Carlsbro Stingray 115 Bass Combo

This is an old British made bass amp. One fifteen inch speaker, 150watt output. I play jazz, funk, blues, rock, country, it all sounds good. Two inputs, band pass filters, deep switch, 3 band EQ and master volume. No other features.
The features may seem basic but you can get anything out of it that you could possibly need. If you play a decent bass through it you get good sound out - make sense? The deep switch brings up the bottom a bit more and the band pass filters can help you get everything from dub to slap. So, while its not as complex as modern amps, it stillhas enough for almost every situation. Its also loud.

I play active and passive basses through this amp and get just as good results with both. I prefer to change my pickup settings rather than my amp settings to adjust tone - with this amp i have the bass almost on full, middle rolled off, and trebble about half way. Put on the deep switch and that sound is ideal for my fretless and fretted, active and passive. At high volumes the quality of the tone does decrease a little, but i use high volumes for rehearsal when there's no PA and lower volumes (about quarter is enough) when using as a monitor and using the line out.

I don't need a back-up. This thing is indestructible.

This doesn't need repairing. Only Chuck Norris could break this in any way.

I have played many amps. The best was a Marshall Bass State B150. This is louder but the tone isn't as flexible. However, the tone is flexible enough for most people's wants and it can be expanded to more extreme settings using effects,so no bother there. All in all, the amp is very big and very heavy. But if it just sits in the rehearsal room or in the van, its fine. No nonsense, solid, reliable amp for gigging and playing rehearsals.

Late '70s bass combo,135 watts RMS into 4Ohms (transistor). Hi and Lo z inputs, Master volume, EQ: bass, treble, 5 band-pass filters & 'Deep' switch. 2x speaker out jacks, unbalanced slave output/input jacks (can be used as effects loop if wanted). 1x15 Fane speaker (8 ohms: an extension cab. is needed to get full power output). Looks like a lounge lizard's cocktail cabinet and weighs about the same.

Used with a '70s Jazz bass and Bass Collection 301, Boss ME6-B multi-effects and Boss GE7-B equalizer. Certainly not a modern bass amp sound: quite soft with very little punch. 'Deep' switch adds a little bit of acoustic 'thud', the band-pass filters never get used because they make the sound far too harsh and processed:Lack of an input level is a real pain. Only really used as a monitor/volume increaser for gigging, it's too limited in terms of tone for it to be used for shaping your sound but it is LOUD: even without an extension cab. It's been used with a 4x12 extension cab. occassionally and has proved adequate for small pub gigs.Any bigger gigs and a D.I. was sent to the PA and the amp used purely as a monitor. Not used for gigs anymore but still fun to use for rehersals: doesn't seem to be bothered by over-use of bass effects.

I bought this second-hand in 1985 and haven't had any problems: it's still got the original fuse in it.The previous owner never had to do any repairs on it either. It works!

Shortly after buying it I wrote to Carlsboro asking for info. They not only sent me an owner's manual but also copies of the original circuit diagrams from their R&D dept.

Doesn't impart any usable tone and doesn't cut through enough to be considered as a viable bass amp. It also weighs a ton and is a nightmare to move. Not really used anymore except for amusement/nostalgia value. I've recently cut the head off it to use as a power amp. If it was ever got stolen I'd go to the local zoo to visit: only a tone-deaf gorilla would want it and/or be able to carry this thing.