There was not a lot going on in the late 70's / early 80's. Ampeg was not in business, Acoustic was gone, big Fender rigs didn't exist. I saw a lot of Sunn, and lots of Peavey Bass/ 215 setups were the first club rigs for more than a few guys. Peaveys never had much tone, but gosh, you could throw them out a third floor window and they'd fire right up later. . . . a lesson lost on David Nordschow, believe me.
And big rigs had hit a brick wall of sorts. No one made anything bigger than SVT's or 360's for a long time. So a lot of guys went component. You'd see the occasional F2B, the IVP's, the PB-1 Yamahas driving Crowns or Yamahas or CS800's, surely the Ford pickup of power amps. We sold a lot of those black JBL combo cabinets ( I can't remember the name . . . .) with rigs like that. Guys were shocked that these rigs were at least as loud as big bass rigs, but they were so much cleaner. In those days, you spent a lot of time fighting a 50w guitar amp to hear yourself: Those old folded horn 18's would blow right past you, roast the rest of the band, and knock half-empty bottles off the back of the bar. Front loaded is better . . . .somewhere in me, I still want an SVT with BOTH 810 cabinets, just like God and Dan Armstrong intended.
G/K and SWR were revelations, but for me what really blew it open was Trace-Eliott. Yet so many of them are gone, re-branded, or a shadow of their former selves as once-happening companies.
As Hartley Peavey points out, the owners change, but these brand names just keep going on and on.
And times and tastes change: When the Mesa 400's first came out, I remember more than a few guys saying, 'why would I want something with all those tubes?'
And you have to remember: There was a certain train of thought that synths would replace bass in bands. I've read interviews with Doug Wimbish and Nathan East where they felt really had to step up to compete with keyboard players' left hands: This also drove 5- and 6-string bass development.
Guys starting out today are so very fortunate alongside of what we had to pick from back in the day. I'd have killed for a Squier and a cigar-box-sized 600w amp that weights 5 pounds !
J o e y
