Ampeg Instruments
Baby Bass
Besides making amplifiers, Ampeg both manufactured and had manufactured for them basses and guitars. Since Ampeg was founded by an upright bassist and the focus of their amplifier manufacture was the lower end of the sound spectrum, it only made sense that their first instrument would be an electric upright bass. It was often referred to as the Ampeg Baby Bass although in typical Ampeg fashion the official designation was the BB-4 (four-string) or BB-5 (five-string) Electronic Bass. List price was $349.50, going up to $475 by its demise in the early 70s. The five-string Baby Bass was $100 more.
The original design was licensed from Zorko and redesigned by Oliver Jesperson. The body, slightly smaller than that of a 'cello, was formed of Uvex, a plastic manufactured by Eastman Kodak, and filled with a dense foam. The neck was full size, crafted of maple with an ebony fingerboard, and the string action could be easily adjusted by way of tilting the neck using an allen screw in the back of the instrument. The bass was available in mahogany wood grain, white, turquoise, red, and black, according to sales literature at the time. The pickup was a diaphragm transducer positioned directly below the feet of the bridge. In theory this was supposed to translate the vibration of the strings into electrical energy in the same way that string vibration is translated into sound energy in an acoustic upright bass. In practice the typical Baby Bass sound is a short-sustained thud. For the current Baby Bass owner, there are ways to improve the sound of the instrument without making irreversible modifications. Because the original pickup doesn't rely on magnetic properties, either gut or steel strings could be used.
Optional accessories for the Baby Bass included a rib extender (to help simulate the upper profile of an acoustic bass), a nonswivel endpin (to prevent twisting while playing arco), a stand, and a padded gig bag.
Steve West has scanned and posted a copy of the Baby Bass instruction manual and has allowed me to link it from here. Thanks, Steve!
Ampeg-branded Burns instruments
Sonic
Six
In the early- to mid-60s four Ampeg-branded guitars by Burns of London were offered in the sales literature:
- Sonic Six (model EGSS). Solid mahogany body with two tri-sonic pickups, volume and tone controls, rhythm/solo selector, vibrato. Cherry polyester finish. $269.00. [This model is equivalent to Burns's NuSonic Guitar.]
- Wild Dog Guitar (model EG1.S). Solidbody short-scale, three pickups, four-position selector (Split, Jazz, Treble, and Wild Dog—"a snarling, twangy combination of tone partials, made possible by unique circuitry in the pickup; ideal for western or rhythm and blues."), geared truss rod, microbridge suspended on ball bearing rollers, vibrato. Polyester cherry sunburst finish. $399.50, hard case $45.00. [This model is equivalent to Burns's Jazz Split Sound Guitar.]
- Deluxe Wild Dog Guitar (model EG.3). Same as above except standard length neck, purfled neck binding, slightly different contour to body. $450.00, hard case $45.00.
- Thin Line Guitar (model EGT-1). "Our EGT-1 was designed to meet the demanding requirements of professionals who enjoy conventional styling in a solid model. Top and back are arched and stressed to kill extraneous resonances. Response is enlivened by the 'power assisted' transistorized pre-amp operated by one tiny battery inside the pick guard control unit." Geared truss rod, purfled body and neck. Polyester cherry sunburst finish. $599.00.
Also available, at least for 1963, was the Vista Sonic Bass, based on the Burns model of the same name and analogous to the Wild Dog guitar, with three pickups, a mute, and tone switch settings for Contrabass, Bass, Treble, and Wild Dog. It is a very full, strong, deep-sounding instrument, and unusual for basses, has three pickups. Bass sales must have been low, as these instruments are rarely seen.
A few features merit more discussion:
-
Split Sonic pickups. Each pickup is in halves, with each half wired separately; in effect there were two pickups in each unit. The "Split Sound" setting is actually the bass half of the neck pickup with the treble half of the bridge pickup. I count at least nineteen possible pickup configurations without getting too complicated (e.g. without using odd numbers of coils), so it's a bit unfortunate that there were only four tone switch settings provided.
