The Ampeg that would not die…..
This is unreal……
Check out the bass cabinet behind the trumpet player in this photo of this very cool new trance-garage-psychedelic band in San Francisco called “Wooden Shjips” (Chronicle photo by Liz Hafalia above, article here.)
I bought this SVT cab and head in 1986 to play in my band Bomb. It was already old then. I bought it from a place called “Black Market Music” for $1000 (including tax) for the combo, which also included a red Anvil road case case for the amp head. I stenciled the band logo on the sides of the cab, the backplate of the head, and the road case as soon as I bought it.
This thing was more than gear to me, it was my heartbeat, to myself and the world, for seven years.
I toured America six times playing through this Ampeg SVT combo….and up and down the West Coast a lot and in San Francisco constantly…over 500 gigs. I played it on all the Bomb records except the Laswell one (I used his SVT) and the “Personal Jesus” single (was in Germany, used the SVT of the band we were touring with.)
This song, “Bigger Than Fun”, is the amp turned up to about 8.
I lost it to a pawn shop on sixth street in 1993, soon after Bomb broke up. Some guy bought it from them.
I got clean in 1994, bought it back from the guy in 1995. My friend Bean used the amp for two years in our band Slish. Then Slish broke up and I used it for another year with my friends Cliff and Squid. I sold the combo to my good buddy Newt in 1998. He later sold it to our friend Warner.
I moved to LA in 2001, Warner passed away, I forgot about the amp.
Friggin’ unbelievable.
–
Anyway, hey Wooden Shjips: Your music sounds great, amp still sounds great, glad it kept rockin’ longer than I did.
———————
(Thanks, Tania Skevos!)
November 1st, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Really. it is THE Classic bass amp and cabinet ….the SVT!!!
..only get one when you can afford to pay a roadie to move it though!
i think that cabinet is 300 pounds, and the amp that goes on top is 200 pounds.
we used to lug them up and down 5 flights of stairs, that was bad enuf.
here in CHINA, Nobody has their own amp. the clubs supply them .
I hope thats the case in that picture… or some chiropractors gonna really cash in oneday!
November 1st, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Yup.
I always said that “SVT” stands for “Sever Vertebral Trauma.”
November 1st, 2007 at 6:54 pm
“i think that cabinet is 300 pounds, and the amp that goes on top is 200 pounds.”
It’s more like 100 pounds and 90 pounds, but yeah, nearly the weight and size of a fridge. And twice the price.
But it is damn heavy, and damn loud, with a gnarling snarling evil beautiful tone. We called my amp “the beast”. As in, ……”Hey…glad you liked the show. Would you three guys give me a hand moving the beast….?”
I remember well on gig, seventh floor of a warehouse, no elevator. Yikes!
Wonder if they still have the red anvil case. Sometime I’ll tell ya a funny story about trying to get a big red case marked “Bomb” on an airplane.
I’d like to see them try that NOW.
MWD
November 1st, 2007 at 7:26 pm
This is truly amazing!
Back in 1988, I was forced to sell my Peavy TNT Combo amp (the all-in-one unit that came with a single 15″ Black Widow” that had a problematic diode array that kept blowing out) when I needed urgent dental work.
Always wondered if I’ll ever see it again.
–>S.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:38 pm
My God to think of the gear I’ve sold to pay the rent…a dealer…Ha! Love to know where it all is. On second thoughts maybe it’s best I don’t know, I would just love to know it’s still making music like your old Ampeg.
Have a marvelous day Michael W.Dean,
Warren
November 1st, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Thanks!
You know, I had to re-tube that thing twice a year (300 bucks a year) and re-cone the speakers once a year (another 200 bucks a year.)
has 8 ten-inch speakers, but sounds and shakes like one 80-inch speaker.
