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Cabinets for Fender Bassman 135
- Thread starter JD Campbell
- Start date
Best depends on the tone and volume you want/need.
It's not a lot of power. If you want to gig, I suggest getting a cab or cabs with a high sensitivity rating.
With the factory wiring the amp expects a 4 ohm cab on the Speaker out. You can run a second 4 ohm cab on the Ext out. Another option is to run an 8 ohm cab off the Ext out with nothing plugged into the Speaker out.
It's not a lot of power. If you want to gig, I suggest getting a cab or cabs with a high sensitivity rating.
With the factory wiring the amp expects a 4 ohm cab on the Speaker out. You can run a second 4 ohm cab on the Ext out. Another option is to run an 8 ohm cab off the Ext out with nothing plugged into the Speaker out.
Without more info from OP on speaker size preference, etc. , I'd say an EV TL-606 of some ilk.
oh wow, really?
i'm used to old tube fenders just having one transformer tap ideally suited to the one expected load (which was always just however many included 8Ω speakers wired parallel) with the assumption that you could plug in extra speakers. it would drop the total impedance and actually reduce amp power, but while not ideal it wouldn't burn up
so the 135 had actual multiple transformer taps and clever switching to access them? that's pretty cool
and yeah, the key is big, efficient cabs and tolerance for leaner low end and a bit of grit
Yep:
Bassman 135 has both a 4 and 8 ohm tap, and it puts the jacks in series instead of parallel.
...then a bassman 135 is very likely not the amp you're looking for
Why do you say that?...then a bassman 135 is very likely not the amp you're looking for
I would guess one reason may be the low B mostly unheard rumble and low HZ in general will eat up what little power Amp has and leave no headroom
I'm pretty sure if you run a decent 5 string bass guitar into the Bassman 135 into one or two Bag End S15L-BN, it's going to sound plenty solid and loud!I would guess one reason may be the low B mostly unheard rumble and low HZ in general will eat up what little power Amp has and leave no headroom
Back in the mid 80's I got rid of the excessively heavy & lousy sounding 412 w/ angled baffle board for 2 212 bassman cabs. Huge improvement.
bassman 212 cabs from the 70's are great. sealed 2x12 you could replace the speakers with modern eminence beta 12a if you want.
I converted my 4x12 into a 2x12 with neo speakers. Huge improvement in sound, weight and portability.
Oldschool:
JBL BB240 (2x K140) 4 Ohm (very good sound, but huge)
Two TL606 with EV15L
JBL BB240 (2x K140) 4 Ohm (very good sound, but huge)
Two TL606 with EV15L
When using an 8 ohm cab with the Bassman 135 you can (should) plug it into the EXT SPKR jack.
BUT, when doing this it is IMPORTANT to also inset a "shorting plug" (a 1/4" plug with the tip terminal soldered to the ring terminal)
into the standard SPKR jack.
See my post here for an explanation:
Bassman 135 speaker inputs
Thanks for the information ; I'd never heard of that before.
I have a 50-watt Bassman from 1967 with a black front panel, it has the same speaker connections.
Are the output impedances the same, and is it also necessary to plug in a dummy plug into the standard SPKR jack while using the EXT one ?
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There is a switch at the 4 ohm output connector, which is shorting the output when no plug is connected to prevent playing an amp without load, could kill the amp.
For safety it may be a good advice to put in a shorting plug in case the switch isn't shorting correct anymore.
For safety it may be a good advice to put in a shorting plug in case the switch isn't shorting correct anymore.
No need for a shorting plug with the Bassman 50 (or any other Bassman but the 135).
The output jacks of the Bassman 50 are simply two identical jacks, wired in parallel to the single transformer winding.
The speaker cab(s) can be connected to either jack, as long as the total load is not less than 4 ohms.
A shorting plug in either jack would short the output to ground and silence the amp.
The switching arrangement of the output jacks of the Bassman 135 (using a center-tapped 4/8 ohm transformer winding) is unique.
The shorting plug in the normal output jack is only needed because hooking a single 8 ohm cab to the EXT speaker jack is a “hack” or “kludge”.
The amp designers never intended the amp to be used that way.
Otherwise, they would have fitted the main speaker jack with a beefy, high-current switching contact!
