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Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 7:43 am
by sadbirthdays
Has anybody ever tried putting a reverb tank in theirs?

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Sat May 19, 2018 8:35 am
by Horsefeather
It takes more tubes to drive reverb so that's a major operation. Easier to just get a Twin Reverb and revoice it to Bassman specs, I reckon.

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Sat May 19, 2018 9:35 am
by marqueemoon
That or get an outboard spring reverb unit.

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 1:57 pm
by spiffy chap
I just use a reverb pedal or my RE201’s spring. Never had the desire to mod mine.

1966 Blackface Bassman

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 1:57 pm
by spiffy chap
I just use a reverb pedal or my RE201’s spring. Never had the desire to mod mine.

1966 Blackface Bassman

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 3:57 pm
by muchxs
You're trying to make a cat do dog tricks.

Fender style tube driven reverb requires both sections of a 12AT7 for the drive side, a small driver transformer then 1/2 of a 12AX7 on the recovery side.

It could be done if you were willing to assimilate one of the channels for the reverb circuit. Still, it's a vintage amp and kinda rude to modify it.

Modifying a vintage Fender usually kills any resale value it might have had.

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 5:21 pm
by Embenny
muchxs wrote:
Mon May 21, 2018 3:57 pm
You're trying to make a cat do dog tricks.

Fender style tube driven reverb requires both sections of a 12AT7 for the drive side, a small driver transformer then 1/2 of a 12AX7 on the recovery side.

It could be done if you were willing to assimilate one of the channels for the reverb circuit. Still, it's a vintage amp and kinda rude to modify it.

Modifying a vintage Fender usually kills any resale value it might have had.
Yeah, this is how I feel about it.

If you found a Bassman that was in complete need of a rebuild, like a flood-damaged one or something, then sure, mod away. But at that point, why not just buy a kit and experiment on a new build instead?

Mucking with a perfectly functional blackface amp just seems sacrilegious.

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 12:53 am
by Igorilla
mbene085 wrote:
Mon May 21, 2018 5:21 pm
muchxs wrote:
Mon May 21, 2018 3:57 pm
You're trying to make a cat do dog tricks.

Fender style tube driven reverb requires both sections of a 12AT7 for the drive side, a small driver transformer then 1/2 of a 12AX7 on the recovery side.

It could be done if you were willing to assimilate one of the channels for the reverb circuit. Still, it's a vintage amp and kinda rude to modify it.

Modifying a vintage Fender usually kills any resale value it might have had.
Yeah, this is how I feel about it.

If you found a Bassman that was in complete need of a rebuild, like a flood-damaged one or something, then sure, mod away. But at that point, why not just buy a kit and experiment on a new build instead?

Mucking with a perfectly functional blackface amp just seems sacrilegious.
+1

Besides being a major surgery circuit-wise you'll still have to deal with the ptoblem of hum caused by a pretty small head cab if you decide to install the reverb pan into the head cab. The transformes will be very close to reverb pan's transducers (hum city!). There is good reason why the piggy-back amps with reverb, like bandmaster reverb and showman reverb, have quite big head cabs.

A good solution, if you don't want a tube driven outboard reverb unit, is a SurfyBear Reverb kit. Install the reverb pan under your pedal board, put the circuit board in a small hammond enclosure, connect and you are done. This is going to give you a real spring reverb with a lot of adjustability.

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 8:58 am
by bryan83taco
I highly recommend a Fender 6G15 outboard Reverb unit. They are magical, much better than their onboard tanks IMO. Expensive but so worth it!

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:36 pm
by i love sharin foo
bryan83taco wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 8:58 am
I highly recommend a Fender 6G15 outboard Reverb unit. They are magical, much better than their onboard tanks IMO. Expensive but so worth it!
That's the ticket! I've been using a '65 for the last 13 years and there's no comparison. With the prices of blackface Fenders steadily climbing, it is also the smarter way to go IMHO. Plus they look great stacked up :-*

Image

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 8:10 pm
by bryan83taco
i love sharin foo wrote:
Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:36 pm
bryan83taco wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 8:58 am
I highly recommend a Fender 6G15 outboard Reverb unit. They are magical, much better than their onboard tanks IMO. Expensive but so worth it!
That's the ticket! I've been using a '65 for the last 13 years and there's no comparison. With the prices of blackface Fenders steadily climbing, it is also the smarter way to go IMHO. Plus they look great stacked up :-*
Killer combo! I also got a sweet ‘65 Reverb and a ‘67 Bandmaster. Love that blondie you got!

Image

Re: Fender Bassman Blackface Head

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:46 am
by i love sharin foo
bryan83taco wrote:
Sat Jun 16, 2018 8:10 pm

Killer combo! I also got a sweet ‘65 Reverb and a ‘67 Bandmaster. Love that blondie you got!
Thanks!

I bought the '65 Reverb Unit and '64 Bandmaster from the same place at the same time. They've been paired up for a long time now :)

I think blackface Bandmasters are still kind of under appreciated at this point. Sure, they're thinner compared to a Bassman with it's bigger output transformers, but they just WORK! I've always loved mine. I did own a super clean '65 Bassman at one point and wish I would've kept it though.