FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Used Bass Amplifiers

Question:
In our family industrial jazz band, we usually play all of our bass parts on synthesizer, but my sixteen year old son (who has played guitar for many years) recently bought a Fender American Jazz Bass to use on several songs on the album we're currently recording. He now needs an amp to go with it and is wondering what is the best American-made bass amplifier currently on the market for under a thousand dollars?

Answer:
How much power is required? If your band is relying on the venue's sound reinforcement system and all that is needed is basically a stage monitor, there are quite a few good choices. Being an oldster and liking a more traditional bass voicing, I favor the Ampeg B-100R. Others might consider an SWR. If more power is needed (more than 100 watts), an older Acoustic 371 can be had for well under $1000 and it was made in America. It is simply the best bass amp ever made, IMHO. The Ampeg B-100R can be purchased new as they are still in production. It is light and reasonably small. It features a single 15 speaker and 100 watts RMS. I'm not up-to-date on SWR and other brands that are still made here, such as Kustom, etc. At least, I think they are still made here. I know they used to be. When it comes to tone, there isn't a currently made amp I can recommend. I have a thing for the amps of the past, that can be found on the used market locally, or on the internet. Ebay, for example. You can't go too wrong with some of those rascals. Having a Jazz Bass, there are a lot of killer signature bass tones that came from a Jazz Bass on an old Ampeg SVT. The best were made during the early Magnavox years of the 70's. That SVT head will power a lot of different cabinets very well. The old Sunn 200-S and 2000-S, was less powerful, but set it's own standards in tone. Many have used the Sunn tube amps of Jazz Basses, with great success. The old Acoustic W bin rigs were KILLER too. Rick Lard from the John Mclaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, used a pair of them, during the Inner Mounting Flame tour. Then, you have the Fender Super Bass, 300-PS, and 400-PS amps too. All three of these came out around 1970. The 400-PS is the most powerful tone monster ever to see production. I love those rascals. There ain't any amp in the world they can be compared to. It's the king of the hill. With the exception of the Acoustic amplifiers, the rest of those I have mentioned are vacuum tube amps. Tubes give the best tones, but the tradeoff is their size, weight, and cost of tube replacement. They do require maintenance. Of all the bass amps I've ever owned since I started playing bass in 1962, three years ago I purchased my only Solid State Bass amp. It's a killer powerful small combo that was made for very long. But you find them on Ebay from time to time. Some players don't like them because of their tone. But, I have no problem getting my Jazz Bass to sound good through it. See if you can find a Peavey Data Bass amp. It's a small single 15 Combo amp. It have the power to blow the original speaker. I've just installed the new 500 watt replacement speaker Peavey now has for it. This amp talks, but not in the same manner as the old tube amps. I use the Data Bass amp for the Jams I'm active in. For any gigs, I load up the big stuff, and rock the joint with the tone today's amps just don't have.