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Fender Bassman 100T - chapter 2

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#862
Hey everyone, my earlier comment was definitely not meant to imply that anyone posting on this thread was trolling :). I merely wanted to point out that if a few people mention concerns and then others pick up on it the constant repetition can have a similar, if unintended, effect to trolling as panic sets in. My heart is still with Ampeg in many ways, and as a former active member of Ampeg threads it saddened me to see some trolling there.
On the plus side, idoru's poll so far seems to indicate that the bias thing does indeed only affect a very few of the amps and it is not a major problem (unless you own an affected one, which they do seem to be fixing quickly).
 
#872
I keep everything on 6-7 :)

Played a patio restaurant gig last night. Just beautiful tone. It was perfect.

I replaced the GT power tubes with GE NOS. Pure tonal bliss for me last night! Amp worked flawlessly on the 2.5 hour gig outdoors in 88 degree heat.
 
#873
Electrophonic said:
Let the fun begin:

Which settings do you have for which genre/sound - on both channels?

I am sure we all can inspire each other and try new tones.
Click to expand...

We've done this at least once, but it's more fun to do it again than people having to dig through both threads. Plus there's new people to chime in.
Both my basses are passive single pup. We're a power trio - very strong drummer. To match level with the drums with no FOH except vocals, on the vintage channel I'm usually somewhere 5 to 6 on gain, usually in the range of 6-6-4.5 on tone stack, and I usually use this for the flatwound bass. The active channel I use with the roundwound bass either clean or with overdrive, and it's usually at 5 to 6 on gain, eq gains at 6 -6.5-6, with the mid peaked what I'd guess is around 2k, or I have cut the mids at around 5 with the center I'd think around 250Hz. Sorry I don't know the numbers on the frequency knob as I do it by ear and don't really pay attention to the number. My common overdrive setting for songs I use it on is around 6 up to 7 with blend around 5, and I do use the flatwound bass with overdrive occasionally, and am starting to use that more and more. So obviously I like the sound of my basses and don't really use much eq, and certainly don't use an eq pedal (or anything else).
My master volume usually lives somewhere between 5 & 6, I've never had to use it beyond 6 on channel gain and 7 on master, and that was on a pretty big outdoor stage with full FOH.
I did try using it in 25 watt mode at a smaller bar gig, but switched it back to 100 watts at the first break. It sounded amazing with the roundwound bass, but with the flats you could really feel the self-compression pulling back on you. But, it had a great Jack Bruce-ish kind of grind and I could see using it with maybe a pair of 410's (I'm still trying to find an excuse to add another one). That's why originally I was curious whether you could switch the power mode on-the-fly between songs at a gig, and the manual really doesn't say if it needs to go into standby or be turned off when you switch it, or if it can be left on. I have never switched mine unless it was in standby. I just don't see it being good for it when powered up, and I believe someone here started having bias problems after switching it between 25 and 100 with power on.
 
#875
I saw John Hiatt in Fargo Wednesday night. This is the stage setup. I can't tell if that's a 100t or a Super Bassman. Sounded sweet, though. I noticed it stayed on the vintage channel all night. Pretty cool to see one of my heroes backed by the same amp I use.
 

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#877
Been using this rig (100T/410 neo) at a number of outdoor show this summer in FL. Heat usually >85 degrees, plus of course the stage + another 5 degrees or so. No problems with any aspect of the operation. One thing I do for all my tube heads is buy a worthy road case, and of course, make sure to give the amp ample time to warm up and even more importantly, cool off. These things do seem to operate at pretty high temps compared to other tube amps I have. I have yet to notice the cooling fan turn on even though the amp may be on for 5-6 hours. Transporting a hot tube amp with only a flimsy cover on it down the road is prescription for trouble. And the new fangled circuits like the auto- bias are also operating in that same ultra hot environment. And yes things like the rubber handle were really only designed to reposition the amp in tight spaces, not for carrying the thing up 3 flights of stairs to your gig.
That's what the metal side handles are for, or better yet, move it in the road case and unpack it onstage. Same as the wheels on the 410 neo decent, light duty, good for moving short distances, but for long hauls from the vehicle to the stage, I use a two wheeler
hand truck I bought from Harbor Freight for $50 8 years ago. Saves me a bunch of wear and tear on my gear. Great even for moving my ampeg 810e. (the wheels on that cab really suck). Road case for 410t $188 incl shipping from Safe Case in Houston, cover for 410 neo approx $80 from Tuki covers in NC.
 
#878
Used 100T/410 neo last night outdoor brewery/ beer garden type venue. Swwweeet. Passive jazz/fender flats mostly on vintage channel. Gain 6, eq-5/10/5. I use the active input as I have a semi- hot signal from pedal board. I seem to get more clean headroom this way.
I use od channel occaisionally with drive at 4, blend 3, vol. 6 eq's just slightly above flat with mids sweep at 7. Works for me.
 
#880
No problems at all after last night's outdoor gig with the 100T/410Neo. And it was over 90 degrees when we started, wound up playing 3 1/2 hours. As usual when I checked at the end of the night my fan was running. And surprisingly when I felt around the back and the plug casings etc. it was actually cooler than it normally is after an indoor gig. Just the flow of air I guess. I'm convinced my heat censor must be defective because I don't think anyone else's fan has come on. And even though I'm an aggressive player I know from reading here that some are driving the 100T harder than I am. I personally like that my fan comes on. Again, I don't understand the logic of having a fan that is not supposed to come on until the amp reaches critical mass, which is what the manual implies and what I was told by customer support. Anyway, like I said in the reliability poll, I really feel that Fender just received a bad batch of some component that is causing the bias board failures, and that it will wind up being just a certain run of amps that used those components that are having the problem. I don't think it's a design flaw. But I guess maybe the amp's still too new to tell yet.
 
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