Ampeg
Everett Hull's company started out building amplified peg fittings for upright bass, which is where the name comes from, and ended up making the amplifier most closely associated with loud electric bass. The SVT arrived in 1969 at 300 watts and remains the reference point for rock bass rigs, alongside the B-15 flip-top favoured in studios. We cover new Ampeg releases such as the SGT-DI preamp pedal, and the vintage models keep surfacing in our gear-history writing.
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- Bass amplifiers
- Guitar amplifiers
- Bass guitars
- Effects pedals
- SVT
- B-15
- Portaflex
- Rocket Bass
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Ampeg FAQ4 questions
What does Ampeg stand for?
Amplified peg — a reference to the amplified pickup for an upright bass's end pin that the company started with. It was established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everett Hull and Stanley Michaels as Michael-Hull Electronic Labs, and it has specialised in bass amplification ever since.
What is an Ampeg SVT?
The 300-watt valve bass head introduced in 1969, and the standard against which loud bass rigs are still measured. Paired with an 8x10 cabinet it is the classic touring bass rig, and it appears on a very large proportion of rock records made since.
Who owns Ampeg?
Yamaha. Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guitar Group and is run from Calabasas, California. It sits alongside Yamaha's own instrument lines and, since 2023, Guild through the Córdoba acquisition.
What is an Ampeg B-15?
The flip-top Portaflex combo — a valve bass amp whose head folds into the cabinet for transport. It is the studio bass amp of the 1960s and 70s, favoured for a warm, controlled tone at moderate volume, and reissues remain in the range.