2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Agileguy_101

Agileguy_101

Master of his Domain
So as of 8 AM this morning, this was my amp:

rRaaC


4 EL-84's and 3 12AX7's of all-tube ass. God, the distortion channel sucks more balls than a Rokenbok toy, and it's muddier than a Marine with swamp ass. The clean channel was pretty decent, and took pedals pretty well, but severely lacks headroom due to the use of EL-84's in the power section.

But today, all that changed. Say hello to my little fren!!!

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You all know it, most of you love it - the Fender Bassman! Says on the tube chart that it's an AB165, but the guy I got it from says he thinks it's an AA165 due to the fact that there's a bias pot in the chassis. I haven't opened her up - only brought her home about 90 minutes ago. My cab has a V30 and a Greenback in it, so by no means is it the "classic" SF Bassman tone.

HOLY HELL. What a sound. WAY more clean headroom than the Crate, and much more versatile too. It can get nice and sparkly but you can also turn the treble down without it turning to mud. I don't remember if the AA165 has channels that are out of phase with each other, but I jumpered them and I heard angels singing. And I haven't even got to try it out with my pedals yet! Damn little brother has a headache... Doesn't he understand there are more important things? Like my need for volume?

Details - the original OT is long gone. Previous owner said he had no idea what happened to it. It's been replaced with an 8 ohm Heyboer OT, which is perfect as my cab is only 8 ohms. Now I haven't had much time with SF bassmans, but it sounds great to me, but more importantly, it does what I want it to. Additionally, he said that a resistor or something (I don't think he was sure what exactly) was changed so that the channel sound good for guitar. And I'll be damned if it didn't sound ****ing awesome. The power tubes are GT 6L6G's, two of the preamps are GT's, and the other two aren't. I didn't look too closely at them, although I will later. For now, I'm just enjoying my new purchase. Oh, and the original power cord was already replaced with a modern 3-prong. Score!

Oh, and speaking of purchase, I think I got a pretty good deal on it, considering what they go for nowadays - I traded my Faded SG that had a Darkburst neck and a Distortion bridge, and had an upgraded wiring kit from Mojotone. He even gave me $50 in addition to the bassman!

SO... now that I have this amp, I'm planning to sell the Crate head and get a new guitar. Hopefully I can sell it this week. I need a backup guitar now that the SG is gone.

In conslusion... my 2 6L6's are WAAAAY better than my old 4 EL-84's. I'm one ****ing happy dude :headbang:
 
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Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Dude, you're comparing a Palamino to a Bassman! I call a TKO before the bell rings!
 
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
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

The bass and normal channels are out of phase with one another in that amp but they are voiced differently enough that jumpering them can provide some really cool tones.
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

holy crap.

yeah 4 EL84s have a cool sound in certain situations but what fender does with 6L6s is just... just... crazy.
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

glassman said:
The bass and normal channels are out of phase with one another in that amp but they are voiced differently enough that jumpering them can provide some really cool tones.
Click to expand...

Ah, good to know. Thank you very much, Mr. Glass.

FuseG4 said:
holy crap.

yeah 4 EL84s have a cool sound in certain situations but what fender does with 6L6s is just... just... crazy.
Click to expand...

+1000
God DAMN this ****er is loud. And while it may seem incredibly obvious, there's SOOO much bass on tap. As I said to my friend, "This thing has so much bass on tap it's ****ing incredible. It's not even like a bass knob, it's like a ****ing "ass" control that can go from skinny white girl all the way up to mooseknuckle girl size ass." It sounds sooo beefy thru my 2x12. I can't wait to get some kind of fuzz pedal, probably a muff of some type, and pump the Bassman with it.
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Win.



I don't think they are actually out of phase? If they were and you jumped them it would cause problems in the amp, and people jump these things on the daily. IIRC the only fenders like this where the channels are out of phase are the ones with reverb or tremolo, which... is pretty much the rest of them.

The bass channel was probably modded. I like the stock one for certain things but i'm sure whatever whoever did is probably cool

Also, the fact that it has an adjustable bias doesn't necessarily make it AA165, it sounds like someone did quite a few mods to this already, so adding a bias pot, which is a typical mod for these amps, is pretty likely to be the source of that
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Agileguy_101 said:
+1000
God DAMN this ****er is loud. And while it may seem incredibly obvious, there's SOOO much bass on tap. As I said to my friend, "This thing has so much bass on tap it's ****ing incredible. It's not even like a bass knob, it's like a ****ing "ass" control that can go from skinny white girl all the way up to mooseknuckle girl size ass." It sounds sooo beefy thru my 2x12. I can't wait to get some kind of fuzz pedal, probably a muff of some type, and pump the Bassman with it.
Click to expand...

Yeah definitely, this is what attracted me to fender amps in the first place, they just have so much more... balls than the brit amps. I mean marshalls have a pretty ballsy tone too but it's different, more like a teenager banging out power chords, whereas a fender is more like somethin black people have sex to
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

drew_half_empty said:
Win.



I don't think they are actually out of phase? If they were and you jumped them it would cause problems in the amp, and people jump these things on the daily. IIRC the only fenders like this where the channels are out of phase are the ones with reverb or tremolo, which... is pretty much the rest of them.

The bass channel was probably modded. I like the stock one for certain things but i'm sure whatever whoever did is probably cool

Also, the fact that it has an adjustable bias doesn't necessarily make it AA165, it sounds like someone did quite a few mods to this already, so adding a bias pot, which is a typical mod for these amps, is pretty likely to be the source of that
Click to expand...

That'd make sense. The bass channel is noticeably quieter than the normal channel, which is nice for getting breakup earlier, although it's still WAY too loud to crank. I cranked it this afternoon (the tone was beyond words... Drop C+ZVex BoR+TS-9+Bassman=HOLY****) I spent pretty much all of my time on the normal channel. Everyone's gonna be out of the house on Tuesday though, so I'll crank it then and make sure to spend more time on the bass channel. God, I can't say how much I love this amp... The cleans are superb too. Whenever people talk about Bassmans, it's always how good the distortion sounds. I love the cleans on mine.
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

drew_half_empty said:
I mean marshalls have a pretty ballsy tone too but it's different, more like a teenager banging out power chords, whereas a fender is more like somethin black people have sex to
Click to expand...

That's gotta be one of the best things I've read on SDGUF
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Do this

Plug into the normal channel, then out from the #2 input to an OD pedal, then into the bass side. Adjust volumes, and eq until you feel the rumble in your guts. I used to have an AB165 Bassman, but sold it cause my Music Man HD-150 is better, but this trick works the same with both amps.:smokin:
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

Gearjoneser said:
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
Click to expand...

I was going to say '69, but could be '68.
 
Re: 2 tubes are better than 4 (NAD)

I'd take 6L6's any day of the week over EL84's.

Great score.

I personally like the black face cosmetics better than the silver face, and since it sounds like it really IS a BF, I'd be tempted to replace the faceplate and grillcloth and piping. Just my opinion.
 
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