fretburner
Well-known member
what do you think of this amp?
what are good 2x12 (or 1x12) cabs to go with it?
what are good 2x12 (or 1x12) cabs to go with it?
bassman 135 head
- Thread starter fretburner
- Start date
Lake Placid Blues
New member
Re: bassman 135 head
Well it's certianly not that loud considering it's wattage rating. It's not loud enough for bass work, but it can be a pretty nice Fender clean head for guitar work, as it has about the same power and clean head room as a 50-60 watt EL34 amp. By it's self in stock trim, it's a little dull and constipated. I had good luck using a cranked super champ, as a preamp and the 135 as a power amp in a studio setting once. Not a bad big SRV this way. I was playing through it's stock Fender bass 4x12, with the Eminence " Fender Special Design" ceramic speakers. That might explain the lower volume and the slightly muffled tone.
I think some of the problems are that it doesn't have a true bias adjustment, and it has a master volume. With a real bias adjustment, I think it could be made to perform much better.
On the plus side, these are real 100% tube, PTP, flying lead constructed amps. The kind not made anymore. Your just not going to find amps like these outside of the boutiques. The foundation is there for the makings of a great amp and they are easy to work on.
A V30 loaded cab would help wake one of these heads up IMO. I believe Fender still makes a 2x12 extention cab w/ V30's. I would not go with a scooped mids type speaker such as in the stock Marshall 1936 with G12T-75's, as BF and SF Fenders already have a built in scooped EQ, although in a 2x12 arrangement the 75's scooping is less pronounced, compared to a 4x12.
Well it's certianly not that loud considering it's wattage rating. It's not loud enough for bass work, but it can be a pretty nice Fender clean head for guitar work, as it has about the same power and clean head room as a 50-60 watt EL34 amp. By it's self in stock trim, it's a little dull and constipated. I had good luck using a cranked super champ, as a preamp and the 135 as a power amp in a studio setting once. Not a bad big SRV this way. I was playing through it's stock Fender bass 4x12, with the Eminence " Fender Special Design" ceramic speakers. That might explain the lower volume and the slightly muffled tone.
I think some of the problems are that it doesn't have a true bias adjustment, and it has a master volume. With a real bias adjustment, I think it could be made to perform much better.
On the plus side, these are real 100% tube, PTP, flying lead constructed amps. The kind not made anymore. Your just not going to find amps like these outside of the boutiques. The foundation is there for the makings of a great amp and they are easy to work on.
A V30 loaded cab would help wake one of these heads up IMO. I believe Fender still makes a 2x12 extention cab w/ V30's. I would not go with a scooped mids type speaker such as in the stock Marshall 1936 with G12T-75's, as BF and SF Fenders already have a built in scooped EQ, although in a 2x12 arrangement the 75's scooping is less pronounced, compared to a 4x12.
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The Golden Boy
Fleecy Sweaterologist
Re: bassman 135 head
Don't forget about HEAVY.
Don't forget about HEAVY.
Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: bassman 135 head
I have a Bassmann 100...my small dual EL-84 equipped amp smokes it without even trying...they did something bad to those amps volumewise!
I have a Bassmann 100...my small dual EL-84 equipped amp smokes it without even trying...they did something bad to those amps volumewise!
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: bassman 135 head
they're ultra-linear
a lot of upright bass players like them for that reason
they're ultra-linear
a lot of upright bass players like them for that reason
missionamps
New member
Re: bassman 135 head
If you have the head, they can be made into a really nice, fairly loud guitar amp with very little effort and actually a decent, low powered bass amp... as long as you have a good ported 2x12 or 2x15 bottom for bass guitar.
FWIW, I think they are a good deal right now if you have the inclination to tweak it.
Bruce
If you have the head, they can be made into a really nice, fairly loud guitar amp with very little effort and actually a decent, low powered bass amp... as long as you have a good ported 2x12 or 2x15 bottom for bass guitar.
FWIW, I think they are a good deal right now if you have the inclination to tweak it.
Bruce
fretburner
Well-known member
Re: bassman 135 head
so bottomline, it's not that good an amp?
can't a 2x12 cab with eminence or celestions make it a good amp?
missionamps said:
so bottomline, it's not that good an amp?
can't a 2x12 cab with eminence or celestions make it a good amp?
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: bassman 135 head
As Drew said, the Bassman 135 is an ultralinear amp. In pseudo-technical terms, "Ultralinear" is a special configuration of the output stage having to do with the feedback loop. It's mostly used in the hi-fi world to make high-powered amps cleaner.
