B-15?

[warwickbass]

Heya,

I'm looking for a new amp...and tubes have a certain draw to them, i'm looking at the ampeg b-15, and i'm wondering A) how they'll sound for me (i use just about every right hand technique known and lots of effects....spacy rock) and B) if it'll be loud enough, i'll be upgrading from a solid state 200 watt yorkville, and our drummer and guitarist are pretty noisy..the guitarist uses a 100 watt carivin half stack. Thanks in advance.

~Matt

[jimbobass]

A good rule of thumb is to have 3 to 4 times as much power as the guitar player to be heard this is also considering that you play loud...... So I don't think that a combo amp would be right unless you guys are just jamming and having fun and your not playing to loud. This is just my thoughts I have a GK backline 15" 125 watter and when we just write or jam on the getting into the mood kind of playing then It works out fine but after that and we gig I have to go bigger but Like I said it depends on what you guys are doing. Hope this helps.:cool: Peace
Jimbo

[entrada]

Originally posted by warwickbass
Heya,

I'm looking for a new amp...and tubes have a certain draw to them, i'm looking at the ampeg b-15, and i'm wondering A) how they'll sound for me (i use just about every right hand technique known and lots of effects....spacy rock) and B) if it'll be loud enough, i'll be upgrading from a solid state 200 watt yorkville, and our drummer and guitarist are pretty noisy..the guitarist uses a 100 watt carivin half stack. Thanks in advance.

~Matt
I've seen plenty of rock bands with a B15. They sound really warm and round and look cool with the flip top of course. I can't agree with the 3-4 times the power of the guitar player comment.
It completely depends on the amp. The best bass amp i ever played through at a gig was an early 70s Traynor YBA-1 that was rated between 40-50 watts!! I'm serious!! It was run through 2 EV 15" speakers and was loud as hell at 5 on the volume. So basically you can stand to have much less wattage when using a tube amp than a solid state amp. Keep that in mind and don't dismiss a 100 watt or less tube amp without trying it. Chances are, it will work.

[jimbobass]

My apologizes I thought you were trying to use a solid state amp in the case of tubes the I would agree with above bass player but in the solid state world I would use 3- 4x more

[Surferosad]

Which B-15 are you talking about? The 100 watts reissued one? Or the old Portaflex (about 60 watts)? The old Portaflex has to be mic'ed to be heard.

[entrada]

I would guess that it was the reissued B15 that I've seen in action the past few years. That would make more sense reliability-wise.
I just noticed that Surferosad has that Traynor that I was talking about. How much did you get yours for? I already have a cab, I just want a good tube head for cheap.

[Surferosad]

350 canadian dollars. But the price is going up, now they're usually around 400.

[entrada]

Originally posted by Surferosad
The old Portaflex has to be mic'ed to be heard.
That's surprising. It seems like 60 tube watts would cut the mustard.

[cubby]

Originally posted by entrada
That's surprising. It seems like 60 tube watts would cut the mustard.

It should be fine as long as the guitar player isn't trying to compensate for something with a 100W stack.

[entrada]

Originally posted by cubby
It should be fine as long as the guitar player isn't trying to compensate for something with a 100W stack.
Hopefully, he's already compensated with a Dodge Ram X-TRA cab
with a hemi. Yeah, I guess it would depend on the style of music being played.