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Fender Bassman 10 Q's

S

spudmanmike

Dec 21, 2008
3
0
SE CT, USA
#1
I acquired an untouched '76 Fender Bassman 10 from the original owner last month. I know its not "the best" bass amp out there but I like having it around to screw around with. The amp is in very good condition, and the questions I have...

1) How does the grille come off? It sounds like velcro is holding it on and when I try to press it off from the electronics compartment it makes a ripping sound. I didn't force the issue with it and want to ask first. I called the guy today and he never had it off but thinks its velcro.

2) The tolex is perfect and has no rips. But it has years of "crud" in the pattern and it looks dull. Is there a good cleaner suggested for this that will pull the junk with some scrubbing and give a good shine?

3) Is there any suggested dealers out there for grille cloth?

4) What tubes would you replace the original RCAs with?

The only thing I had problems with it was the master volume knob crackling while I turned it. A dunk in dielectric cleaner took care of that issue.

Thanks in advance -Mike
 
#2
The grill is just velcro'd on, may take a little force to remove it. Sometimes the top of the frame may catch on the bottom of the face of the amplifier.

A little dishsoap in some warm water will clean that stuff without removing any color. Rinse with damp cloth afterwards so you don't have soap scum on there. It is some kind of vinyl like stuff so armorall or something similair will put the shine back if it looks dull after you clean it.

www.partsexpress.com has different types of grill cloth.

I'd have a tubeamp tech give it a once-over as far as tubes or a cap job but use the "if it ain't broke" philosophy here. Something that old should have a checkup, look for leaking capacitors, etc.


I had one for a couple months but it didn't do the job for me as far as being able to gig with it. Sounded pretty with a bass at low levels, wish I would have kept it for a guitar amp.

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That's the grill cloth page, they do have the fender turquoise.
 
#3
Hi.

+1 for what will33 said.

I have one amplifier section only, not the original cabinet, and while I somewhat agree about the "not the best" bass amp there claim, it still has a rather good tone. And as long as the tone is good it can be miked and amplified so I wouldn't worry ;).

A quick trip to a competent tech will most probably reveal that at least some of the caps are leaky and have to be replaced, but there's no reason that the tubes need replacing. They should be tested though to find out if there's any problems.

Great guitar amp also, a bit of a "one trick pony" but it does that one trick rather well IMHO.

Regards
Sam
 
#4
Thanks guys for the tips, i'll see who I can find around to take a look at it.

She's going to be my backup amp or whenever I want the warm tone with low volume. It's going to see its share of guitars also.

I was able to successfully pull the grille off without any damage. I was expecting to see what color the cloth was in the unexposed areas but it is consistent throughout. There is not a trace of turquoise anywhere, it fade right out.?? I took a picture with the grille loosely up against the panel with the turquoise graphics for comparison. Sorry for it being rotated too.

Just want to buy the proper stuff for the job if you know what I mean.

Thanks again -Mike
 

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#6
That grill cloth is the same thing that's on the front of my Bassman135 circa 1978-1982 or something. I was thinking of replacing mine with the turquoise because it matches the printing on the face of the amp and looks really nice that way but if you want to keep it the same you'll have to find a source for that "tan" kind of stripe in it. Sounds like a job for google or a talkbass thread more specific like "fender replacement grillcloth" or something.
 
#7
I found this real quick but it doesn't look quite right. I can't tell if it's photographed in a way you can see through it or on a blacked out background like it'd be on your amp.

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#12
Nice looking amp there Matt, shiny control plate :)

I can't tell by the picture from the distance, but does your cloth match what I took a picture of above? I'm on the line to order some new cloth but i'm still trying to find what the original pattern was. I think the turquoise that was mentioned above might be a good replacement.

Thanks -Mike
 
#14
They either sound great or putrid, there's no middle ground in my experience. I was a Fender dealer form 1977-1988, and we had a LOT of these come through. We had two with consequtive serial numbers and one was just perfect, the other couldn't do anything right. We swapped tubes between them. We hooked the heads up to different cabinets, everything. If you get a good sounding one then they're great. And they'll drive another cabinet (OK, it's still not much power, but my old Bassman 10 driving my Eden D212XLT along with the four 10" in the Bassman was a great rig for moving a lot of air at low volumes).

I don't think they were really very good guitar amps- by this time Fender had worked to clean up the preamps on the Bassmans so they didn't distort like the old ones did. And they actually tried to get the tone controls to work for bass too. But, the best jazz guitar sound I ever heard live was a local guy who used a Bassman 10, except his was modded with a new baffle and had a 15" JBL in it. He played a Les Paul Recording too.

jte
 
#15
Hi there Bassman experts. I'm looking at a Bassman 10 in good condition serial no A75950. It's big dollars but looks very clean and allegedly has the original factory tubes. It's supposed to be 1975 manufacture. Can anyone tell me its correct power rating? I want it for a '78 J bass.
 

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