The Evolution of Bass Amplication

morrow · December 11, 2021, 06:14:08 AM

I have a GenzBenz Streamliner . It's maybe ten years old . The LED lights in the front panel had died , but the rest of the amp seemed to work wonderfully . Three tube preamp . Three gain stages , easy to dial in a clean , warm , or even distorted tone .
It had become a backup , but remained a lovely amp . 900 watts . I always had a shit ton of headroom . So when I heard that the guy that designed the amp was still servicing them I contacted him and sent it off to California .
Might have been one of my better gear expenditures last year . It came back with some factory upgrades and works like a brand new amp . I was over the moon to have the Class D rejuvenated .
I have two other Class D heads that see a lot of use . My little practise head that gets a daily workout , and my gig rig that just goes out the door on weekends .

Pilgrim · December 11, 2021, 10:12:51 PM

Quote from: morrow on December 11, 2021, 06:14:08 AM
I have a GenzBenz Streamliner . It's maybe ten years old . The LED lights in the front panel had died , but the rest of the amp seemed to work wonderfully . Three tube preamp . Three gain stages , easy to dial in a clean , warm , or even distorted tone .
It had become a backup , but remained a lovely amp . 900 watts . I always had a shit ton of headroom . So when I heard that the guy that designed the amp was still servicing them I contacted him and sent it off to California .
Might have been one of my better gear expenditures last year . It came back with some factory upgrades and works like a brand new amp . I was over the moon to have the Class D rejuvenated .
I have two other Class D heads that see a lot of use . My little practise head that gets a daily workout , and my gig rig that just goes out the door on weekends .

Ah, you found Andy, aka Agedhorse. Well done. A Streamliner is too nice a piece of gear to leave sitting around with lights out.

My G-B Shuttle 6.2 is the last amp I plan to buy.

morrow · December 12, 2021, 05:54:46 AM

It was pretty amazing to actually be dealing with the guy that designed the amp . I live in Nova Scotia . Andy is legend , and the Liner is well worth investing in . My primary gigging head these days is a Bergantino , and I've had some contact with Jim too . I was recently considering buying a Broughton high pass filter until I discovered my Berg already has one . As does the Liner !
I've still got some amps on the wish list . I'd love to find a Monique by Jule someday . In the birdcage ! And maybe pair it with a Demeter power stage ... one can dream .

BTL · December 12, 2021, 09:00:59 PM

Quote from: morrow on December 12, 2021, 05:54:46 AM[...] Andy is legend [...]

Quoted for truth.

slinkp · December 13, 2021, 03:21:34 PM

Quote from: amptech on December 11, 2021, 12:07:54 AM
Good 100W heads that didn't catch fire when powered up were around long before Vox, Fender and Marshall.

What were those, out of curiosity?

amptech · December 13, 2021, 11:30:30 PM

Quote from: slinkp on December 13, 2021, 03:21:34 PM
What were those, out of curiosity?

Both tube and radio manufacturers offered pa systems in various forms from very early on. My favourite, philips, made tubes (they invented the pentode around 1927) and published data and application notes. They also made components like transformers and capacitors, anyone could buy and build. When the EL34 tube was available (early 50's) it was not too expensive to build 100 watters. Philips had their own pa head, the EL6431, built both in Germany and Holland. Actually rated for 120 Watts, both high and low impedance inputs, channel switching, came out around 1955. I have one, great instrument amp. I have a few big heads from the early 50's made in Norway and Sweden too, made by radio manufacturers. Technology is basically the same.

Granny Gremlin · December 14, 2021, 08:28:56 AM

Quote from: amptech on December 13, 2021, 11:30:30 PM. Technology is basically the same.

Exactly, all that the usual suspects added was voicing - sometimes accidentally. As well as other guitar/bass focused bells and whistles.

The first Sunn was a Dynaco kit, with a custom preamp in front of it. The Dynacos had been around for a while but not in a form factor good for gigging and no 1/4" instrument input.

BTL · December 14, 2021, 08:30:06 AM

Quote from: amptech on December 13, 2021, 11:30:30 PM
Both tube and radio manufacturers offered pa systems in various forms from very early on. My favourite, philips, made tubes (they invented the pentode around 1927) and published data and application notes. They also made components like transformers and capacitors, anyone could buy and build. When the EL34 tube was available (early 50's) it was not too expensive to build 100 watters. Philips had their own pa head, the EL6431, built both in Germany and Holland. Actually rated for 120 Watts, both high and low impedance inputs, channel switching, came out around 1955. I have one, great instrument amp. I have a few big heads from the early 50's made in Norway and Sweden too, made by radio manufacturers. Technology is basically the same.

This. My impression is that the tube manufacturers published schematics using their proprietary tubes so that anybody could build a device (amplifier, radio, etc.) for fun or for profit. The tubes are a consumable product, so facilitating their use in a broad range of applications was the marketing strategy.