Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

  • Fender Bassman

    Votes: 14 70.0%
  • Fender Twin Reverb

    Votes: 6 30.0%

  • Total voters
    20
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

The Twin Reverb is an Awesome amp...... Very Loud and very clean. So if clean and loud is what you want its will be hard to find a better Amp. The Reverb in a Twin IMO is still one of the best available. The size of the springs adds a lengthy decay to the reverb which is beautiful. The Twinn has 2 12" speakers and is rated at 80 watts.

The Bassmen is primarily the same circuit that the original Marshall Bluesbreaker was based on. The difference is really tubes. I am pretty certain that the Bassmen is 40 watts with 4 10" speakers. No reverb, but absolutley beautiful tone. For me I need reverb.

The Twin in most cases is going to be to loud. The Bassman will be more manageable. The Twinn with 24" of speakers witll move less air then the Bassman with 40". I think the Bassman has a stronger bottom to it than the Twin.

Both od these Amps can be difficult to use in some clubs. I prefer the Super Reverb over both of these and in certain situations(small clubs) The Deluxe Reverb is probably one of the best Amps for all around use. The major drawback to a Deluxe (22watts) is they have very little headroom by comparison to a Super, Bassman or Twin. Out of all these Amps the Twin has the most headroom of them all.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

I have had both and like both. Still the Bassman has a cooler sound, more punch and a sound that makes your ribs rattle.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

Bludave said:
The Twin Reverb is an Awesome amp...... Very Loud and very clean. So if clean and loud is what you want its will be hard to find a better Amp. The Reverb in a Twin IMO is still one of the best available. The size of the springs adds a lengthy decay to the reverb which is beautiful. The Twinn has 2 12" speakers and is rated at 80 watts.

The Bassmen is primarily the same circuit that the original Marshall Bluesbreaker was based on. The difference is really tubes. I am pretty certain that the Bassmen is 40 watts with 4 10" speakers. No reverb, but absolutley beautiful tone. For me I need reverb.

The Twin in most cases is going to be to loud. The Bassman will be more manageable. The Twinn with 24" of speakers witll move less air then the Bassman with 40". I think the Bassman has a stronger bottom to it than the Twin.

Both of these Amps can be difficult to use in some clubs. I prefer the Super Reverb over both of these and in certain situations(small clubs) The Deluxe Reverb is probably one of the best Amps for all around use. The major drawback to a Deluxe (22watts) is they have very little headroom by comparison to a Super, Bassman or Twin. Out of all these Amps the Twin has the most headroom of them all.

+1 Pretty much sums up my feelings too.

The Twin Reverb is to loud for most club situations where you need to crank your amp up for a little natural overdrive and if you have heavy duty speakers in it (which it needs...) it weighs a ton.

If we're talking about the 5F6-A '59 Bassman, that amp can sound like Marshall when cranked...especially if you use a DS-1 or Tube Screamer or Pickup Booster to push it a little. They can be a little dry sounding and ofetn have to much bass.

Iused a Twin for many years and I own a real '59 tweed Bassman but I rarely play it. It's to loud.

I too prefer my Super Reverb to either...especially when using guitars with humbucking pickups. And the Fender Reverb is unbeatable, IMO...best there is and a real tonal enhancement as long as you don't overdo it. I rarely have the reverb set to more than 2 or 2 1/2.

Overall, I prefer smaller amps and if I need more power than my tweed Deluxe or blackface Deluxe Reverb I just bring two to the gig.

Lately I've been playing through my Matchless SC-30 more than any of my other amps.

Lew
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

I'm not a big fan of any of the twins from the blackface era onwards. They have a weird scoop to the midrange that doesn't cut well to my ears.

I tried a bassman ri a little while ago and was impressed. Very tight bass. Still, after a while, I felt like I was playing 'someone elses' classic fender tone. I guess I'm just too used to my vibrolux.

My ideal fender amp would be my vibrolux with the bottom end tightness of the bassman.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

I like the Bassman sound better because I like the woody breakup. I've had a couple Bassmans (90's RI and new LTD.) and owned a Twin Reverb years ago. Out of all the Fender amps I've had, I like the Bassman LTD and the newish Concert Reverb channel switching amp the most. I also really love the Bassbreaker, which is essentially a Bassman with 2-12 Vintage 30's. All these amps are a great platform for OD/Dist pedals.
I've gotten the most awesome tones out of Bassmans by combining 2 different OD pedals to shape a nice OD tone. I also sometimes insert a EH Holy Grail reverb pedal as a way of bridging the 2 channels. Then you can mix in the reverb using ch 2's volume.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

Hot _Grits said:
I'm not a big fan of any of the twins from the blackface era onwards. They have a weird scoop to the midrange that doesn't cut well to my ears.

I agree. That's why I replace the two caps in the tone stack (.1 and .047) with a pair of .02 caps like Marshall Plexis and the '59 Bassman use. I've done that to all of my blackface and silverface Fenders. Beefs up the mids and bass alot and makes them sound alot pluckier, less scooped and ballsier. Of course I save the old caps just in case I want to sell the amp someday and the new owner wants to return it to stock again. Lew
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

depends on the guitar. i love a strat through a twin reverb, but for a tele (especially the '72 thinline tele) i like the bassman. but i like the twon overall better
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

Bludave said:
The Twin with 24" of speakers witll move less air then the Bassman with 40".


OK Math 101

12 * 0.7854 * 2 = 18.84
10 * 0.7854 * 4 = 31.41

31.41/18.84 = 1.666

66% more air moved.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

lew, which of the two is for bass, the .1 or the .047? I'd like more midrange but no boomier bass sounds.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

i guess tweed always wins around here, there's alot more rockers and blues players around the forum than jazzbo's or funk players that need sweet sounding cleans and a sprinkle of reverb.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

This is comparing apples and oranges though-bassman gets a raunchy tweed breakup, the twin gets near NO breakup.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

I can't vote on this one. If I was going to a Blues or Rock gig I would tote the Bassman. If it were a Country gig I would get the Twin with J.B.L's.
Both are great amps and thats why a lot of players take both, clean Twin tone and A/B to a cranked Bassman.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

Stratman said:
OK Math 101

12 * 0.7854 * 2 = 18.84
10 * 0.7854 * 4 = 31.41

31.41/18.84 = 1.666

66% more air moved.

I think you missed a decimal place or something. :)

I get 226.19, and 314.159, for a difference of 38%. ;)

Edit: btw, isn't it interesting that 4 10-inch speakers equals pi times 100.
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

yeah but that's just because the 5 inch radius of each, squared, times 4 is 100.

It is interesting though-Fender 59 Bassman-the power is in the PI!
 
Re: Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb?

just curious, how does 'air' transfer to like spl

for instance, if amp A moves 50% more air than amp B, then is amp A 5db louder, or?
 
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