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'73 Fender Bassman 100 + matching pyramid cab

A

adam_aav

Dec 6, 2009
15
0
#1
Just picked up a 73 Fender Bassman 100 (4ohm) and it came with the original Pyramid 4x12 cabinet. Seems that someone over time has pulled out the old speakers and put in a few guitar speakers:
2 x G12-30' and 2 x G12-35L's
I know these cabs got some of flack over time, but im still keen to set this up with some proper speakers.
i could do this:
- replace the speakers with 4 bass voiced speakers. Wire each pair in series, dropping them to 4ohm. Then run the speaker out on the back of the head to one pair, and the 2nd out to the 2nd pair.
- Get someone to build me a new baffle and try fit in 6x10 speakers in there (havent even thought how to wire that up).
- try find 16ohm speakers and wire them in parallel.

in the meantime i have a vintage peavey 4x10 that i love the tone of, but its 8ohm. Some people get freaky about running a 4ohm head into a 8ohm cab, what are peoples thoughts here?

love some suggestions on what to do with the cab / speaker selections / etc...

oh the type of music will all be psych/rock/stoner vibe....
 

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#2
An 8-ohm cab with a 4-ohm head is fine, the overall output (volume) won't be as loud as with a properly matched 4-ohm cab but it won't hurt the head one bit. If you ran say a 2-ohm load on the 4-ohm head however, that's when problems arise as many amps out there can't handle a 2-ohm load. I'd try and find some bass speakers to put in that cab, really sweet setup nonetheless great score!!! :)
 
#3
I have two Bassman 100's and have been an amp tech for years.

The head can hande a 100% mismatch, meaning any load from 2-8 ohms is fine. A mismatch to the low side is better for the amp than the higher mismatch...2 is a bit better/safer for the head than 8 ohms. This isn't the same as with SS heads.

A guy I met had fixed up one of these cabinets. He reglued all the popped joints (very common) and needed to replace the speakers. He wanted to use the cabinet for guitar or bass, and with bass would be using the Bassman 100 head.

He finally chose Jensen Mod 12-110's. While they have pretty short excursion specs, with the 100 watt head, they worked great for bass, and once broken in, he loved them with guitar as well.

The original speakers were small magnet, lightewight speakers with a 3/4" voice coil much more suited for guitar than bass.
 

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