Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
- Thread starter AlexR
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Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Origin...329&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=2&sd=121042195211&
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Origin...329&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=2&sd=121042195211&
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
That is one of the very first silverface Bandmasters...chrome grill trim, black line face...aside form the face, trim ring and grill cloth it is the same as a 1967 Blackface inside.
Great amp for sure.
This one is a blond head but same guts as the one you posted:
That is one of the very first silverface Bandmasters...chrome grill trim, black line face...aside form the face, trim ring and grill cloth it is the same as a 1967 Blackface inside.
Great amp for sure.
This one is a blond head but same guts as the one you posted:
glassman
Electron Herder
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
That's a really nice looking amp. I think I'd take issue with the power supply rebuild though. Whoever did it used two 100uF caps and three 22uFs; it should be two 70uFs and three 16uFs. Some may say it doesn't make a difference but I would argue with that. The power supply is a big reason (along with the smaller and less efficient output transformer) a Bandmaster doesn't feel like a BF Bassman; the Bandmaster has a warmer low end and more of a midrange focus when pushed than a BF Bassman. Over-filtering a Bandmaster can make it a little muddy when pushed unless you swap out the OT for a Bassman unit...at that point, you're better off getting a Bassman instead.
That's a really nice looking amp. I think I'd take issue with the power supply rebuild though. Whoever did it used two 100uF caps and three 22uFs; it should be two 70uFs and three 16uFs. Some may say it doesn't make a difference but I would argue with that. The power supply is a big reason (along with the smaller and less efficient output transformer) a Bandmaster doesn't feel like a BF Bassman; the Bandmaster has a warmer low end and more of a midrange focus when pushed than a BF Bassman. Over-filtering a Bandmaster can make it a little muddy when pushed unless you swap out the OT for a Bassman unit...at that point, you're better off getting a Bassman instead.
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
Read the thread or open the link and look...it is not the TDL 5005 which is a Bandmaster Reverb.
Read the thread or open the link and look...it is not the TDL 5005 which is a Bandmaster Reverb.
Stratman
Guitaris Maximus
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
TDL 5005 is still very nice, especially since it has REVERB!
I know that smart arse! (You love posting on anything I write, such a harrassing jerk!)
TDL 5005 is still very nice, especially since it has REVERB!
Lewguitar
New member
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
They sound like the clean channel on a Pro Reverb or similar Fender amp. Not as ballsy as the reverb/vibrato channel of a Pro Reverb though.
You have to really crank them up to get it to overdrive without a pedal.
The non-reverb Bandmaster was never a favorite amp of mine. Not a lot of gain and a little to clean. But you can goose it with a nice overdrive pedal to make it give it up a little easier.
Bassman's are ballsier sounding heads...or tend to be. Bigger transformer too.
They sound like the clean channel on a Pro Reverb or similar Fender amp. Not as ballsy as the reverb/vibrato channel of a Pro Reverb though.
You have to really crank them up to get it to overdrive without a pedal.
The non-reverb Bandmaster was never a favorite amp of mine. Not a lot of gain and a little to clean. But you can goose it with a nice overdrive pedal to make it give it up a little easier.
Bassman's are ballsier sounding heads...or tend to be. Bigger transformer too.
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FretFire
SingedFingerologist
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
TGWIF posted the video I was going to link to. I have an AA763 Bandmaster with a replaced OT (Stancor A-3801) and it sounds very much like the amp in the video. Cleans are full and warm, and it starts to break up around 6 or 7 on the volume dial. My favorite thing to do was mentioned earlier in the thread - jumper the normal channel into the vibrato channel. The vibrato is pretty nice, too.
EDIT: FWIW, I paid significantly less for mine - a '63-'64 - than the one on Ebay sold for.
TGWIF posted the video I was going to link to. I have an AA763 Bandmaster with a replaced OT (Stancor A-3801) and it sounds very much like the amp in the video. Cleans are full and warm, and it starts to break up around 6 or 7 on the volume dial. My favorite thing to do was mentioned earlier in the thread - jumper the normal channel into the vibrato channel. The vibrato is pretty nice, too.
EDIT: FWIW, I paid significantly less for mine - a '63-'64 - than the one on Ebay sold for.
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
Hey, harrassing is spelled harassing, and please refrain from the name calling...you don't even know me.
- - - Updated - - -
I used to agree 100% with this and to a degree still do but I played through a 64 BF Bandmaster a year or so back and loved it...great punchy cleans even with buckers and with a good dirt pedal I was able to get a wide range of tones from it. Sure, they are not as crunchy as a reverb Fender or a pre BF Fender but it's just a different sound.
