Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
- Thread starter Biu
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Benjy_26
25's Nemesis
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
Try to get an early SF Bassman head. It's still wired up with the BF circuit (my 71 Export is). Don't expect the typical fender sound, though. It's going to be a bit darker and it'll have more growl. It's pretty pedal friendly, and if you crank it, it'll put out a pretty good OD on it's own.
Try to get an early SF Bassman head. It's still wired up with the BF circuit (my 71 Export is). Don't expect the typical fender sound, though. It's going to be a bit darker and it'll have more growl. It's pretty pedal friendly, and if you crank it, it'll put out a pretty good OD on it's own.
Biu
New member
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
How much different is it from say a Twin's clean tone? Is it the same but with more low-end emphasis? Can I still get fairly bright with it? So far, it sounds like just what I'm looking for, from your descriptions. Great cleans, pedal-friendly, no reverb (I like to use my own pedal reverb), simlple EQ controls, and warmer than typical Fenders. Is this right?
Thanks a ton, guys. I may be one step closer to "the tone" after this.
-Biu
How much different is it from say a Twin's clean tone? Is it the same but with more low-end emphasis? Can I still get fairly bright with it? So far, it sounds like just what I'm looking for, from your descriptions. Great cleans, pedal-friendly, no reverb (I like to use my own pedal reverb), simlple EQ controls, and warmer than typical Fenders. Is this right?
Thanks a ton, guys. I may be one step closer to "the tone" after this.
-Biu
Benjy_26
25's Nemesis
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
Mine's a completely fdifferent animal from a 65RI Twin. More lows, not nearly as bright (could be my speaker cab), And, like you said, very simple controls. You had better like the basic voice of your guitar.
The cleans on it are good, but they disappear on mine with the volume at around 4. Using harder tubes (my buddy uses Groove Tubes #7's) cleans it up considerably, but then you have to really cank it to get dirty. I have mine running on JAN 12AX7's all around the preamp and EH 6L6 Blackplate copies, which are surprisingly good in this amp, very close to my NOS RCA tubes I had in it before.
Biu said:
Mine's a completely fdifferent animal from a 65RI Twin. More lows, not nearly as bright (could be my speaker cab), And, like you said, very simple controls. You had better like the basic voice of your guitar.
The cleans on it are good, but they disappear on mine with the volume at around 4. Using harder tubes (my buddy uses Groove Tubes #7's) cleans it up considerably, but then you have to really cank it to get dirty. I have mine running on JAN 12AX7's all around the preamp and EH 6L6 Blackplate copies, which are surprisingly good in this amp, very close to my NOS RCA tubes I had in it before.
Biu
New member
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
Thanks, fellas, it sounds like just what I want. I don't want any crunch on it, I'll be using all Pedal od. Right now, I'm hawking down some late 60's/early 70's Bassman heads. I figured it'd be better if I got a head and got an Avatar cab.
Thanks, fellas, it sounds like just what I want. I don't want any crunch on it, I'll be using all Pedal od. Right now, I'm hawking down some late 60's/early 70's Bassman heads. I figured it'd be better if I got a head and got an Avatar cab.
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Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
Not to knock the Bassman, but it's primarily a blues/roots rock amp tone. Are you sure that's what you're looking for? Based on the style you play, which is based on highgain, maybe you should consider something made for gain. Also, maybe one that is good for low volume and recording. I'd suggest you look at DSL's, ENGL's, Soldanos, Laney, or Mesa. If you played a different style of music, I'd say "yeah, buy a Bassman," but maybe you should look at the same kind of amps that your favorite guitar players use, since it's more befitting of the style. Just my 2 cents.
Not to knock the Bassman, but it's primarily a blues/roots rock amp tone. Are you sure that's what you're looking for? Based on the style you play, which is based on highgain, maybe you should consider something made for gain. Also, maybe one that is good for low volume and recording. I'd suggest you look at DSL's, ENGL's, Soldanos, Laney, or Mesa. If you played a different style of music, I'd say "yeah, buy a Bassman," but maybe you should look at the same kind of amps that your favorite guitar players use, since it's more befitting of the style. Just my 2 cents.
T
TheArchitect
Guest
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
I agree but bassmans take pedals very well and he said he wants to use pedals for his gain. As long as thats true a bassman would be cool and can be had at a nice price point in many cases. It does limit the choices down the road if he changes his mind though. Once again plugging in is the only way to truly answer the question.
Gearjoneser said:
I agree but bassmans take pedals very well and he said he wants to use pedals for his gain. As long as thats true a bassman would be cool and can be had at a nice price point in many cases. It does limit the choices down the road if he changes his mind though. Once again plugging in is the only way to truly answer the question.
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
Black or silverface Bassman heads need extensive modification to work well as guitar heads. They're bass amps! And some have really weird, experimental phase invertors and tone circuits that need to be gutted and rewired like a Super Reverb or something more normal.
I have never liked the tone of an unmodified Bassman....but they make a great platform for mods.
