Ampeg B5R

The style knob is counterintuitive.

Great. I also have SVT 3Pro head.
I compaired SVT3Pro and B5R with SVT-810E cabinet.
I cannot distinguish between them. There is slight difference when palying artificial harmonics. It doesn't mean the sound of B5R is worse than SVT3Pro. There is only small "difference" between them.

I have used this one for 2 years. No break down yet.

No need to get repaired yet.

I have played bass for 11 years and have owned 5 heads. I confidence objectivity. When using 810E cabinet,Selecting B5R is good choice.

I bought it new for 1000 € in 2005, it is the BASS AMP OF THE YEAR 2001.
It is a simple 2 channel (clean / overdrive) solid state amp with the ability to combine them. each channel has a 5-possition style control, which makes 5 different sounds. It is the most versatile and best sounding amp for this price i found, although it has no tubes.
the clean has bass, ultra mid, treble equalisation knobs. the overdrive has only gain, an OD BOOST button and volume.
it has an octave circuit, which adds a signal one octave lower than the original.
It has a FX blend, master volume and a mute button.
an EQ for the overdrive channel would be good, but when you have aktive eq on your bass or you combine the channels you don?t need it anymore.

The rear panel has everything i need, effects loop, tuner out, preamp out, poweramp in, balanced DI out, speakon jacks, and 2 footswiches: one for channel and one for octave/combine.

I rate 9 because the overdrive channel has no equalizer.

i play a Yamaha Motion LB with P/J pickups, and a boss flanger. the amp makes every sound i need and produces exactly the tone of my bass. the clean channel always sounds good, the 5 styles make it very versatile. the EQ is a bit weak, so u cannot make extreme mid or treble boosts, but i dont need this.
the overdrive channel makes everything from slight tubey overdrive, SVT-sound to extreme brutal distortion. it has a noise gate, so when you don?t play it is quiet, but the more gain u add, the more noise comes when u play, u hear every touching of the string. But as i said, it has no EQ, so it?s good to have active EQ on my bass, otherwise you can buy a footswich EQ or something.
But the best feature is that you can combine the cannels and so you have funky clean to heavy freak distortion sound, and everything between, you have unlimited possibilities and this is really great. i can have every good overdrive sound with full bass tone.
The octave circuit is very good to add sub bass and good punch, it works even for slapping and popping or fast bass solos. :D
Whith 500 W @ 2ohms (310 W @ 4 ohms) it is enough ower for every stage i think (provided that you have good cabs).

I rate 10 because it sounds awesome and it is versatile like no other in this price cathegory, although it has no tubes.

i don?t use backup for gigs.
It?s a AMPEG, it should work for the next 20 years. ;-)

2 years warranty. never needed the customer support.

i have been looking for a bass amp that fits my needs and i have been in music shops and played on every bassamp i could find ( Ashdown, SWR, Warwick, Yamaha, Mesa, Glockenklang), the Mesa was too expensive... If this amp were stolen, i would buy this again, but maybe i have more money and i buy the Ampeg SVT 5 PRO.
I just love the funky sound of the clean channel and the sound of the two channels together.
Ampeg did a really good job with this amp.

A two channel solid state amp. One channel of clean and the second channel of overdrive. It has all the whistles and bells such as Effects In and Out, Tuner Out with Mute, etc. The controls cover the basic bass mid range and high selections plus there is an Octive Divider control which adds a one octave lower note onto the note you are playing. There is an overdrive channel with controls for the intensity and volume. The amp is a two space rack unit and comes with a three switch foot control which allows you to go clean, overdrive, octave divider and a combination of clean and overdrive. I bought the amp as a new demo close-out. I needed a small rackmount amp that can handle 2 ohms.

I use a host of Fender basses from vintage up to the latest active ones. I play both fingerstyle and I slap. Overall the sound is good, but the power rating of 500 watts at 2 ohms cannot be true. I have to crank both the gain and master all the way up in order to match some of the other heads I have such as the 250 watt PB250 Portabass amp. This head is not loud, period. You must set it to the limit in order to get acceptable volume for mid sized gigs. Also the overdrive sucks!!! The sound is like a bee buzzing in your ear at best. However, I don't use overdrive, but for those who do this amp is not for you. Finally, there is a tone selector switch which hits five presets covering various tone settings. I find that some of these preset selections are not to my liking. I would rather have standard EQ adjustable selections or some plain old fashioned knobs and make my own tone.

No problem. It seems to be built very well..

