What is everybody playing through?

[jeremym19]

What are you playing through?

I've been using a Richter 5E3 but am in the process of selling it and picking up a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia and an Avatar 1x12 I mostly play rock and blues.

Lets hear what kind of rigs you guys got going on

[chris]

For my gig on Sunday I'm playing an '82 G&L L-1000 Bass through a '66 Ampeg B-15N.
Nine songs from Jesus Christ Superstar

Next week's gig is an '06 Shen 3/4 Willow upright bass mic'd through a P.A.
Folk group.

[jeremym19]

Sounds good... eventually I need to get myself a bass rig

[chris]

Ahaha..this is in the amp section..

Acoustic Image Contra (gig bag)
Bag End S15-D (pair)
Dr. Z 112 cabinet
Dr. Z 6545
EA Wizzy 110
Fender Bassman 135 head w/ 2x15" 1983
Fender Deluxe Reverb 1972
Fender Pro Reverb (1x15" conversion).
Fender Vibroverb (Bandmaster Reverb 2x10" conversion)
Gallien-Krueger 1001RB-II
1940's amp in a RAWoods 1x12"
Rice/Hassebrock Deluxe Bassman
Vox AD30VT

[johnnyqb]

Holland 4x10 Bassman. Rice worthy. These guitars are too nice for a Deluxe 5e3 amp.

[jeremym19]

I wouldn't go so far as to say the 5E3 isn't a nice amp..... it's sort of a timeless design. Just wasn't exactly what I was looking for. On the other hand a 4x10 will get sounds a 1x12 can't and the bassman is just as timeless with some better eq controls and if you have a place to really open it up they can really sing

[joseywales]

I play through the following (in no particular order):

Fuchs ODS 30 head through Avatar cab w/2x12 Celestion G12-65s
Reverend Hellhound head through 1X12 Reverend cab w/ All Tone 1250
Reverend Kingsnake head
Reverend Goblin
Music Man RD50 through MM 2X10 cab
Music Man RD50 1X10 combo
Music Man 65 head
Ampeg V4 through 2X12 Ampeg cab
(2) 70s Deluxe Reverbs
Deluxe Reverb II
Vibro Champ
Princeton Reverb
Super Champ
Blues Jr.
Bassman head through MM 1X15 cab
Mesa DC-5
Orange Tiny Terror
Modded Epiphone Valve Jr. head through Epiphone 1X12 cab
Tech 21 Trademark 10
Swart Space Tone
Roland Micro Cube
Richter 5e3
Blues Pearl Diamond Back

Now that I'm taking lessons from Chris, I should soon be able to play more than 3 chords! :-)

[johnnyqb]

Wow, Josey, that's a lot of amps! Jeremy, I didn't mean at all that the 5e3 isn't great. I should have rephrased it, that since I only have one amp, it doesn't make sense for it to be that one. If I had 3 or 4, then I would have one. But with just one, the Bassman design has lot more to offer.

[Rich]

OK.. I'll play

I've owned a boatload of amps over the years, trying to find my "perfect" sound.. I've come full circle, and settled nicely into the early 70's Fender combo amps- pretty much what I started with..

SF Vibrosonic Reverb w/EVM 15"
SF Pro Reverb w/2x10" Jensen Neo
SF Deluxe Reverb w/JBL K-120
Vibro Champ w/Weber 8" Vintage Series
Ampeg B-15-N Porta Flex
Gallien Krueger 800RB
BagEnd birch 1x12 w/EVM 12"
BagEnd birch 1x15 w/EVM 15"
Carvin 4x12 British Series
Vox AD30VT w/JBL K-110 (for teaching)
Amp Can (for the beach)
Lil Smokey (just for fun)

There may be more, I kind of lose track.. that's all I can think of right now.

[Rich]

johnnyqb said:

Wow, Josey, that's a lot of amps! Jeremy, I didn't mean at all that the 5e3 isn't great. I should have rephrased it, that since I only have one amp, it doesn't make sense for it to be that one. If I had 3 or 4, then I would have one. But with just one, the Bassman design has lot more to offer.

