Oliver B120 115 Combo

Amp made in the early seventies. 2 channel all tube amp with great tone controls.Bass, mid and treble controls which are really effective. Ampeg style ultra low and ultra hi controlled with a pot instead of flip switches. No modern features like effects loops, headphone out etc. 35 watts into 8 ohms doesn't make a loud earthshaking monster. This thing is about tone! Great singing tone. Built by the guy who designed the Portaflex amps.Gives you an idea of the style amp and sounds you get.

I use a precision with a seymour duncan vintage pickup and a jazz with dimarzio ultra jazz pickups. I play all sorts of music except really heavy stuff. This thing covers a lot of different sounds but really shines on old school funk, motown stuff and pop. Does a really good smooth warm sound with all the notes really audible. It distorts if you push it hard. I've never been into distorted bass sounds.

Built like a tank. I don't play out much these days but I'd trust it for gigs in small clubs and the like. Never broken down.

Jess Oliver still operates a shop in New York. He answers email very quickly. A friendly helpful guy.

I've played bass for 30 years. Owned 2 Ampeg V4B amps(second to none), Bassman 100, Dynacord Reference 3000(Great 80ies German 4 x 10 combo),SWR Workingman's 12 and 10. I love the basic tone of this amp and the great but subtle tone controls. Very responsive. Greta little amp that I will keep for ever.

Amp was made in 1969. its 50 watts 2 power tubes 2 pre amp tubes. It was my fathers amp that he used for guitar now i use it for guitar. there is a good amount of eq ability. With the ultra bass and the ultra treble. very good cleans. Rca jack out of the back to the speaker.

I play a seven string in a band setting. and i have a Randall Rh100 solid state amp. i loved the low end but it had a bland tone. i had this amp in my room because i practiced on it at home and i loved the sound i got at low volumes but when i would crank it the 15 just sounded like crap( i mean it sounds great for bass which it was originally intended for) i wanted to get the sound i had at low volumes when i had it louder. so i got the idea to take the amp out of the combo and run it through a 4X12 cab. i took a guitar cable and an rca cable and spliced them. hooked it up. I use a Rocktron tube pre silver dragon pedal with a boss super overdrive and the sound is almost identical to a 5150 cleans are a little flat but still very useable. its amazing. i love it. and its twice as loud through the Cab. I made a case for this amp to go in. and i use it go gig with. people comment on my sound always. The low end is massive and tight. the other guitarist in my band uses a B-52 At-100 all tube head and my amp sounds better than his. i will admit his is louder but i love my tone and would take my amp over his anyday

it was made in 1969 and its still kickin i guess they just dont make things like they used to.
only thing its ever had done is retubeing

dont need customer support with an amp built like this

ive been playing for 7 years and i love this tone im getting. i would recommend the amp to anyone guitar players and bassist alike.
If it where stolen or blew up i would search the earth until i found another one. i do wish it had a little more volume but im thinking about buying a tube power amp and running it through it. then i will have my dream sound

if you have any questions about the amp email me and i will gladly tell you bout it

from what i know the amp was made late 60's, early 70's. i've used it on a few different occations at my home. however it is in the repair shop for a re-tube/re-bias, (tubes were burned when i bought it)

i think i'll have a better idea of how it sounds once everything is cleaned and serviced.

i've been playing about 5 years and i'm still learning about amps, sound and how different basses sound thru different amps. i own a hartke 3500 head paired with a peavey 410 cab, which i plan on replacing soon with a ampeg 410 classic cab. like i said i'm still learning a lot about amps, now especially tube amps, and from what i hear of these type of amps they are very rare and have a very unique sound. if anyone owns a oliver b120 115 combo, you probably know more than i do about them. please email me.

1969 50 watt tube bass combo designed by jess oliver, former head engineer at ampeg. 2 power tubes and 2 preamp tubes in a bottom ported cabinet. high and low gain inputs. mstr. vol, bass, mid, treble knobs. plus ultra high and ultra low knobs(not switches like on ampegs!). speaker out jack is rca, a small drawback easily remedied with a $4 plug adapter. no e/l or pre-out or anything like that but what the hey it's over 30 years old!

i switched the original eminence 15" with an ampeg 15" from a 1966 b-215 portaflex combo and what comes out is the most pure bass sound i have ever heard! i use it with an early 90's godin acousticaster bass and an art tube pac compressor for that extra tube punch. also great as a safeguard from overriding the amplifier. if this thing busted i'd sell everything but my bass to get it fixed. this is the heart of my setup and the one item above all others that i intend to keep forever.

i have yet to do anything "necessary" to fix this amp. upon acquiring it i switched the speaker(though the original worked fine), the speaker wire(from some dinky crapper to a monster cable standard 100 speaker cable), and the speaker out jack from rca to a gold 1/4". i know little about these amps other than they were based on the old portaflex designs. but i can only assume good reliability since they were made by the father of the greatest bass amplifier ever made.

never tried to contact the now defunct company. i know jess oliver is still around somewhere but i've no clue where. if anyone knows please contact me as i'd like to get my hands on the schematics for this amp.

i've been playing bass for 10 years which isn't all that long but i've gone through quite a bit of equipment. i've used fender, marshall, ampeg, and numerous other preamp/power amp combinations and nothing can touch this thing for the pure basic sound that hits your soul like a ton of bricks. if this is ever lost or stolen i will cry uncontrollably for some time. if i ever find another oliver bass amp again i will definitely buy it. sell my car if i must.