The Fender Bassman 100T thread - Page 48

rodl2005 · #**941** 11-24-2012, 09:44 PM

I think that's a great GAS-inducing idea ;p
Might make this thread take a li'l longer to make part 2 tho.

Tim, where in NZ were you checking out the Fenders? Auckland's "The Rock Shop"?
Am heading there soon for a family gtg, & hopefully will get to a few stores.

chrisan2 · #**942** 11-25-2012, 01:47 AM

thanks for the explanation eyeballkid, so the cab ratiing is more like a guide to your specific requirements .
rodl2005, the auckland rockshop had the 610, 100t, 810, & 300sb when i was in there about 6 weeks back.

rodl2005 · #**943** 11-25-2012, 04:07 AM

Thanx, I'll keep ya posted

Turlu · #**944** 11-25-2012, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim1

+1. Pretty well mirrors my conclusions, NorCal Dog. I guess we should start an SB300 thread too

.

If you start a SB300 thread, I will be in! Every time I plug that head and play it, I am amazed at how much natural Tone I am getting! So warm and rich with just the right amount of grit in it!

Roadkill · #**945** 11-25-2012, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisan2

how come a cab , say the fender neo 810 for example, is featured with a power handling of 1000w continuous and 2000w program, yet as we know will distort with a 300w tube head below full power? is it just a misnomer.

My own "rule of thumb" is that a cab will safely handle a cranked solid state amp of 1/2 the power of the cab rating and a tube amp of 1/4 the power of the cab rating. One of my rehearsal rigs at the moment is a Marshall Superbass clone (Bugera 1960, 150w "peak") into a GK 212MBE (600w) and I can crank that fully overdriven no prob

. A 300w tube amp really needs a pair of 8x10's (and a roady or two to hump it

) to be cranked.

Tim1 · #**946** 11-25-2012, 11:22 AM

Quote:

If you start a SB300 thread, I will be in!

Okay guys, I have started a Fender Super Bassman 300 thread so we can discuss it separately.
Rod, I use The Music Machine in Napier almost exclusively these days since they do great deals and are close to me. However, Scott at the Bass Rockshop in Auckland is a former pupil of mine and a heck of a nice guy so you cannot go too far wrong there. We still cannot get the 410 and the 115 cabs here, and I believe on the last shipment alll the 610 cabs were sold before they even arrived on the country. Still love my Berg 215 with the SB300 though

.

NorCal Dog · #**947** 11-25-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim1

I guess we should start an SB300 thread too

.

might be a good idea

thinking about sourcing a custom road case for protection & also so i can strap it onto my little handtruck for load in / load out

guess i've been spoiled with my Genz 9.0 the last couple of years, the 9.0 / pedals will now be a backup

rodl2005 · #**948** 11-25-2012, 01:49 PM

Thanx again Tim, my memory's getting shoddy :-/
I'll hopefully get to try both heads, one at least.

alembicbones · #**949** 11-26-2012, 10:55 PM

Hi all,

The Brown Truck delivered my 100T today and I just spent the last hour and a half jamming through each of my basses through this amp. The cab I'm using is an Eden D410XLT. My first impression is a very favorable one.

My first thought is that this amp will deliver all the power I need. The Super Bassman was intriguing but I could get the 100T plenty loud for my taste. The two channels each sound very nice and with the foot switch it's really easy to go between two equally leveled, distinctive tones. I was very impressed with how my Ric 4003 sounded through this amp, especially through the Overdrive Channel. Additionally, my Alembic sounded a lot smoother that with my other rig. All in all, each bass sounded very good.

I plan on bringing this amp to my next rehearsal and see how it does in a band setting. My guess is it will work really well.

Bones

alembicbones · #**950** 11-26-2012, 10:58 PM

One last thing. MF has this amp on sale and dropped $100 off the sales price. When I ordered mine it was full price. I called them tonight and they honored the sale price for me by crediting my card the $100 discount. Way to go MF and you have a loyal customer.

Bones

thrasher717 · #**951** 11-27-2012, 03:09 PM

I've been lurking on this thread for a few months and I can't stand it anymore -- I just ordered one. It should arrive next week. I'm not going to have much time to play around with it before our next gig so I need some help. I'd appreciate it if you "experienced" users would give me a starting point with settings that you like. We play mostly classic rock, so I expect to spend most of my time on the vintage channel. I play mostly finger style, but occasionally with a pick if the song calls for it. I was thinking of using the channel switching to compensate for the volume difference between using fingers and using a pick. Thanks for all the reviews and info contained in this thread. It has been very helpful.

alembicbones · #**952** 11-27-2012, 03:21 PM

This is my take on the settings. Please feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.

Vintage Channel: Flat EQ would be 2-Bass 10-Mid 2-Treble. Tweak settings from here. Pull boost on Bass and Treble. I think I will be spending a lot of time here.

Overdrive Channel: Flat EQ is center detente on Bass Mid and Treble between 5 and 6. Boost and cut are achieved by going up or down. Again pull boost on Bass and Treble. Mid sweep is a nice feature. Blend brings in dirt from Overdrive Gain. 1-Blend yields no Overdrive Gain. I generally prefer a clean tone so I will use the Gain very sparingly.

This is a cool amp and drives a 4x10 very well.

