Fender Bassman 135 Question

MiCK.GaSM · #1 03-17-2011, 08:33 AM

I'm wondering if there's any way I can play mine through headphones only and not through my cabinet.

Its got two speaker jacks and a recording/output jack on the back. I'm wondering if I can unplug the cabinet and plug the headphones into the recording output, but I've always heard you shouldn't run a tube head without a speaker connected.

Any help would be appreciated. My wife and 2 yr old son aren't very appreciative of late night practice sessions.

Thanks

ButtUglyJeff · #2 03-17-2011, 09:20 AM

Bassman 135 is an all tube amp. If you play them unloaded you would most likely overheat the tubes, causing all kind of problems.

You'd be better off get a headphone amp like the one made by Vox. If you had a hybrid of solid state amp, you be able to run almost all of them all unloaded.

BTW, I've always wanted a Bassman 135 and the matching 2x15 cabinet. How sweet does it sound?

MiCK.GaSM · #3 03-17-2011, 10:39 AM

Bummer, that's what I figured. I guess I'll just have to fire up my old GK head for practicing.

The Bassman is a thing of beauty and has a sound all its own in my opinion. Very punchy, very warm and with lots of clarity. You'll see stuff around the net saying that they aren't loud enough, but I play in a very loud punk band and at practice I only have it turned up to 4.

Definitely a great investment. Mine's an 81 in fantastic condition and I was able to get it for $900. Shipping from FL to PA was pricey though.

okcrum · #4 03-17-2011, 11:42 AM

It has nothing to do with the tubes, but you might well hurt the output transformer, which is a lot harder to replace. You could put a dummy load on the amp, and hook up a set of headphones through a pad. There's another thread you can search for here talking about that.

Bassmec · #5 03-17-2011, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiCK.GaSM

Bummer, that's what I figured. I guess I'll just have to fire up my old GK head for practicing.

The Bassman is a thing of beauty and has a sound all its own in my opinion. Very punchy, very warm and with lots of clarity. You'll see stuff around the net saying that they aren't loud enough, but I play in a very loud punk band and at practice I only have it turned up to 4.

Definitely a great investment. Mine's an 81 in fantastic condition and I was able to get it for $900. Shipping from FL to PA was pricey though.

I use one of these Powersoak bad boys speakerless it loads the tube amp output beatifully, simulates speakers and provides headphone output, XLR output, + Speaker output with level control.
motherload » Motherload Pro Range

okcrum · #6 03-17-2011, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassmec

I use one of these Powersoak bad boys speakerless it loads the tube amp output beatifully, simulates speakers and provides headphone output, XLR output, + Speaker output with level control.
motherload » Motherload Pro Range

+1. It's only a 135, so one of these would be perfect.

MiCK.GaSM · #7 03-17-2011, 02:14 PM

Thanks for the advice. That thing looks heavy though, which usually means it's expensive. I think I'll just deal with using my other amp for practicing by myself unless someone has any other suggestions.

okcrum · #8 03-17-2011, 02:44 PM

Well, if you're handy with a soldering iron and have an hour or two, you could whip one of those up pretty cheaply. It wouldn't be as pretty, but it would work just as well.

anderbass · #9 03-17-2011, 03:22 PM

Is the Bassman 135 line out/recording jack tapped off the power section, or is it just a preamp out?

If it was just a preamp output, I was thinking maybe he could plug his headphones in there (using a 1/4' ts to trs adaptor) and then leave his cab plugged in with the master turned off...

(edit) I found the schematics here: http://web.archive.org/web/200610201..._135_schem.pdf

MiCK.GaSM · #10 03-17-2011, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by okcrum

Well, if you're handy with a soldering iron and have an hour or two, you could whip one of those up pretty cheaply. It wouldn't be as pretty, but it would work just as well.

Go on, I've got both.

okcrum · #11 03-17-2011, 06:18 PM

OK, first is a dummy load for the amp (example parts):

4 ohms 100 watt resistor
heat sink

Use a pair of 1/4" mono jacks wired in parallel on the dummy load, just on a bracket bolted to the heat sink if you want, so you can then use BassmanPaul's headphone adapter(below), but connect it to the dummy load, don't plug it into the extension speaker jack. Then plug the whole thing into the amp output and your phones into the headphone adapter (stereo) jack. Packaging can be as basic or fancy as you wish, and you can bolt an 80mm fan to the example heat sink if you need to. You're looking at $75 or so in parts with this approach. Most of the cost is the amp dummy load.

BassmanPaul's headphone adapter:
Make yourself a headphone adapter box. You'll need a mono phone socket, a stereo phone socket to match your headphones, a pair of 1KΩ 5W resistors and a small plastic box to hold everything. Mount the two sockets to the box. Wire the sleeve connection of each socket together (ground). Wire each resistor to the tip (left) and ring (right) connections of the stereo socket. Wire both of the resistors opposite ends to the tip of the mono jack. Make sure all wiring is insulated with sleeving or heat shrink tubing.

Connect the mono jack to the amp (in this example, into the second jack on the dummy load) with a speaker cable and your headphones into the stereo jack. Bring up the volume on the amp to a comfortable level and play away.

EDIT: If this is too costly or complex, you can always fall back to the other amp.

**dmonroe** · #12 03-17-2011, 06:32 PM

This could be very dangerous for your family!!!!!!! You should sell it immediately to me for $50. I assure you I will see to it that the Bassman 135 is properly disposed of with no danger to any person OR the environment.

I have training in such matters.