MWD
November 1st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I think both the bands Hickey and Towel had this one (not necessarily in that order). I roadied for both bands, mostly Hickey, and yeah it’s fucking heavy! I know it went across the US and Canada a bunch with Hickey mid 90’s. What a beast.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:34 pm
That’s amazing Tania…..The plot thickens.
Oh, more of the story:
One time we got pulled over in Petaluma at 4 AM coming back from a gig. (The gig where we had a bananna deep-throating contest on stage with members of the audience.)
The cops must have been bored, four patrol cars showed up. One cop shined a flashlight in the van, saw the stenciled Anvil case and asked, “So what’s in the big red case marked ‘BOMB’?”
I know how to deal with cops (no attitude, sound respectful, no unnecessary details - “just the facts, ma’am.”)
I said, “We’re a band called Bomb, we’re coming back from a gig, and that’s got an amp in it.”
Doug later told me he was biting his tongue not to reply, “Well officer, sometimes we forget where we put it, so we marked it.”
November 1st, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Fuck, I think I played that cab at Warner’s house. I miss him so much.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:40 pm
I miss him too.
Here’s a few pix of Warner:
http://www.kittyfeet.com/warner.htm
November 1st, 2007 at 11:21 pm
That’s very interesting, to say the least.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:19 am
that amp has more of a social life than most people I know… me included!
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:26 am
I still say it weighs over 100 pounds…wait a sec
…
…
….ok im back, ..Look !
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SVT810E/
165 pounds.
Michael, I still say that you can emulate that with this “30 dollar SVT school” stompbox..
http://www.talkbass.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=649
Its only 400 grams! (*: .. trust me.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:34 am
GreAT SONG BTW.
its as big as love
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 am
“Michael, I still say that you can emulate that with this “30 dollar SVT school” stompbox..”
No way.
Maybe the sound (though I doubt it), but an SVT shakes a room, a BIG room, like nothing else.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:55 am
I used an Ampeg head for a few years with my guitar rig. Loved it. Great sound, and solid as a rock.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:47 am
yes way. I said trust me.
Oh …..i did say “Emulate” right? {at headfone volume}
when plugged into your mixer and computer it really works.
get one for your bass. if you dont like it, I’ll pay you double for it. (*:
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:03 am
Seeing this amp again made feel like “In heaven, you’ll get to see all your old friends again.”
By the way, there’s a black piece of tape above the Bomb logo that I swear I put there. I used to tape my chord to the amp after putting it through the handle so it wouldn’t come unplugged when I was rocking out.
MWD
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:17 am
I have had as many AMPS as girlfriends. I loved them all!
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:12 am
I love the bass sound on Bigger than Fun! I’ve always wanted to cover that….me on guitar and vocals though…
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:25 am
Hey All,
This is my rig now! When I saw that picture, I knew people would zone in on the Bomb logo. We run into Bomb fans at shows all the time. They always have fond/crazy memories to share.
I bought this from someone on Craigslist about 6 years ago. My memory being what it is (or isn’t), I don’t remember the guy’s name or story. I believe his band had broken up and they were clearing out their practice space.
I’m not a bass player, so for a while this was the “house” rig in our space. Since we started the Shjips, Dusty has been playing it regularly. There’s been virtually no work done on it. We just added the missing eighth speaker in the cab recently.
Oh yeah, we just call it “the Bomb”.
Best, Ripley
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:36 am
Little known fun facts about BomB and their magic powers.
That SVT amp and my”50 watt Legend amp and 4′x10″ solid oak toungandgroove matching cabinett sans wheels wheighing at at least 300 lbs” was why we had to shrink Micheal Dean down from his original mazif size of 6 ft 6 inches to his now permanent size of 4 ft something or other ….Plus his earlier baratone voice was too deep and booomy and was too easy on the worlds ears.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:42 am
Jay….that’s hilarious….and thanks for outtting how I got short!
—-
Cool to hear from you, Ripley!
