apparently Josh Homme likes these as guitar amps. It has such a classic sound, its exactly what I hear in my head when I think "Bass".. You should do more bass demos Johan, you're a great bassist.
That is one of the most amazing freebies I have ever heard about! I bet the updated bass amplifier wasn't even as good as a vintage Ampeg B-18. Some of it is opinion, or not wanting vintage vacuum tube technology.
I have to wonder how come it distorts so much with the Gibson bass. Seeing the empty holes on the back chassis make me wonder what kind of half-ass servicing or modifications it has undergone.
Excellent video! I couldn't agree more about bass tube amps being underappreciated. I recently made a video featuring my rare Italian amp that's hitting the 50-year mark this year, and it's been a staple in my setup for 4 years. No matter what instrument I use with it, the sound quality is always top-notch. Transistor amps are great too, but they'll never really be my soft spot. Your video does a great job highlighting their value. Keep it up!
These are great bass amps! Thanks for featuring it, the EV speaker probably makes it that much better, love the Ripper and Gene bass riffs! stay safe, Johan and have a great weekend
Psionic Audio has been posting vids on TH-cam this week where he repairs and refurbishes the B-15 belongings to *Sun Records*! It does have an SRO in it, which he feels has too much midrange.
I used to work at a (slightly famous) vintage guitar shop in the late eighties to early nineties in New Jersey - our house amp was B-15 lightly modified by Ken Fisher . a ‘62 strat thru that amp is , still to this day , the greatest clean guitar sound I’ve ever heard - 3D doesn’t begin to describe it ... it was enthralling
My 1964 B12X sounds great with a strat or telecaster (or anything really), also has echo-dimension and vibrato, C12N speaker and horn (bass sounds great too)!
That is bass sound! For a 30ish Watt amp it sounds so beefy. Not the easiest to haul around or keep up with a drummer but the studio tone is in beatable. I have a trinity trip top kit that sounds very close to this but has fixed and cathode switch and dual channels which adds some great options. It’s amazing the the v4 and svt voicing is so close to these b15s. Takes fuzz pedals well too!
For another classic Ampeg rig, demo the big amp (SVT, V-4 or V-22) used by the Faces and Rolling Stones from late sixties through the seventies. Black Oak Arkansas used Ampegs also.
QOTSA more recently too. A cranked V series amp also gives a pretty convincing Iggy & the Stooges tone. The V-4 is the only head I've ever played that could go toe to toe with a Marshall Super Lead in terms of volume and "muscle".
Hi Johan! First at all Cort is very close to the Fender, so technically the sound was 100% solid standard groove, but Gibson is so nice, so I think, for new wave bands and for avantgarde Gibson will sound ok.👍 And please, fix the description, you wrote there Sort, Change it to Cort. He did a work great, don't disappoint him. Good video! 👍 See you! Zigfrid Btw must be nice to check out LP Bass. Epiphone made it well!
I use a G3 on everything from straight ahead jazz to metal. Peter Cetera played a Grabber on many Chicago recordings...just deep fudgy groove most of the time so I would say they are tonally pretty versatile.
the Motown guys used d-boxes to record (both bass and guitar). the studio was really small and they needed horns and strings with minimal overdubbing capability the b15s were used live for bass. the clean sound on those is amazing dirty, not so much
@@neocollective, I watched a video about this ---- it wasn't a Direct Box of the type we're familiar with, it was a custom-built tube preamp with 5 or 6 inputs and it was used for guitar as well as bass.
Also having owned an SVT in the past-I Love AMPEGS-BUT THE WEIGHT AND COST TO RE-TUBE HAS ONCE AGAIN-LEAD ME BACK TO BASSMAN STYLE TUBE AMPS AS MY PERSONAL STANDARD OF TONE ! VOLUME IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE !
I've always preferred 15" and 18" on bass. Everyone else are playing the 4x10" cabs. Some rooms are very resonant at 80-160Hz, and 10" speakers always tends to boost those frequencies even more. A 2x15" cab always sound more linear in my opinion. 1x18" and 4x10" can work nicely with a crossover though.
great amps and review, but the common misnomer is that Jamerson used one to record with, but he did not. He recorded thru a very simple direct inject box., copies of which are being made today. Acme Audio Motown D.I. WB-3 Direct Input Box. Jamerson used the B15 for live work.
