Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Agileguy_101

Agileguy_101

Master of his Domain
Yeah, I know I'm all over the map. But there are good reasons for getting a bassman:
  • All American, vintage Fender tone
  • Inexpensive
  • It's a vintage Fender
  • Takes pedals extremely well, which is great cause I love me mah pedals
  • Should last through Armageddon
  • DID I MENTION IT'S A VINTAGE FENDER?!?!?!?!11!

Now I just need to figure out which one. Fortunately for me, there are three on my local Craigslist at the moment. This one, this one, and this one.

If you didn't consider the price, which one would you go for and why?

Now factoring in price - I'm tempted to go with the '68 for a few reasons - it's cheaper, it already has the three prong power cord on it, and I don't have to talk the owner out of selling it without the cab. Is it worth the extra coin to get one of the blackfaces? Keep in mind that in the time it would take me to come up with the difference, they could get sold. However, both of the blackfaces are purported as having the rarer AA165 circut. Although that means nothing to me - I have no idea how bassman circuts differ, and how much the differences affect the sound.

Basically, I just want y'all to tell me what you'd do. Oh and I must know the impedance on these because my cab is 8 ohms, and I won't be able to buy another one.

EDIT: Also found this one. Maybe I could talk him down to 450 for just the head. The only thing it has over the other silverface is that it's the AA165 circut. How much of a difference does that make to the tone/feel/anything of the amp?
 
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Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

I love my 69 SF Bassman, but truth be told, I do actually prefer the tone of this one BF I played a little better. I'm not a working musician anymore, in fact rarely play outside my living room so my decision to go with the SF was mostly financial. That said, the SF is in no way a bad sounding amp. It has a wonderful sounding clean that warms up nicely as volumes increase. It does stay cleaner a bit longer than the BF, and certainly a Tweed, but since I covet clean tones above all else it wasn't a big deal for me.
As for pedals, I think it takes to them nicely, although I only use 2 currently.
I have a Boss DD20 digital delay, and my BYOC TS808 clone.
All in all, it's a great sounding, and fairly versatile rig (with the right pedals). The only downside, is that for me, right now, it's a bit much/loud for my current needs.
I think a Pro Jr. is in my near future.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Bassmans have a 4 Ohm load, correct? I can't use that with my 8 ohm cabinet. Or can I? I googled it and someone said that a 4 ohm load going into an 8 ohm load will be fine (at least in the short term and if you don't dime the volume) unlike an 8 ohm load going into a 4 ohm load. Clarification?
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Yeah it's a 4 Ohm load. I thought I heard somewhere that you can either go 2 Ohm, or 8 Ohm without issues. Either half or double the impedance. I can never remember which. I'm actually pretty clueless when it comes to tube amps, transformers, speaker loads etc...
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Well I'm sure that Empty Pockets will chime in at some point with his two knuts
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

4 ohms into an 8 ohm cab is a safe mismatch, It makes your transformers work easier.
I got that from reading a few Mesa boogie manuals.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Yeah man if you've spent any real time on this forum you've probably seen me rant aimlessly about how awesome that amp is on several occasions. I had been looking at vintage Sunn and Orange amps after seeing one of my favorite bands last week...but I cranked the Bassman yesterday and found the tone I was looking for...again. It's the only amp I've ever owned besides the Frontman 15B that i learned to play on.

You want the 68 Silverface and if the cab he's got was the original 2x15, I would want that.

And these old amps are built out of solid components. The cab I got with it was a 2x10 8ohm cab...now i put it through a 16ohm 4x12...as far as i can tell the ohm mismatch is just making my tone a little darker and the amp a little quieter...more gain at lower volumes and stuff.
 
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Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Yanno you can rewire that 16 ohm cab for 4 ohms...

On the original subject, the main 2 circuits i know about are aa864, the most coveted BF, and ab165, the last of the good silvers. I had a MV bassman 50 and I wouldn't recommend it or anything made after it.

Anyways, aa864's are worth the money in the sense that they're just gonna keep goin up in price and most people will agree they're a little better amps. They don't break up as much, or maybe just don't compress as much, and are a little more articulate. This's what they copy on the bassman side of the Supersonic.

That being said, 165's are still great amps and a bunch of big players who could afford 864's still use them. They have their application yanno, like i said a little more compressed & more gain.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

^^ OMG that is almost EXACTLY like a vintage Fender Bassman!! It's so similar to what the original poster asked about, especially the fact that it's a vintage Fender and not something completely different or unrelated.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Empty Pockets said:
^^ OMG that is almost EXACTLY like a vintage Fender Bassman!! It's so similar to what the original poster asked about, especially the fact that it's a vintage Fender and not something completely different or unrelated.
Click to expand...

You'll notice Stef's posts rarely break the two-digit mark in terms of words.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Empty Pockets said:
You want the 68 Silverface and if the cab he's got was the original 2x15, I would want that.
Click to expand...

Really? I could have sworn I heard you say that those old cabs were crap. More than likely though, it was the tone snob I worked with before I got fired that would only use Bogners.

My current cab is a 2x12 and it has a Greenback and will soon be getting either a V30 or a G12H30. Do ya think it would sound decent through this setup or would you still recommend the 2x15?
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Bassmans are classic. I never played one until recently sadly enough. I plugged into a reissue and the thing is tone heaven as far as I am concerned.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Agileguy_101 said:
Really? I could have sworn I heard you say that those old cabs were crap. More than likely though, it was the tone snob I worked with before I got fired that would only use Bogners.

My current cab is a 2x12 and it has a Greenback and will soon be getting either a V30 or a G12H30. Do ya think it would sound decent through this setup or would you still recommend the 2x15?
Click to expand...


It'll probably sound better through that than the original 215. IMO the old school 215's are sweet and have a lot of potential, and the ones that came with JBL's are incredible, but remember silverfaces were the beginning of cost cutting, and the 15's in those cabs are kinda meh. They're alright, but I wouldn't choose one with stock speakers over a good 212
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

I'm running my blackface bassman through an 8 ohm cabinet. If you load the amp with JJ 6v6 tubes, 8 ohms would be the correct rating to use. The amp isn't likely to fry if you use a cabinet rated 4 ohms higher than it is so long as you don't run it too hard.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

4 into 8 is just fine, you won't blow anything, it will be quieter than if you ran into an equal 4 ohm cabinet though.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Agileguy_101 said:
Really? I could have sworn I heard you say that those old cabs were crap. More than likely though, it was the tone snob I worked with before I got fired that would only use Bogners.

My current cab is a 2x12 and it has a Greenback and will soon be getting either a V30 or a G12H30. Do ya think it would sound decent through this setup or would you still recommend the 2x15?
Click to expand...
Well, I have a V30/G12H30 loades 212 cabinet and it sounds wonderful to my ears. I'm not familiar with the tonal characteristics of the greenbacks so I cant help ya there.
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

Agileguy_101 said:
Really? I could have sworn I heard you say that those old cabs were crap. More than likely though, it was the tone snob I worked with before I got fired that would only use Bogners.

My current cab is a 2x12 and it has a Greenback and will soon be getting either a V30 or a G12H30. Do ya think it would sound decent through this setup or would you still recommend the 2x15?
Click to expand...

Nah i never said that...

I'm sayin if you know a guy with that cab, get it for ME...you plug your head into whatever you want :smokin:
 
Re: Moar amp help AKA I think I want a Bassman now

I run my bassman through a pair of G12H30 speakers and it sounds like heaven through those speakers. Nice and round with sweet mellow highs. Nothing sounds harsh or out of place. Solid bass.
 
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