You will hopefully never sell it, but if you do, would you be willing to let me make an offer first? Someday I want to own a farm and I’d sure love to watch the sun set on the porch while scaring the critters for miles around with The Beast / The Bomb.
MWD
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
…”if you do, would you be willing to let me [MWD] make an offer first?”
Oh yes, please, Ripley? As a rabid Bomb fan who completely missed the band when they were together (due to my previous life getting horridly in the way) but now Michael’s wife, I would love to have the chance to hear Michael perform his magic with that amp. For what it’s worth, add my plea for first denial if you ever part from The Beast/The Bomb.
Thanks!
DJD
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
A sidebar to the Michael Dean AMPEG adventure - his shadow SVT still lives mightily on as well!!! When I played a few gigs with Michael and Tony in the late ’80’s, Michael used my SVT - it served as his mistress while his darling was a continent away. I had bought it in in the early 80’s in Boston from the FUs, or maybe DYS, and I used it in a punk metal band called Voltron. It was ancient when I bought it. Then Michael used it in the late ’80’s as we crawled across the country in my ‘63 Chevy panel truck. In the ’90’s I plugged a ’50’s Kay upright bass into it for an amped-up rockabilly band. In 2007 my bass player uses it in our zydeco band. It’s still going strong. It still has black Sharpie marks next to the knobs showing Michael’s settings, so whenever I want to channel Michael I’m all set. We used an Ampeg 4-10″ cab (half the size, half the fun), and you can still see “Bomb” painted in the grille when the light hits it right.
FBM
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:41 pm
My friend John Dean that I played in a band called Treadmill with, wrote the bass part for Bigger Than Fun while he was in a short-lived band with Tony Fag in Albuquerque, NM.
He’s always been very proud of the thanks he got on the back of the Happy All The Time vinyl…
I’m proud by association…
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
JAY Crawford appears??! W0w.
Cause im a guitarist, I spent a half hour yesterday thinking about your rig.
I remember the Legend rig. I remember your FX set up too..almost.
COLORSOUND fuzz,
BOSS analogue delay ( one of the 3 “holy grail” collectibles)
and
What? maybe just a channel switcher.??
November 6th, 2007 at 8:07 am
I cut the BomB logo stencil along with the ‘BomB girl’, used on the verso of liner notes in (I think it was the) HITS OF ACID Lp, and subsequently used for the cover
of LUCY IN THE SKI WITH DESI… years prior to that, in a former incarnation, the ‘BomB girl’ flew proudly as the nose art on my father’s B-26 Marauder, (well more than 33 bombing missions) over England, France, & Germany in the Allied ETO in World War two. Her name then was “Jill Flitter”, her pilot, 2nd Lt. William E. Sellier. He’d actually had the oportunity to take the LSD album cover to share with his buddies at his bomb-squadron reunions before he passed 13 yrs. ago, Veteran’s Day, ‘94. I miss him. Eddie Sky and Warner too. BomBs away !!MichaelDeanRockStar never dies!!!
November 6th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
James, thanks for sharing.
Michael told me she had been nose art in a prior life. The Bomb Girl now graces the door to our studio at home. She makes me smile daily, and it’s good to know more of her story.
djD
November 8th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Tony Fag…Where are you?
call me! 33sex0h725
January 29th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
towel and hickey 2 (not to mention bomb and slish) 2 of my fave bands, all the same bomb bass amp. funny cause towel didn’t have a bass player.
not to change the subject, but anyone know how i can get in touch with jeff mann from komotion (and yes bass playing) fame? a project he played all over finally dropt an i’d like to get a copy to him.
January 29th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
jeff mann from komotion is not really off subject, and I’ve forwarded this to Li’l Mike. If anyone would know, he would.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:12 pm
sup,
tlm
moi ici
J utilise juste le svt-4 pro,
avec le 8 x 10 classic + 1 svt-15 pouce classic + le bse 410 ohs
& 1 basse ibanez iceman avec wireless.