- Geared truss rod. Behind the neckplate is access to a shaft that turns the gearbox truss rod adjustment. A special wrench was provided for this purpose.
- Floating bridge. On the Wild Dog models the bridge saddles rest on a solid aluminum block that in turn rests on bearings. When the vibrato arm is actuated, the entire bridge block moves. There is no movement of the strings across the bridge saddles thereby helping the guitar to return to tune.
The available hard case for these instruments was covered with the same blue-check tolex as Ampeg's amplifiers.
Many may have the impression of Burns instruments being cheap Fender knock-offs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jim Burns has sometimes been described as the "English Leo Fender" (an appellation that does a disservice to both men's contributions) and built quality instruments with innovative features not found elsewhere. For more information about Burns instruments, visit the modern Burns UK site, the Burns US site, and the Burns Museum.
Burns-made Ampegs were not popular instruments probably because adding the costs involved to import them made them much more expensive than comparable U.S.-made instruments such as Fenders.
Ampeg's association with Burns ended in 1965 when Ampeg's competitor Baldwin, after losing out to CBS in their attempt to acquire Fender, purchased Burns instead.
Wild Dog
Guitar
Horizontal Basses
The first
Ampeg "Horizontal Basses" were the fretted AEB-1
and the fretless AUB-1 designed by Dennis
Kager. The AUB-1 was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, fretless
electric bass. These distinctive instruments have been informally referred
to as the "f-hole bass" or the "scroll-head bass." Soon
after the AEB's 1966 debut, the "devil bass" in both fretted (ASB-1)
and fretless (AUSB-1) versions emerged
from the Linden, New Jersey plant. It was essentially the same bass as the
AEB/AUB but with a different body style. All of these basses used a diaphragm
transducer rather than the now-standard magnetic pickup to reproduce the
string vibrations. Like many of the basses manufactured in the 60s, these
instruments provided a string mute underneath the bridge cover. Unlike many
other manufacturers' instruments, however, this mute is very easy to bring
in and out of play. By loosening the thumbscrews that mount through slots
and hold the bridge cover to the body, the bridge cover can be slid along
the axis of the strings. The mute can be "shut off" by moving
the bridge cover back so that the mutes contact only the nonspeaking portion
of the strings. Or the mute could be slid part or all the way onto the strings,
varying the degree of muting. Another feature of the bass was the tilt adjustment
of the neck, much the same as Fender's Micro-tilt adjuster that would appear
six years later.
There was at least one left-handed AEB-1 produced. The photo of this immaculate example is generously provided courtesy of Route 66 Guitars, where it is currently for sale.
Accessories included a padded gig bag and a case.
There apparently were at least a couple prototype "f-hole"-style electric guitars built as well, including the one shown here, which has seven-polepiece pickups, perhaps to allow the strings to vibrate between polepieces. Gruhn and Carter's Electric Guitars and Basses also includes a photograph of a prototype built in the late 60s.
In the late 60s the AEB-1 and AUB-1 were refitted with a magnetic pickup and shorter tailpiece, becoming the AMB-1 and the AMUB-1.
AUB-2
Bruce Johnson of Johnson's Extremely Strange Musical Instrument Co., 119 W. Linden Ave, Burbank, CA 91502; (818) 955-8152, is compiling a Spotters Guide of Ampeg Horizontal Basses and would like to hear from Ampeg bass owners. He might ask you some questions about your bass, since it turns out that there are a number of differences in manufacture even within a specific model. Bruce also is a source for the very long scale strings that are required for AEB-1, AUB-1, ASB-1 and AUSB-1 basses. One very valuable part of Bruce's page is set-up information for vintage Ampeg scroll basses. Required reading if you own one.
