Ampeg B-15R

The other guys pretty much covered the important stuff...it has a standard 1/4" input...one full power one -15db....it's got grounded xlr out on the back....on the front you got treble,bass, volume,master volume and a swith to got from 60 to 100 watts, you can't wrong with 100 watts of Ampeg goodness.

I use this amp in rockabilly band, The Tremors, and it works perfect with plenty of deep tone for the low notes and a great tweeter for the slap or percussive element. I use a K&K pickup system with a neck pickup so it sounds great with this awesome amp...for rockabilly music it can't be beat...and it has the awesome vintage look!

I have owned this amp for about 5 years and I havent had one single problem out of it...and I got it used! I would say Apegs are pretty damned reliable...every one i have ever owned from a 60 B-15, Gemeni IV, B-25 to the B-15R...all have worked flawlessly.

I have never needed to contact them!

I would highly reccomend any Ampeg tube amp....you can't beat the sound and they are built like tanks! You can't go wrong!

Not sure of the exact year (the amp isn't in front of me). Got it used from Guitar Center in Natick, MA. Had it shipped from a store in Washington State. It arrived DOA, GC fixed it, works like a champ. If you don't know, the B-15R is an all tube 60 or 100 watt amp with a 1x15". The reason I got this is because I own an old '67 B-15N that I love, but 30W of power isn't enough onstage for a Rush tribute band. And I also own a B-25B head, which again, I love, but didn't have the wattage to cut through unless I mic'd it.<BR><BR>The B-15R is not the same as the old B-15 amps in a few ways, some good some bad. Wattage I like. XLR out I like. However, one limitation is that you do not have two "normal" inputs for basses - you have two inputs, one for passive, one for active - both controlled by the same volume, EQ, etc. That's kinda limiting. I wish they had kept the design of the original B-15 and had two separate channels, each possibly with two input jacks (one passive, one active). But that's nitpicking. I rarely need 2 basses at one time on a gig. The option of going 60W is nice. Also, I am not an EQ kind of guy. I wish it just had bass, treble, and volume as the old B-15 did. C'est la vie.<BR><BR>The one thing that is a big disadvantage is the weight. Hope you're strong or get help! LOL

I am mainly using a '78 Fender Precision through the amp, but also sometimes use a pre-EB MM made passive or a vintage Fender Bass V. My Rick Turner Ren 4 isn't going to be used through this amp. First, let me compare the sound of the vintage to the new. The B-15R, while all tube and sounds good, is not the same as the B-15N I have. It is nowhere near as "sweet", nor is it as "sweet" as the B-25B IMHO It's definitely a tube amp tho. The difference in tubes powering this thing do make a difference since it's not an exact replica. I hate solid state, which is why I wanted it. Since I also have all Ampeg stuff, I wanted another Ampeg amp, but not something like the SVT. I also am in a jazz ensemble, and wouldn't use this amp for that although I know it could. I don't need the wattage for it and the other stuff is much, much sweeter. This is a great rock amp and is versatile.

I personally have had no issues with it once GC fixed it, but if it shipped DOA, I'll reserve judgement here. If it's like my other Ampeg amps, they're tanks and need just normal maintenance.

Haven't had to deal with Ampeg, and GC fixed the DOA issue.

Would I buy it again? At that price, abso-friggin-lutely. Bad back and all, tubes are my sound. I didn't want to spend the original $2400 on it, so when the opportunity arose to get one cheap (relatively speaking), I snatched it up. Is it perfect? No. If my B-25 or old B-15 were loud enough, I wouldn't have bought this. The rating would be a 10 for price, 8 for sound and features, so I'll split the difference and say a 9. If you can get one like I did, go for it.

I purchased the B-15R Portaflex and the B-15E extension cabinet new in 1998. The last review hit the basic features pretty well, so I won't give that list again. I will say that it's a great blend of simplicity (single-channel/no graphic EQ)with some modern features to make it a little more gig-worthy. The XLR ouput especially helps a bass to fill the room, plus it sounds great in the PA, very natural. Using the extension speaker cab loads the amp down to 4 ohms, and although there's no tremendous increase in power, the extra air movement does help me to monitor the rig better. I use it for bass guitar in a classic rock band, and it's a bit underpowered in that environment at times. The last reviewer commented that the "line in/line out" jacks don't serve as an effect loop. However, I patch my dbx compressor in through these jacks and it works great. Much better sound than patching from compressor to amp input jack.
Since this re-issue amp is trying to be true to the original 60's era rigs, I'd say it's appropriate they did not offer a second channel with graphic EQ. The 100 watts is perfect in a studio situation, but marginal in many live situations. I understand to have added enough power tubes to give it 300 watts would have not allowed the head to be very "flippable" or "portaflexible". It is what it is. Even though I bought it knowing it wouldn't be a real powerhouse, I can't give it a "10" because of the power deficiency.