Hey, harrassing is spelled harassing, and please refrain from the name calling...you don't even know me.
- - - Updated - - -
I used to agree 100% with this and to a degree still do but I played through a 64 BF Bandmaster a year or so back and loved it...great punchy cleans even with buckers and with a good dirt pedal I was able to get a wide range of tones from it. Sure, they are not as crunchy as a reverb Fender or a pre BF Fender but it's just a different sound.
Stratman
Guitaris Maximus
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
AND you don’t know me, but yet you flame a lot of post that I write. That in my book is being a JERK!
AND you don’t know me, but yet you flame a lot of post that I write. That in my book is being a JERK!
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
Thanks for all the responses
Glassman - it looks like all the amps this guy is selling have the same size caps put in. Not only this, but he's selling a cap replacement kit for Fenders with this same configuration. Does this mean that there are several schools of thought on the Farad ratings for these type of jobs. What will this mean for an amp most likely to be run clean with pedals added for dirt??
Thanks for all the responses
Glassman - it looks like all the amps this guy is selling have the same size caps put in. Not only this, but he's selling a cap replacement kit for Fenders with this same configuration. Does this mean that there are several schools of thought on the Farad ratings for these type of jobs. What will this mean for an amp most likely to be run clean with pedals added for dirt??
Agileguy_101
Master of his Domain
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
Well when you give irrelevant and/or useless information, flames are inbound.
Well when you give irrelevant and/or useless information, flames are inbound.
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
Increasing the caps in an amp like this stiffen the feel of the amp...I'm not a fan of that myself but some folks do like it.
It sort of has to be tried to be understood but the amp is very clean and going back to the stock caps is a real easy thing to have done.
Increasing the caps in an amp like this stiffen the feel of the amp...I'm not a fan of that myself but some folks do like it.
It sort of has to be tried to be understood but the amp is very clean and going back to the stock caps is a real easy thing to have done.
Stratman
Guitaris Maximus
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
Your post is an excellent example of such irrelevant and useless information.
Your post is an excellent example of such irrelevant and useless information.
Agileguy_101
Master of his Domain
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
Lolwut, my post wasn't information, nor was it supposed to be relevant to the thread. It was pointing out that your first post was pointless, and wrong - there is no TDL 5005 circuit.
Please, explain to me how the TFL5005D is relevant to a thread where the OP was not asking about that circuit.
Lolwut, my post wasn't information, nor was it supposed to be relevant to the thread. It was pointing out that your first post was pointless, and wrong - there is no TDL 5005 circuit.
Please, explain to me how the TFL5005D is relevant to a thread where the OP was not asking about that circuit.
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
That video clip sounded good, not great. Tremolux still gets my vote for nicest Fender cleans. I dunno if it was the Sennheiser 421 they used in the video or not, but there was a surprising amount of mud on the tone on that video with the Les Paul.
That video clip sounded good, not great. Tremolux still gets my vote for nicest Fender cleans. I dunno if it was the Sennheiser 421 they used in the video or not, but there was a surprising amount of mud on the tone on that video with the Les Paul.
glassman
Electron Herder
Re: Fender Bandmaster Amp (early silverface) - what are they like??
This is as good an explanation as I could have given.
My earlier comparison between a Bandmaster and a Bassman is pretty accurate; a SF Bassman would have had the cap values that are in the Bandmaster you are looking at.
Unfortunately, a lot of Bandmasters get the stiff treatment and, as a result, more and more people don't get to experience the real thing. I don't know why some techs go the stiffer route when the correct values are available. For some reason, I have had a lot of Bandmasters go through the shop over the years and nearly all that had been previously rebuilt had been stiffened up; I alway give owners the option of bringing it back to original values and can say with certainty that ALL have been more satisfied with the looser, original values.
This is as good an explanation as I could have given.
My earlier comparison between a Bandmaster and a Bassman is pretty accurate; a SF Bassman would have had the cap values that are in the Bandmaster you are looking at.
Unfortunately, a lot of Bandmasters get the stiff treatment and, as a result, more and more people don't get to experience the real thing. I don't know why some techs go the stiffer route when the correct values are available. For some reason, I have had a lot of Bandmasters go through the shop over the years and nearly all that had been previously rebuilt had been stiffened up; I alway give owners the option of bringing it back to original values and can say with certainty that ALL have been more satisfied with the looser, original values.
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