Yeah the b18n! It’s got 50 watts and sounds so big. Rick Danko also used one with the last waltz, which is why I had to have one lol :). Paired with a 15n extension cab from the 70’s, I really can’t be happier about my recording/home setup
Um, *maybe*. The B15 has a hardwired 4 wire speaker cable and special plug on the cabinet end (4 pin or 8 pin, depending on the exact model year), designed to prevent the amp from accidentally passing signal if somebody tries to play through it when the speaker cabinet isn't hooked up to it (which can blow the output transformer). Some Ampegs have an additional standard output jack for an extension cabinet but the ext cab won't work if the main cabinet isn't also hooked up to the amp. You would need some kind of special custom made adapter to simply play a different speaker cabinet without using the original as well (maybe FlipTops sells such a thing). Psionic Audio has been posting vids of the B15 belonging to *Sun Records* which he is currently repairing. Check it out!
So, let me help us: JOHAN, FIX THE DESCRIPTION, ITS "SORT" and must be "CORT"!!! Sorry, but I hope, you agree with me, I just want to say it without to much attention, sure Johan will read it!👍🤘Thank you for being so fast!!!😀
(* edit: see below comment) I´d say, that two-pickup Gibson bass is called "The Ripper". The Gibson "Grabber" has the same body form, but sports only one "sliding" pickup - from neck to bridge - instead of a pickup selector . And it´s got a different, "Flying-V-like" headstock. * ...and Mr. Segeborn himself has presented the two models, a couple of years ago! :-D. See link: th-cam.com/video/lYRMfUvEo1Q/w-d-xo.html
@@JohanSegeborn That's been my problem too, there's nowhere near as much bass gear floating around - probably because far fewer people are actually playing in bands nowadays!
@@JohanSegeborn , The Psionic Audio channel on TH-cam has been doing a series of videos about repairing and improving the B15 that belongs to *Sun Studios*. It has an Electrovoice SRO speaker in it, which he feels has way too much midrange.
Did Gene start on guitar? His bass riffs are basically guitar riffs. I was most impressed with that aspect of the video. I admit it, bass bores me to death. LOL.
I used to play bass. You also show why it's more boring to play on your own, compared to guitar. Either you play in a band, or you don't. Cheers though, cool amp, but there are many other great amps like Acoustic 360, Hiwatt, SVT, Fender Bassman
@@goodun2974 You're talking about the small mixer that they plugged into -two or three guitars and Jamerson's bass. This mixer fed an amplifier which drove the single 15" speaker that they all used as a monitor in the studio while tracking. Each of the inputs had a DI which was sent to the recording console in the control room. That monitor speaker in the studio was never mic'ed, all guitars and basses were only ever DI.
@@zmix My point was that it was not strictly a passive, transformer type direct-in box, as many recording bassists are familiar with. From the description I read elsewhere it sounds as if the Motown preamp/ mixer was more of an electronic splitter really, with individual gains for everybody playing through that shared monitor you mention, and isolated, buffered outputs going into the mixing board as well. Being a tube mixer, it probably colored the sound, in a pleasant manner, far more than a modern DI box would have.
@@goodun2974 If you want to talk about the recording as a system, then yes the passive DI they used was only a small part of it. Let's look at the signal path: The transformers in the mixer were sent directly to the inputs of the recording console in the control room, (the tube mixer in the studio itself was only the musician's monitor) for most of the Detroit sessions, this recording console was tube, with transformer coupled mic inputs, so if you intend to include that in your description, then you would also want to include the tape machine and the return / playback path, for a total of 8 transformers from the instrument to the console to the tape machine, then from the tape machine through the console again to the 2-track. As far as the DI themselves, they were only passive transformer DI circuits.
apparently Josh Homme likes these as guitar amps. It has such a classic sound, its exactly what I hear in my head when I think "Bass".. You should do more bass demos Johan, you're a great bassist.
Thanks, it’s great to hear that!
Hey I have the 18” one of these. My highschool was updating their amps and were THROWING IT AWAY. So i got it for free.
So, completely unrelated, where did you go to highschool?
@@trulsolsen683 generic American midwest highschool
Congrats! 😀
That is one of the most amazing freebies I have ever heard about! I bet the updated bass amplifier wasn't even as good as a vintage Ampeg B-18. Some of it is opinion, or not wanting vintage vacuum tube technology.
Rock and Roll High School!
Outstanding playing and tones, thanks , good job. i own a 1961 with navy Tolex and i love it.
Gib basses are seriously underrated- great tones
Thanks Greg!
I have to wonder how come it distorts so much with the Gibson bass. Seeing the empty holes on the back chassis make me wonder what kind of half-ass servicing or modifications it has undergone.
The B15 just has the perfect frequency response. Not too much deep sub bass, just a perfect classic tone that works well for so many styles.