I've gotten a great range of bass guitar tones from this rig. I started out playing a Ric 4001(two single coils) with it in my classic rock band, and at that time I was going for a trebly mid-range snarl where the speaker would really bark when I dug in--that characteristic "grunt" that the old Portaflex fans talk about. Nice effect, but if you really want to fill the bottom end like all nice bass players should do, you usually need to engage the "ultra-lo" boost button and adjust the EQ knobs to your taste/bass guitar. I recently purchased a Fender Tele bass(one single-coil) with flatwound strings, and found that you can ape a stand up bass with this combination beautifully by palm muting and using a pick. I've even played an actual bull bass w/preamp & pickup through this amp, and it sounds very full and natural. However, the perfect match for this amp is my Hofner Cavern bass. I gained loads of head room and bottom end when I first tried it; plus I don't need to engage the "ultra-lo" boost button, which means even better tone.
To help put this all into perspective, our band is a "moderately" loud rock/country mix. For me to hold my ground, I'm pushing the Portaflex about 90% on both input and output gain. This can be a bit noisey, but my dbx compressor has a noise gate to help keep it in check. My main competition on stage is the lead guitarist's Telecaster through a 60-watt all tube Vibro-King amp. Now he tries his best to be courteous and not blow us all off the stage, but by the time everyone "edges up" by the end of the night, I can be lost in the on-stage mix. That all changed when I stated using the Hofner bass. Now I only have trouble hearing myself in maybe one-quarter of the rooms that we play in. Even the drummer has commented that he is hearing me better--a big boost for the rythym section! Of coarse there is never a problem hearing the bass out in the house because of that excellent XLR output sending signal to the board.

I never gave it much thought, but I should probably throw my old solid state rig in the band trailer as a back up. Having said that, this amp has performed flawlessly in 4 years of regular weekend playing. And it stays in the band trailer throughout the week, subject to hot and cold and condensation. I changed the power tubes after about two years of use, just because it was recommended. It wasn't because the tone had suffered!
I bought this amp just as soon as I became aware of the re-issue in 1998. The story at the time was that they were going to do a very limited run and I didn't want to miss out. Since it was one of the very first production models and they were hyping this as a bit of a botique amp(defined as "many dollars per watt"), I'm sure quality control was right on top of things.

As I understand it, it's a 5-year transferrable warranty, which sounds fair enough. I've never had a problem with the amp, but I did call the boys in St.Louis early on to ask them some general questions about the amp and tube selection, and they were very prompt and helpful. Since I have never really put them to the test, I'll stay out of the scoring.

To sum it up, I'd say this amp is everything the legend claims it would be, with enough extra whistles and bells to satisfy most modern players. If you're the kind of player that can settle in on one great tone, you'll find it in this amp. If you have to switch between two or three basic settings quickly, this rig probably isn't for you. If your shredder guitarist refuses to turn down, or your drummer is John Bonham incarnate, this rig probably isn't for you. I'm sure that's why the Portaflex has always been regarded as a great studio amp, not so much a great live amp.
Even though I've managed to make it work live with the Hofner, I am currently shopping more power for live shows. That way I can comfortably use any of my bass guitars. I'm kind of stuck on tubes now, so it's probably going to be the Mesa/Boogie 400+, which should provide about the same tone, just magnified three times.
But the Portaflex will not be traded. It will be pampered in my dwelling as a practice/recording amp. In fact, it will be a sad day if it's ever stolen or destroyed. Depending on how well the Mesa/Boogie works out, I probably wouldn't come up with the scratch to replace the Portaflex. I'd just cry whenever I think about it.
Again, the only reason for me that this amp doesn't get an overall "10" score is because of the power.

