2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

It's a 68, possibly an early 69. You can tell by the "drip edge" which is the metal trim around the grill cloth.

Nice amp, especially with the upgraded Heyboer transformer and likely blackface circuit

Yeah, I owned a model like this, and this was the consensus when I checked around.

The two Celestion spkrs you're using may not be "classic" Fender sounding, but, IME, it is a killer way to go! Congrats!

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

I can't say enough about this amp. I completely understand why so many people use them, and I can't help but wonder why they're not worth more. Although they have gone up in price in recent years - who knows, maybe the drip-edge Fenders will be worth a pretty penny someday.

One thing I'm noticing is that while the Bassman loves pedals, it is a bit picky about which pedals it takes. I'm rearranging most of my pedals for this amp, and upgrading the weak points, because they're much more obvious with this amp.

My idea is to kind of have a three channel pedalboard. What I want to do is get a AB/Y box and a two channel, true bypass looper. The signal path will look something like this:
Tuner-->Wah-->ABY box
Channel A of the box:-->Phase 45-->Bassman bass channel
Channel B of the box:-->True Bypass looper
Channel 1 of the looper: Vibe pedal--> BYOC DS-1 clone
Channel 2 of the looper: BYOC Triboost-->Zvex Box of Rock
Looper out--->Bassman Normal channel
While that looks much more complicated typed out than it does in my head, here's how I'm thinking it'd work:

Channel A of the ABY box would be by clean channel. I'd have the Phase 45 there if I ever wanted to add some depth to my cleans. I might add a chorus at some point.
Channel 1 of the looper would be crunch channel 1.
Channel 2 of the looper would be crunch channel 2/lead. The BoR is an awesome crunch tone, and pushing it with a treble booster would be a great way to get a different gain flavor. Plus, the Super Hard On built into the BoR would be like a solo boost. So this is almost like two channels with a boost, all in one.
Running the wah is great, because then I have it on all channels. It sounds best there anyway.

Does that seem like overkill to anyone? Any suggestions?

Yes, you're way way overthinking this. Maybe for your bedroom this'd be alright, but... when you're getting your gain from cranking a clean amp, switching to another one isn't gonna give you the "clean channel" you're looking for. Sure it may be a bit cleaner at a comparable volume, a bit, but it's not gonna be what you're thinking it will, you'd be far better off getting a volume pedal or using the knob on your guitar and picking lightly. Also, when it's already cranked and cookin the tubes, you're not gonna have a whole lot of use for a bunch of dirt boxes. A lead boost yes, MAYBE something to thicken it up like running both channels or a light OD, but that's pretty much it.


Take it as a sign from the amp's design--simpler is better. Try taking it to practice with just your tuner, wah, chorus, and one boost/dirt pedal and try to use your knobs to do the rest. I think you'll be surprised at the results.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Yes, you're way way overthinking this. Maybe for your bedroom this'd be alright, but... when you're getting your gain from cranking a clean amp, switching to another one isn't gonna give you the "clean channel" you're looking for. Sure it may be a bit cleaner at a comparable volume, a bit, but it's not gonna be what you're thinking it will, you'd be far better off getting a volume pedal or using the knob on your guitar and picking lightly. Also, when it's already cranked and cookin the tubes, you're not gonna have a whole lot of use for a bunch of dirt boxes. A lead boost yes, MAYBE something to thicken it up like running both channels or a light OD, but that's pretty much it.


Take it as a sign from the amp's design--simpler is better. Try taking it to practice with just your tuner, wah, chorus, and one boost/dirt pedal and try to use your knobs to do the rest. I think you'll be surprised at the results.

+1

The best way I found to run that amp was guitar/OD pedal/amp. Clean with guitar volume down, crunch with it up (or with backed off guitar volume and the OD on), and lead most/full up with the OD. Chorus/Vibe and delays go after the OD, but I didn't use that stuff.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Yes, you're way way overthinking this. Maybe for your bedroom this'd be alright, but... when you're getting your gain from cranking a clean amp, switching to another one isn't gonna give you the "clean channel" you're looking for. Sure it may be a bit cleaner at a comparable volume, a bit, but it's not gonna be what you're thinking it will, you'd be far better off getting a volume pedal or using the knob on your guitar and picking lightly. Also, when it's already cranked and cookin the tubes, you're not gonna have a whole lot of use for a bunch of dirt boxes. A lead boost yes, MAYBE something to thicken it up like running both channels or a light OD, but that's pretty much it.


Take it as a sign from the amp's design--simpler is better. Try taking it to practice with just your tuner, wah, chorus, and one boost/dirt pedal and try to use your knobs to do the rest. I think you'll be surprised at the results.

Yeah, I probably am overthinking it. I should probably just sell all my dirts but my Box of Rock, and get around to finishing that BYOC DS-1 I screwed up. The money I save can be put towards a better cab.