Wicked no BS right hand real badassz bass technique at 1:35!
I usually play a '61 Precision or 75 G-3 through my B15.
Great content as usual.
Cheers!
Thanks Sean’ glad you like it!
Excellent video! I couldn't agree more about bass tube amps being underappreciated. I recently made a video featuring my rare Italian amp that's hitting the 50-year mark this year, and it's been a staple in my setup for 4 years. No matter what instrument I use with it, the sound quality is always top-notch. Transistor amps are great too, but they'll never really be my soft spot. Your video does a great job highlighting their value. Keep it up!
These are great bass amps! Thanks for featuring it, the EV speaker probably makes it that much better, love the Ripper and Gene bass riffs! stay safe, Johan and have a great weekend
Thanks man, you have a great one too!
Psionic Audio has been posting vids on TH-cam this week where he repairs and refurbishes the B-15 belongings to *Sun Records*! It does have an SRO in it, which he feels has too much midrange.
@@goodun2974 thanks. Watching
Finally some love to bass players. I would love to hear more Ampeg. Even Guitar sounds awesome on an SVT Classic.
More is coming up!
love the sound of this amp with a p-bass, perfect combination for recording in my opinion.
Thank you Johan!!!! I wanna see you play a Sunn 2000s w/matching 2x15 and get your Felix Pappalardi on!!!!!
First chance I get!
That was my sound for years! I had an EV SRO 15”. The grind was right in my fingers man.
Great video.
I used to work at a (slightly famous) vintage guitar shop in the late eighties to early nineties in New Jersey -
our house amp was B-15 lightly modified by Ken Fisher . a ‘62 strat thru that amp is , still to this day , the greatest clean guitar sound I’ve ever heard - 3D doesn’t begin to describe it ... it was enthralling
My 1964 B12X sounds great with a strat or telecaster (or anything really), also has echo-dimension and vibrato, C12N speaker and horn (bass sounds great too)!
That gibson grabber is awesome
Thanks, glad to hear it!
Fantastic! More 60s/70s Ampegs please!
Thanks! More is coming up!
Great amp and great sound! Maybe think about doing a blasting SVT amp sometime! Cheers
Thanks Darrell! I’ll do the SVT first chance I get!
More bass videos! Great video! Thanks for posting!
Thanks so much-this just solidified my plan to obtain a Great Precision bass next ! the Ripper is very even all around-but the Precision is it !
Bass players are so underrated 😎
Ampeg is THE bass tone in my head. Doesn't hurt that my friend who plays bass in our church band plays an Ampeg 😁 God bless and thump on 😎🎸👍
That is bass sound! For a 30ish Watt amp it sounds so beefy. Not the easiest to haul around or keep up with a drummer but the studio tone is in beatable. I have a trinity trip top kit that sounds very close to this but has fixed and cathode switch and dual channels which adds some great options. It’s amazing the the v4 and svt voicing is so close to these b15s. Takes fuzz pedals well too!
The guitar solo on "reeling in the years" was played thru one these
For another classic Ampeg rig, demo the big amp (SVT, V-4 or V-22) used by the Faces and Rolling Stones from late sixties through the seventies. Black Oak Arkansas used Ampegs also.
QOTSA more recently too. A cranked V series amp also gives a pretty convincing Iggy & the Stooges tone.
The V-4 is the only head I've ever played that could go toe to toe with a Marshall Super Lead in terms of volume and "muscle".
Or play guitar through an SVT (stones did this in 69)
I’ll definitely keep those in mind
Apparently Jamerson mostly played straight into the console (DI), though there are certainly photos of him using an Ampeg.
can never tell if the camera is shaking because of the volume of the amp or because of the classic johan stomp ;)
I was given one of these last year! I haven't even turned it on yet, the tubes are caked with decades of dust so I need it serviced first.
Psionic Audio on TH-cam is currently doing a series of videos about repairing an Ampeg B-15 that belongs to Sun Studios! You may find it helpfull.
Not a whole lot of power but oh so sweet!
That amp may have been on more recordings than any other in history.
Great tone! I will never let go of my 70's Ampeg V4-B.
Now, how about Bass + Silverface Dual Showman ? ;)
Thanks! The Dual Showman is actually an amazing amp for bass
@@JohanSegeborn maybe a video? bass+Silverface Dual Showman. That would be great!
I love those EV15L and EV15B speakers for guitar, too. They're equally good.
Yeah really versatile
Nice tone from the Precision
I own a 1967 SB15 Flip Top Portaflex, the Solid state version
Absoloutely fantastic !!
