THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) Owners Thread

[hulakatt]

See, this one of the reasons I can't part with a Bassman. It's such a wonderful double duty amp!

Both the amp and the bass are beautiful. Where did you get the grille cloth for it?

Thank you! The grill cloth on the head is just a canvas print I found on ebay and put on a spare replacement panel I had. I've long been a big fan of Hokusai wood block prints. This is one of the prints from his 36 Views of Mt Fuji series.

[OffYourFace]

Here's my '67 Bassman that i've been tweaking for the last month. I think i'm good with it after some tweaks today. It was originally an AB165 and I rebuilt it to AA864 specs. I made a few changes to the bass channel's tone stack but went back to the stock ckt today (.1uF, .047uF, 250pf, 100k slope).
I also added a 56pf bright cap for a little added sparkle on clean tones. On the normal channel's preamp, I added a .047uF coupling cap on the output like a typical AB763 normal channel. I love this amp now. It's like a have a bandmaster and a more focused bassman in one head.

The deep switch is now a mids switch. It switches between a 2.7k and a 6.8k resistor. To my ears, it's like turning up a midrange control from 4 to 6. I find it to be very useful. The bass channel feels great. It's got a much quicker response like a British amp but still sounds like a Fender.

On its looks: It was originally in an ugly homemade cabinet with purple tolex. I had this 1968 head cab so I put it in there. I need to add a 1/4" frame behind the cloth panel so it sits flush with the faceplate. The BF cabinets have this frame and the SF ones do not.

The cabinet has two 12" custom voiced (Cage Amp specs) Weber Ceramic Blue Pup speakers.

[shoegaze_head]

Here's my '67 Bassman that i've been tweaking for the last month. I think i'm good with it after some tweaks today. It was originally an AB165 and I rebuilt it to AA864 specs. I made a few changes to the bass channel's tone stack but went back to the stock ckt today (.1uF, .047uF, 250pf, 100k slope).
I also added a 56pf bright cap for a little added sparkle on clean tones. On the normal channel's preamp, I added a .047uF coupling cap on the output like a typical AB763 normal channel. I love this amp now. It's like a have a bandmaster and a more focused bassman in one head.

The deep switch is now a mids switch. It switches between a 2.7k and a 6.8k resistor. To my ears, it's like turning up a midrange control from 4 to 6. I find it to be very useful. The bass channel feels great. It's got a much quicker response like a British amp but still sounds like a Fender.

On its looks: It was originally in an ugly homemade cabinet with purple tolex. I had this 1968 head cab so I put it in there. I need to add a 1/4" frame behind the cloth panel so it sits flush with the faceplate. The BF cabinets have this frame and the SF ones do not.

The cabinet has two 12" custom voiced (Cage Amp specs) Weber Ceramic Blue Pup speakers.

Looks real nice and those mods sound killer. I wasn't really aware of the differences between the circuits. How different would you say the AA864 vs AA165 are?

[OffYourFace]

It’s hard to say. I worked on a friend’a AA165 years ago and it was an amazing sounding amp. It was easily one of the best bassmans I’ve ever heard… he used the normal channel. I usually find the bass channel useless on AA and AB 165 models without some tweaks. But that’s me. Others like it.

On another subject, IMO, the biggest sound difference in BF vs SF amps is in the power transformer. The BF PTs have a center tap and the SF amps have a false center tap. I could never make my SF Bassmans sound as good as the BF ones and that PT was the only difference.

[46346]

Here's my '67 Bassman that i've been tweaking for the last month. I think i'm good with it after some tweaks today. It was originally an AB165 and I rebuilt it to AA864 specs. I made a few changes to the bass channel's tone stack but went back to the stock ckt today (.1uF, .047uF, 250pf, 100k slope).
I also added a 56pf bright cap for a little added sparkle on clean tones. On the normal channel's preamp, I added a .047uF coupling cap on the output like a typical AB763 normal channel. I love this amp now. It's like a have a bandmaster and a more focused bassman in one head.

The deep switch is now a mids switch. It switches between a 2.7k and a 6.8k resistor. To my ears, it's like turning up a midrange control from 4 to 6. I find it to be very useful. The bass channel feels great. It's got a much quicker response like a British amp but still sounds like a Fender.

On its looks: It was originally in an ugly homemade cabinet with purple tolex. I had this 1968 head cab so I put it in there. I need to add a 1/4" frame behind the cloth panel so it sits flush with the faceplate. The BF cabinets have this frame and the SF ones do not.