2001 manufacturer date. Lets start by saying that I was really stoked to finally get my hands on one of these B15 portaflex reissues. Little did I know that ampeg takes 8-10 weeks to deliver the goods after I had paid for it in full since it was a special order non-stocked store item at Guitar Center. Once I finally received it, I was devastated to see that the amp "shut-down" half way through the 2nd song of a gig - lucky I brought a back-up head SVT 3 pro to get through the evening.

Well - using demos in the stores is what turned me on to this rig. Sweet beefy low-end ...and the tome is absolutely incredible. I can dial in several differnet sounds with this amp, but I prefer using the master up high and work off the gain control for the cleanest warmest sound.

As I mentioned above, the amp shut down just 15 minutes into my first gig using it. Returned it to Guitar Center for a new one. Turns out the circuit board in the speaker cabinet was the culprit. I would have thought that Ampeg would have the courtesy, and the smarts, to test their products before they ship them out. In the long run this short-cutting in the manufacturer process will only cost them more in the long run. I also don't understand why they ship the speaker and power supply cables in the interior of the cabinet. If the amp gets tossed in the shipping process, these cables could easily bang into the speaker circuit board and fuse possibly causing damage. I am also not happy that the grill cloth was installed crooked (sp?).

Ampeg Company makes themselves difficult to get in touch with. That is why I dealt with Guitar Center and had them do the dirty work.

Been playing for 20 years. I guess I am keeping up hope that once I receive a replacement/new amp that all will be well. So I guess even though I am really upset about the defect, I am so into the sound of this amp that I am working through the headaches to get a new one - so yeah I would buy another - but only after playing in the store for an hour before I bring it home. Love the tone, hate the weight. This blows away any other 100 watt all tube combo on the market.

Ampeg b15-R... Portaflex reissue... "Diamond Blue"... 1999ish...
15" woofer and piezo tweeter (tweeter has 3 position attenuator"
quarter"/or xlr line out...
speaker extention jack...
4 or 8 ohm switch...
0db and -10db inputs...
master volume, bass, mid, mid notch, and treble...
ultra low and ultra high boost buttons...
line in for post-eq power stage...
line out and in do NOT work as effects loop...
could use a more efficient speaker for ~+3db @40hz+ spl and flatter response... runs 4xel34 or 4x6l6 types ~@100w... 12a?7 type pre's... pcb not ptp... the stock tubes were not that good, I have a used telefunken a couple of used mullards in it now, have not replace the power tubes because I don't want to bring it in for biasing...

I play guitar and bass thru it... guitar is a dark-sparkly-clean up to the compression point, where it really starts to sing, albeit a bit loud... and you've either gotta have hot enough 12a?7 preamp tubes in it, or jump into the input jacks from an active effects box of some kind for a few db boost... the stock preamp tubes were a little too on the weak side... for guitar I like to play this amp in parallel with a smaller wattage amp... the smaller amp kicking in to cream ahead of the b-15 on the guitar's gain control knob, with the b-15 not far behind... for the bass guitar this amp has not quite enough power to match with the hardist hitting drummers, yet it does have a line out, so depending on the monitor and pa situation vs an extra cab and a poweramp, it can be either an effective moderate size package to haul around, or with the external cab and poweramp, a bit more than I'd like to have to haul, yet worthy in tone...

I try to bring extra tubes with me just in case... but I'm not really at the level of affording to be able to bring the backup to gigs... I prefer this 100w tube amp to any 300w solid state thing such as the ones I've played at rehearsal rooms; the ones that always shut themselves off with a protect switch when they get to hot...

called ampeg a few times, they said they'd send a schematic for a fee, and the website does not really explain many of the components or features of the amp... but they took a few minutes via phone to come up with my answers... ie the power stage is not self-biasing (thought I'd heard something about some such possibility in some type of amp design somewhere) and got the speaker part number with which a quick call to eminence revealed its specs... winisd program shows that an eminence kappa15lf would boost the spl about 3db or so etc... flatter too...

I bought this new from someone that won it in a magazine contest... it was all package up as new when I got it... I'd probably get another if it came around to it being lost etc... due to the way I like to play guitar with parallel amps... it really fills out the guitar bottom for me... as a bass amp, if I could grab an svt or boogie tube bass amp for gigging with one package to haul, that might be better in louder situations...