1965 Fender Bassman

Fender Bassman Blackface

 

Great looking amp.
I gigged a 100w Bassman for many years.
I know quite a few guitar players who use them too.

Congrats on your new rig.

 

As a bass amp they are a load of garbage. I had a new blonde Blackface one in the late sixties. I returned it after a weekend. The thing distorted and I could get nothing clean out of it at any sort of a gig volume.

 

"I wanted an amp that I could have in my living room that can pull double duty as a low volume practice amp for bass and practice/gig amp for guitar."

It'll do fine for these uses. Good for recording, too.

 

As a practice amp. the same way I use my B15N, it should do just fine so enjoy the thing.

 

Legendary guitar amp. Bass- not so much.

 

Of course speakers play a huge part in the equation...

 

I agree fully but the amplifier I bought was amp and cabinet. To reiterate, the package was brand new. When I returned the amp my trade in, an Epiphone Constellation, had been sold - I left the amp anyway.

 

I use an Ampeg SB12 for practice; I wouldn't dream of taking it on a gig. Awareness of an amp's limitations and using it accordingly is always a good thing to do.

 

Is that a 2x15 cab? I’ve got one with 2 JBL’s. Best sounding cab with the JBL’s, depending what head is on it.

 

Great score!

IMO, forget old Jensens, they have paper voice coil formers unless reconed with kapton coils....i have many old Fender amps and i use other cabs, for example my 63 Tremolux goes thru a variety of 4 ohm cabinets and each is different...be aware your Bassman is limited to how much power it will deliver down low...use an EQ and roll off the bottom end with a very efficient 4 ohm cabinet and it should be fine.

These MUST be recapped, same as any other old amp, bias supply rebuilt etc and i personally would use 7581 which are bit higher power 6L6GC industrial tubes.

These 65 Bassmans are cool amps, some folks mod them slightly for guitar as well as bass but i would be careful and not do anything invasive.

These are old school amps that can deliver cool bass tone but not clean powerful bottom end....old school can rule imo!

 

The amps themselves are passable bass amps for lower-volume situations. I used one on the road in the 1970s, BUT: the speakers and the cabinet they inhabit are no good for bass. I plugged mine into a Peavey 2-15" cab and that combination served me well.

Contrary to intuition, the "Normal" channel is usually better for bass than the "Bass" channel.

 

Even back in the late 60's when I was playing guitar through a twin reverb, the Jensen Speakers were crap and would blow if you played past 5 ( which we OFTEN did back then. No P.A. support, back then, you were lucky to have a decent enough P.A ( Shure Vocal Master....Yes, I'm Old!!!) for the vocals. I ended up with J.B. Lansing in my twin (too clean) or, friend of mine, put SRO's in his

 

One of my 1st amps was a black face Bassman with a small 2x12 cab. I used it mostly with my college stage band and it was perfect for that. I would love to have it now as my bedroom practice amp. Congrats on a great find.