Vintage bass tone comes
from a combination of
three things—the bass, the
amp, and the player’s hands.
A guy walked into my friend’s
guitar shop years ago and asked
if they could make him sound
like Santana. My bro Frankie
B. looked at his hands and
said, “Um, no.” While we can’t
control what kind of hands we
have, we can control the gear we
purchase. Let’s explore my favorite
amps and my favorite basses
to play through them. If you
can’t get classic tone from these
matchups, you probably have
potatoes growing in your ears!
Acoustic 320 Amp
and 408 Cab
I blew an entire summer’s salary
on one of these rigs when they
first came out in the early ’80s.
I was walking up the stairs of
the Kings Highway Sam Ash in
Brooklyn to buy some strings,
when I suddenly heard this
godlike tone. The bass manager,
Nabil Goudy, was playing a J
bass through this setup, and I
ended up going home with the
rig. The head was 300 watts
RMS and the matching 4x15
cabinet was moveable, despite
the large size. The amp looked
cool dressed in black Tolex and
blue trim, but its most important
attribute was that almost
anything you played through it
sounded terrific. This amp was
warm and articulate with a passive
bass, and really lit up and
rocked hard with an active.
I used this amp in the early
’80s at clubs and concert dates
with my band the Rockaways.
Given its versatility, my choice
of bass never warranted changing
amps. My ’75 Rickenbacker
had a terrific bottom end and
retained the “ponk,” and the
320 added creaminess to the
typically shrill sound of my
’74 Jazz bass. The amp really
excelled when I put my B00
StingRay or B.C. Rich Eagle
through it. I could play allout
with the StingRay and the
amp tamed the high end while
providing a killer mid-bottom
tone. Because the Eagle’s output
was too stout for the preamp, I
needed to back off the bass volume
about 20 percent. But this
rig and the Eagle was one of my
all-time favorite setups.
Ampeg B-15
More recordings were made
and more gigs were played
with this amp than any other.
Bottom line: In terms of classic
tone, this is the best bass amp
for your rosewood-boarded
Precision. My ’66 P bass sounds
better than my ’58 P through
this amp and
nothing sounds
better than my ’58, which has
been my workhorse for over
20 years. This amp will make a
student-level player sound like
James Jamerson or John Paul
Jones, sonically at least. Every
serious player and collector
should own at least one of them.
While nearly every passive bass
sounds deadly through this amp,
I highly recommend you
not use
an active bass with the B-15, as
it will override the preamp and
demolish the speaker.
Ampeg SVT
I’ve spent many a late night
hauling this 100-pound lead
brick and its skyscraper 8x10
cabinet. Why? Because of the
“Oh, my!” tone. It can handle
a modern, active bass and
sounds killer with a vintage
StingRay, but where it really
shines is with a great, passive,
vintage bass. This is possibly
the best amp I’ve ever heard
paired with a ’60s J bass. The
tone is silky and smooth, but
when you need it to get aggressive,
it will rip your face off.
Precisions sound crisp and fat,
and Rickenbackers do remarkably
well projecting through an
SVT. This could be my favorite
amp for Rickenbackers in terms
of vintage tone and versatility—
think early Deep Purple and
Thin Lizzy-esque live tone. This
amp gets really edgy and ballsy
with a T-bird and will scare old
ladies and little children with
its growl. If done just right,
this combination will mix your
beverage for you too. The tone
is tight and aggressive with just
the right amount of breakup at
the speakers. I’ve used this head
with Cerwin-Vega B36MFs
(think B-15 on steroids) and
Bergantino 610NVs, which are
terrific alternatives to the 8x10.
Hiwatt 200
Meet my friend Mike Burduck.
Mike is my copilot and cigar
smoking, trade show-driving
buddy. A heck of a player and
heck of a friend, but Mike
is confused. He’s a NYC guy
living near Nashville, and if
not for our mutual friend JD
at Corner Music palling with
Mike, I’d be worried. The only
thing that makes Mike smile
is one of these amps, and this
is a guy who may not even
like Santa Claus. Mike was
the one who turned me onto
these amps, and I’m glad he
did. The ultimate bass to play
through the Hiwatt 200 amp is
a Thunderbird—just play the
first three notes to “The Real
Me,” and you nailed it. The
preamp section is looser than
the SVT, so you get that sonic
breakup you are looking for. An
EB-3 gets instant “I’m So Glad”
Jack Bruce tone, all while having
nice, mildly distorting headroom.
I recently used one of
these with a Bergantino 610NV
cabinet, and the combination
of a new, tight, pseudo-modern
cabinet with a grizzled old head
was sonic nirvana. Most passive
basses sound really cool through
this head in a late-’60s sort of
way. Expensive, but worth it.
Marshall Major
This head routed through a
4x15, 1x18, or 8x10 Marshall
cabinet was my tonic of choice
for years. Visually, there’s nothing
as sexy as a stack of cane-grilled
Marshalls behind you.
Though many folks think the
Marshall and the Hiwatt are
similar in nature, the Hiwatt
actually exhibits a cleaner,
high-end sort of tone, where
the Marshall is more midrange
ballsy. Think Humble Pie’s
Rockin’ the Fillmore if you’re
wielding a T-Bird, or 1967 Noel
Redding if you’re playing a Jazz
bass. For whatever reason, a
Precision sounds good (but not
great), while a ’70s Rick 4001
sounds unreal through this head.
I found some JCM800 cabinets
and replaced the grille cloths to
make them look old-school, and
then paired them up with the
Major. The tone? Fuggedaboutit!
Wow, this was fun. Look for
a sequel on this topic sometime
in the near future!
Kevin Borden has
been playing bass since
1975. He is the principal
and co-owner, with
“Dr.” Ben Sopranzetti, of
Kebo’s Bass Works (visit
them online at
kebosbassworks.com). You can reach Kevin at
kebobass@yahoo.com. Feel free to call
him KeBo.