Bassman amp identification help

Ski3223 · #1 08-13-2010, 03:53 PM

Okay folks, I've got an old Fender Bassman Head that needs some IDing. I have a sneaking suspicion that the tubes are blown and I want to know if it will be worth getting them replaced or not.

Serial number is A 40953. By using this page http://www.ggjaguar.com/fendamp5.htm I'm guessing that its a 67 or 68.

I have no cab to plug this thing into right now.

First, I want to know what year it is and if it will be worth keeping or selling to someone who really wants it. Opinions are appreciated!

Second, how do these things sound plugged up and running. All I can find clips of on YouTube are people playing these with guitars. Feels sorta blasphemous to me

Third, how much would replacing the tubes in this badboy run me on average? A local tech said it would cost at least 75 for the guy just to look at it.

Here are some pics to help with the ID. Sorry about the quality.

billfitzmaurice · #2 08-13-2010, 04:03 PM

http://www.ampwares.com/

Ski3223 · #3 08-13-2010, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

http://www.ampwares.com/

Yeah I saw this site, that's kind of a wide range of years though. I'd like to narrow it down. Thanks for the referral!

zachoff · #4 08-13-2010, 04:22 PM

Well, it's older than mine and mine's an '81

Quote:

Third, how much would replacing the tubes in this badboy run me on average? A local tech said it would cost at least 75 for the guy just to look at it.

I'd find another tech. My tech re-capped and re-tubed for $175, total.

Ski3223 · #5 08-13-2010, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zachoff

Well, it's older than mine and mine's an '81

I'd find another tech. My tech re-capped and re-tubed for $175, total.

Yeah I'd really like to find a cheaper tech. Do you know how I can tell if these tubes are blown for sure without a cab to plug it in to?

taurus1 · #6 08-13-2010, 05:50 PM

I think you're right about the year. it was the only year that had drip edge. the grill clothe has been changed though.

johnk_10 · #7 08-13-2010, 06:05 PM

'67's and some '68's had the drip edge, but only the '67's had the vertical black pinstripe between the input jacks and the V & T controls and around the turquoise 'bassman amp' printing, making your's an AB165 circuit built in '67.

Tusec · #8 08-13-2010, 06:10 PM

67 through 70 had the aluminum trim. The earliest ones -- 67 and 68 -- had the black vertical lines on the faceplate, so you're right that this one is a 67 or 68.

You might be able to zero in on the year with the pot codes:

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/pots.html

But apparently Fender bought a huge pile of CTS pots in 1966 which turn up in amps as late the early 70s. So if you check the codes and they're 1966, that's obviously not right. Any other year and they're probably telling you the truth, especially if several are the same year.

lbwdog · #9 08-13-2010, 06:11 PM

I would have sworn they were labeling them with CBS by then, but I guess I'm wrong.

lowphatbass · #10 08-13-2010, 07:11 PM

You won't find very many sound clips of bassists using them because they're a bit underpowered (especially by today's standards), they are mainly used as guitar amps and have been for quite some time. If your disappointed by this, I wouldn't be because it makes it a pretty valuable amp.
If your not sure what your doing you should really do your homework and find the best amp tech in your area. The amp just have a bad tube or could need a lot of work. Because the amp is somewhat valuable a dishonest repair person could remove perfectly good parts from your amp(to resell or use later)and charge you for replacements. Always ask for all your old parts back, it also helps when you go to resell the amp. Either way you need to get the amp fixed if your going to sell it, old tube amps that "need work" don't sell for very much because people assume that if it only needs minor repair or adjustment the seller would have it done and sell the amp for much more.

esoxhntr · #11 08-13-2010, 07:22 PM

1. Definitely a 67 or 68.

2. They sound warm and are surprisingly loud for 50 watts. I had really good success running mine through a Bergantino HS210, and also through a Bergantino HT115. The Bassman even had a decent slap sound though there was definitely a bit of "pillow" to it. This will likely not be an amp that would cut it for gigs for most people, but was awesome for jazz trio work for me.

3. A decent set of tubes will cost you about $100 - $125. I re-tubed mine with Tung-Sol 12ax7 tubes, and TAD 6L6 GC tubes. I got them from thetubestore.com - very helpful folks when it came to choosing the right tubes for the job.

johnk_10 · #12 08-13-2010, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tusec

67 through 70 had the aluminum trim. The earliest ones -- 67 and 68 -- had the black vertical lines on the faceplate, so you're right that this one is a 67 or 68.

i've never seen a '69 or a '70 with aluminum trim and i've seen/owned zillions of '69's and 70's. and the only ones with the black pinstripe that i've seen/owned were all '67's (never saw a '68 with them).

lowphatbass · #13 08-13-2010, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ski3223

I have no cab to plug this thing into right now.

Oh yea, incase your not aware it may not be good for the amp to have it powered-on for any significant time without plugging it into a cab. You're aware of this but I thought I would throw it out there, just incase.

Tusec · #14 08-13-2010, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

i've never seen a '69 or a '70 with aluminum trim and i've seen/owned zillions of '69's and 70's. and the only ones with the black pinstripe that i've seen/owned were all '67's (never saw a '68 with them).

You might be right. I'm going on memory from my hardcore amp junkie days a decade or so ago, and now that I think about it what you're saying sounds correct. On the other hand, I googled it and several 69s came up with aluminum trim (but no 70s). Don't know if they were dated correctly though. I'm pretty sure there are 68s with the black lines, but I'm not sure why I'm pretty sure of that

.

Ski3223 · #15 08-13-2010, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowphatbass

Oh yea, incase your not aware it may not be good for the amp to have it powered-on for any significant time without plugging it into a cab. You're aware of this but I thought I would throw it out there, just incase.

Yeah I found that out the hard way a long time ago. Long story short I got electrocuted pretty viciously! Quite an interesting feeling. Thanks for the info though, I wish I would have known that THEN lol.

Great info from all! So the general consensus seems to be get this thing fixed up? Seems like the price will be pretty manageable if I find the right tech. Lowphatbass, I definitely won't be doing the work myself. I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to even attempt the work on it.

Depending on how much I like the sound when its all fixed up I might be selling it when I'm done. What would be a reasonable going price for this? The research I've scrounged up so far seems to be anywhere from 500-900.

johnk_10 · #16 08-13-2010, 08:14 PM

i would say it's worth $400-$500 running perfectly. i sold a mint blackface '66 head for $699, but that's before the economy and the market on them tanked (4 years ago).

billfitzmaurice · #17 08-13-2010, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lbwdog

I would have sworn they were labeling them with CBS by then, but I guess I'm wrong.

That varied from model to model. As I recall pre-CBS were labeled as from Fullerton CA.

metalmariachi · #18 08-13-2010, 09:39 PM

Very easy to check..
Transformer codes; both power, output and choke will have 606-XXX the XXX= year and week of manufacture,
Never go by cosmetics they are easily changed especially things like the trim around the grill cloth, and even face/ back plates.

No offence but the Bassman makes a great guitar amp, not so great with bass, unless you like early break up and grind. The best “bass” amp Fender made for many years was the Showman which is a guitar amp LOL

MM