Ampeg B-3

Shortly after Ampeg did a training at a music store I was working at, I found a guy selling an Ampeg B3 combo (single 15" speaker) that was only about 2 or 3 months old for easily 200 less than the new price. So it was nearly new when I got it sometime aound 1998.

Just about all the essential options you could need for a bass amp:
Built-in Limiter
Drive knob if you want some grit or fuzz (though I would guess the gain knob would also do this?)
Balanced XLR direct out (with pre/post and 20db pad switches but no ground lift?!)
9-band EQ that can be switched on or off. (I find this VERY convenient if you switch between two drastically different sounding axes, like fretted/fretless or active/passive)

It seems to play well just about any axe & genre of music I've thrown at it. I've used it with these basses:
Fender Aerodyne (passive P/J)
Fender MIM Jazz (passive)
Rogue fretless (passive P/J)
Ibanez Soundgear (active H/H)
Carvin LB75 fretless (active J/J)
Carvin LB75 fretted (active H/H)

I find it pretty easy to get a good sound without much fiddling. It's designed to sound & play like a valve/tube amp so your dynamics & attack affect the bite & the tone. I'll usually set the Bass, UltraMid & Treble knobs to the room. I'll leave the EQ off for fretted and with fretless I'll turn the EQ on & set it to a 'frown' with 500Hz at the peak.

It's got a good vintage style sound that worked great on bluesy tunes, but it's also easy to get a good modern sound or thumbstyle(slap) tone out of it too. VERY versatile. Been my "go to" amp for a long time since it's not too huge but could keep up even on a large outdoor stage or inside a club with a loud drummer I can use it in a lot of different venues for a lot of different styles.

Haven't really ever noticed much in the way of noise or humming from the amp itself. Hum usually seems to come from the wiring in the bass or the club's electrical. I wish it had a ground lift for the XLR out for rooms with bad wiring tho.

I don't really see the point in the drive knob, since if you set the gain high, it'll get gritty on you. In fact, if you set the gain at about noon and leave the drive all the way down it can break up a bit, so if you're looking for a super-clean sound it may require a bit of tweaking. I've had the gain at 9 o'clock and the master volume at 3 o'clock on louder gigs.

Here's where it's been dissapointing for me... One of the reasons that I even looked into Ampeg in the first place was because of how reliable the older models were. It seems like they've been using a poorer build quality in the past decade or two(at least).

About 6 months after I got this amp (and mind you, this was about 2-3 months old when i got it & it had NEVER left the original owner's house) the casing on the Master Volume pot loosened and the amp would SCREAM at full volume as soon as it was turned on. I opened it up and was able to push the cover back on with a screwdriver. This happened at least 3 times in 6 months of light gigging before it remained broken for good.

At the time I didn't have the money or patience to have it fixed, so it sat around for about 5 years. About 6 months after I finally got it repaired and began using it at gigs again, about 3 or 4 of the eq faders broke off.

Luckily (knock on wood!) nothing else has gone wrong with it and I've been using it fairly often; I have about 3 other amps that I use, depending on the size of the room & the gig.

I think one of the main problems is that the controls are at an slight angle facing up and sticking out further than the front & top of the cabinet, sort of like a fender amp. This makes it a LOT easier for a knob or fader to get bumped & broken off if you're carpooling and you've got it in the back of a van or SUV, wedged between other amps & gear.

On the upside, once the volume pot was replaced, I don't think it's ever actually failed me at a gig. I just baby the front control panel now, especially when I'm loading or moving it.

I also have an Ampeg B50R and LOVE the sound of it. It's great that the TONE of the newer Ampegs seems to have stayed pretty faithful to their classic sound, it's just too bad the build quality is no longer there. I only hope that isn't the case for their higher-end gear...

Since I wasnt the original owner it was out of warranty for repairs. I found it very difficult to find a contact number for their service/parts department. You'd think a company their size would have an 800 number or at least list something on their website. Maybe it has something to do with them changing hands or getting bought out?

I've been playing professionaly since 1995 and other combos I've had were:

Peavey 210TX good combo but not easy for 1 guy to move)
Hartke 2115 combo (fairly comparable to the B3)
SWR Workingman's 15 (VERY durable/reliable but I didn't care for the tone)

When it was broken, I ignored it for 5 years & used something else. If it were stolen or lost, I'd look for or use something else. While I LOVE the sound of it, to be a reliable musician you need to have reliable gear.

This amp is a piece of dookie. Unfortunately, it has the classic sweet ampeg tone. But, the way the imput jack is set up, is that it will undoubtedly go bad on you. If you research online, you will find others who have had to replace their input jacks. Why design something, so that it could easily fail? My only notion is that Ampeg went cheapy with this amp, used original "good" technology in designing its tonal functions, and then just designed it to sell. This shit pisses me off no end! Now when I am trying to work on the damn thing, the way the circuit board is screwed in with cheap screws that strip in no time, even with 5 different phillips head types used! I was using a monster cable and thought the speakers went bad at first, so I replaced them!!! Then when I started using mogami instrument cables the amp worked fine until the input jack totally came loose from the circuit board. I am easy with my jacks, knowing they are sensitive too. I am through with ampeg, after they stopped making affordable tube pre-amps, and then they stopped making the svtdi which cheaply added tube warmth to your sound, it makes me think they want you to buy their super expensive svt tube amps to get that classic ampeg tube sound. See ya later ampeg, YOU SUCK!!! Unfortunaly your stuff sounds good, but us gear rats who work on our own shit know you SUCK!!!

Awesome Ampeg tone.

Shitty!! Thought the speakers were blown, it was the stinking input jack that didn't work right with my too fat monter cable!!

Yeah, I am sure they will realy help me find an imput jack for my old school b-3 when they are busy giving amps out to stars that should be working at the gap instead of playing music!