You should try an Acoustic 360 for those classic Zeppelin bass tones.
Yeah first chance I get!
And Jaco too...
I played one of those recently in a recording session at Abbey Road. All they hype is TRUE!
Play guitar through it
Its gonna sound exactly like a Plexi if Johan plays guitar through it.
@@slipbeat good one!
Hi Johan!
First at all Cort is very close to the Fender, so technically the sound was 100% solid standard groove, but Gibson is so nice, so I think, for new wave bands and for avantgarde Gibson will sound ok.👍 And please, fix the description, you wrote there Sort, Change it to Cort. He did a work great, don't disappoint him. Good video! 👍
See you!
Zigfrid
Btw must be nice to check out LP Bass. Epiphone made it well!
I use a G3 on everything from straight ahead jazz to metal.
Peter Cetera played a Grabber on many Chicago recordings...just deep fudgy groove most of the time so I would say they are tonally pretty versatile.
Thanks Zigfrid!
@@seanwoodburn2616 Right! Really I thought about it but I am not so much critical about it. More I think about the positivity.))
A comparison with the more recent pf-50t would be nice ...if not asking too much 😉
Definitely if I get the chance!
That P bass body smashes that Gibson!
Apples and oranges. Those Gibson basses sound awesome when the amp starts breaking up. If I played bass Id surely have one.
The P and the B15 is perhaps the most classic combination ever
What is the riff your playing at 1:52 with the Ripper? Sounds a little like the Bass intro to Salad Days by Minor Threat.
Thanks! That was a variation of one of my songs.
Awesome, but I’d love to hear that music man!
the Motown guys used d-boxes to record (both bass and guitar).
the studio was really small and they needed horns and strings with minimal overdubbing capability
the b15s were used live for bass.
the clean sound on those is amazing
dirty, not so much
That's right, it's a misconception that J. Jamerson used this amp to record his amazing bass tones, was all in the hands straight to the board.
Interesting, I didn’t know that!
@@neocollective, I watched a video about this ---- it wasn't a Direct Box of the type we're familiar with, it was a custom-built tube preamp with 5 or 6 inputs and it was used for guitar as well as bass.
Also having owned an SVT in the past-I Love AMPEGS-BUT THE WEIGHT AND COST TO RE-TUBE HAS ONCE AGAIN-LEAD ME BACK TO BASSMAN STYLE TUBE AMPS AS MY PERSONAL STANDARD OF TONE ! VOLUME IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE !
I've always preferred 15" and 18" on bass. Everyone else are playing the 4x10" cabs. Some rooms are very resonant at 80-160Hz, and 10" speakers always tends to boost those frequencies even more. A 2x15" cab always sound more linear in my opinion. 1x18" and 4x10" can work nicely with a crossover though.
Same here! Big speakers for bass for me
15" for bass all the way. Great open mids. Modern 4x10's sound too scooped and boomy, if that makes sense..12's are very interesting too
great amps and review, but the common misnomer is that Jamerson used one to record with, but he did not. He recorded thru a very simple direct inject box., copies of which are being made today. Acme Audio Motown D.I. WB-3 Direct Input Box. Jamerson used the B15 for live work.
i had a 69 flip top 2-15 cab. long gone. now.
James Jamerson is God !
Yeah greatest and most influential of all time!
Roger Waters used the 18” version for The Wall.
Cool! I love his tone
Yeah the b18n! It’s got 50 watts and sounds so big. Rick Danko also used one with the last waltz, which is why I had to have one lol :). Paired with a 15n extension cab from the 70’s, I really can’t be happier about my recording/home setup
Nice KISS bass riffs Joh! Gene used SVTs during the 70s! (Like MOST rock bassists did then!) \m/
Thanks man! Cheers
@@JohanSegeborn \m/
Lets hear some guitar through IT...
Pretty cool bass licks BTW
Thanks Jonny!
You pull the trigger of my…..
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LOVE GUNNNNNNNN! LOOOOVE GUN!
:-) 🤘
Sounds killer!! I wonder if it's possible to hook it up to an external cab?
Um, *maybe*. The B15 has a hardwired 4 wire speaker cable and special plug on the cabinet end (4 pin or 8 pin, depending on the exact model year), designed to prevent the amp from accidentally passing signal if somebody tries to play through it when the speaker cabinet isn't hooked up to it (which can blow the output transformer). Some Ampegs have an additional standard output jack for an extension cabinet but the ext cab won't work if the main cabinet isn't also hooked up to the amp. You would need some kind of special custom made adapter to simply play a different speaker cabinet without using the original as well (maybe FlipTops sells such a thing).