Bones

Freight Train · #**953** 11-28-2012, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alembicbones

This is my take on the settings. Please feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.

Vintage Channel: Flat EQ would be 2-Bass 10-Mid 2-Treble. Tweak settings from here. Pull boost on Bass and Treble. I think I will be spending a lot of time here.

Overdrive Channel: Flat EQ is center detente on Bass Mid and Treble between 5 and 6. Boost and cut are achieved by going up or down. Again pull boost on Bass and Treble. Mid sweep is a nice feature. Blend brings in dirt from Overdrive Gain. 1-Blend yields no Overdrive Gain. I generally prefer a clean tone so I will use the Gain very sparingly.

This is a cool amp and drives a 4x10 very well.

Bones

2-10-2 is no way flat on the vintage channel. I realize that has been posted as a flat setting on true vintage Bassman passive tone stacks, and many seem to just parrot that as correct, but it is not flat on the 100T. If you look back you'll see a couple of posts where I did tests, and by comparing to the active channel in flat position, a setting of 6-6-4, or 10-10-8 on the passive stack is fairly close. I will eventually get the head into my studio where I can do some real sweeps on it, but these are the settings I've found to be flat by ear.

Freight Train · #**954** 11-28-2012, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thrasher717

I've been lurking on this thread for a few months and I can't stand it anymore -- I just ordered one. It should arrive next week. I'm not going to have much time to play around with it before our next gig so I need some help. I'd appreciate it if you "experienced" users would give me a starting point with settings that you like. We play mostly classic rock, so I expect to spend most of my time on the vintage channel. I play mostly finger style, but occasionally with a pick if the song calls for it. I was thinking of using the channel switching to compensate for the volume difference between using fingers and using a pick. Thanks for all the reviews and info contained in this thread. It has been very helpful.

I think you're gonna love it Thrasher. After 7 months of gigging in my classic rock band with the 100T and a 410 Neo, I find more to like about the rig every time I use it. IMO it's the perfect amount of tube power for small/medium club gigs with no FOH support for bass, as matching volume to drums puts it right in that sweet spot where the power tubes just begin to sing. And for larger gigs with FOH support I have had no problem generating plenty of stage volume. I generally use the vintage channel with my flatwound-strung G&L L-1000, and the overdrive channel for my roundwound-strung Jack Casady Epiphone.
With my passive basses the vintage channel's preamp begins to distort just above 6. On most gigs I wind up with preamp volumes at 5 or 6, master volume at 5 or 6. The flat setting on the passive tone stack, compared to the overdrive channel with it's eq in center detent positions, is approximately 10-10-7 (or 8 on the highs, I can't quite decide), though I usually start at 6-6-4 as that gives some pseudo 'boost' if needed. Even if you set both channels' eq's flat and match the volumes, there is still a distinctly different sound between the two, with the overdrive channel having a 'faster' sound.
I personally love the voicing of the 100T matched with the 410 Neo, so I generally don't stray too far from the flat eq settings on both channels - sometimes backing the bass down a couple notches on the vintage channel and pulling out the bass knob for bass boost in rooms with a bass suck, and usually cutting mids just slightly, probably around 250-300hz, and cutting highs just slightly on the overdrive eq. That's all according to taste of course so YMMV.
All this love, and I haven't even played with over or under-biasing the tubes yet, and there'll be a lot of variation there to be explored.

Tim1 · #**955** 11-28-2012, 11:08 AM

Agree with you FreightTrain. I too have not bothered with trying different bias settings. And 2-10-2 definitely does not sound flat to me on the vintage channel. My usual setting on the vintage channel into the neo 610 with a passive jazz bass is around 41/2-7-7, but then I have swapped the tubes to Winged Cs. I can recommend Winged Cs for anyone when their tubes start to go later down the track.
Just did a quiet jazzy gig with a single guitarist. Used my GK neo 115. Compliments all round on my tone. This amp really is so versatile

adivin · #**956** 11-28-2012, 11:19 AM

Bass at 10 on the passive side seems too much to be flat.

rodl2005 · #**957** 11-28-2012, 01:02 PM

They're meaning- bass-2, mid-10, treble-2
This sounds pretty flat on my Studio Bass 200, not saying nuthin re the 100T but....

adivin · #**958** 11-28-2012, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodl2005

They're meaning- bass-2, mid-10, treble-2
This sounds pretty flat on my Studio Bass 200, not saying nuthin re the 100T but....

I was referring to Freight Trains suggested flat setting of 10 10 7. Too much bass to my ears to be flat

Tim1 · #**959** 11-28-2012, 01:57 PM

Agreed. I have neve needed to run the bass on the vintage channel past 41/2, in fact 3 seems fine which fits in with the 2 -10 - 2 approach. Just personal taste, I like a bit of added warmth with the jazz.

alembicbones · #**960** 11-28-2012, 02:29 PM

When I was messing around with the amp last night, I ran the vintage channel at 5-8-3 which gave some nice warmth to my Fender MM5 and my Ric 4003.

I'm really liking this amp so far. Plenty of volume. I guess I was playing so loud last night that I missed the fight happenning outside my house. My wife told me this morning that two guys were really going at it in our parking strip while I was blissfully jamming away.

Bones