In guitarist terms, it's another one of those ideas the lab-coated engineers thought would be good, but in practice makes a guitar amp tight and sterile.
So, in its present form not so good, unless you're looking for sterile - like as a clean amp to power a modeler, or as a low-powered bass amp. However, they are a pretty good deal and can be modded into something much better, like a Blackface circuit for example.
As Drew said, the Bassman 135 is an ultralinear amp. In pseudo-technical terms, "Ultralinear" is a special configuration of the output stage having to do with the feedback loop. It's mostly used in the hi-fi world to make high-powered amps cleaner.
In guitarist terms, it's another one of those ideas the lab-coated engineers thought would be good, but in practice makes a guitar amp tight and sterile.
So, in its present form not so good, unless you're looking for sterile - like as a clean amp to power a modeler, or as a low-powered bass amp. However, they are a pretty good deal and can be modded into something much better, like a Blackface circuit for example.
fretburner
Well-known member
Re: bassman 135 head
im not looking for that at all.
is it that hard to mod an amp to a blackface circuit?
Rich_S said:
im not looking for that at all.
is it that hard to mod an amp to a blackface circuit?
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: bassman 135 head
no not really
silverface fenders IMO are the perfect templates to make great player amps
they won't be collectable but, did you start playing guitar so you'd have a reason to buy collectables after beanie babies went out? Or did you start playing guitar to do just that - play guitar, and make good sounds
no not really
silverface fenders IMO are the perfect templates to make great player amps
they won't be collectable but, did you start playing guitar so you'd have a reason to buy collectables after beanie babies went out? Or did you start playing guitar to do just that - play guitar, and make good sounds
fretburner
Well-known member
Re: bassman 135 head
to play, definitely.
i just want to have a small enough, loud enough amp to handle small gigs since the last time i played, a SS fender crapped out (blew up) on me before i even got started and ended up playing through a marshall keyboard amp! i don't want that to happen again. so i want to buy an amp which can fit easilly in a sedan's trunk. my JTM60 is too heavy and too big. i figured a small 1x12 or 2x10 combo... or a head and 1x12 or 2x10 or 2x12 cab would fit in a car's trunk.
drew_half_empty said:
to play, definitely.
i just want to have a small enough, loud enough amp to handle small gigs since the last time i played, a SS fender crapped out (blew up) on me before i even got started and ended up playing through a marshall keyboard amp! i don't want that to happen again. so i want to buy an amp which can fit easilly in a sedan's trunk. my JTM60 is too heavy and too big. i figured a small 1x12 or 2x10 combo... or a head and 1x12 or 2x10 or 2x12 cab would fit in a car's trunk.
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: bassman 135 head
check out the blues deville 2x12
wait... what kinda music do you play again?
fretburner said:
check out the blues deville 2x12
wait... what kinda music do you play again?
fretburner
Well-known member
Re: bassman 135 head
"old school" heavy metal... mostly megadeth, metallica, ozzy osbourne... sometimes we do deep purple, the doors... and on rare occassions, alternative stuff like bush, foo fighters, goo goo dolls...
i always use my marshall shredmaster for my distortion needs.
drew_half_empty said:
"old school" heavy metal... mostly megadeth, metallica, ozzy osbourne... sometimes we do deep purple, the doors... and on rare occassions, alternative stuff like bush, foo fighters, goo goo dolls...
i always use my marshall shredmaster for my distortion needs.
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drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: bassman 135 head
yeah i'd go for a silverface bassman then
any of the blues's or hot rods are gonna be too dirty
fretburner said:
yeah i'd go for a silverface bassman then
any of the blues's or hot rods are gonna be too dirty
fretburner
Well-known member
Re: bassman 135 head
like a bassman 10?
drew_half_empty said:
like a bassman 10?
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: bassman 135 head
bassman 10, bassman 50, bassman 100, bassman 135
i think the 100 would be your best bet
as far as cabs i'd go with either a eminence governor(v30)/wizard(g12h30) mix or just 2 governors
bassman 10, bassman 50, bassman 100, bassman 135
i think the 100 would be your best bet
as far as cabs i'd go with either a eminence governor(v30)/wizard(g12h30) mix or just 2 governors
fretburner
Well-known member
Re: bassman 135 head
thanks man!
drew_half_empty said:
thanks man!
