You can't hurry love
"If you don't feel it, don't play it." James Jamerson Jr. recounted the most important lesson imparted upon him by his father in the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. By Jamerson's recollection, his father's words could be interpreted as a classic lesson on not wasting your time. It could also be read as a reminder to not do the song a disservice. Jamerson compared the double bass technique of 1960s Motown session musician contemporaries to that of his father's, contrasting their more laid-back, regimented plucking to a reenactment of his father's leaned-in, animated playing. "Put something in it." Jamerson, since his death in 1983, has been heralded as among the greatest to ever pick up a bass.
There's certainly something translated from Jamerson's lesson, intentional or not, in the piece of gear we see before us today. "If you don't feel it, don't play it." If you're not going to do it right, why do it at all?
This is the Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen Bass Preamp.
Shop the Origin BassRig Fifteen
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Introducing the Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen Bass Preamp
For those out of the loop, there is a reason we kicked this all off with a story about James Jamerson. Let's talk about Origin Effects really quick.
Origin Effects, Buckingham, England's finest in incredibly high-fidelity effect pedals, has a knack for capturing the indispensable sounds we all grew up on in analog components. You leaf through their catalog and you find things like their Halcyon Green, Gold, and Blue capturing the essence of staple overdrive stompboxes, their Cali'76 series replicating the sounds of iconic studio compressors, and their BassRig series.
The BassRig series of bass preamps are a lineup of large and in-charge pedals designed to replicate the tone and playability of legendary bass amplifiers – preserving their sounds for the modern day while carrying with them more modern functionality. Their BassRig '64 Black Panel assumes the role of vintage Fender Showman and Bassman amplifiers, their BassRig Super Vintage does the same for the Ampeg SVT. While those BassRigs played with sounds more indebted to the thunderous tones of America's west coast, today's BassRig calls another town home.
Perhaps America's most famous musical "town," the BassRig Fifteen is indelibly tied to the timeless sounds of Motown Records. The Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen centers its tone around the sounds of one piece of the cornucopia of everyone's favorite Motown hits: the Ampeg B-15 Portaflex. This classic, scaled-down tube bass amp from Ampeg found its way onto many popular Motown singles through their use by session bassists like Bob Babbitt and – you guessed it – James Jamerson. The amp's warm, thumping tone fit right into the bass stylings that defined Motown hits and has since taken on a legacy of its own.
So, here we are. Let's get into it.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen Bass Preamp Design and Tones
The BassRig Fifteen follows in the example of its BassRig series siblings with authenticity, playability, and tone as priorities. Like other Origin Effects creations, the BassRig Fifteen is a completely analog pedal that replicates the sound and playability of the Ampeg B-15 through a tube amp-style signal path. Origin actually went ahead to ensure this authenticity by measuring, testing, and recreating an original Ampeg B-15 from the ground up. This authenticity all comes together through a robust analog design shaped through a vast setup of controls, so let's get into that.
Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen Bass Preamp Controls
On the BassRig Fifteen, we're met with a setup that mirrors the simplicity of the original '60s Ampeg B-15 setup with a couple of bells and whistles that leave things unencumbered but deeply customizable.
- Output – Firstly, we have control over the level of the overall pedal. Made for translating the pedal's tones clean or broken-up at any volume, the Output control is responsive and reliable for shaping the overall presence of the BassRig Fifteen to taste.
- Drive – A pretty common feature for these upscaled preamp and amp emulation pedals these days, an independent Drive control allows for some authentic, tube-style saturation at lower volumes. Separately shaped from the overall Output control, this independence lends an enormous amount of tonal mixing at square one.
- Blend – Another feature becoming more common, yet still very much welcomed with these kinds of effects, is the clean mix control. Blend rolls through the clean, unaffected mix of the pedal in the signal, allowing for more nuanced doses of the B-15 tone, should you want a little more room to negotiate.
- Treble and Bass – One of the most striking features on original Ampeg B-15s were their Baxandall EQ control sections that featured dedicated treble and bass frequency controls. The BassRig Fifteen translates this experience with Treble and Bass dials to get the right amount of thump or thud you find most fitting in your songs.
Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen Bass Preamp Tones
Something to remember about the Ampeg B-15; around the late '50s to early '60s – the genesis of Motown – electric basses were becoming popular, but acoustic double basses were still very much an institution in performance and recording. The Ampeg B-15 played very well with electric basses, but their design was fashioned with acoustic upright bassists in mind*. With this, the B-15 carried with it some unique tonal qualities. Through the BassRig Fifteen, we get honest, loving looks at original B-15 sound palettes as its two-way EQ and new Drive and Blend controls replicate original tones while forging new, exciting, reverent paths. A simulated push/pull power amp expands on this amp-style authenticity even further.
James Jamerson originally being one of those players, himself
The BassRig Fifteen effortlessly replicates the warm pulse you associate with classic Motown records. Not overly flashy or in-your-face, the way Motown bass has since become known for, the BassRig Fifteen is a great way to line your bass parts with that '60s pop-soul gold. That's not all it can do, though. The Ampeg B-15 did also go on to have a storied career with all your favorite rock and blues players of that decade, as well – Rick Danko, John Paul Jones, Andrew "Blueblood" McMahon... we could go on. All this to say that Motown is not the only place the BassRig Fifteen can take you.
“It was Motown’s little secret. Berry (Gordy) didn’t want everybody having him because they was making too many hit records. You know, that was their little secret, like they – their little secret weapon. Like, ‘Hey, well, we’ve got something that you ain’t got.’” - James Jamerson Jr., on why his father wasn’t recognized in his time – “PBS History Detectives: Special Investigations: Motown Amp”
How Sweet It Is
Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen Bass Preamp Further Functions
To top off and fully modernize the B-15 Portaflex's experience, the BassRig Fifteen loads in an array of exciting features to really cross the T's, dot the I's, and put the whole thing really over the edge in terms of functionality. Let's run a couple of these down.
- Hi Cut/Lo Cut – Onboard, furthering your control over the pedal's EQ even more, the BassRig Fifteen features dedicated high and low frequency cut controls that can be swapped on and off independently using their dedicated switches, and shaped even closer with corresponding dials. What this all adds up to is an EQ-shaping experience with unprecedented range as you fit your bass perfectly (or intentionally imperfectly) into the mix on a high/low frequency basis.
- DI Out – Probably the showstopper of this whole deal, the BassRig Fifteen is outfitted with a dedicated XLR out for full DI out functionality. Where does this land us, though? The XLR DI out means the BassRig can be routed directly to a stage PA system or to your recording interface so this pedal is fully playable without an amp altogether! For pure simplicity without sacrificing quality, as it was in the Motown days, the BassRig Fifteen already has you covered.
- Cabinet Simulation – What is an amp emulator DI out without a cab sim, these days? The BassRig Fifteen pairs its all-analog circuitry with an onboard cabinet simulation that runs out of its XLR DI out. Capable of being fully bypassed itself, this cabinet simulation adds that extra layer of analog-style authenticity to direct-out playing and recording with the option of being nixed altogether.
The BassRig Fifteen builds itself up with a number of smaller yet very impactful features. For one, a high-quality buffered bypass footswitch keeps things quiet for a seamless bypass experience. For another, a standard nine-volt DC center negative power connection allows the BassRig Fifteen to be quickly slipped into any existing setup. Did we mention, like all Origin Effects, the BassRig Fifteen is designed and built in England?
Origin Effects BassRig Fifteen Bass Preamp Final Thoughts
There's a lot of amp emulation pedals out there, if you can believe it. There's a lot of pedals replicating your favorite high-gain monsters, your shimmery clean machines – the amps that had the sound. It is a rarer occurrence that we see bass amps represented in these kinds of pedals, and it's a fraction of that fraction that covers amps famous in genres outside the usual suspects of rock and metal. Because of this, the BassRig Fifteen stands fairly alone among the pack and has quite a bit to live up to. Luckily, Origin are no slouches.
The BassRig Fifteen follows in suit with the existing BassRig line in terms of quality and playability. It effectively translates the sound and playability of a legendary bass amplifier in pedal form with finesse and authenticity without missing out on the modern fixings to make it compelling to new players. The BassRig Fifteen is very much a pedal designed for the stage and studio, it's got a sound that must be heard. It provides the Motown bass sound we've talked so much about, but of course, it doesn't stop there. It's a thoroughly modern representation of a timeless sound that won't slow you down but won't make you feel like something's lost in translation.
For Motown bassists, whenever you are, you might not know it, but this pedal should be at the top of your list to at least take for a spin. See the sights, hear the sounds, relive old memories and make new ones. It's the same old song.