Boy, John.. I heard your Richter, and was very impressed with the sound. I haven't heard a Holland, but it must be quite an amp.

Quite a few years ago (1994 or 95) I procured a 4x10 tweed Blues DeVille for my nephew, and I have coveted that one.. of course, the only guitar I've played through it is his '57 ES-175..

[jeremym19]

johnnyqb said:

Jeremy, I didn't mean at all that the 5e3 isn't great. I should have rephrased it, that since I only have one amp, it doesn't make sense for it to be that one. If I had 3 or 4, then I would have one. But with just one, the Bassman design has lot more to offer.

Yeah I understand the bassman can get more varied tones and if I had the cash to be able to have more than 1 I would have kept the 5e3 also but thats life

Josey, that is quite the list... how is the ods? I've heard good things but have never heard one first hand.

[chris]

jeremym19 said:

Sounds good... eventually I need to get myself a bass rig

If you have a strong internet connection and a mild interest in hearing the Ampeg, I recorded today's rehearsal.
www.ricecustomguitars.com/chris/JCS.html

[Rich]

I'm looking very closely at a couple of mid 60's Ampeg Gemini I amps.. I fell in love with one back around 1970 or so, and think it might complement the B-15-N in a bluesy trio situation.. I owned several Ampeg Rocket amps back then, which were pretty cool (until I blew them up with "experiments") but I always wanted a Gemini. The fellow who owned that amp died in Viet Nam, and I can't remember if it was a Gemini I or a Gemini II- pretty much impossible to find out now. He had one of those Resoglas National guitars to play through his Gemini. Just a huge, open tone, shimmery, singing... Killer combination.

He was a great guy with a bright future, good chops, nice gear, he had a Studebaker Avanti, too. Draft lottery number came up, he graduated from High School, went to 'Nam, and came home in a box. It really sucked.

[martyb1]

HAd a gig last night.One of my neighbors has this amp that he wants to sell me.This thing looks like it is new.

Having a bit of a tough time finding info on it.Did find this on the traynor site

Features
Two channels (I) with dual inputs, vol, treb, mid, bass controls+ bright switch, (II) with dual inputs, vol, treb, mid, bass, reverb, trem. inten. & speed controls plus bright switch. There was also a master volume control. Dual 12" 8 Ohm Eminence speakers.

Comments
Although control features were similar to the YSR-2, this was a totally new design with four 6CA7 outputs & 12AX7s in the preamp plus a 6BQ5 for reverb drive. Common user comment, "like a Twin on steroids".
Power
80 Watts sine-wave @ 4 Ohms

Had some great tone,heavy like a truck though for it's size.Almost too clean,had a real hard time trying to get it to breakup at all.I tell you though,with them Kinman Broadcasters it had some sweet clean country twang

[Rich]

I haven't played that many Traynor amps, but I liked almost all of those that I tried. One thing I noticed was most of them were quite clean, and usually had nice sounding reverb. Of course, I am a sucker for exceptionally clean tone most of the time.

I've owned some Twins over the years, loved them all, and eventually sold them. The Vibrosonic Reverb is basically a 100 watt Twin, with a 15" speaker. Fantastic amp. Trouble is, with that much power I need to be ridiculously loud to get the amp to "sing".. Great for outdoor venues and rock shows, but I'm finding amps in the lower wattage range to be more useful. Of course, I always upgrade the speakers to more efficient ones which adds to the madness. The only reason I bring this up is to caution you about the Traynor.. at 80 watts, I'll bet it has similar strengths and weaknesses to the high powered Twins.. If most of your gigs are in huge rooms, you'll probably be OK.. but.. if you play smaller or medium sized rooms it will be too loud by the time you get it to stand on its feet and cry.

Of course, that has never stopped me from getting an amp that I like. However, if it was going to be my main amp, I'd think about one in the 40 or so watt range, and put a killer speaker in it.. Most of the larger outdoor venues I play provide a huge sound system anyhow, and I could easily play those gigs with my Deluxe Reverb (22 watts). Just food for thought.