ebay with McKenzie speakers. The guitar channel was wonky but the bass channel was huge!!! So huge it blew the speakers after about 3 weeks of playing out. The other problem was it's weight - I was 15 1/2 stone at the time & could barely move it - I had to put a couple more handles on the sides & get help to move it.

The guitar head I had had that constant 'suzz' underneath that most of the Crate Powerblocks exhibit & I wouldn't be surprised if the power amp chips used were of the same family.

Certainly have a look at it, but listen carefully to the amp & beware open-backed cabs used for bass.

Geoff

[MoonBassAlpha]

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='864270' date='Jun 11 2010, 12:54 PM']I had a Maine guitar head & 2x12 sealed cab for a long time - the cab was 16 Ohm & the amp produced about 65 w through it, but would go down to 4Ohms & round about 150w.

Later, when I took up bass, I found an open-backed Maine Guitar & Bass 2x12 combo on Ebay with McKenzie speakers. The guitar channel was wonky but the bass channel was huge!!! So huge it blew the speakers after about 3 weeks of playing out. The other problem was it's weight - I was 15 1/2 stone at the time & could barely move it - I had to put a couple more handles on the sides & get help to move it.

The guitar head I had had that constant 'suzz' underneath that most of the Crate Powerblocks exhibit & I wouldn't be surprised if the power amp chips used were of the same family.

Certainly have a look at it, but listen carefully to the amp & beware open-backed cabs used for bass.

Geoff[/quote]
The Maine things wouldn't have used power amp chips, way before them! They'd almost certainly be 2N3055 type transistors, like most solid state stuff of that era (HH etc.) readily servicable.
They were made in Watford, on Rickmansworth road iirc
I Knew someone who has a job briefly testing the units with a guitar as a final QC check. I think they went down late 70's/early 80's, but I also remember them being solid reliable gear.

[lozbass]

Maine was very solid stuff - decent tone and nicely made. The brand seemed to be fairly short lived, and as everybody else has said, the peak period seemed to be late '70s and early '80s. The company did use some aluminium domed drivers - these were Altec Lansing (421 8H) in the 15" bin (an exponential horn if I remember correctly). Altec produced some superb drivers along with Gauss, Electovoice, JBL and Cerwin Vega at the time. If the gear that you're looking at has the Altecs, I'd certainly give it serious consideration.

[id-dis]

still got my old Maine bass cab with a 1x15" ElectroVoice speaker in it bought it new from CC music in glasgow. the metal dome cracked one night under pressure and was making a lot of noise so i carefully detached it from the speaker cone and its worked just fine ever since. probably not as bright as it was but still sounds great. ive used it in multiple configurations solo and paired with different amps and speakers and its always delivered.

probably my favourite sound was with a 1970s laney valve top with the maine cab and a used marshall 4x12. killed the 4x12 after a year or two but it sounded unreal. also paired it with a maine top amp and an altec 18" in a folded bin and what a sound, the open E on my yamaha SB55 was like a grand piano ringing out. I also used dean markley british sound strings (worth every penny) which i cannot get now. Many a bassist asked me how i got my sound and while it may not have been perfect it was very much alive.

[id-dis]

[quote name='id-dis' post='1136625' date='Feb 22 2011, 01:15 AM']still got my old Maine bass cab with a 1x15" ElectroVoice speaker in it bought it new from CC music in glasgow. the metal dome cracked one night under pressure and was making a lot of noise so i carefully detached it from the speaker cone and its worked just fine ever since. probably not as bright as it was but still sounds great. ive used it in multiple configurations solo and paired with different amps and speakers and its always delivered.

probably my favourite sound was with a 1970s laney valve top with the maine cab and a used marshall 4x12. killed the 4x12 after a year or two but it sounded unreal. also paired it with a maine top amp and an altec 18" in a folded bin and what a sound, the open E on my yamaha SB55 was like a grand piano ringing out. I also used dean markley british sound strings (worth every penny) which i cannot get now. Many a bassist asked me how i got my sound and while it may not have been perfect it was very much alive.[/quote]

Visit here and you will get a peek at the cabinet in the videos section

[url="http://www.manicnoises.co.uk"]www.manicnoises.co.uk[/url]

[NeilMorrell]

I have a Maine "Musician" 2x12 100w Combo. There was a 80w 2x10 version (Stage) and a 50w 2x8 (Club).

It has 3 channels, has an enormous reverb tank and sounds almost like a valve amp. The speakers in mine are Fane. Mine is closed back, very heavy and practically bombproof. Fretless sounds fab through it with just a little reverb.

I remember once being told that the guy that started Session had something to do with these amps.

Edited December 5, 2011 by NeilMorrell