# Dont laugh; turning SS guitar amp into bass amp? (or anything useful)



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Might be foolish question; I have an old Yorkville Bloc amp that is a terrible sounding heap. I was wondering if there was any value in (or if it possible) turning it into a bass amp by tossing a big speaker into it? It currently has 2x10's in it. I was thinking of toying around with adding a pickup to run the signal of the low E and A strings sort of like what Steve Hill does (though it sounds as if he uses guitar amp(s))

Or any other ideas how I can make this amp useful in some way? Aside from sitting on it or using it for a bonfire, boat anchor, planter box etc...


----------



## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Is it a Bloc 100GT ?


----------



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

The right 10" speakers can be used for bass.


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

jb welder said:


> Is it a Bloc 100GT ?


Yes, that's the one 



Tone Chaser said:


> The right 10" speakers can be used for bass.


I was thinking of one big speaker like a 12-15 inch or something and ditching the 2 10s however I'm open to ideas


----------



## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Having owned a number of Bloc 100G and Bloc 100GT I can say they were not terrible sounding at all. The current resale value for a GT would be in the $125 range...mess with the baffle, maybe half that amount. The biggest issues from what I've noticed is dirty pots and power supply cold solder points.
I'm no expert, my opinion is the sell the Bloc and buy a dedicated bass amp with the proper bass frequency voicing. 100 watts is a bit low in SS watts to keep up in a band situation and stay clean.


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks Ed. I think the problem for me is the 2 10's. Not rich or bassy enough for me. I like your baffle idea. I wonder if I could squeeze a good set of 10's or 12's into it, and if that doesn't work I could convert it to an ext cab


----------



## Cups (Jan 5, 2010)

2-10 inch bass speakers and you're good to go. Maybe you have a bass playing friend that could lend you them? Try it out and see what you got. 

Keep it simple.


----------



## Cups (Jan 5, 2010)

Oh, and I don't know where you are but if you're close and you are selling then I may be interested. I oddly love ss amps.


----------



## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Agree with ed2000 that these are decent sounding amps. If yours is truly "a terrible sounding heap", then there is probably something wrong with it.
If it's just the speakers you don't care for, then try hooking it up to an external cab. before you do any modifications. Maybe you'll like it better into a pair of 12s or 15s, but maybe not.


----------



## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

A little distortion demo, the amp I had years ago.


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks again guys. Sounds like the demos on youtube. I think it's just my tastes. Not enough bass response (I likely should have chosen the 1 x 12) and just really sterile sounding to me. I did like the fact I could get a saturated dirty sound at very low volumes, but now I do most of my playing when nobody is home and I can turn it up somewhat and this amp isn't doing it for me at all. It doesn't help that the YCS90 that I just picked up is making it sound much worse.

I think I will upgrade the speakers and add a bypass jack so I can turn this into an ext cab or use it as a backup amp with pedals. If I still don't like it, I'll open up the back. If after all of that it does not appease, I will still have 2 good speakers to make a nice ext cab.


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Tone Chaser said:


> The right 10" speakers can be used for bass.


Agree. I used to play with this one bass player, he had a 2X10 cab on top of a 15" cab. For small gigs he'd just bring the 2X10 and it would sound great.


----------



## Jamie Lepage (Dec 2, 2016)

Just chanced upon this thread. I converted mine to a 210 cab. Removed the guts and stock drivers, kept the chassis; loaded it with two WGS green beret 10", wired two parallel jacks to the chassis. Pairs well with either of my Mesa cabs (recto 112 or very 212) with Stock V30s.


----------



## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Got a block 100B that I use as a backup for small jams. Great little amp ?

Id have yours verified if the sound is unpleasant to you ! 

Swapping to 2 X10 bass speaker or a 15 would do the trick .


----------



## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Use it as a 'wet' amp alongside your main amp. It will sound amazing.


----------



## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

Gotta hate zombie threads!!! Oh, well, as good a place as any for this...

If those are the right speakers in there, I would like to buy them. Do they have 7318 marked on them and/or 10305a?

I was thinking about something like this just this morning.

I saw a Peavey amp on Kijiji yesterday with the electronics removed being sold as a speaker cabinet. I recall seeing some Fender cabinets that I think came from the factory like that, and there was a thread just the other week where the guy said Fender was replacing his whole Rumble amp because of some failed part.

Broken hulks of solid-state amps are going to be abundant.

A guy could save a lot of money on parts and labour if he found some brand and models that were plentiful and reliable. A small company could probably run for years...

There is room in them to build new amps, even modify the chassis. Or cover the faceplate and make it a speaker.

That's assuming the cabinet will last.

There's a guy on another forum from Europe taking old indusrial tube amps and repurposing them, but he doesn't seem to want to try anything but pretty boring tube complements and Fender-like circuits. Fix the thing if it's fixable.

Rumble Amp leaves carcass
https://www.guitarscanada.com/index...-possible-not-to-beable-to-fix-an-amp.147505/

Flying Peavey flag in distress









1966 Fender Extension Cab


----------



## Jamie Lepage (Dec 2, 2016)

Sorry dude, they're already long gone. Not sure what they were but they weren't in very good shape and sounded awful. Lots of build up (dust etc) and looked like there was wax or something all over one of them.


----------



## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

I had the bloc60 for about 25 years. The clean was great. My friend, a real gear snob, heard me playing a cheap Peavey guitar thru it. Next time I went to his house he had a SS amp.

Another friend worked at the Yorkville factory when they were making the Bloc amps. George Krampera made significant improvements to the Bloc line and really impressed my friend while he was there. Interested folk may want to Google George Krampera.


----------

