Bass Amp History

[John Cubbage]

[quote=Eric Hochberg;27786]My first bass amp was late 60's when I started playing in high school. It was a Baldwin with a 15" and 12" speaker. I remember it as being a good, solid amp. I bought a Dual Showman cabinet when I got to college, but for the life of me, I can't remember what I powered it with... The guitar player in my college rock band was using the Baldwin and dug it. I also started using a borrowed Kustom amp with three 15" speakers for our big gigs.

My first amp as a pro player in Chicago (1974) was a Sunn Concert head paired with a Sunn folded cab design with an 18" speaker. Killer bass guitar rig that I had heard Paul Jackson using with the Headhunters band. Not so great for double bass though and a ***** to carry up to my second floor apartment.


I remember the Fender Dual Showman two piece amps, and I recall that the Kustom amps were big but had no experience with them. I was not familiar with the Baldwin or Sunn amps. I was out of the bass amp market news by the early 1970s, so you'll be among the experts with information about them.

- Dr. C.

[Shawn Charniga]

The 1959 model year Fender Bassman had four 10" speakers, not 12", and the original Ampeg Bass Amp was not at all the same as the later Portaflex amps. It was a one-piece combo with an open back and the circuitry mounted to the bottom panel of the cabinet. A friend has one from 1958 and says the low-end extension is extraordinary even by modern standards.

My first amplifier was a tube-powered reel to reel tape player.

{shudders}