Psionic Audio has been posting vids of the B15 belonging to *Sun Records* which he is currently repairing. Check it out!
Johan! What happens when you plug in a Les Paul or a Fender into that Ampeg? Hendrix did it!
Simon played Strat through it and it sounded amazing!
ha my first guess also. AMPEG !
So, let me help us: JOHAN, FIX THE DESCRIPTION, ITS "SORT" and must be "CORT"!!! Sorry, but I hope, you agree with me, I just want to say it without to much attention, sure Johan will read it!👍🤘Thank you for being so fast!!!😀
(* edit: see below comment)
I´d say, that two-pickup Gibson bass is called "The Ripper".
The Gibson "Grabber" has the same body form, but sports only one "sliding" pickup - from neck to bridge - instead of a pickup selector .
And it´s got a different, "Flying-V-like" headstock.
* ...and Mr. Segeborn himself has presented the two models, a couple of years ago! :-D. See link:
th-cam.com/video/lYRMfUvEo1Q/w-d-xo.html
Yeah there were actually three basses using this body: Ripper, Grabber and G3 (3 single coils)
Nice bass riffing Jo! Where were you in 1985? :-0) \m/
Thanks Clive! :-) Cheers
No on the motown...they went direct instead, jamerson's bass as well as the guitars too
Thing is, James Jamerson used Ampeg amps ONLY on live performances. But yeah, you're right, James's bass is indeed DI'd!
Nice. Some fat bass tones there mate! 👍 Where do you Find all this gear?!
Thanks man! I borrowed this one from Simons shop Musikbörsen!
@@JohanSegeborn No problem. That's great if you can borrow equipment to test and review from a local shop. Thanks Johan.
What brand is the red bass
It’s a Cort actually
Do speakers have less impact on bass tone than guitar speakers have on guitar tone, possibly because there are fewer high harmonics?
That’s my experience at least but I have limited experience of bass speakers
@@JohanSegeborn That's been my problem too, there's nowhere near as much bass gear floating around - probably because far fewer people are actually playing in bands nowadays!
@@JohanSegeborn , The Psionic Audio channel on TH-cam has been doing a series of videos about repairing and improving the B15 that belongs to *Sun Studios*. It has an Electrovoice SRO speaker in it, which he feels has way too much midrange.
Ampeg😎😍
Did Gene start on guitar? His bass riffs are basically guitar riffs. I was most impressed with that aspect of the video. I admit it, bass bores me to death. LOL.
I think he did!
I used to play bass. You also show why it's more boring to play on your own, compared to guitar. Either you play in a band, or you don't. Cheers though, cool amp, but there are many other great amps like Acoustic 360, Hiwatt, SVT, Fender Bassman
Cheers
I don't know about in a mix but the Ripper sounded awful and the Precision sounded scooped and nasal solo.
This man talks like Dracula
I'm the odd duck that does not like this amp.
Motown only ever used a DI to record James Jamerson's bass
Not exactly; I have it on good authority that they used a custom built 5 or 6 channel tube preamp, and they ran guitars through it as well.
@@goodun2974 You're talking about the small mixer that they plugged into -two or three guitars and Jamerson's bass. This mixer fed an amplifier which drove the single 15" speaker that they all used as a monitor in the studio while tracking. Each of the inputs had a DI which was sent to the recording console in the control room. That monitor speaker in the studio was never mic'ed, all guitars and basses were only ever DI.
@@zmix My point was that it was not strictly a passive, transformer type direct-in box, as many recording bassists are familiar with. From the description I read elsewhere it sounds as if the Motown preamp/ mixer was more of an electronic splitter really, with individual gains for everybody playing through that shared monitor you mention, and isolated, buffered outputs going into the mixing board as well. Being a tube mixer, it probably colored the sound, in a pleasant manner, far more than a modern DI box would have.
@@goodun2974 If you want to talk about the recording as a system, then yes the passive DI they used was only a small part of it.
Let's look at the signal path:
The transformers in the mixer were sent directly to the inputs of the recording console in the control room, (the tube mixer in the studio itself was only the musician's monitor) for most of the Detroit sessions, this recording console was tube, with transformer coupled mic inputs, so if you intend to include that in your description, then you would also want to include the tape machine and the return / playback path, for a total of 8 transformers from the instrument to the console to the tape machine, then from the tape machine through the console again to the 2-track.
As far as the DI themselves, they were only passive transformer DI circuits.
I mean its super cool, but im just so sick of this amp. Like i ate steak for 40 years straight, and now just want a chicken sandwich.