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

Make it loud here.
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) O

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:31 pm

s_mcsleazy wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 12:30 pm
s_mcsleazy wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2013 1:17 pm
im not into the bassman for guitar..... sorry guys
well this post aged poorly.
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) Owners Thread

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:42 pm

Sadly not mine, but these two started my search for the holy grail!Image

Anyone seriously tried a Bassman 135 for guitar use? There is one to be had locally for 850€ (serviced and with a case) how do the UL amps take Fuzz and Reverb? And does it work on moderate volumes too?

Other than that: my main amp since 2008 is my supersonic 60 in the Bassman setting (I think to recall it‘s modeled after a 66 and not a 59 as many - including me - believed)
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) Owners Thread

Post by JSett » Sun Apr 10, 2022 9:39 pm

MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:42 pm

Anyone seriously tried a Bassman 135 for guitar use? There is one to be had locally for 850€ (serviced and with a case) how do the UL amps take Fuzz and Reverb? And does it work on moderate volumes too?
I have one (for sale/trade actually) and it's pretty good, just blisteringly loud. I'd consider it probably the ultimate pedal platform... infinitely clean. It's more like a non-FX Twin Reverb head. I've played it at more sedate volumes and it sounds fine. Just always clean.

It has that old Fender 'sparkle' to it though, which is nice.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) O

Post by Veitchy » Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:51 pm

46346 wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:34 am
you can start tinkering with a good bassman head for like $350. take your time!
Well that ship has sailed...

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

Post by hulakatt » Wed Apr 13, 2022 12:30 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 9:39 pm
MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:42 pm

Anyone seriously tried a Bassman 135 for guitar use? There is one to be had locally for 850€ (serviced and with a case) how do the UL amps take Fuzz and Reverb? And does it work on moderate volumes too?
I have one (for sale/trade actually) and it's pretty good, just blisteringly loud. I'd consider it probably the ultimate pedal platform... infinitely clean. It's more like a non-FX Twin Reverb head. I've played it at more sedate volumes and it sounds fine. Just always clean.

It has that old Fender 'sparkle' to it though, which is nice.
Dead loud and clean, great if you're looking for that. I kinda really want one of the VTMB Bassman heads to try some D*mble mods.
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) O

Post by hulakatt » Wed Apr 13, 2022 12:31 pm

Veitchy wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:51 pm
46346 wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:34 am
you can start tinkering with a good bassman head for like $350. take your time!
Well that ship has sailed...
Mostly but some are still hiding out there. I picked up my '66 Bassman for under $500 just a few years ago and I even scored a drip edge Bassman getting thrown out by a family cleaning out their deceased Grandpa's house.
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) O

Post by fever606 » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:12 pm

hulakatt wrote:
Wed Apr 13, 2022 12:31 pm
Veitchy wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:51 pm
46346 wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:34 am
you can start tinkering with a good bassman head for like $350. take your time!
Well that ship has sailed...
Mostly but some are still hiding out there. I picked up my '66 Bassman for under $500 just a few years ago
Same… I found my one-owner ‘66 maybe four years ago for $400.

As for NO AFFILIATION deals still being out there (mods please let me know if this isn’t copacetic)…

https://annarbor.craigslist.org/msg/d/y ... 27793.html

https://rockford.craigslist.org/msg/d/r ... 58337.html

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/d/ba ... 50525.html

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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) O

Post by Veitchy » Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:11 pm

hulakatt wrote:
Wed Apr 13, 2022 12:31 pm
Veitchy wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:51 pm
46346 wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:34 am
you can start tinkering with a good bassman head for like $350. take your time!
Well that ship has sailed...
Mostly but some are still hiding out there. I picked up my '66 Bassman for under $500 just a few years ago and I even scored a drip edge Bassman getting thrown out by a family cleaning out their deceased Grandpa's house.
Oh nice, that's a steal by the standards of Australian prices.

I gotta meet some old pickers at the pub and start making friends...

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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) O

Post by hulakatt » Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:24 pm

Veitchy wrote:
Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:11 pm
I gotta meet some old pickers at the pub and start making friends...
Yeah ya do. Delivering mail, I found out for the trash or actively being thrown out:
-90's Danelectro U3
-'65 Ampeg Jet
-drip edge Bassman
-Silvertone archtop

Also had a coworker ask if I wanted an old guitar since she heard I liked to fix them up and play them. Immediately told her yes and she brought in a 2010 white Gibson SG for me. Was her son's guitar, he went off to college and graduated , leaving it behind. He was told to retrieve it when his parents were cleaning house to move but he told them just to get rid of it. I offered her money for it and she refused so I still have it.

