The Fender Super Bassman 300 thread

[GregC]

Originally Posted by Freddels

And your links still don't work in this thread either.

Darn these kids today and their blasted Facebook!

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by Freddels

And your links still don't work in this thread either.

Looks like my buddy who originally posted them limited them to friends of friends. I've asked him to make them public, or you could just friend me on Facebook (I use the mysterious name of Tom Bowlus).

[hellcat83]

Super Bassman + 2 Aguilar db115 = tone heaven

[IntrepidCellist]

Originally Posted by hellcat83

Super Bassman + 2 Aguilar db115 = tone heaven

They look made for each other!

[hellcat83]

Yes, exact same width.
Same grillcloth too, except that the Fender is slightly more yellow.

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by tombowlus

Looks like my buddy who originally posted them limited them to friends of friends. I've asked him to make them public, or you could just friend me on Facebook (I use the mysterious name of Tom Bowlus).

FWIW, those videos are now public.

[Tim1]

Had a really good chance to play with the overdrive channel again at a louder gig last weekend. Amazing how close I can get to my old SVT VR, boosting the mids into the Berg NV215 without adding overdrive gain. I have the opportunity to pick up a mint USA made SVT CL for a good price at the moment, but after that I think I am quite happy with the SB300's ability to give me that tone when I need it. Such an amazingly versatile preamp and so intuitive to use. I have never been a fan of lots of controls, but this is the closest to plug and play with more than four knobs that I have ever come across.

[chrisan2]

i am not sure if this has been discussed in the 100t thread or not, but reading in the manual about, Q. speaker output switch and R. main speaker/extension speaker. .........do you interpret it as always keep a speaker connected even when in mute position , or when using the xlr connection and speaker output switch is in mute position no speaker needs to be connected. thanks

[Tim1]

According to the Bass Player review you do not need to have a speaker connected when it is in mute:
"The Super Bassman also features a speaker output switch, which disengages the power amp and allows you to run the amp without a speaker cabinet for recording."

[Turlu]

That is right!
Still enjoying the tone richness of this superb amp!

[hellcat83]

Had an issue with my brand new Super Bassman for its first gig on friday night. Soundcheck was ok, but when I plugged in for the show there was almost no sound on the vintage channel, and a moderate noise (like shhhhh). I checked bias, speakers connections, everything was ok. Switched it off and on again, but still no sound... I switched to the overdrive channel, to my surprise it worked properly. Since I had no backup amp, I did the show using the overdrive channel (I know, I shouldn't have !).
I found out the day after that I had a bad preamp tube in V1. Replaced it and now the amp is working great.
Fender user manual only mentions the opposite case : if the vintage channel is working normally, but not the overdrive channel, then it's a bad tube in V2.
Now my question is : do the vintage and overdrive channels share the same preamp tubes, or is it V1 for vintage, and V2 for overdrive ?

Thanks !

[Tim1]

Makes logical sense to me that they would share the same driver tube but that some preamp tubes will be specifically for one specific channel. Mind you, I am not a tech.Unfortunately faulty tubes are all too common these days, nothing you can do about it really but at least they will be covered under warranty. It is somewhat unpredictable and an issue outside the amp manufacturer's control - except that I believe Fender do own Groove Tubes. On the plus side, you will have found out how amazingly versatile the overdrive channel is , no harm done and all should be good from now on.

[hellcat83]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your post.
I agree with you, as long as it is a preamp tube it's not a big deal. And it is such fun to swap those little dudes and see how the sound of the amp can change.
Anyway the Bassman sounds great, both channels are amazing.

[chrisan2]

Originally Posted by chrisan2

the good news, amps sounding good and engineer commented on one song played with a pick on the od channel that it sounded like the stranglers , the bad news , got issues with the biasing, it keeps going to "warm "by its self randomly , sometimes while playing , sometimes while in standby, can adjust it back to normal, but afew minutes later it goes to warm again. a bias reset doesnt help. all tubes are green and solid, anyway shops in touch with the fender tech,.......... will let you know.

well contact was made with fender usa via the nz rep about 2 weeks ago [ alittle slow replying i thought, took aweek to reply]anyway they think its the ribbon of the auto bias unit, have to freight it back to the nz importer for repair, in about 3 weeks , after there holidays.
since then;
now it goes straight back to warm after you try and adjust the bias , amp still sounds great , so hopefully a new or repaired ribbon loom will end this issue

[Tim1]

Hopefully it should be a quick repair then, assuming Direct Imports keep a stock of replacement parts. Alternatively it only takes a couple of days to fly a new ribbon in so they should be ready to do it straight away when you send it in.

[chrisan2]

"assuming Direct Imports keep a stock of replacement parts" yeah thats a key question Tim. The other thought is a field repair is made as opposed to a part replacement, either way i guess as long as its fixed, they say its ok to keep using the amp anyway which is good

[Tim1]

DIs normally have quite a stock of parts, old and new. They are also in regular contact with Fender USA so I cannot imagine any problems. Eugene is head tech and very on to it, as well as being a mean guitarist so he understands our needs.
Back in the sixties and seventies they used to import and distribute Fender amps and guitars, assembling the parts in New Zealand. They had this amazing tech, Leon, who had boxes of parts from the sixties "out the back". In the eighties I once took a bass in for a pickup replacement and he said something along the lines of " I was going to put in an old one from the sixties box but this one (new) looked in better condition for you" When I was younger we used to dream of ways of getting hold of the old parts, they are no doubt gone now but old Leon sure had a wealth of knowledge.

[BluesBassFreak]

Originally Posted by hellcat83

Super Bassman + 2 Aguilar db115 = tone heaven

I think I just soiled myself What a rig!

[jayceofbass]

Howdy Y'all.

I'm brand new as a user to this forum - although I've been lurking for years - and just have to weigh in on this amp.

I got the Super Bassman 300 in late August and immediately began using it for a run of dates in Ontario and Quebec throughout September and October. I instantly fell in love with this thing. I had been using SVT's of one description or another for larger venues gigs for years. I loved all of those amps for the most part but this Fender really kicks the snot out of them when it comes to versatility. Both channels sound awesome and the overdrive on channel 2 is incredibly usable and musical to my ears. I've basically taken the OD pedal out of my gig bag now that I'm using this amp. Delicious! IMHO it's got 100% of the tone that any SVT has plus the added versatility. Kudos to Fender for finally addressing the hole they had in their bass amplification offerings. My only complaint is that it is so new that no backline companies have started to carry it. That, coupled with the fact that Fender hasn't really catered to touring bassists for decades makes it a difficult amp to get your hands on for fly in gigs and tours. I just did a 6 week stint in Europe of about 30 shows and had to go back to using an SVT-VR and OD pedal. (A great amp in its own right.) I realized how much I had missed this Bassman when I did the first gig back in town. Awesome!

I've used this head with an Ashdown ABM 610 cab, an SVT-810AV cab and even through two Aguilar DB112's. All combinations were impressive. Now I'm GASsing for a Fender Bassman Neo 610 to complete the package.

That's my two cents. Cheers!

[KJung]

Originally Posted by BluesBassFreak

I think I just soiled myself What a rig!

+1 That looks amazing! Old school P, massive tube power, Aguilar cabinets. There you go.

If I ever would buy a tube amp again, that would be the one. Of course, there is a higher likelihood that I would buy a unicorn with a monkey rider, but still....