Vintage Bass Amp Shootout

[@atomko87]

I love how much the Acoustic cut through the mix in comparison to the others. Not saying the others sounded bad in any sense.

[@weedywet]

louder

[@marclouis-boyard]

It's always so nice to see someone highlighting the value of bass tube amps. I did a video with my rare Italian amp, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and I've been using it for the past 4 years. The warm, rich tones it produces are incredible, and it performs excellently with all kinds of instruments. Transistor amps are great too, but they'll never really be my soft spot. Your video really emphasizes their underappreciation. Keep up the excellent work!

[@creativesoundlab]

That Even amp is cool man. That's a treasure and keep on to that one.

[@marclouis-boyard]

@@creativesoundlab hard to believe but the costliest in this acquisition was the retolexing 🎸

[@theirritatedirishman5440]

The Acoustic for me. Had a nice snarl to it. Warm even though a little dark nice low mid sound. Plus even though solid state you can clearly see with the 320 and 320B Heads the layout design and sound is where SWR got their ideas from. The Acoustic for sure. Twin was clean with slight warmth but character along with simplicity the Acoustic won.

[@NtWarlock]

Among the bass tracks only, the gretsch is my favorite one: defined and deep.

[@TimTkachyk]

They all sound great, but my initial impression is that the acoustic 150b had a really nice filth to it.

[@theashkone1530]

maybe cuz it's the asymmetric saturation of the tube.

[@TimTkachyk]

@The AshkOne Are you talking about the 150b? Cause that one is solid state.

[@creativesoundlab]

Perhaps the fact that it does not have the asymmetrical sat from the tube. Yeah that 150b will break up. I’m not sure how much is the speaker though.

[@theashkone1530]

Creative Sound Lab yeah , it can be solid state but saturate in an assymetric style,it actully depends on the design of the circuit.

[@crumbum666]

@@creativesoundlab I have a 140, which is almost an identical amp to the 150b, and it will definitely break up regardless of the speaker used. Love your videos 😎👍

[@justincarrasco3680]

Man I've been drinking beer and Ryan swoops in with a video you know I'm about to like and comment before I even watch with no punctuation

[@creativesoundlab]

Hahaha. That’s how to do it man!

[@halcyo]

Still the best Producer channel on YT. I love your editing, succinct message without yapping on and on, and especially the way you highlight gear that isn't necessarily the "golden unobtanium" for most producers, but rather good stuff that musicians might actually get their hands on and use to make music!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks so much for a kind comment.

[@cchavez248]

In the mix, the Acoustic was the only bass amp that cut, it's growl also complimented the guitar tone better to my ears. Dialed in differently, I might have preferred one of the tube amps but that solid state head held it's own here, IMHO.

[@wasabifox]

I released a single with a Fender Twin Reverb amp with incredible results in the 70’s... I was amazed with the sound!

[@xMasterxRazorx]

I loved the smoothness in the low end on the Gretsch, but you could still clearly hear the high notes. The acoustic wins in terms of clarity in the mix, but I liked the way the Gretsch sat back in the mix better, only coming forward when necessary.

[@sira.scottascot8865]

I like how you captured a little break up on each. And it's subtle but audible place in the mix of the song. All good tones with the Acoustic doin' it's nasally midrange thing.

[@sloppy_hand]

I dig the Super Twin tone

[@superfuzz81]

I also prefer solid state amps for recording bass. My favorite is the Ampeg BT15(transistor version of the B15). I just find they cut a little better through the mix.

[@creativesoundlab]

Very interesting.

[@theirritatedirishman5440]

What a lot of people don’t realize is the famous Acoustic 360 AKA Jaco and John Paul Jones heads are not amps they are “preamps” the 360 Power comes from a Power amp built into the bottom of the 360 cabinet.

[@SoundStudio412]

Very fun session. Thanks for having us!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@Rabbit895]

im liking a lot the mid voice of the Gretsch. The Acoustic sound classic... very powerful, Fender sounded good too. Thanks man

[@EllieReagan]

That Gretsch sounds really good

[@mrdanjames]

That super twin is lovely, I love the fuzz it gets that just evens things out.

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah. So you hear some fuzz in it?

[@mrdanjames]

Creative Sound Lab fuzz is probably a bad word choice. There is a soft distortion to the amp that adds a depth/dimension to the sound. It's also evening the sound out really nicely. Sounds great.

[@floydlay9189]

really liked all 3,,but the solid state stood out,,great video

[@AdamRainStopper]

I used a Silverface Twin for bass for a while, but I took a cut of OSB to completely close the back. It was one of the best bass tones I've ever heard for the punk rock playing with a pick tone, really big and open sounding, just a little bit of grit. I put a Roctron Big Crush in front of it, stuck an SM7B on one of the speakers. Those old square-magnet speakers are pretty nice for bass.

[@creativesoundlab]

That’s interesting. You notice my supertwin has square magnets? I used to use that as is for bass. Speakers broke up easily but was loud enough for rehearsals.

