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Building a bass amp

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9/3/2000 12:11 PM

Building a bass amp

Hi guys,

I'm looking for some suggestions as to what circuits I should look to for a bass amp for my brother.

He's primarily a "basement tinkerer" who may get together occasionally with a drummer and guitarist (combo amp) so I don't think a lot of power is necessary...probably 50-60 watts would be fine.

I was wondering if the Marshall 1986 schem would be a good place to start...maybe with 6550's?

I also wonder about some of the old Sunn 50-60 watt schems...are more Baxandall-ish tone stacks better for bass?

Any suggestions would be greatly apprecited!

Thanks,

Jim

9/4/2000 4:38 AM
eric	i'd go with ampeg designs for bass, i just love the tone, look at some of the portaflex schematics the b15 was/is a popular recording amp and the way its setup is unique, the amp flips up to play and is also easily stored when not in use

9/4/2000 5:56 AM

I agree about the Ampeg design. I have a '60's B-15NF that's perfect for practice or recording; nice fat tone! If you're looking at Marshall type, you may want to look at the Sunn Model T design. Basically a Marshall plexi circuit with a few twists like ultralinear OT and master vol. On bigger gigs the Sunn is my main rig and it's cool for clean or some dirt too.

Another option is to get Kevin O'Conner's book Tonnes of Tone and build one of the bass preamp projects. This will be my next build coupled with a PP pair of KT90's in ultralinear.

Troy

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