Music Man HD-130 and Ampeg cab review

Psycho Bass Guy · April 01, 2013, 12:51:34 AM

Quote from: drbassman on March 31, 2013, 05:41:20 PMSay, how were the old original Fender Bassman heads? Would it be worth trying one of those?

You're asking kind of a loaded question. There are many flavors of old Bassmans; the design changed tremendously in its history. The original 4x10 Bassman combo is one of the most coveted guitar amps of all time, but it's not much for bass unless you like Lemmy tone at low volume. The later "Blackface" era amps were revoiced with less midrange and came as separate amp/cabinet combinations, but still lacked any meaningful power.

It wasn't until the 70's, under CBS's ownership, that the Bassman 100 and 130, Studio Bass, 400PS and 300PS that Fender actually made a "bass" amp (Showman doesn't count; it was a multi-purpose amp) that bass players could use. Before the vintage craze went retarded for ANYTHING pre-70's, you could pick up Blackface Bassman heads all day long for $200-250 just because they aren't really good for anything outside of studio, and even then, there are MUCH better tonal options. Unfortunately, they also applied the same design philosphy to their guitar amps and guitarists bought the lions share of gear and guitarists who had discovered distortion weren't interested in more clean power. Your Music Man HD130 was borne out of the same philosophy, but is a better design than its contemporary Fender counterpart, the Bassman 130.

drbassman · April 01, 2013, 07:36:09 AM

Yeah, I vaguely knew about the love of the original 59 by guitarists. As for the separate heads, I didn't know much about them as I played through a b15 for years before going to a stronger SVT rig for larger venues. I was just curious as I am thinking it would be fun to experiment with tube amps for the cafe gigs and at home.

I was watching a Sunn 200s on eBay and I do recall folks liking them.

Granny Gremlin · April 01, 2013, 08:01:42 AM

Quote from: jumbodbassman on March 29, 2013, 01:32:56 PM
usually just gig with one of the amps with the 2 12 cab. plenty of volume for small club/bar type gigs. Even though i love the 115 i feel safer on gigs with the 2 12 knowing it can put out more volume when needed. When i get around to upgrading the speakers IMO the 212 will really rock.

So what are the speakers in there, some basic Eminence-style stamped frame jobies? That's what was in my 115 when I bought it, but it had obviously been tampered with a bit so not sure if stock (it really shines with a better driver - super clean and big lows once you replace that square magnet Eminence which just breaks up early; more of a guitar driver).

Psycho Bass Guy · April 01, 2013, 07:24:14 PM

Music Man cabinets shipped stock with 65 watt Eminence speakers, regardless of size, and were stamp framed with large Music Man logos on the back covers. Magnet composition varied with vintage and Electro Voice drivers were offered as OEM upgrades. Those are usually the cabinets that have survived without speaker replacement.

ceramic magnet speakers

alnico magnet speakers

The first "tube" bass amp I ever heard was a 60's Jazz Bass through an HD130 with an HD115 equipped with an EVM 15;" it was gorgeous: fat, deep, round and present without any of the biting upper mids that EVM's can produce. The guitar player, the bass player's brother, had a 112-65 combo with a Strat.

nofi · April 02, 2013, 07:02:28 AM

i had a very old supro tube amp with one eight inch speaker. not bad at all to learn on.

jumbodbassman · April 02, 2013, 07:21:20 PM

that is how i would describe my hd130 with the Ev15. The 2 12 is the stock speakers i am pretty sure....I have a couple of Deltas looking for a home.

I also had a supro but a thunderbolt 15 as my first learning amp. And my wife convinced me to through it out in the garbage in around 1989 . Of course i learned page used it for first album about a year or so after. Maybe the last time i have listened to her to just keep the peace......

jumbodbassman · April 02, 2013, 07:24:08 PM

one more thing you need to remember. the speaker outs are series. Meaning if you plug 2 - 8 ohm cabs you must daisy chain them and set the amp to 4 ohm. Do not plug each of them into the amp as that would need a 16 ohm setting

stiles72 · April 04, 2013, 11:22:30 AM

Quote from: drbassman on March 28, 2013, 08:36:34 AM
Got the two hooked up today and I am very happy. The amp arrived in perfect condition and married to the new Ampeg PF115HE 15" cab, it sounds great.

Thus far, the sound, power and tone of the amp-speaker combo is just what I had hoped for. We'll see how things sound at our next practice with 2 15" cabs and some real volume. A good report!

Glad you like your PF cab - they seem to handle just about anything you throw at them. I usually run a pair of them either with the PF500 head, or sometimes I'll use an Oliver PA100XR tube head. I ported the second cab to open the low end up just a bit more, and I also added side mounted speakon jacks and vintage B18 style chrome handles to both cabs. Snapped this picture before I had them installed on the ported cab.

drbassman · April 04, 2013, 09:17:57 PM

Thanks Jim, good advice! Wish I had kept my 63 CAR j bass, too! I will hook the speakers together as instructed.

drbassman · April 04, 2013, 09:21:46 PM

Quote from: stiles72 on April 04, 2013, 11:22:30 AM
Glad you like your PF cab - they seem to handle just about anything you throw at them. I usually run a pair of them either with the PF500 head, or sometimes I'll use an Oliver PA100XR tube head. I ported the second cab to open the low end up just a bit more, and I also added side mounted speakon jacks and vintage B18 style chrome handles to both cabs. Snapped this picture before I had them installed on the ported cab.

Nice looking rig! I am very impressed with the PR cab for the money. Can't wait to hook up my mess of stuff on Monday at practice. Should be great fun! So, did porting the cab affect volume or create any distortion issues? Just curious.

stiles72 · April 05, 2013, 09:37:17 AM

Porting the cab increased the volume and low end, with no distortion or rattles and it sounds closer to my B-100R now. I used stock BA115/B-100R port flanges and tubes from Ampeg, and placed them in the same locations so it looks factory.

jumbodbassman · April 05, 2013, 02:31:33 PM

I was thinking of getting one and taking out the horn and use that as a port. I know I also have to make the speaker full range. Ahy thoughts from the technical side???

stiles72 · April 08, 2013, 09:29:10 AM

Since the internal crossover is still engaged even when the horn is switched off, I installed a speakon connector on the side of the cab (as a nod to the old B15's) and wired it directly to the 15" driver. This way I have the option to use either the 15" full range, or use the jack panel and use the horn/15 combo if I want to. If you remove the horn and use the cut out as a port, there is also equal room below it on the baffle should you ever want to cut out a second port.

Muzikman7 · April 08, 2013, 02:19:23 PM

I have a MM HD 130 great amp my old guitar player gave it to me ( His wife got pissed at him and threw it out a second floor window it hit the lawn and it still worked ) just had it gone over with new tubes.

jumbodbassman · April 08, 2013, 04:32:35 PM

Just made a deal on 2 Ampeg Pf15HE cabs thanks to this thread GAS. should get them in a few days. will have to see how i like them but really thinking one cab needs to be ported for some extra umph. Will try the horn out and no other holes and see if that is enough or if a second port is needed. Hope it works out so i can change back when i come to my senses and realize a sealed cab is deep enough. i have a feeling it will be fine with my V4 and MM but will not be right with my SS amps.... BURP!!!!