Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

[Closed Eye]

I was at a guitar store today and happened to mistake a Fender 59 Bassman ($1400) for a Peavey Classic 50. The clerk was pretty friendly about my error, which was great, and I figured I should plug in anyway to not look like too much of a fool.
So I peruse the wall of guitars and find this Ibanez Artcore AG85 ($400) with a slightly small body, georgous transparent red finish, and silky smooth fretboard accented with pearl block inlays.
This was actually the first time I've played either of these pieces of equipment and lemme tell you; I haven't been this comfortable or happy shopping in a guitar store in a long time.
The Bassman was crazy awesome! There was no distortion channel (obviously), but I didn't really care after about 5 minutes of playing. And I swear, that Artcore was seriously married to the Bassman. Plugged into the the "Bright" input (both 1 and 2) the guitar and amp made beautiful music.
It was unbelievable because I'm usually at a loss for what to play in guitar stores, but today, it just flowed like a river!

Do any of you fellows play through a bassman now or have ever played through a bassman in the past?
Would you recommened one as a gigging amp?
Does the price tag justify the tone?

(I know that a lot of guitar players use them, but have never actually known any physically or electronically)

 

[xerxes]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

never tried one (the amp), but the artcore is a nice guitar. played a few of them, and was happy with em all.

i have heard that the amp is terrific though.

 

[Deadbolt]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

always wanted to try the bassmans, i will have to keep an eye out for this one.

 

[Pandemonium]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

No, yes, yes, not enough info.

 

[Pandemonium]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

OK, I assime you're talking about the reissue. A quick search found it for under a grand.

 

[TheMist]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

I like the Bassman amps but I perfer a Twin. You realy cant go wrong with any Fender Tube amp.

 

[jmv]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

Well, i've played a bassman, yes, but its a tad different than the reissues they have. Mine is a blackface halfstack. That newer revamped tweed bassman RI looks really sweet. I haven't tried one of the new ones yet, but seeing as how the old one was real cool, the newer one should be even better.... and i love the look of lacquered tweed.

 

[jmv]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

Oh, as for the price tag..... if it grabs you, i'd say its worth it. What kinda gear do you have right now?? If you don't have a nice tube amp, that'd be a great addition. I loved my les paul when i first got it, but never REALLY appreciated it until i got a nice tube amp.

I'd check around on ebay, you can find the older version of the reissue there for around $600, if i remember correctly.

 

[Pandemonium]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

I should say I haven't played one of the reissues either. I've played the tweed, the blonde and the blackface though, all GREAT amps IMO.

 

[Curly]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

Closed Eye,
as a matter of fact, I went to my favorite store yesterday to look at the new Bassman LTD they had just gotten.

Actually, I couldn't crank it to my satisfaction, so I'm holding off making a decision till I can give it a "real world" work out. I will say this - it's a beautiful amp to me, and the upgrades make it very desirable at the price I was quoted ($995).
FYI, I've owned the previous '59 RI. I had it setup by an excellent tech, and added the bias mod. It was a great gigging amp, and ended up going to a good home.
The '59 Bassman is a terrific Fender amp, and definitely a good gigging amp candidate if you're into good blues tone in a simple amp that just delivers. I happen to think that some players overlook amps like the Bassman because of the lack of "features", but are pleasantly surprised when they play one.
It also looks great to me!

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

You can make that amp yourself with a kit from Mojotone, but it's going to cost you darn near as much. In that matter, I might seriously think about buying the fender. It's a great amp. I've played a couple. The new ones are handwired, PTP, witha tube rectifier. Want to really juice it up? Add a KT66HP set of power tubes to it and rebias. Very nice. Oh yeah, the new ones have a bias pot on them now.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

Saw the new one at a local shop the other day, I refuse to plug in the Setzer Hot Rod hanging right over it in. My life would be over.

 

[Curly]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

Scott,
it's a great amp, but it's not hand wired .... I think you were thinking of the new tweed Twin

the '59 is still the same inside, except for the bias and upgraded tubes, and the lacquer job looks just great

I think I feel one in my future.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

Yes, I own a Fender Bassman (1959 - Original) and it is a very fine instrument.

Most older forum members can remember that I have bragged about the bassman on the other SD forum...

Think about this thought for a moment - the original Marshalls were designed using the Fender Bassman as the starting point and only used GEC KT-66 and Webley (Old stock radio transformers) transformers because that is what was available in England at that time.

 

[Falstaff]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

I tried one recently and was amazed as well.

 

[jmv]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

the '59 is still the same inside, except for the bias and upgraded tubes, and the lacquer job looks just great

its also got a solid, fingerjointed pine cabinet, which is a plus.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

I can't add much to what's been said. But I have owned three original 5F6-A Fender Bassmans and have an original '59. If you have room to turn them up you'll probably agree that they are one of the finest amps ever made! When I crank up mine and plug one of my guitars with the Custom Custom in it the tone just soars. It'll do anything my '70 Marshall will do.

Fender blackface and silverface Bassmans are NOT what we're talking about here, BTW. Those are very, VERY differant amps. Not the same circuit at all.

Lew

 

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

I will say this - it's a beautiful amp to me, and the upgrades make it very desirable at the price I was quoted ($995).

Wow!! That's a great price for one of the new LTDs. I'd snag one of those bad boys Like Scott said, at that price you couldn't even build one yourself!

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

Scott,
it's a great amp, but it's not hand wired .... I think you were thinking of the new tweed Twin

the '59 is still the same inside, except for the bias and upgraded tubes, and the lacquer job looks just great

I think I feel one in my future.

Then it's out then. Why was I thinking it was handwired. Too good to be true at that price.

After building my 5e3, I'm convinced that I will no longer buy amps with circuit boards. While I might not be able to fix everything, I've got a much better chance of fixing a PTP amp myself, especially in 20 years when replacement circuit cards are hard to find for certain amps.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Fender Bassman 59 Limited ?

for that matter, find an old regular bassman RI 59 and buy a Hoffman PTP kit for 200 bucks, laquer the cabinet and you've got the same amp. (not sure if the Hoffman kit provides a bias adjustment, but there's got to be a zillion mods on the net for that.

Or, if need be, Jeff Seal could probably wire one in for me in 20 minutes!