Buying a Fender Bassman Ten. Advice needed

[tornadobass]

nmontz, thanks for the background. The reason I think it went over is that the front to back brace was ripped out of the back and loose in the front. There are hairline cracks going away from each speaker hole, and there were a few cracked pieces on the front of the side boards that needed regluing. The back panel was also cracked in half beneath the vinyl. Ouch!

I know what you mean about the expense to get it going. I wasn't going to pick it up from Jim until I found a clearance at Weber for 10" PA speakers (Eminence, Weber wasn't sure which model) for $10 each. I put some stuffing inside the cab and built a new grill. Thanks for the great job on the filter cabs and power cable! The old CTS speakers went off to a reconer in Canada via eBay.

The amp now lives in a basement rehearsal room and sounds great, with plenty of volume and clarity for that use. Actually better than the Eden 15" cab with the Bassman 50 I tried there first...it had too much low end and shook the whole room. Here's a photo of the rehabbed Bassman Ten, along with my '74 Jazz.

 

[rumbl]

Over the years I tried several in music stores and thought they sounded crappy. Then about 5 years ago I bought an empty one for $50. I plugged the silly little ports, put in 4 32 ohm emminence SVT replacement speakers and my souped up '64 Showman. I always removed the casters while performing and had no falling over problems. I thought it was a way cool blues bass amp that fit in my motorcycle sidecar!
rumble in Mpls

 

[2manband]

I have a Bassman 10 that I've been using for about 10 years. I really like the sound with a guitar - and the bass sound isn't bad for home jamming or practice levels. I used to use it mic'd into the PA for live shows.

I bought it because I was in college (i.e. poor), and I wanted an amp that would work well for guitar and bass. Since then I've purchased better amps for each use, so the Bassman 10 doesn't get much love any more.

Long story short - it's a jack of all trades, master of none.

 

[THEBASSCARVER]

dont know what yahll are takling about but my dad had one and it was bad ass i think it was 80 watts i dont that year but it could stand up with eny amp then and now so if you see one for sell let me know i will buy it .them dam amps are the ****

 

[kerya_z]

Damn, where do you get em for 50$? I had to get chassis of Bassman Ten Silverface without valves for 340 at ebay shipped to US and overseas shipping will take 70-100 more. Quite expensive experiments for me at the moment. I would prefer spending 50 instead of 300.
It was very interesting to find different opinions on the amp. Reading bad ones I've been hoping that just chassis won't be that bad =)

 

[lexington125]

Now explain to me how across the board, CBS basses are selling for nearly 10x original price. They weren't that good in their day I seem to recall! Maybe a few were gems, but not many I tried.

Thank you! Every time I post something similar, I'm told that "they weren't all dogs" as if that is some great endorsement. Those of us who were playing in the 70s remember being shocked at the difference in weight when we first held a 50s or 60s P bass. Then we plugged in and never looked at another 70s Fender.