Had another old coworker give me the remnants of a '91 PRS EGII that met a Pete Townsend wannabe. I actually managed to salvage and rebuild the whole thing but it was heavy as hell and very compressed sounding. If anyone runs across a white '91 PRS EG II with a repaired neck joint and 2 humbuckers on a tort guard, that was the one! Kinda miss it but 90% for sentimental reasons.
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) Owners Thread

Post by hulakatt » Wed Apr 13, 2022 5:08 pm

BTW, my little slice of Bassman heaven...

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

Post by MrShake » Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:08 pm

All these years, and how have I never posted in this thread?

I have fallen back in love with my Bassman Ten as of late. Big, clean, warm, chunky. Perfect pedal platform for my needs, projects like a cannon. Does double duty on guitar and occasional bass. Brings the low end for the guitarist in a two-piece. A punch to the gut compared to a SF Twin's brick to the face. Pairs lusciously with a Kustom 200. Cleaner tone than the Bassman 50. A great deal for a 50-watt, hand-wired, all-tube, clean and loud, US-made Fender amp.

And it might be my favorite amp to play a VI-style bass through.

Image

... and weirdest of all, there's a solid chance the very cab for my Kustom is the one on the bottom in the back row of the OP photo from 14 years ago, posted just months after I first got my B10. Got it at Empire Guitars in RI.

Crazy. Maybe.

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

Post by hulakatt » Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:30 pm

I've always low key wanted one of those unloved 70's behemoth Fenders like the Bassman 10, the Super Six or the Quad Reverb. No way in hell I'd want to gig the later two but I love Twin Reverbs for their low volume tones anyway.
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) Owners Thread

Post by MrShake » Fri Apr 22, 2022 4:01 am

hulakatt wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:30 pm
I've always low key wanted one of those unloved 70's behemoth Fenders like the Bassman 10, the Super Six or the Quad Reverb. No way in hell I'd want to gig the later two but I love Twin Reverbs for their low volume tones anyway.
They're fascinating, right? I wouldn't want to move one, but stepping in front of a humming Super Six onstage and turning the standby off... I bet that's satisfying. That crazy nexus of "we're Fender, we make combos!" and "it's the '70s and we need huge amps!". But I just checked - a QR weighs 89lbs, and a S6 is 98lbs? Absurd.

I'd always loved the Super Reverb form factor. "Mega Combo". But this is what was available and affordable when I stepped up to a vintage Fender. And a double duty amp was ideal for my situation. It was meant to be in my heart, if not my lower back, which was stronger then. As a pedalhead, I think I'm happier. I'm a Bassman for life. It's a forever amp. The only way I could upgrade from it for my needs would be a Bassman 100 or 135. And not at 2022 prices.

By the way, I love that art on that head. Honestly, I usually prefer trad amp grillecloth, but the lines and colors on that piece really work with the faceplate and cab grille. Is it stretched cloth, or a solid piece?

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

Post by hulakatt » Fri Apr 22, 2022 9:00 am

I'm grateful I got into vintage Fenders in the early 00's when I could pick up a SF Bassman or Twin Reverb for around $300-400 bucks at Johnnie B Goodes. I've owned quite a few but never owned a Pro Reverb or Super Reverb. I've had many Bassman amps but my current one is a '66 BF I rescued from the trash, bought a matching horizontal 2x12 from Mojotone and loaded with Golds. I've also had many Twin Reverbs and nothing else sounds quite like them at low volumes, they're incredible!

Yeah, the QR and S6 were the answer to the question: What if I love the Fender sound and want a combo but I feel insecure about the size of my Super Reverb and I need to sterilize small woodland creatures?
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Re: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BASSMEN: Fender Bassman (and clones) Owners Thread

Post by bulrich » Sun Apr 24, 2022 5:46 pm

Some recent scores.

BP12007
6G6-C, Aug 64
Image

BP04344
6G6-B, Oct 62 (has matching cab. currently getting filter cap job)
Image

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