Bruce explored designing a new series of horizontal basses for Ampeg. This project evolved into Bruce's line of Ampeg-inspired horizontal basses, which currently includes the AEB-2 and the AUB-2 and the short-scale SSB-2 and SSUB-2 basses. A Devil Bass is on the way. They are not simply reissues, but rather completely reengineered, thoroughly modern instruments that still preserve that cool old Ampeg vibe. Some of the prototypes may still be available for sale in addition to the production instruments. Interested? Visit Bruce's website.
I've used my own AUB-1 on a recording or two. I've found that I can get a decent sound from the stock pickup by using a parametric eq. I'm using an old Ibanez parametric eq pedal, which doesn't have a width adjustment for the notch, but it works well anyway. What I do is to boost the mid and sweep the frequency control until the nasal quality is at its unbearable worst. Then I notch that frequency right out. The result is a pleasant, usable tone. Another absolute must is to properly adjust the action and the tailpiece of these instruments. Proper adjustment will reduce the unwanted nasal and ringing sounds. Damping the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece will help as well. Extensive instructions for setting a horizontal bass's action is found on Bruce Johnson's site mentioned in the previous paragraphs.
Also available in the mid-60s was the SSB, a short scale electric bass, either fretted or fretless, with a magnetic pickup. It came in apple red, black, or gold sunburst.
Devil Bass
Dan Armstrong-Ampeg "See-Through"
The bass, also with a 24-fret neck, was wired differently. There were no slide-in pickups. What appears to be a single pickup is actually two stacked single-coil pickups encased in potting compound. The tone control fades between the larger bottom pickup through a capacitor at one end of the adjustment, to the top treble coil at the other end of its range, with a mix of the two in intermediate positions. Later versions included a switch to bypass the treble coil and introduce another capacitor resulting in a lower bass tone.
Both the bass and guitar featured maple necks with rosewood fingerboard. Of the thousands of intruments produced, eight guitars and eight basses were made with black plastic bodies and 150 fretless See Through basses were made. Rumor has it that a few were produced in red and blue plastic. Can anyone positively confirm this?
The Studs
These guitars and basses were made in Japan, and in the words of one owner whose Big Stud bass is pictured on the left, "what could they have been thinking? . . . a horrible bass" The owner was kind enough to provide a picture of this beast in color (to see, as he describes it, the "dog piss on plywood" finish). The nadir of Ampeg instruments. There was also a Little Stud bass (courtesy Steve) in the series as well as a few six-string guitar models called the Stud, the Super Stud (both shaped somewhat like a Gibson SG), and the Heavy Stud (shaped like a Fender Telecaster).
It has been erroneously reported that the Stud series was manufactured by Hagstrom. Karl Erik Hagstrom says they had nothing to do with them. Reportedly they were manufactured in Japan by Tokai. The neckplate of the Little Stud pictured above is clearly marked "Made in Japan," as are the tuners. The back of the pickup is marked "Maxon," which reportedly supplied electronics to Ibanez and other Japanese instrument manufacturers. If you know more about these instruments, please pass the information along.
OK, now that I own one, the Little Stud (I feel so inadequate) pictured right, which has been converted to fretless, and have played a friend's Big Stud, I have to soften my tone on these instruments. They're really not that bad, and have a nice useable tone. The quality of manufacturing may not be exemplary (the control cavity of mine looks like it was routed with a large screwdriver), but I'd rather play one of these than many other inexpensive basses I've tried. The Little Stud, by the way, is not short scale, but more likely refers to the cheaper single-pickup model as opposed to the more deluxe, two-pickup Big Stud.
A few more notes are in order. The bodies are dense plywood. The neck of my Little Stud is also plywood and feels chunky but stable. The neck of the Big Stud I played was not plywood. The necks are bound, as are the headstocks. Comparing these instruments to the Sigma line that Martin imported shortly before Ampeg imported these instruments, the similarities are striking, the major difference seeming to be a modified headstock shape. Might they have come from the same factory?
Miscellaneous Distributions under Selmer
- Hagstrom guitars and basses including the
- Patch 2000 guitar/bass synthesizer
- Harmony guitars
- Olympic Drums
- Lyricon wind controller