Ampeg Service people are everywhere. Never a problem, even with my other older Ampeg equipment.

I have been playing 30+ years and have used many ampeg products over the years. Although I did compare the amp to several others I found that it sounded good in the store plus I was limited on availability of resonabley priced 2 ohm minimum rated amplifiers. All my cabinets are rated at either 2 or 4 ohms. If it were stolen I would not buy another one. My replacement would be the Ampeg PB800 Portabass head. It is also two channels with a 2 or 4 ohm output and it has "balls"!!
It also is the same size as the B5R with much more power.

500 watts @ 2 ohms, 300 watts @ 4 ohms, 200 watts @ 8 ohm. 2 Channels, Distortion and clean. Simple to use. bass, ultra-mid, treble, frequency selector, Octave. Channels are footswitchable. pre amp in, power amp out, head phones, mute button lets u tune quietly (tuner out). I use this amp for jamming and small gigs (50-200 people

I use a mexican 5 string jazz bass and a sting ray rip-off bass. I love the sound of the octave control. if u want a good bass distortion sound, go buy a bass overdrive pedal. I sometimes use the distortion channel to add the slightest bit of distortion to my clean sound (using the combine feature) but i would never use the distortion channel alone. I can not complain about the sounds i get from this head. It is an ampeg, and with ampeg heads comes ampeg tone. i wish it was a bit louder (because i play small shows that only run the vocals through the PA, and my guitarist uses a very loud tube amp).

At party one time, i watched my head fly 3 feet across a porch, from the top of my 8x10 ampeg cab and slam on to the ground as someone tripped over the power cable as they were running by. Maybe my 4-U space SKB Case had something to do with it, but the amp still worked perfectly. The head has been on some rough trips, and i wouldn't hestitate to take it on some more knowing that it is of ampeg quality.

Never had to deal with them

I have had this head for almost a year with no complaints at all. If it were lost, i would definately be going for a louder head. Ive done recording with this head and couldnt have been (much) happier with the sound. Its an ampeg, you wont be dissapointed. I wish they kept the 9 band eq like on the B2R.

i got this amp on sept 2003 brand new from a local shop in guatemala after a month research online about which could be the best amp to get i was decided to get an ampeg and i found this local shop with ampeg so i got the b5r , a bse410 and the bse115, i am still learning how to use it , if u combine both clean and od u can get an amazing sound, it should have a graphic eq, but the 5 selector knob works pretty good,and if u have define ur sound as a bass player u dont have to change it that much

i use this amp in my bandas rehersal room (domesticfool) and i play it with a 4 string fender jazz bass, with new strings the sound is so much brighter, dont let ur bass more than 4 o 5 weeks with the same strings!

we play punk music and this amp suit perfect, u can go from jazzy sounds, funky, soft, punk, hardcore,metal

u can cover anestisia (metallica) with the od the sound is exactly the same through a fender jazz bass

u can get the same sound as randy bradburry (pennywise) mark hoppus (blink) fat mike (nofx)

i m fine with the amp maybe sometime i will grow up, a preamp or something but its ok

i havent try too much its features, since i just plug my bass and play it sounds great anyway

no probs_!
warranty is 5 years!

i been playin for 14 years now
If it were stolen or lost i would buy it again
i love the sound, how it look like, i hate its weight-! and no EQ!
i choose this one cuz sounds incredible and all its features

You can date any ampeg amp from vintage to 2004. see this link.
members.aol.com/bluemuse/ampeg.html Likewise, I confirmed this system with St. Louis Music. I bought a B5R from a private party. Serial # says it's made March '01. Why an overdrive channel for bass?? What were they thinking. Talk to guitar center or ANY music store and they will tell you this model is being discontinued. I only bought it for the 2 ohm load. For the Ampeg name this thing is pretty sad.

I've got alot of basses in the collection, and have been playing gigs for over 30 years. Main bass is a cheap Dean 5str w/actives.I've owned a bunch of amps in my life. side by side comparison? Ampeg B2R is louder, Trace Elliot is louder, Hartke(I hate to say it) is better. All of the above have graphic EQ. This was a fair test using the same cab & instrument. Yeah, it has bass thump.

I'm carrying the B2R in the same SKB case for backup. Subject of tubes. Why use the technology of 100 years ago?

Dealt with the Ampeg co. Tech support confirmed the serial # dating code. I hope I don't have to get it repaired and I think the thing is iffy. Would NEVER buy another.