The cabinet has two 12" custom voiced (Cage Amp specs) Weber Ceramic Blue Pup speakers.

very cool, Mike - those sound like some great channel options all around.

i usually keep one Blue Pup and sometimes two in my 3x10 Bassmania cab.

i actually really like your grille set back like that with the drip edge.
though i don't think it would work as well without the edging...
this almost looks 'transitional' very early '68, like a possibility that apparently never really happened.

i used to get annoyed with era-bending cues like that, but now i think it's fun, especially when
it's all bonafide Fender parts or made in the classic style.

somehow both my blonde Fenders are mildly defying tradition right now, where
my brownface Bassman head ended up in that smooth blonde/gold sparkle Bassmania cabinet , i had originally built for my BF head
(i think it's earlier in this thread),

and my BF Twin has *rough* blonde tolex with blonde cloth... from the factory! (it's a FSR reissue).

it all ends up looking like early '63. more possibilities that probably never really happened.
.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Yesterday I rewired my Supersonic 4x12 cabinet to parallel/4 Ohms and paired it with my new 6G6-B Bassman Clone. Very sweet sound! Can‘t compare it to a vintage unit - but it definitely sounds mighty!





I can’t help it…proportions matter (to me) - it looked off/too small on the 2x12/1x15 stack which is a perfect match for my other „Bassman“ the Supersonic 60 - now I‘m happy with both of them!
Even like the gold grill cloth on it by now.

[MrShake]

Just wanted to add this to the OSG tally, for posterity.

My last "New Bassman Day" was 2008, right before this thread started. I didn't even post. It was a Bassman Ten that I still love to this day, 50W of Fender cleans and a closed-back 4x10. You can see it a few pages back, I got it refurbed this year.

Never thought I'd need to make the move from 50W to 100W, but a few years of gigs had me and my wife/drummer in agreement – I needed more headroom and power. I'm the only amplified player in a two-piece – so big, thick, punchy sounds are helpful.

My new Bassman 100 (a 1974, just like my other one) is pretty much exactly the sound of the amp I already love, with double the weight behind it. Can't articulate it, but the "big iron" people aren't crazy. At about the same perceived volume in the room, the sound from the head has a lot more power behind it, even from a single 12" cab.

Needs some love and attention on the bench to iron out a few "new to me" hiccups, but I have no doubt it's going to be not just a keeper, but as long as there are no major issues, it's going to be my "big" forever amp. It turns 50 this year, but it's not a collector's piece. I bought this to take out to just about every gig once it's on its feet.

This, the Bassman Ten, and a little SS Deluxe 112 Plus for grab-and-go should cover just about everything I want for live performances.

Everything else is just stuff I'm keeping because it's got a unique personality and I got it for peanuts (vintage Kustom/Peavey/ADA) or keeping for sentimental value.

Here it is in context while it waits for its trip to the doc.



(Bonus: there is also a non-zero chance that my Kustom tuck 'n' roll cabinet is the exact same one in the very first post of this old thread. I got it at the same shop as OP about 2-3 years ago now, they said it was their last one and that it had been there for years...)

[Jonesie]

(Bonus: there is also a non-zero chance that my Kustom tuck 'n' roll cabinet is the exact same one in the very first post of this old thread. I got it at the same shop as OP about 2-3 years ago now, they said it was their last one and that it had been there for years...)

Did Empire finally run out of Kustoms? They had like, 20 of them at one point. One of my former bandmates bought two tuck and roll combos for like, $150 each. They sound killer.

[MrShake]

Did Empire finally run out of Kustoms? They had like, 20 of them at one point. One of my former bandmates bought two tuck and roll combos for like, $150 each. They sound killer.

They said that was it. They'd gotten instrux from the owner to clearance them out, and the black one had sat for ages while everybody wanted the sparkle. A couple years ago a good friend gifted me the head, and it wasn't long before I NEEDED a matchingish cab. The cheapest one on Reverb was also the only one on the eastern seaboard and happened to be an hour from us, but we didn't have a car.

They took my offer, we rented a Zipcar, and away we went. Incidentally, the cab seems to be one of the very earliest circa '65-'66 (slant front, fewer rolls across, no ports, blank backplate, etc), was in such good shape we wondered if it was a reissue. Not bad for $160. And yeah, these Kustoms sound great, Kasinos too, and even better if you can find a place to turn one to 10.

Also, Empire is a wild store. The manager was telling us how the Kustoms used to be all lined up in the front window before they renovated, but these days you wouldn't know there's stacks of vintage gear upstairs from the front of the place. Looks like a bank, but worth going inside, for sure.

