Fender Bassman 10, should I?

mr_goodbomb · #1 08-07-2010, 10:29 PM

As I've mentioned in other posts... My amp crapped out tonight. I used the guitarist's bassman, and he used his backup amp. Sounded great. It was limited on volume, but I used to use that amp every show and practice before I got my own rig (prior to this band, I generally played guitar), and it sounded fantastic with a Boss Hyperfuzz for boost. All his speakers but one were blown when he took to get it serviced... Unsure if that's my fault or not. He didn't seem to think so.

I'm considering just buying one of my own rather than worrying with all this other crap. It fits our aesthetic, it's simple enough, it's easy to lug around and fit in the vehicle...

Who likes em, who doesn't?

JimmyM · #2 08-07-2010, 11:56 PM

head great. cab not so great. you're better off getting a bassman head by itself and using another cab that cops the look but is made better. for some reason fender could never make a decent bass cab back then. wonderful for guitar, not great for bass.

taurus1 · #3 08-08-2010, 12:22 AM

if you want to hear the most classic Fender bass tone ever, play a P bass through one of these. excellent for recording or a low to moderate volume band. guitar sounds equally great through it.
( just to clarify: a Bassman Ten is a 4x10 silverface combo amp that looks like a Super Reverb, but is slightly taller. it's a closed back ported cab that sounds a lot chunkier and thicker than an open back Fender combo)

P-oddz · #4 08-08-2010, 12:28 AM

The Bassman TV 10 combo?

JimmyM · #5 08-08-2010, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-oddz

The Bassman TV 10 combo?

no, this one:

http://www.ampwares.com/amp.asp?id=30

mulchor · #6 08-08-2010, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_goodbomb

I'm considering just buying one of my own rather than worrying with all this other crap. It fits our aesthetic, it's simple enough, it's easy to lug around and fit in the vehicle...

Who likes em, who doesn't?

I have one. I think of it more as a guitar amp than a bass amp.

"Easy to lug around and fit in the vehicle" makes me wonder if there's some alternate Bassman 10 that you have, cuz mine is freakin big n heavy.

mr_goodbomb · #7 08-08-2010, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulchor

I have one. I think of it more as a guitar amp than a bass amp.

"Easy to lug around and fit in the vehicle" makes me wonder if there's some alternate Bassman 10 that you have, cuz mine is freakin big n heavy.

I mean, this thing is pretty heavy, but compare to my rackmount PLUS a cab, or my SVT CL and a 4x12 120 pound cab... much easier. It also just fits in the car easier. We're a 3 piece and the van fit all our gear perfectly... then I got new gear and now it's a bit more trouble.

BobOnBass · #8 08-08-2010, 06:31 AM

I was interested in buying one from a bass playing friend who gigged with it for quite some time. He wasn't blown away by it though. Said it was fine but nothing special. He is the kind of guy that doesn't suffer any g.a.s. in the gear departement...
Before he used a Bassman 100 head with Mesa cabs (which I bought btw) which he liked better soundwise, he wanted something smaller though and figured he found this with the Bassman Ten. However, apart from the fine but nothing special sound, he really disliked the weight of this thing. It seems to make sense to get a seperate head and cab and divide the weight.

Anyway, I was going to buy it cause I wanted a tube combo and that Bassman tone but his experience with it made me decide not to.

However, you said you liked it and that it sounded great, that sort of overrules any other opinion out there right?

mr_goodbomb · #9 08-09-2010, 01:55 PM

I used it last night live again. It's a very... colorful sounding amp. It doesn't sound like a very common bass tone. At high volumes (as far as the knobs go, not actual "that's too loud" volumes), for obvious reasons, it gets pretty dirty. It sounds good, but just a tiny bit muddy. The guitarist said I'd never really need to be that loud, though, and he's never thought I wasn't loud enough when using that amp. I'm still deciding.

s_mcsleazy · #10 08-09-2010, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

head great. cab not so great. you're better off getting a bassman head by itself and using another cab that cops the look but is made better. for some reason fender could never make a decent bass cab back then. wonderful for guitar, not great for bass.

hence why im using ashdown bass cabs on my bassman