Modded Bassmans can be excellant guitar amps, though I would only want a blackface or silverface amp with reverb: Pro, Vibrolux, Twin, Super, etc. The reverb circuit in those amps actually creates more gain and a ballsier tone than the same amp without reverb...even if you don't use the reverb and keep the level on zero.
The tweed '59 Bassman is a whole other deal...totally differant amp and much more Marshall like in tone.
Lew
Black or silverface Bassman heads need extensive modification to work well as guitar heads. They're bass amps! And some have really weird, experimental phase invertors and tone circuits that need to be gutted and rewired like a Super Reverb or something more normal.
I have never liked the tone of an unmodified Bassman....but they make a great platform for mods.
Modded Bassmans can be excellant guitar amps, though I would only want a blackface or silverface amp with reverb: Pro, Vibrolux, Twin, Super, etc. The reverb circuit in those amps actually creates more gain and a ballsier tone than the same amp without reverb...even if you don't use the reverb and keep the level on zero.
The tweed '59 Bassman is a whole other deal...totally differant amp and much more Marshall like in tone.
Lew
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Biu
New member
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
Yeah, I'm all about pedal-gain. I also like pristine cleans (I run my Boss ME-50 into my Carvin on the clean channel), so this looks like the way to go.
Lew, would a Bassman combo be better then? I'd llike to have it modded later on anyways, but I'd like to have something good to work with until then. Bassman 10?
Yeah, I'm all about pedal-gain. I also like pristine cleans (I run my Boss ME-50 into my Carvin on the clean channel), so this looks like the way to go.
Lew, would a Bassman combo be better then? I'd llike to have it modded later on anyways, but I'd like to have something good to work with until then. Bassman 10?
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
The tweed Bassman has crunch. Marshall copied that amp. The Silverface Bassman and Blackface Bassman do not have crunch.
Crunch is a function of the "cathode follower" circuit in Marshalls and tweed Bassmans and silver and blackface amps do not have a cathode follower...so no crunch.
Personally, I'd rather have a tweed Bassman. As Jeremy noted, they are great amps...SRV recorded his final album pretty much all with a tweed Bassman.
The tweed Bassman has crunch. Marshall copied that amp. The Silverface Bassman and Blackface Bassman do not have crunch.
Crunch is a function of the "cathode follower" circuit in Marshalls and tweed Bassmans and silver and blackface amps do not have a cathode follower...so no crunch.
Personally, I'd rather have a tweed Bassman. As Jeremy noted, they are great amps...SRV recorded his final album pretty much all with a tweed Bassman.
Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
My UNmodded '68 Bassman silverface is awesome, i love it. I use it with the volume up just enough for some break-up with my singles, full-friggin-crunch with my Hot Rails, and the DS-1 as an all-around boost, and I can do anything from Weezer to Slayer with relative accuracy. Makes ME happy
-X
My UNmodded '68 Bassman silverface is awesome, i love it. I use it with the volume up just enough for some break-up with my singles, full-friggin-crunch with my Hot Rails, and the DS-1 as an all-around boost, and I can do anything from Weezer to Slayer with relative accuracy. Makes ME happy
-X
T
TheArchitect
Guest
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
Have to disagree with Lew on this one. Blackface and early Silverface Bassman are damn good amps for guitar stock and get a lot better with some tweaks. The later versions are a lot more iffy proposition though. A simple guesstimate tool for age of Silverface heads is in the name on the front panel. "Bassman Amp" on the panel should predate just "Bassman". Early to mid 68 is when the circuit changed to the less favorable designs. Unfortunately the changes were incremental. There were no distinct cut off points.
Have to disagree with Lew on this one. Blackface and early Silverface Bassman are damn good amps for guitar stock and get a lot better with some tweaks. The later versions are a lot more iffy proposition though. A simple guesstimate tool for age of Silverface heads is in the name on the front panel. "Bassman Amp" on the panel should predate just "Bassman". Early to mid 68 is when the circuit changed to the less favorable designs. Unfortunately the changes were incremental. There were no distinct cut off points.
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
bassman is not your pony if you wanna use hi-gain pedals
check out a twin or a hot rod deluxe/deville
all these amps would destroy the world with some new speakers and a worthy pedal
bassman is not your pony if you wanna use hi-gain pedals
check out a twin or a hot rod deluxe/deville
all these amps would destroy the world with some new speakers and a worthy pedal
Hellion
New member
Re: Inform me on Fender Bassmans! (Bassmen? haha)
The best Bassman amp I ever played through was a 410 combo, pretty sure it was a Blackface. It was owned by a bass player (duh!), but really wasn't powerful enough to be a bass amp. It sounded dyanamite with guitar though. Lots of grind. I would think they'd work really well with pedals.
The best Bassman amp I ever played through was a 410 combo, pretty sure it was a Blackface. It was owned by a bass player (duh!), but really wasn't powerful enough to be a bass amp. It sounded dyanamite with guitar though. Lots of grind. I would think they'd work really well with pedals.