Great Sound. The company went to shit. They stopped making affordable tube preamps and tube dIs. Why? So you would have to spend a fortune on their tube amps!!

I believe my B3 is from the mid-90's and has the large metal Ampeg logo attached to the grill in the upper left corner.

OUTPUT POWER RATING: 150 Watts RMS, 4-ohm load
TONE CONTROL RANGE: Bass: ±8dB @ 50Hz; Ultra-Mid: +5, -17dB @500HZ; Treble: +17, -22dB @ 5KHZ
GRAPHIC EQ RANGE: ±11dB @ 40Hz; ±8dB @ 80, 150, 300, 600, 900, 2kHz; ±9dB @ 9kHz
GAIN: 66dB typical, tones @ center
SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO: 75dB typical
INTERNAL SPEAKER: 15" Ampeg Custom; 56 oz Magnet; 2.5" Voice Coil; 4 ohm
SIZE AND WEIGHT: 20"x26"x13.5"; 68 lbs.

OTHER: Effects Loop, Balanced XLR Out (Pre/Post & -20db switchable on the Output), Optional Footswitch for EQ.

This amp has great tone for amp/combo package. It has a very clean, compact, punchiness to it on a flat setting. It has a decent sort of fuzzy slightly overdriven sound but obvious solid state. Absolutely the best that I could find on the used marked in the $300 range. I bought the amp for practice/rehearsal and in hindsight it has turned out to be the perfect combination of size/weight, tone and value. It could easily handle small-medium gigs with a little PA support depending on the style and makeup of the band. I've played a Fender Precision, Yamaha Fretless and Ibanez EDB through it and it has proven to be very versatile. Currently playing classic rock, blues, r&b and dance.

I was a little concerned about the cabinet quality when I picked the amp up. It had a pronounced buzz radiating through the speaker frame. A full strip down, cleaning, fiddling, tidying and reassembly, making sure everything was nice and snug, got it back to where it was suppose to be.

Never needed.

If it go stolen, I would definitely look for a replacement. Great compromise between portability, tone and price.

There seems to be some confusion. There are 3 configurations of the B3 amp, and all are labeled "B3" on the front. The models are as follows:

B3 - 1x15", 150W
B328 - 2x8", 150W
B3158 - 1x15" (100W) + 1x8" (50W), 150W total

-1990's
-yes it is good for eny style
-6-7 plus an EQ
_the features on it r great i just dont like it when my gain is all the way up and my amp farts.
-i use it every where and it has alot of power
-its a solid state.

-im using a Gibson Blackbird with two soup box humbuckers
-yes it does and i play all styles
-there is sometimes alot of feed back if the frak is to high on your bass
-all sound exept for effect sounds
-no it is not distorted at a high volume
-prity damn

This amp was brand new a couple of months ago. The amp is very versatile. It is a 150w solid state combo. Its got a 9 band eq (may be a little more than an amp this size needs but it adds to it also), and a 3 band to boot. The ultra mid actually makes a large difference in the amps tone. If it is up the amp is trebly and twangy, if its down its bassy and boomish. The drive knob also helps mold the sound, but it causes the limiter light to flash much more, as well as the gain knob. I play mainly rock a blues in small clubs (god bless BUZZOFF) and this amp is great. It has also a XRL balanced line out which makes everyones lives easier, NO Di's that shut off, or change your sound, just plug & play. The FX loop in the back is the best setup i've seen. It has a -15Db pad, that really helps if ur running a distortion like pedal, and a post/pre selector, that really doesn't do much for me, but i'm sure it is usefull to someone. I wish i could have afforded the B-2 and bought a cab, but the B-3 keeps up with me for the most part (the built in DI really helps). The metal handles really help for moving the thing, it ways about 75 pounds. Its a little ackward but its hard to find a large enough bass amp thats not ackward.

This amp is studio quality all the way. it was the best sounding amp i could find, that was in my price range. I'm using a mid 70's Fender Jazz Bass on it and it sounds awesome. But u can change the sound on this amp so easily, its good for all the styles i play. I'm in a jazz band, as well as a metal band, and my primary band (rocking blues) and i can make it sound good for all. The only beef i have with the amp, is that u can't crank the amp the whole way with out it distorting to much to play. I'm not sure why they made the amp this way, but if you use the amp properly the thing smokes with quality.

Ampeg is supposed to be the most reliable name, but shortly after the amp was purchased, it blew at a gig on me. This may have been my fault, i tried to crank it nearly all the way, and it smoked and died. I sent the amp back and it was fixed and returned. I'm a little more leary about the amp now, but I won't be cranking it at any gigs, and it seems to be holding up nicely. I'd still go without a backup amp because the repair persons said it was a manufacturing thing.

After i blew the amp I sent it back to the dealer. They repaired it an sent it back no problem. The only beef i had was with one of the employees of the music store was a complete jerk about the whole thing, but they fixed it with no beefs and thats all that matters.

I have been playing about 4 years, and I hope this amp will last me. If it was stolen or lost I would probably not buy it again, solely because it was more of a pro amp than i needed. I would probably buy a cheaper more powerfull yorkville. Blowing this amp has changed my opinion of ampeg a bit, but if i ever make it big,most likely i'll have a couple SVT's. This amp is great for small clubs, and such, and perfect for studio (probably the ideal studio amp), but i don't think i'd ever take it on stage of a large concert.

Features-XLR balanced line out, effects loop, and footswitch for switching on the 9 band eq.
It features 1- 15" speaker, no idea why the other reviews said it had an 8"?

I play rock, jazz, funk and country, and this amp get's an 8 plus for sound, it's got strong mids, and a strong low end.

Never had a problem

Ampegs are the most dependable amps i've ever played though