I'm a gigging fool. We play clubs, weddings, county fairs, etc. played 17 gigs one month last year. I need reliability. The buttons are hard to read. The skinny white line mixes with the swirly ridges on the knobs. Ampeg speaker cabs are great. Trace Elliot dials are ideal for the hard-of-sight. Attn: DrPorkchop. I read your review. pls contact me, marco, at my email address. sum up? I think St Louis Music really CHUMPED OUT the parts. I would rather buy something assembled overseas with American factory parts than built here in the good ole USA with materials from GOD KNOWS WHERE?????????

Ampeg B5R, yep I had one, now I have a 'real' bass amp, SWR!! I over paid by a gross amount for the B5R because Ampeg claims it to be a 'pro' type of amp, which it is not. It has 2 channels, the first with limited tone control and the second which is useless distortion and octave FX. If you open the lid to this amp you will see nice and neat cheap parts and inaccessable output transistors. The circuit board covers up the transistors so it's impossible to check them. If Ampeg recomends this amp to a working bassist where are the tone controls? No sweepable mids, no parametrics not even a graphic EQ? The XLR out for P.A. or recording is NOT ground switchable and has no level control, not very smart Mr. Ampeg!
This is a toy for kids that are just learning to play and should be priced at about $400.00 new not $1200.00.

I do not recomend this amp (B5R) for reliability, mine quit on me at a gig, I took it to the local Ampeg tech who kept it for 2 months and did nothing to it, then shipped it to St. Louis Music for repairs, after getting it back it worked for a week and broke down again. I complained vigorously, they repaired it again and I sold it to some poor soul before it blew another time.

The customer support guys at St. Louis Music are very nice and want your amp repaired but the repairmen don't have a clue. I suggest Ampeg should build a good product to begin with.

I've been a touring bassist for 20 years and have recorded with some greats, I will never buy another Ampeg product or suggest anyone buy one. If you want a 'real' amp get SWR!!!

See features below. Can run at 2 ohms, which is great. Would be nice if it had graphic eq, instead of treble/mid/bass + 5 position "voicing" switch. I am not much of a knob twirler, and for me it has so far worked out fine. Three position foot switch. Sub-octave effect, which I find myself using more than I thought, although usually just for parts of a song.

The overdrive channel is odd, and if you try and use it by itself, prepare to be underwhelmed. However, the clean channel sounds great, very warm, much thump. Does not have the bite of an SWR amp. Subjectively, not sound as loud as I had expected for a 350w 4ohm amp. I play with two guitar players (Each with a bassman reissue) a loud drummer and a harmonica player (who plays through a bassman reissue), so I may have had some adequacy issues with my SWR WM 12 going through the PA. Having said that, the Ampeg is plenty loud.

I have gotten good blues and rock tones out of the amp. With a touch of the distortion, can get some great Jack Bruce Cream-era tones. With everything flat in the clean channel, very solid sound. Good foundation for the band. Drummer very happy.

Am using with an Avatar 2X12, Am Std Jazz with maple neck and a Fretless Cort Artisan B4.

Had it for three months. No problems yet.

5 yr warr. Not had to use customer support.

Have been playing for 10 years. Now in a blues/rock band. So far, very happy with purchase. I had been using a SWR WM12 into the PA for years (mostly church), and the difference is absolutely incredible. I feel like I got a good deal on a strong amp.

i use MIA jazz and p basses and the amp growls with both, you have to use the clean and overdrive channels together which produces a great sound if set up right. i use it in a rock band and irish band and in both cases would use nothing else.

dropped it and it worked, it got wet and it worked(i dried it out first).never had a problem.

broke the style button off with my foot when it was sitting on the floor, called ampeg had a repacement in days.

i,ve been playing 20 or so odd years and i'll only use fender and ampeg.i like everything about it. i had a swr workingman's 300 and i thought it was junk, it sounded completely different everywhere i used it, alway @#$%#$ with the EQ. i bought the ampeg because i tried every stomp box on the planet and could't find an overdrive i liked until i heard the ampegB5R. the trace eliot's overdrive sounded good too but the ampeg sounded better.

2003 Very Versatile if you know how to use it and that truely is the key. I do not own this amp yet. I was getting ready to purchase a Mesa Boogie Venture combo (M Pulse 660 amp) when I heard this one and pulled back. I just wanted to comment on the OD section. Fortunately the rep showed me how to use it because I thought it sounded like crap.

He explained that you have to use it with the combine feature which combines the clean with the OD. The OD is almost like a built-in stand alone Overdrive pedal as opposed to a seperate amp channel. Try it and I believe those below might change their mind.