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Fender '73 Bassman Value?

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by peaveybassamp88, Jul 8, 2003.

  1. Jul 8, 2003 #1
    peaveybassamp88

    peaveybassamp88

    Apr 20, 2003
    Northeast Pennsylvania
    Anyone know about how much a great condition, '73 200 watt Fender Bassman amp is worth? It came with the original cabinet (2 15's I think, not sure...)and was recently re-tubed. I got it at Guitar Center used for $350. Sounds like a deal? It has a bass input on the left and guitar (normal) on the right with simple volumer, treble and bass controls for each.
     
  2. Jul 8, 2003 #2
    Bard2dbone

    Bard2dbone

    Aug 4, 2002
    Arlington TX
    For what it is, it's a great amp. What it isn't however is a bass amp. These are the basic design most of your rock guitar amps came from.

    They are underpowered and distortion-prone.The cab may be sized for a 2x15 but probably has a 2x12. At least that is what mine was. And it can be cool if you like distortion for your bass sound. I had one and it left a fairly obvious bad tase in my mouth. Or my ears as the case may be.

    They are okay if you just need a huge practice amp. They are good if you want to take pictures and don't care about sound.

    If you want to be happy with it, mod it for the channel one signal to cascade into the channel two and add a master volume. Now you have a [email protected]$$ guitar amp. The friend I sold mine to did this and has a AB switch to go between it and a Marshall. He couldn't be happier with his rig.
     
  3. Jul 8, 2003 #3
    brianrost

    brianrost Gold Supporting Member

    Apr 26, 2000
    Boston, Taxachusetts
    If it's really all from 1973 it's definitely 2-15. The upgrade from 2-12 to 2-15 was around 1969. It's also only a 50 watt amp (200 watts is what it draws out of the wall).

    The bass channel has a low end rolloff, you actually get more bottom by using the normal channel.

    Head alone is worth $200-300 depending on condition and the bottom $100-200. So $350 for the stack is an average price.
     
  4. Jul 9, 2003 #4
    peaveybassamp88

    peaveybassamp88

    Apr 20, 2003
    Northeast Pennsylvania
    Yeah, i noticed a lot of distortion too! I wasn't sure if someone else had blown out the speakers or something (which is possible) but there IS a lot of distortion, which I don't really like. It sounds like I'm gonna blow the thing at only 5 on the volume knob! However, it's a great amp for just practice. You can really feel the bass in it great. I agree with what you said about the distortion, and I may have mistaken the speaker sizes, but I disagree about the sound (unless it's abpve 5 :( It's probably better for a jazzy kinda player with a warm sound (which I kinda have) rather than in in-your-face Chris Squire kinda sound. Cool in pictures? Yeah! But I'm a player......