For some time I have been interested in revisiting an all tube bass head. I have fond memories of playing through a Bassman 100 throughout the 90's. I loved the amp and ran it into a couple of used Magnatone 15" alnico speakers. It was loud, and growled and compressed just perfectly. I realize that over time my memory of how it sounded may have distorted though. I have found bass amps that reminded me of it. The SWR Basic Black was close and of course the Alembic f1x compares but I just keep wondering if I would like an all tube head again. Perhaps just not 100 watts.
Recently while visiting a local store I had the opportunity to play through a McClostone Bassman/ JTM45 guitar head. I plugged it into an Ampeg 15E cabinet and was enamored for well over an hour. My takeaway was that with that amp at least I could hear enough "guitar" voiced circuit that this one wasn't for me though as the builder is local I reached out to him in regard to an AB165 circuit with a few custom modifications and received a quote which I believe is reasonable. I had also reached out to Fat Jimmy and Lil Dawg amps though I would rather support someone local which makes any repairs or modifications within driving distance and I think McClostone does excellent cabinet work as well.
I have been searching the internet in regard to playing bass through an AB165 and as you know guitarist love this amp so there are not a lot of videos or discussions regarding it's use currently as a Bass specific amp. Tons of videos of gain stack mods. I have no fear of the lower power output as my main use will be personal and in studio and hope to pair it with either a custom cabinet or Bag End S15. If you are using this amp, the Bassman AB165 I would like to hear about your experience. Have you made any modifications that you would recommend?
I have seen a few modification where say a more linear power amp section is used with the AB165 preamp though I wonder if this just defeats the overall vibe/ tone of the original circuit. There are few Blackface amps locally I could try though I believe they have been modified for guitar use. Gut shots indicate different resistor values etc. and I would very much like a new amp, something that will for some time not require much maintenance.
I am curious if you would dissuade or encourage me to proceed? I expect from the amp a warm Fender tone stack that has natural compression, sounds "vintage" and can cover the classic musical styles, blues, rock, jazz, funk and perhaps excel as a pedal platform tone canvas. What I am concerned about, is this circuit going to distort too early and if so should I consider a different circuit? I am not as much about grinding distortion these days.
I realize that for the associated cost I could purchase a modern equivalent that could be used in a variety of settings though for some reason I am curious about this idea and would appreciate some feedback. Thank you.
Recently while visiting a local store I had the opportunity to play through a McClostone Bassman/ JTM45 guitar head. I plugged it into an Ampeg 15E cabinet and was enamored for well over an hour. My takeaway was that with that amp at least I could hear enough "guitar" voiced circuit that this one wasn't for me though as the builder is local I reached out to him in regard to an AB165 circuit with a few custom modifications and received a quote which I believe is reasonable. I had also reached out to Fat Jimmy and Lil Dawg amps though I would rather support someone local which makes any repairs or modifications within driving distance and I think McClostone does excellent cabinet work as well.
I have been searching the internet in regard to playing bass through an AB165 and as you know guitarist love this amp so there are not a lot of videos or discussions regarding it's use currently as a Bass specific amp. Tons of videos of gain stack mods. I have no fear of the lower power output as my main use will be personal and in studio and hope to pair it with either a custom cabinet or Bag End S15. If you are using this amp, the Bassman AB165 I would like to hear about your experience. Have you made any modifications that you would recommend?
I have seen a few modification where say a more linear power amp section is used with the AB165 preamp though I wonder if this just defeats the overall vibe/ tone of the original circuit. There are few Blackface amps locally I could try though I believe they have been modified for guitar use. Gut shots indicate different resistor values etc. and I would very much like a new amp, something that will for some time not require much maintenance.
I am curious if you would dissuade or encourage me to proceed? I expect from the amp a warm Fender tone stack that has natural compression, sounds "vintage" and can cover the classic musical styles, blues, rock, jazz, funk and perhaps excel as a pedal platform tone canvas. What I am concerned about, is this circuit going to distort too early and if so should I consider a different circuit? I am not as much about grinding distortion these days.
I realize that for the associated cost I could purchase a modern equivalent that could be used in a variety of settings though for some reason I am curious about this idea and would appreciate some feedback. Thank you.