Just weird that I may have had eyes on that pic 15 years before I bought the cab.

Also, back to the matter at hand - Bassmen.

I'm a fan of leaving amps, especially vintage, be what they are. But what would the advantages/disadvantages be to having my rarely used first channel (I don't jumper anymore because I prefer the headroom) turned into something crunchy on either this or my Bassman Ten?

I realize it would need another tube punched, I'd assume the tech here could do it for a couple hundred. Cons are that I've modded a 50-year old amp with a new tube socket. Pros are that since this one's theoretically a "forever amp" for me, it would give me the last kinda "amp drive" sound I really don't have anywhere else for my punk rock side. Social Distortion is the too-obvious touchstone I'd probably be aiming toward, though not specifically. Just some version of that "driven Bassman" sound.

It SEEMS like a more efficient option than an eventual Bassman 50 purchase. I don't want another amp, dear lord.

This is all hypothetical. I'm inclined to leave it clean, I DO like the first channel on the combo for Bass VI, and I can use a MIAB or something for the sound.

Where do you stand?

[OffYourFace]

If it sounds ok i'd just leave it alone. The Bassman 100 has been a 'secret' weapon in the studio for some bass players. Sometimes they sit a lot better in a mix than an SVT. When it comes to mods like adding extra tubes,etc look for an amp that already has an extra hole or two drilled in it.

Another less invasive option is converting the Master Volume on that amp into a LarMar type. Then revoice channel 1 to have more mids and leave the Normal channel alone.

[MrShake]

If it sounds ok i'd just leave it alone. The Bassman 100 has been a 'secret' weapon in the studio for some bass players. Sometimes they sit a lot better in a mix than an SVT. When it comes to mods like adding extra tubes,etc look for an amp that already has an extra hole or two drilled in it.

Another less invasive option is converting the Master Volume on that amp into a LarMar type. Then revoice channel 1 to have more mids and leave the Normal channel alone.

All excellent points, thanks! You're right, of course. If I want a different amp, I'll get a different amp. I suppose there's just a smidge of jealousy that my devotion to clean headroom leaves that "Bassman Drive" (a la the early circuits or the 50) to other players.

Speaking of clean Bassmen, my recent market-watching led me to be surprised at the way the 135 is currently going for as much or more than the 100 recently.

I see the unique merits of both, but I admit, I'm surprised that their undeserved reputation doesn't put them at a couple hundred less.

[OffYourFace]

I suppose there's just a smidge of jealousy that my devotion to clean headroom leaves that "Bassman Drive" (a la the early circuits or the 50) to other players.

My '67 bassman is pretty loud. With a 2x12 there's no way i could crank it up to overdrive levels at any live performance i'm doing lately. I'm thinking of putting a LarMar MV in it actually. But then I'm mainly using a clean tone and the BD-2 works great with it.

[i love sharin foo]

Here's my contribution (a '66):


I had one a long time which I sold and always regretted afterwards. I've had this one for a couple years now and it's definitely not going anywhere. It's a great contrast and complement to the Bandmaster.

[GreenKnee]

I suppose there's just a smidge of jealousy that my devotion to clean headroom leaves that "Bassman Drive" (a la the early circuits or the 50) to other players.

My '67 bassman is pretty loud. With a 2x12 there's no way i could crank it up to overdrive levels at any live performance i'm doing lately. I'm thinking of putting a LarMar MV in it actually. But then I'm mainly using a clean tone and the BD-2 works great with it.

I found my '66 crumpled at gig levels with my fuzz pedals, had to leave it off and just boost when I need *more*. In a live situation I definitely need a Twin, the Bassman is perfect for recording though. We are a loud band though.

[OffYourFace]

I suppose there's just a smidge of jealousy that my devotion to clean headroom leaves that "Bassman Drive" (a la the early circuits or the 50) to other players.

My '67 bassman is pretty loud. With a 2x12 there's no way i could crank it up to overdrive levels at any live performance i'm doing lately. I'm thinking of putting a LarMar MV in it actually. But then I'm mainly using a clean tone and the BD-2 works great with it.

I found my '66 crumpled at gig levels with my fuzz pedals, had to leave it off and just boost when I need *more*. In a live situation I definitely need a Twin, the Bassman is perfect for recording though. We are a loud band though.

Wow. My bassman is heavily modified but I'm sure if I played in a loud band it wouldn't be the same as the old 100w JMPs I used to use.