• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Fender Bassman 100T Chapter 3

I was at GC yesterday. They had a 100T on clearance for $999.99 and a Super Bassman for $1399.99. I just had to play the 100T. It was very impressive! I almost bought one last year and playing this one reignited the fire...

Those are stupid good deal prices. Holy wow! I would beg, borrow and/or steal to have that option in my neck o' the woods! :woot:

Marc
 
So, an update. I bought a 100t and a 610 cab back in March and right from the beginning the 25 watt and silent stages didn't work. Turns out the FET and some other circuit wasn't working. Had it repaired (it took a month to get the parts), only to have the same issue happen again on the bench. Parts were ordered, again. A little over a month went by. Parts came in, this time Fender told my tech that he needed 2 FETs but they were backordered. He wouldn't get them for another month or so. In the mean time I was talking to the guy who pretty much runs the House of Guitars, Curt, and told him what was going on with this amp. He got on the phone with Fender and told them to send them a new amp. A week and a half later I have a brand new 100t. Yay me!

Now the weird part, it seems louder. I made the settings the same as the other amp, it was noticeably louder. Not that I mind.
 
An update from ME too...! My second 100T has been working flawlessly since I have it (~ 1 month), except the top handle that I've needed to replace... HOWEVER, I decided to upgrade to the Super Bassman. The extra wattage will be welcom'ed (100w is a little shy), and the main reason is the DI out on post is after some kind of speaker emulation... Useless to me. If I want a speker tone, I mic the CAB. If I want a DI, I want a DI. I don't get why they did this that way... YES, I know I can use it PRE, but I like to have access to an EQ. The S.B. has his DI post EQ if I read correctly.
 
It surprises me that after all this time there still seem to be some QC issues with the 100T, but I suppose the odd one slips through and at least Fender are making things right pretty quickly.
For some reason the Super Bassman just does not seem to have had many issues at all yet the preamp is the same, although the autobias is set up different.
 
An update from ME too...! My second 100T has been working flawlessly since I have it (~ 1 month), except the top handle that I've needed to replace... HOWEVER, I decided to upgrade to the Super Bassman. The extra wattage will be welcom'ed (100w is a little shy), and the main reason is the DI out on post is after some kind of speaker emulation... Useless to me. If I want a speker tone, I mic the CAB. If I want a DI, I want a DI. I don't get why they did this that way... YES, I know I can use it PRE, but I like to have access to an EQ. The S.B. has his DI post EQ if I read correctly.

Bonjour David.

I know nothing of speaker emulation being part of the balanced out on the 100T. It is post power tube section. That is one of the reasons I bought the amp. Hell, I figured it was something like having a Reddi! I love the DI XLR out to F.O.H. Sounds ' juicy tubey' to me and I have gotten the same feedback from others, including sound techs! ;).

Marc
 
  • Like
Reactions: dome
Hello Marc.

To each is own I guess ;)

I also noticied that there's a fair amount of hiss at the DI out if the level is under 7/10 on the rear pot... That is something sound techs will notice and whine about for sure, so better use that level from 8 and up...
 
Bonjour David.

I know nothing of speaker emulation being part of the balanced out on the 100T. It is post power tube section. That is one of the reasons I bought the amp. Hell, I figured it was something like having a Reddi! I love the DI XLR out to F.O.H. Sounds ' juicy tubey' to me and I have gotten the same feedback from others, including sound techs! ;).

Marc
Absolutely right. The DI on the 100T is a killer. In just about every gig we've done requiring FOH support for the bass, the engineer has raved about the sound. I've only had one opportunity to use the 100T in studio, and this was a real studio, big analog room, engineer with a wall full of gold and platinum, and he said it was the best sounding bass DI he had ever heard. And there was no noise problem. I do beleive the DI has speaker emulation as well as being post power tubes, which I have never heard of anyone finding this even remotely a problem until now.
 
For ME, no matter how big my studio is, or how many gold and plat there's on my wall, post power amp surely is a great idea but speaker emulation is not. Why do you want a speaker emulation when you can mic a well choosen cab with a well choosen mic in a well choosen spot? If there's a speaker emulation, there should at least be an on/off switch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 60bass
For ME, no matter how big my studio is, or how many gold and plat there's on my wall, post power amp surely is a great idea but speaker emulation is not. Why do you want a speaker emulation when you can mic a well choosen cab with a well choosen mic in a well choosen spot? If there's a speaker emulation, there should at least be an on/off switch.
What I was trying to point out was that I didn't get the praise for the amp's DI from some jake-leg with a ProStool closet, it came from a qualified engineer in a real studio who does major label work. Obviously that doesn't mean anything to you, but just throwing it out there.
The reason the 100T is an ideal recording head is it gives you three DI options. Using the balanced XLR DI output, you have with choice of 'Pre', which is the output of the 1st tube stage, no eq, no level control. In 'Post' position you get post power-tube with speaker emulation and obviously all preamp eq, overdrive and level controls. Optionally, if you use the balanced TRS preamp output, you get the full preamp with channel selection for choice of passive or active eq and overdrive, but no power tubes or speaker emualtion. The only difference between using the preamp out on the 100T and the SB 300's 'post' DI would be on the 100T the master volume would affect the preamp out level. Using the preamp out does not break the loop, so the power amp still works as usual. That is extremely versatile.
There are several reasons why, in my opinion and experience, speaker emulation is ideal on the 100T's 'post' DI output. First is pretty simple: It allows you to record (or send to FOH) a cab sound with having to mic a cab. It allows home recordists the option of recording silently with a cab sound. And regardless of the noise restrictions, you can crank it to a great crunchy power tube distortion without rattling the walls. And even if you do have a properly isolated room, like in the case of the studio where I recorded, why bother with it if you're getting a good speaker sound from the DI? Regardles, if you prefer to use a close mic'd cab and DI blend, use the 100T's preamp output if you want the eq and overdrive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Moosehead1966
I have always understood that the 100T has power attenuation, certainly not "speaker emulation". That is, it has an attenuator built in after the power section. I have read in a review that the reason why the Super Bassman does not have a post power DI like the 100T is that to build an attenuator for 300 watts would be prohibitively expensive.
Is it possible that some are confusing a power attenuator with a speaker emulator?
 
Look at schematics...

If you don't think there's a speaker 'emulator', then I suggest you to DI the 'speaker out' via an appropriate DI box with a pad (the Radial JDI can do that). Then you'll hear how a real post power amp signa
image.jpg
l should sound!
 
Well, that seems to be fairly clear, I was wrong .:D
I would be interested to hear someone from Fender chime in here, as I am positive that I have read that the reason for no post power DI on the Super Bassman is the prohibitive cost of a power attenuator that large.
I must confess to being a little disillusioned even though I have sold my 100T as I did not really want a "speaker emulator" - what speaker is it "emulating"?
 
Last edited:

Latest posts