New to me head, worth trying?

[sse1990]

I got this head sorta given to me tonight when I sold the guy some truck parts. He paid me what I wanted BUT gave me the head also. He said it still worked. I know it is a guitar head, but is it worth trying with my bass or not.




I also got a spare tube with it too. Not sure the exact year it was made yet either.

I'm also trying to find some kind of manual for it but no luck yet.

[BillyB_from_LZ]

In short...heck yeah! It's a 50 watt(ish) tube amp so it is what it is, but in the right context, it should be wonderful.

Nice score!!!!

[sse1990]

Well I had to do it. I connected it to a 15" cabinet that was given to me. Unknown speaker and a cut down cabinet, made smaller by previous owner, was a fender cabinet at one point but it was too big.

What I found:
Treble 5
Bass 5
Tremolo intensity 2
tremolo speed 0
volume 2

Sounded pretty darn good. I asked my wife if it was loud enough and she said the whole house is shaking. I tried putting the reverb up but it sounded terrible.

I see that there are 2 "channels" for inputs and each one has 2 inputs, so 4 total inputs. Should I be y-ing my bass into both "channels" to get the full use of the amp?

OH and I found a new home for the head.


That thing probably weighs as much as the amp sitting below it with 2-10" speakers in it.

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by sse1990

...
I see that there are 2 "channels" for inputs and each one has 2 inputs, so 4 total inputs. Should I be y-ing my bass into both "channels" to get the full use of the amp?

....

Well, it depends on how the two channels are voiced. If it's like a Marshall Plexi style amp, one channel is very bright, one isn't. With that you use a short cable to connect one to the other and then you balance the tone by adjusting the volume controls. I do this with a similar style amp and let the "normal" channel do most of the work and add a little bit of sparkle with the "bright" channel.

[Pilgrim]

The old Bassman amps had two inputs - one voiced brighter than the other. It would really help to get a manual for that amp. What matters is if you like the sound...and if you do, clean it up and hang onto it. I'll bet you can find info on it before long.

I use the Bassman for practice - I can connect the headphone jack from a boom box to the bright input, and connect my bass to the low one....allows easy playing along with a CD. All I do is put a Y-cord between the boom box and amp with a 1/4" jack adapter at the end.

[JimmyM]

ya, you can do the 2 channel thing if you so desire. nice score. looks like a fun amp.

[sse1990]

Quick update. I just traded that amp in on a Epiphone Les Paul Studio. I know it's not a bass but at least I have a guitar again to play around with

[Martin89]

That's what I was going to say is that that head would make for some good trade bait for other things you want... Good score on the Les Paul.

[StereoPlayer]

very nice!. Lucky you! Look up the Traynor Bass head on ebay, YBA-1a , not cheap. By looking at your pic, It looks like a late 60's thru early 70's. Other tb'ers will know better

Congrats!.

[RickenBoogie]

Hate to say it, but the amp was most likely worth more than the Epi is- but it's your stuff, so long as you're happy.

[sse1990]

The amp needed some work and it looks like someone converted the reverb into a gain.