[@AdamRainStopper]

They absolutely will break up if you drive them hard, and a twin isn't a good bass amp for performance by any means, but you don't really need that much volume to get a huge recorded bass tone. I turned all three EQ knobs down to around 10 o'clock, then further adjusted the mids from there, and the volume was set pretty low, and it was compressed pretty hard on the way in. It might actually have been the perfect amp for live tracking a whole band, as long as you had it set up so that it was not right next to the kit, it's not going to be rattling the snare and bleeding into all the drum tracks. A Twin will have less Headroom with a bass then with a guitar because it's a guitar amp, and the speakers won't be able to pump out all that shit between 40 and 100 Hz at high volume. What you did, with the big nasty mean old high output guitar amps into bass cabinets, is probably the best way to do it in general. I still have the Rocktron compression pedal, and a Peavey Classic 30 or Classic 50, front-ended by a good compression pedal and driving a good bass cabinet, can also do some amazing bass tones. If you don't need a lot of volume, an Ampeg Rocket or Jet model, sealed off the same way I did with the twin, is also really cool for bass. An Ampeg Jet what is used on the Citizen Fish song "Digging a Hole." I used the aforementioned Classic 30 into an old Peavey cabinet with a single 15 inch Black Widow (with an MXL 4000 off-center, on-axis, about 4 fingers back from the grille) on this little thing I did for someone's youtube video: soundcloud.com/adam-rainstopper/ska-inst

[@saam6768]

Crazy. In the context of the mix I was thinking the acoustic hands down. But in solo, that fender was rocking.

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah. Context can be everything. It’s cool you made that observation and that was my goal.

[@OutnBacker]

In 1976, I bought a 150b head from my friend, then plugged it into my Ampeg V4-B cabinet (twin Altec-Lansing 15's folded horn enclosure). Playing my 1966 Fender Tele bass with roundwounds, it was instant John Entwhistle - minus the talent. No glassware within three blocks was safe when that thing started to rumble.

[@timedwards5600]

Guild hands down

[@robbduggan6151]

For myself I lov that super twin sweet crunch

[@Zilbyfilms]

The Acoustic 150b sticks out like oil on water, whilst the Super Twin blends like salt. I feel like the Fender could sound way better if it was pushed more. Or maybe even turning up the presence knob would fix the tone.

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah I felt the same. If you wanted to blend the avoid the acoustic.

[@justincarrasco3680]

Also, the Acoustic and the Fender has a really sick low-mid fatness that helped them sit in the mix nicely. I think the gretch would really shine with a nice overdrive in front of it though.

[@creativesoundlab]

That’s a good point. What overdrive would you use? Big muff?

[@justincarrasco3680]

I was thinking maybe just slam the front end with something like a Sansamp, but a Big Muff or a Rat would also sound absolutely filthy I bet. Sounds like a good topic for a video!

[@onreel6327]

acoustic 150 b is cutting through the mix better.

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah those mids are strong.

[@lassestorgaardjacobsen]

I agree. That amp was really nice.

[@CarlosKTCosta]

Have to agree with many of the commenters bellow, love the bite of the 150b but, since I use a lot of distortion I would go for the Super Twin for my clean tone and then pair it with a distorted track

[@laustenfound]

They all sound wonderful, I dig the gretsch and the acoustic. I am glad that you didn't tone match the heads and showed the character that best suits the amps.

[@thebassbuilder]

All 3 were great! Really no wrong or better choice. In the mix they all worked just fine. Soloed it would be between the Gretch and Fender but mix wise the Acoustic stood out of the mix the best but sounded the worst soloed. This is to my ears only. Great video.

[@robertoj.fernandez2189]

Acoustic stands out!,

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah totally different mids on that.

[@joelstephens9311]

I absolutely love your channel; so much good info! A little off topic, is there a video or some details you could give on the lead guitarists' sound? That delay sound super cool, sounds like QOTSA used it on like clockwork.

[@ilikeoldstuff8604]

Nice Video! Fender Super Twin sits "smoothest" in the mix, but I really like the Acoustic here! We got a couple of Acoustics in our Studio too, a 220, a 126 and a 117. (feel free to check them out on our channel!) They just have that hint of midrange grind, that seperates the bass a little more in the mix! What kind of cab is that acoustic though? It has a really great low end! A little much in the ~100Hz departement for my taste, but very smooth and round. Interesting micing technique too, what are the pros of micing the cab like that? I´d imagine you loose a lot of high end and pick attack by micing it like this? Thanks again! Cheers ~Moe (Mach Ma Mecker - Recording)

[@TheChadPad]

Acoustic is my favorite

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah it’s great.

[@underpressureman]

Hey dude, awsome video! Forgive me if this is a dumb question , but when you say equal distance from each speaker do you mean that the mic is actually in between(in the space between) the 2 speakers and not actually directly in front of any one speaker per say? I guess I'm curious just because I would naturally think that It would be a very dark /more roomy less defined sound than just having the mic more in front of either speaker ( and maybe a distant mic blended in) Im just having trouble picturing where the speakers are in conjunction to the mic, like are the speakers actually close enough together that the mic is facing part of the speaker cone(s)?

