72 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 www.premierguitar.com
Acoustic amplifiers are a misnomer. In the
‘70s, I saw Led Zeppelin at Madison Square
Garden. There was an amp onstage I did
not recognize. It had the trademark light
blue stripe and the big metal knobs. I asked
a buddy what it was and was told it was an
Acoustic 360 or 370, and John Paul Jones
used it. I did not understand why a bassist
would use an “acoustic” amp.
The 360 and 370, while being completely different amps, share an amazing commonality,
which is the creamy, deep tone that comes
out of them. The Acoustic has a wonderful
trait: while the tone goes deep, every note
is discernable and articulate. Deep does not
equal muddy with these amps. A very controlled top end could also be coaxed out of
these amps without sounding shrill. In the
very early ‘80s, Acoustic introduced a fabulous series of bass amps culminating in the
channel-switching 320 head and model 408
4x15" cabinet. My SVT/Cerwin Vega rig (that
I mentioned in a previous article) was sold to
purchase this very rig. This amp retained all
the goodness of the older series amps, and
it was able to stand up to a B00 Stingray.
Acoustic amps can still be found on the market for fair money. The little brothers to the
320 head were the 120 and 220, and these
can be found reasonably priced. A lot of the
older model amps have been around the
block and most likely need some service.
Fender had an interesting dilemma. They
made the world-class line of basses but never
had the world-class bass amp. Their amp line
was centered on the Bassman series, which
had the Bassman 50 and 135 models, which
were piggybacked. The cabinets were huge
compared to the wattage of the head, which
sounded pretty good with a non-offensive
generic tone. Zillions were sold, making them
a commercial success, but I personally believe
they sold primarily because of the Fender
name. The stepchild to the Bassman line was
the Bassman 10, which may have been the
best amp in the lineup. This amp was not 10
watts, but a 4x10" configuration, emulating
the tweed Bassman. Although heavy and
clumsy to transport, the size is compact, and
the tone was tight and controllable. Like its
predecessor, it became a favorite of guitar
players. Fender also had a full line of practice
amps aimed at the Musicmaster and Mustang
crowd. There is really little drawback to a
silverface Fender amp: they’re reasonably
priced, tough as nails and offer reasonable
tone. These amps offer major cool guy factor
(CGF) for the capital outlay.
Sunn All Who fans raise your hands. In the
‘70s there was a small city on stage behind
John Entwhistle nicknamed Mini-Manhattan.
Mini-Manhattan was literally a wall of amplifiers either primarily or totally made by
Sunn. Sunn had three primary bass amps:
the Coliseum and Concert Bass amps, which
were solid state, and the Model T. Sunn amps
did a few things other transistor amps did
not do: they were reliable for the day, they
sounded good, the front ends were robust
and you could actually play an Alembic or a
T-Bird through them and achieve a nice sonic
response. Like the Fender amps, they are
reasonably priced, tough as nails and offer
reasonable tone. These amps also offer major
CGF for the capital outlay.
The Early Modern Era
During the very early ‘80s, bass amplification
changed forever—the auto industry maybe
the principal reason. In the early ‘70s, vehicle
sizes were drastically reduced and with fuel
prices soaring, the old behemoths faded
away. Big amps could not be transported in
the new smaller cars that dominated the late
‘70s onward. The other issue was that some
of the components in tubes are not so nice to
the human body, and American and Western
European production basically ceased. This
resulted in two major changes: first, the shift
to solid-state technologies; second, the major
downsizing of gear. Before this period, combo
amps were low-volume applications. The ‘80s
saw the introduction of killer combo amps. The
company fully responsible for this was Peavey.
In summer 1982, I walked into Sam Ash and
Nabil Goudy, the bass manager, called me
over. He pointed to this little amp, a Peavey
Combo 300. This was the first amp I ever
heard with the modern tone. I purchased that
amp and a new B.C. Rich Eagle Bass that was
used to demo the amp. I used that amp for
twenty years. After that, boutique amplifier
manufacturers were springing up. The seeds
for GK, SWR and the like were all being
planted, and things changed forever.
The Lowdown Wrap-up
There is nothing as cool as a gigantic bass
amp played loud enough to blow your pants
around. The old stuff requires patience; you’ll
have downtime and expenses for maintenance. On a player-grade amp, don’t shy
away from re-coned speakers—expect it.
Changed speakers, changed tolex or grille
cloth will devalue the amp. Before you drop
big bucks on a very rare amp, get it checked!
Yes, there are amplifier forgeries or swapped
major components. Remember: keep your
hands out of the inner workings. Amps can
electrocute you.
I hope you enjoyed this series. Until next
time, drop the gig bag, bring the cannolis!
Unsung Heroes of Tone: The End of an Era
Kevin Borden
Kevin Borden has been a bass player since 1975 and
is currently the principle and co-owner, with “Dr.” Ben
Sopranzetti, of Kebo’s Bass Works: kebosbassworks.com.
He can be reached at: Kebobass@yahoo.com.
Feel free to
call him KeBo.
KEVIN BORDEN
THE LOW END
There is nothing as cool
as a gigantic bass amp
played loud enough to
blow your pants around.
The old stuff requires
patience; you’ll have
downtime and expenses
for maintenance.
