Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

Texas Swamp

Texas Swamp

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I have been trying to shake up my current setup and I think a Fender Bassman would really change up my amp sound. I have currently played one but only a modded one with a Master Volume so I could control the volume. Most of the ones I have seen are Non-MV so I figure I am going to use an attenuator for it. Yet as far as tone wise, do either sound better or do I just need to play around (which I plan to do:nervous:) to see if it sounds up to my standards.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

IMHO, MV would be better than an attenuator. An MV mod would probably be less expensive and function and sound better than the attenuator.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

I'd imagine (although it's conjecture) that if you left the MV all the way up you could use an attenuator and it'd be practically indistinguishable from using a NMV version with an attenuator.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

The MV you'll find on a SF Bassman head is not a great design...also by the time they started addign the master the rest of the amp was starting to suffer due to CBS cuttign corners.

If you have to have a master volume but a non master version and add a master to it.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

Well I guess then my question is, if I use mostly dirt and fuzz pedals to get my heavy sound, is there much point to getting an attenuator?
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

Texas Swamp said:
Well I guess then my question is, if I use mostly dirt and fuzz pedals to get my heavy sound, is there much point to getting an attenuator?
Click to expand...


If you gig, probably not.

A Bassman (to my ears) sounds good from "3" onwards.

At "4" onwards, with a fuzz box of your choice, they sound like sex :newangel:
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

GuitarDoc said:
IMHO, MV would be better than an attenuator. An MV mod would probably be less expensive and function and sound better than the attenuator.
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I disagree-
well, maybe it would be cheaper to add a MV, if you prefer preamp distortion over power tube distortion, but:
I got an old BF Bandmaster a few weeks ago- those are cleaner than a Bassman, but wind them up and they sing-
I use a DR Z Brake-lite (attenuator) with it- and the tone is great!
The Brake-lite isn't a full on attenuator- it was designed for smaller NMV amps, it cuts just enough signal so you can run with the vol up, and get them tubes working. I also use pedals sometimes, and the sound is huge.
 
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Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

the guy who invented fire said:
The MV you'll find on a SF Bassman head is not a great design...also by the time they started addign the master the rest of the amp was starting to suffer due to CBS cuttign corners.

If you have to have a master volume but a non master version and add a master to it.
Click to expand...

I agree, the MV silver face amps are just blah. No pizass and no balls. Boring tone. They can probably be modded though.



The NMV 50 watt bassmans are good amps, especially modded to BF specs. I have not found them too loud in a gig setting in most cases. These days a mild amount of attenuation may be called for to be able to set them up in their sweet spot. I think an attenuator would be better than adding a MV to one of these amps.

With the BF/SF type circuit a PPIMV may be a better than putting it between the preamp and the PI. I think putting it there just kills these type of amps tone.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

Texas Swamp said:
Well I guess then my question is, if I use mostly dirt and fuzz pedals to get my heavy sound, is there much point to getting an attenuator?
Click to expand...

Nope...just get a good Bassman, I prefer the silver face 6 knob versions if I want to use them clean and want a good deal.

Make sure to get a cap job and a tune up and then let it rip...
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

No MV for me. stick to the earliest SF models if you can (for a good deal), and run em through V30's.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

A Bassman is only like 40W. If you are gigging and using an overdrive or fuzz box...... set the amp on 4 and go. As Christian said, the MV versions of Fenders has more problems then the MV itself. There are a lot of other issues that make these sound inferior to a non master version.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

this is not a bedroom amp so no need for a mv, attenuatrors... a nice fuzz or a treble booster is needed badly!
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

I have 68 Silverface...back when it still had blackface guts. No master volume.

It sounds good. It needs pedals if you want dirt and you're not gonna have it cranked up to 6. I have a halfstack in my bedroom...volume on 2 with dirt pedals it's as loud as my TV. This allows me to watch PBS while i play the blues.

Gigging or jamming I put every knob on six, jump the channels, and don't need my modded DS-1. The natural amp gain (with or without my 808 or a Big Muff) is insanely heavy at this volume but cleans up nicely with single coils or a split humbucker. Whoever said Vintage 30's knows exactly what he's talking about.

It's not a Marshall. The tone is very unique but totally rock-n-roll. Handles metal, doom, sludge, punk, garage, whatever. I ****in love my amp, i just want a nice Orange cabinet for it and some better pedals to put in front of it.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

Well it looks like I am going for a NMV Bassman, just got to sell the Mesa and old Randall combo I am sure I will be more than able to afford one.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

Consider also using cabinets to manage volume. For small gigis, a NMV Bassman head on a small 1-12 cab would not be overkill. For bigger shows, the same head on a Marshall quad box would be a whole 'nuther beasty.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

Empty Pockets said:
Gigging or jamming I put every knob on six, jump the channels, and don't need my modded DS-1. The natural amp gain (with or without my 808 or a Big Muff) is insanely heavy at this volume but cleans up nicely with single coils or a split humbucker. Whoever said Vintage 30's knows exactly what he's talking about.
Click to expand...

So true. Cranked Bassman + Mesa 2x12 w/V30's = heaven (funny thing is I typically hate V30's)
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

I think I may just do a 1x12 from EarCandy to save my earing when I don't won't to do my 4x12.
 
Re: Fender Bassman heads, is NMV or MV the way to go?

I'd go with G12M or H for Rock..H is louder than M
 
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