Bruce Amp ! ?

[jhundt]

down below we were talking about Plush amps, and I was remembering the one Plush cabinet I'd ever seen live in person. And I went way back in my memory and remembered that the guy was playing a, a, what was it? ... something called a Bruce Amp, the only one I ever saw. And one of you guys actually blew one up in that same post, along with the Plush. So what was a Bruce Amp?

[Rip]

Wow...I haven't seen that name in years. I remember seeing and hearing a Bruce bass amp in the late 60's...It had a small head...probably (solid state?) preamp only and the power amp was in the speaker cab...2 X 15"s I think...I remember it sounding great but that was a long time ago and amps were just starting to get really big and powerful....the player was a guy named Rob Stoner who played with alot of people later on...

[Bill Beck]

the band "Three Dog Night", I believe that the guitarist, Michael Allsup used a Bruce amp. He made it sound pretty good...

[Tonecaster]

My friend Dave used a Bruce amp in the 60’s with his band Springwell. They had a top 50’s hit with the Lennon / McCartney song “It’s for you” in 1971. The power amp was in the bottom and the head was a thin two channel preamp. It was all solid state and had two Altec Lansing 15’s. When he was moving some years ago he gave me a preamp and two power amps. Another friend of mine and I constructed a bottom and installed the altec speakers. It sounds pretty good. He had two amps with four 15’s when he played and ran a Gibson ES-345 Stereo or a Birdland thru it. You can find some Springwell 45’s on ebay if you want to hear the Bruce Amp. They were built in Colorado or at least that is where he sent one power amp back to be repaired. :D

[Bill Ashton]

...when I told him about a "Bruce" amp in a local music store when I was a kid...I am thinking mid to late 60's...as said, real thin head and tall cabinet...didn't know the power amp was in it...I seem to remember it had a "funk" knob on the control panel. The store only ever had the one, and I cannot remember if it was preceeded or followed by a Standell that looked very similar...

[BB]

The Plush was a take on the rolled & tucked Kustom and the Bruce amp was sort of a take on Acoustic amps. Soild State. Lot of power and lot's of bad tone. At least Acoustic amps were loud and durable. My first "good" amp was an Acoustic 135. 2 12's, 120 watts of fire breathing, clean, soild state power. I plugged my P-90 equipped 57 Les Paul Special into it with an Electro Harmoix LPB-1 power booster. That was just before I go the Suzz Buzz. The Suzz Buzz was a little black box that plugged into your guitar ( like the LPB-1 ) and turned it into instant Keef Satisfaction, Iron Butterfly tone. I remember getting rambunctious and linking the LPB-1 into the Suzz Buzz then into the 135. My buddy had his SG plugged into a Blackface twin and we were trying to see which amp was louder. The cops were at my house in minutes! Of course, they used to hang out a few blocks away just waiting for the call!!

Back to the Bruce and Plush amps. Big, ugly monsters that blew up very easily.

[David Polich]

I've been looking all over for any pics or specifications for Bruce amps. Back when I was in high school (in Aspen, Colorado) in the late 60's, the town's only local rock band, Leviathan, used Bruce amps. The guitarist in that band was Tommy Gillespie, the bassist was Paul Wilcox, and the drummer was a guy two years older than me, Bill Moss. They were a great three-piece blues rock/jam band.

I knew that Three Dog Night used Bruce amps, and that they were built in Englewood, Colorado. I can't find much in the way of info about them, though. They probably did sound terrible, although at the time I thought they sounded good and were WAY cool looking - a very thin preamp and separate powered speaker cabinets.

If anyone knows of a website with more info on Bruce amps, or if anyone actually still has one, I'd love to hear about it.

[eddiewagner]

he knowledge in this forum is really deep. impressive.

[Van1]

found on Ebay

[snake wayne]

Hey everybody. Here are the Bruce Cabs i think you were talking about. Couldnt really find anything about them on the web. Back power amp was removed and hand wired for 1/4 inch input.
Sound bad ass.
My dad used them in the late 60s. He toured with these bad boys for a while.
This Past year for my birthday he gave them to me as a gift and and we had them rewired.
Ill take better photos and post them up soon.

[Dave Hopping]

An old friend of mine got one new back in the day,still has it.Weighed a ton,had lots of power.Souded OK(but just).After awhile he started using a SFDR.

[jhundt]

snake wayne - that is a very cool classic rock rig! welcome to the forum.

[Groovey Records]

Welcome Snake

Did you do other mods to make it a guitar amp besides the input jack??

[snake wayne]

nope just the standard 1/4 inch jacks.
i was also thinking since my bassist doesnt have a cab right now.
of letting him play some bass thru it.
good idea? bad idea?

[swamprunner]

HI I WAS LOOKING UP BRUCE AMPS. I AM NEW TO THE SITE AS OF 11/16/09.
I STILL OWN A BRUCE AMP. IT WAS BUILT BY A GUY THAT WORKED FOR NASA. I QUIT USING IT BECAUSE IT HAD PLUG IN MODULES IN THE PRE AMP AND THE POWER SECTION. THE COMPANY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS AND I HAD A NOISY MODULE AND COULD NOT FIND REPLACEMENT ONES. GOOD AMP FOR THE TIME. 70s. I THOUGHT I WOULD RESEARCH IT INSTEAD OF TOSSING IT.