Sound City Bass 150

I bought the amp new in 73-74 with two 1x15 folded horn cabinets. Plenty of power for hard rock venues. I would have preferred front loaded 15s as the folded horns were hard to hear onstage without killing the people in the back of the room.

I used this amp with a 73 Precision. The combination was good and all the clean power I needed.

Here is where it goes sour. This amp had a voracious tube appetite. The store said it was caused by the vibrations of the bass shaking the head and rattling the insides of the tubes. We tried strips of foam rubber between the head and cabinets. We tried placing the head on the floor so the vibrations would be less. It still could not get more than a couple of months out of the power tubes. They wanted me to remove the tubes during transport but that was not practical. Also the guitat player was using a Sound City 120 with no problems at all. I think this amp had an internal problem and should have seen a tech to resolve it. I traded it for a Sunn Coliseum in less than a year! I never had any problems from the speakers or cabinets. Construction materials were excellent.

The store handled the support. Made several tube replacements but wanted out of the deal in six months.

I had been playing about six years when I had this amp. This one did not live up to the Sound City reputation as I know of several guitar amps that had no problems and one that the original owner still uses. This would not be my only amp if I had a choice. I liked the power and tone but the reliability killed it for me.