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah it’s not in front of the speaker. I’m using it to darken the sound on purpose and keep the lows strong and I phase. 7 inches out was the sweet spot. Any more and your right, it starts to sound roomy.

[@underpressureman]

@@creativesoundlab Oh that's so cool dude. I've never seen anybody use that technique! Thanks for sharing! And for Clarifying on my question! Peace dude!

[@BarnacleButtock]

Great band!

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah I thought so too.

[@PaulyStax]

Acoustic is boss level rock n roll beast.

[@creativesoundlab]

Haha yeah!

[@creativesoundlab]

Ps that is your deluxe on lead guitar. White 421 at a 45 degree angle.

[@creativesoundlab]

And the 44 on the right panned rhythm guitar

[@croyce7699]

Gretsch and acoustic are my preferences over the fender

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah they each have their own thing. Great ears!

[@croyce7699]

@@creativesoundlab for sure. That's not to say the fender sounds bad, it's still a nice sound that I'd be happy to own. You never know, it might sound different/ better than the others through a different cab.

[@IsawUupThere]

Since it's a fairly modern sounding bass, I thought the Super Twin did a great job giving of smoothing it out... These guys sound huge for a 3-piece band. Cool stuff!

[@BananaManPL]

Drums, bass, two guitars, piano, vocals - wouldn't call that a three piece band lol

[@IsawUupThere]

​@@BananaManPL That might explain why they sound so huge for a 3 piece band!

[@creativesoundlab]

Haha yeah it’s more than three. The singer played the guitar that is panned right. Piano panned left. Lead slightly off center.

[@ec-hi1br]

MY FAVORITE BASS AMP IS PEAVEY COMBO 300 ? THANKS !

[@felixm1716]

is this a 402 cab?

[@user-xv5di8yd7b]

The gresh Hans down

[@mowler8042]

30 years of playing using only solid state I'm really wanting a tube amp its that weird springy sproing sound that is so appealing what is that?

[@douglaszirk8949]

I think what you are talking about is the power amp dampening or in other words the control (or lack thereof) of the power amp's control over the speakers. The tube amps didn't have perfect control over the speaker drivers and the result was this wonderful "bloom" in the notes once they were plucked. It's a sorta spongy satisfying feel I notice when playing through tube amps but I think it still varies from amp to amp. Of all the amp heads I had over the years, my Mesa WD-800 seems to have the most noticable and best feeling "sag" from the power amp section. The surprising thing is that it does have a tube preamp section but the power amp section is a non-tube class D power amp and it has a knob to set the dampening to how you like it. So far I've been leaving it on the Low setting which is the "loosest" setting and it sounds AND feels amazing to play. The medium and high settings make it a "quicker" feeling amp more like a typical solid state head.

[@mowler8042]

@@douglaszirk8949 I did buy a tube amp (Traynor yba 200) won't go back to solid state.

[@douglaszirk8949]

@@mowler8042 awesome! I've never tried one of those. Any tube amp just seems to have something special about them

[@quirkyfunguy]

I was recently messing around and played my bass through my Roland JC-120. I ended up really liking the sound. Anyone else ever try that?

[@creativesoundlab]

Nope never tried that one!

[@dustinhamlin2333]

Same, I'm not sure if it's bad for the amp or not tho

[@mariomorales215]

Hello! Name song?

[@victoralmeida1758]

Musics name

[@fabieng8657]

fender super twin !!

[@TwangThang57]

Tim Drummond used a 150b. His tone was my benchmark.

[@creativesoundlab]

Didn’t know that. Thanks for that.

[@prodarbour]

vintage ass amp shootouts

[@bflo1000]

Fender

[@sixsentsoldiers]

Just run a Di. Put a old tube pre on it after. Or not. And use a Pbass.

[@creativesoundlab]

Funny you should suggest that as it was recording with a JDI into vintage RCA OP-6.

[@sixsentsoldiers]

@@creativesoundlab - I recorded in Nashville back in the 90s. Every studio had the magic Tube pre amp for bass. Varying sizes. I was already to bring in my 8x10 and create some legendary bass tracks. Nope, just bring your Jazz, a tuner, and a cable.

[@untartelette7545]

@@sixsentsoldiers you remember what the magic tube preamp was?

[@sixsentsoldiers]

@@untartelette7545 - seach...Akai TableBeast. Its looked very similar to that. Its been a few years.

[@oscarmorales-cn3hz]

This is great gear, why does it sound so bad? acoustic treatment man and please use a figure of 8...

[@user-xf2xd5es3q]

Gretsch Super Bass is better in the mix

[@the-np4mr]

>tubes Lmfao

[@i-tiyahman6519]

AMPEG IS THE WORD everything's else is 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩😂😂😂😂😂