1966 Bassman amp. Which cab for home use?

[pdshane]

Bought a 1966 Bassman head in 1972 for $50 and never used. It's been in the closet since then except when it was refurbished by an audio tech about ten years ago then it sat in the closet again. I'd like to use it for home use but don't know anything about cabs. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. --pds

 

[rodl2005]

Dunno if the impedance is correct, but the Bassman 115s of the Pro Neo cab series sounds terrific with a Bassman amp. The 115 being 8 ohms

 

[tubedude]

For home use I'd recommend a very inefficient speaker.

 

[pdshane]

Dunno if the impedance is correct, but the Bassman 115s of the Pro Neo cab series sounds terrific with a Bassman amp. The 115 being 8 ohms

Thank you for the response. I looked at the 115 PN series and it all looks very $$$ for my modest budget. Let me ask another question: 115 or 210 cabinet. Also, I've never really understood the ohm thing. Might as well admit my profound ignorance or very steep learning curve.

 

[eniac]

Do you know what exactly was replaced by the tech 10 years ago? If you don't, and if the amp hasn't been powered up since then, then I'd give some thought to taking it to a tech again and having him/her bring it up slowly on a variac and check for problems during that process. If you *do* know exactly what was replaced, then list those items here and we can get a better sense of things.

 

[rodl2005]

Thank you for the response. I looked at the 115 PN series and it all looks very $$$ for my modest budget. Let me ask another question: 115 or 210 cabinet. Also, I've never really understood the ohm thing. Might as well admit my profound ignorance or very steep learning curve.

Yeah they've no doubt gone way up in price since I bought mine.
Just gotta make sure the load the speakers/cabs ohms rating is matches what the amp likes.

From memory, there's a sticky thread all about impedance and ohms
Most old Bassman amps optimally operated into 4 ohms. But I used a Bassman 100 into an 8 ohm cab for years in the 80s

 

[hennessybass]

I would probably try to find a 115 that matched the amp.
Great for at home, or small jams.

Old Bassman amps want to see a 4 ohm cab.

 

[hennessybass]

I've run old Fenders (Bassman 100) with a few different 212 cabs (Bergantino & Aguilar).
You could find a used 4ohm Aguilar DB 210 - would be a great match.

 

[Wasnex]

Do you have a 4 ohm cab or a pair of 8 ohm cabs? If yes, that's where I would start.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Do you know what exactly was replaced by the tech 10 years ago? If you don't, and if the amp hasn't been powered up since then, then I'd give some thought to taking it to a tech again and having him/her bring it up slowly on a variac and check for problems during that process. If you *do* know exactly what was replaced, then list those items here and we can get a better sense of things.

This....but ALWAYS make sure the entire circuit is looked at visually for leaking or bulging capacitors and any burned spots especially on resistors.

With magnification is best but a trained eye as well is preferable.

BTW, nice amp that is popular with guitarists ...I would use it for guitar personally but either way a real nice amp.

 

[DaveParker39]

I would like to second that 10 years unused you are gonna want to have a tech bring it up to voltage with a variac and check for any faults, and just give it a once over. I power up my Super Reverb (1967) routinely even when I'm not using it regularly... 10 years is a long while for a tube amp to sit.

As far as speaker choice, it kinda depends if you are wanting your amp to sound like it did in 1966 or if you are wanting more modern performance. Weber makes some of the best old school Fender speakers, but that may not be what you want if you want to optimize the amp for bass.

 

[iiipopes]

As @Lammchop93 posted, just about any 1X15 will work. That's what I used when I had a '68 Bassman-Export head years ago. BTW: channel 2 "Normal" works great for rhythm guitar playing also. Take care of it. clean examples are now going for @$1600!

 

[John D Harris]

RevSound RS115

 

[ac100X]

The 60's Bassman is a 4 ohm head, the speaker 2x12 cabinet that came with it was a 4 ohm cabinet. I have two orange OBC12 cabs, if I plug one to the speaker jack and one into the external speaker jack will this be a 4 ohm load? I forget the series & parallel suff.

 

[JamesGrant]

Bought a 1966 Bassman head in 1972 for $50 and never used. It's been in the closet since then except when it was refurbished by an audio tech about ten years ago then it sat in the closet again. I'd like to use it for home use but don't know anything about cabs. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. --pds

I know this isn’t a direct answer, but. If I were you I’d sell it (for a LOT of money) and then buy a nice Ampeg B15 re-issue which looks great, and sound great even at low volume.

The Bassman is going to be quite noisy/hissy at low volumes, which would annoy me at home volumes.

And you’d have plenty of money left over.

 

[rodl2005]

The 60's Bassman is a 4 ohm head, the speaker 2x12 cabinet that came with it was a 4 ohm cabinet. I have two orange OBC12 cabs, if I plug one to the speaker jack and one into the external speaker jack will this be a 4 ohm load? I forget the series & parallel suff.View attachment 7427913View attachment 7427914View attachment 7427915

Yes. That's a 4 ohm load.

 

[Wasnex]

The Bassman is going to be quite noisy/hissy at low volumes, which would annoy me at home volumes.

IME blackface Fenders tend to be pretty quiet.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

IME blackface Fenders tend to be pretty quiet.

Ah yes, as most 50s and 60s Fenders can be if serviced properly.

 

[Marc Speed]

A vintage Fender 2-12 Bassman cabinet would obviously work nicely. I have built a Mojotone replica with Weber 12” bass speakers, and they sound great with a vintage Bassman amp.

 

[brianrost]

For most of the time I onwed my Bassman I used it with 8 ohm single speaker cabinets. The amps didn't show the impedance on the back. Mine was a blonde 1960 which would have shipped with a 1-12 cabinet, not the later 2-12. It had two speaker jacks, though. So I’m not even sure if it was built for 8 or 4 ohms.

I did use a 4 ohm Guild 2x12 for a few years. I found it for $35 in 1978 just before I found the Bassman. By the time I started gigging, I had sold it and bought a Peavey 1-15 and later used a 1-15 Traynor cabinet, both were 8 ohms. With all three the amp never complained.