which bassman?

[drew_half_empty]

ok, so the master volume one is out

so which bassman should i get? I'd like a pretty decent ammount of headroom, and really really warm, fat, bassy tones

please keep the cost of your reccomendation pretty cheap (ebay prices) and well, just a head would be nice, but I'm not totally opposed to a combo

 

[seafoamer]

Re: which bassman?

I like the 1961 & 62 models. Early circuit blondes.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: which bassman?

You won't find those for cheap though...the '61 or '62.

I think the absolute best in terms of cost vs. performance is the '73 or '74 silverface model.

Earlier silverfaces have crappy reddish brown colored capacitors with murky yellow lettering and iffy sounding transformers.

Later silverfaces have sterile sounding transformers that are beefed up for more output but loud, sterile tone.

Go for one from '73 or '74 and ask to look inside it to verify that the caps are mostly shiny blue capacitors with maybe only two or three of the reddish brown ones with the murky yellow lettering I described...and change those two or three to Sprague Orange Drops.

Do not get one with an adjustable balance control on the back, a master volume or one rated for 60 watts at the speaker jack...those are the more sterile sounding ones I described, and they need a lot of work to get them sounding great.

Lew

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: which bassman?

um i'll prolly be ebaying it, so i can't look inside

but if you or anyone else can find one that fits the discription I'd have no problems buying it through you, especially you, lew, since you can prolly change the caps for me

 

[xerxes]

Re: which bassman?

but u can ask the seller! lol

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: which bassman?

i should add i wanna spend <$400

 

[Curly]

Re: which bassman?

early SFs would be one of the better values

however, you should budget at least $150 for a tech to go through it and get it in decent shape

at that point, it's a little like a house remodelling project .. you aren't quite sure what you're getting into

for that reason, I'd probably look into the '59 RIs

I haven't priced the used RIs lately, but you should be able to get one for around $500. Even though they benefit from a couple simple mods, even without mods you'll have a gig worthy, good sounding amp that will retain most of its value, and be easier to sell fi it comes to that

I'd probably look for one with the newer Jensens rather than the earlier Eminence speakers

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: which bassman?

well, i want a decent ammount of headroom on them, and people are making it seem like the ri's distort really soon

i want really thick & creamy distortion, real bluesy if pushed hard enough

and all the tube OD i've heard has been pretty harsh sounding. No one in town has a reissue bassman, let alone an attenuator, so its hard to playtest one

 

[joelap]

Re: which bassman?

Earlier silverfaces have crappy reddish brown colored capacitors with murky yellow lettering and iffy sounding transformers.

Later silverfaces have sterile sounding transformers that are beefed up for more output but loud, sterile tone.

Go for one from '73 or '74 and ask to look inside it to verify that the caps are mostly shiny blue capacitors with maybe only two or three of the reddish brown ones with the murky yellow lettering I described...and change those two or three to Sprague Orange Drops.

Lew,

Would you consider the early Silverfaces the '68/'69 models? I almost bought one because I loved the tone, but then again it had all the caps replaced. What years are the later silverfaces? Just so I have a window to visualize.

By the way, I'm referring to the head/cab models, not the combos.

 

[Curly]

Re: which bassman?

Lew,

Would you consider the early Silverfaces the '68/'69 models? I almost bought one because I loved the tone, but then again it had all the caps replaced.

'68 was the first year for SFs, I think - those are the ones with the "drip edge"

BTW, if you bought one without replaced filter caps, you'd want to replace those anyway

 

[xerxes]

Re: which bassman?

on a different point of view, how about a peavey classic series amp

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: which bassman?

ehh i want a bassman

I don't like the peavey classics too much

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: which bassman?

I'll stand by my '68 Silverface's tone...the only problem I have is with the distortion I get from my pedal, everything the amp does is perfect. Get the volume around five and the Hot Rails get some great distortion, but singles stay clean... perfect, basic "tube" sound that reacts really well with different pickups and whatnot. All you need's a cab and a decent pedal...

-X

 

[Stratman]

Re: which bassman?

AB165 Mod out those chocolate caps for some Sprague Orange Drops and add Torres Engineering's mod to change the tone from bass guitar to lead guitar.

Then jump via jack into both channels.. (e.g. early Marshall trick)

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: which bassman?

well i want a really good dose of bass response from it

so maybe i should leave the jacks unconverted

but i'm still unsure as to which bassman head to get

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: which bassman?

I would go with early silverface. The best tell tale sign to use is the name on the front panel. Amps that say "Bassman" are newer that those that say "Bassman Amp" "Bassman Amp" is what you are looking for. The AB165 is the most common circuit. I have a Bassman that fits that description as well as a 65 Blackface Bassman with the same circuit. The normal (right)channel is fine with guitar. The bass channel (left) needs work to work with guitar.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: which bassman?

architect, i'm mainly intrigued with yours, what years have those circuit?

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: which bassman?

http://acruhl.freeshell.org/mga/main/AA864_vs_AB165.html should i consider these mods with that circuit?

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: which bassman?

My blackface had some of those mods done when I got it as far as the phase inverter and the Bias arrangement. It really does open up the tone but to me me its more apple vs oranges. I didn't one as better, they were just different. Mine was further modded to have the Bass channel do a Marshall kind of thing. I need to get that restored.

AB165 began mid to late sixties and ran to early 70's as far as I have been able to determine but I am no expert. You may want to check out the books written by Aspen Pittman and others on vintage amps. They really get into the details of what and when for vintage amps.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: which bassman?

I would go with early silverface. The best tell tale sign to use is the name on the front panel. Amps that say "Bassman" are newer that those that say "Bassman Amp" "Bassman Amp" is what you are looking for. The AB165 is the most common circuit. I have a Bassman that fits that description as well as a 65 Blackface Bassman with the same circuit. The normal (right)channel is fine with guitar. The bass channel (left) needs work to work with guitar.

You all should read Forrest White's book: Inside Fender. Forrest was Leo Fender's best friend and right hand man at Fender pretty much right from the beginning and he stayed on after Leo left and has some stories about the CBS years right after Fender/CBS switched from the blackface to the silverface amps.

Those amps are very unpredictable. Some are the same as a blackface but with silverface cosmetics and some are filled with cost saving surplus transformers and surplus parts! This, according to Forrest White...who was there and eventually left in disgust because CBS wanted him to sign off on amps that he knew were garbage.

Lew