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Fender Bassman 100T Chapter 3

#1,341
SactoBass said:
Hello Fender Bassman 100T'ers! A few days ago, I joined the party by acquiring a 100T. It was practically new and it has the newer "v.2" designation on the auto bias panel.

I *LOVE* the sound of this amp!!! :)

Right now I'm playing it through a pair of Barefaced One10 cabs that I bought new from Barefaced about six months ago (see pic below). The 100T sounds fantastic through the Barefaced cabs, but I am toying with the idea of getting a Fender 410 neo cab to have a matching look for the rig.

Now that I own a 100T, I finally understand what all the hubbub is about regarding this amp. What a great sounding amp! :thumbsup:

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Well, here's an update to my post #1338. I went ahead and sold the pair of Barefaced One10 cabs (which sounded awesome), and got the matching Fender 410 Neo cab to go with my 100T amp. I love this rig!!! :)

And yes, I know.....pic or it didn't happen. So here's the pic:

Fender amp.JPG
 
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#1,344
rodl2005 said:
Do you think it sounds better with the Tung-sol tubes. than with the stock Groove Tubes?
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I put 4 Tung Sols in my 100t last year. They seem a bit “softer” than the stock tubes. The highs are less jagged, the bottom end is more “pillowy” and the breakup is a smoother. The amp definitely lost some edge, but I appreciate the way it sounds on the vintage channel more now.
 
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#1,346
trebbihm said:
I put 4 Tung Sols in my 100t last year. They seem a bit “softer” than the stock tubes. The highs are less jagged, the bottom end is more “pillowy” and the breakup is a smoother. The amp definitely lost some edge, but I appreciate the way it sounds on the vintage channel more now.
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Which particular Tung Sols did you install and where did you buy them?
 
#1,349
@trebbihm: I was poking around on various tube sites, and some of the vendors provide a choice of "soft, medium, or hard" for the 6L6GC STR tube. Soft meaning breakup occurs earlier, and hard meaning more resistance to breaking up (more headroom). Medium is somewhere in between. One vendor calls it low, medium, and high. You said you selected a higher bias point. Is that equivalent to the "hard" version?
 
#1,350
SactoBass said:
@trebbihm: I was poking around on various tube sites, and some of the vendors provide a choice of "soft, medium, or hard" for the 6L6GC STR tube. Soft meaning breakup occurs earlier, and hard meaning more resistance to breaking up (more headroom). Medium is somewhere in between. One vendor calls it low, medium, and high. You said you selected a higher bias point. Is that equivalent to the "hard" version?
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Basically, yes. They have their own rating system that although thorough, only makes sense inside their system. I can’t seem to access TD’s literature on mobile at the moment, you might be able to google it. Higher numbers mean “harder” ratings.

Edit -nvm, found it: Analog In
 
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#1,352
SactoBass said:
Well, here's an update to my post #1338. I went ahead and sold the pair of Barefaced One10 cabs (which sounded awesome), and got the matching Fender 410 Neo cab to go with my 100T amp. I love this rig!!! :)
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It's my all-time favorite rig. Gigging 2 - 4 times a month for 7 years now and beyond the initial auto-bias fix the originals needed, it's been trouble-free.
 
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#1,353
rodl2005 said:
Do you think it sounds better with the Tung-sol tubes. than with the stock Groove Tubes?
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It's weird but I had an opposite opinion of the Tung-Sols. I felt they were too clean, too fast. May sound odd but I thought it sounded more solid state with the Tung-Sols. Put the Groove Tubes back in and there was the big ol' kinda pillowy tube sound. It was kinda my general thought that the Tung-Sols would likely be the choice for hi-end home or studio tube amps, but not my choice for a vintage tube bass amp sound. Of course this all boils down to personal preference, also how I use tone and gain vs. another player which would affect how the power tubes are hit. Your settings and style will be a factor.
 
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#1,354
Freight Train said:
It's weird but I had an opposite opinion of the Tung-Sols. I felt they were too clean, too fast. May sound odd but I thought it sounded more solid state with the Tung-Sols. Put the Groove Tubes back in and there was the big ol' kinda pillowy tube sound. It was kinda my general thought that the Tung-Sols would likely be the choice for hi-end home or studio tube amps, but not my choice for a vintage tube bass amp sound. Of course this all boils down to personal preference, also how I use tone and gain vs. another player which would affect how the power tubes are hit. Your settings and style will be a factor.
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Very interesting. Those STRs are the only other tubes I’ve put in the 100t, so I can’t draw too many conclusions. That said, I was surprised at how big of a difference the new power tubes made. Perhaps I’ll put the old ones in and see what kind of reaction I get.
 
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#1,356
SactoBass said:
@Freight Train: do you happen to know if the Tung Sols you tried were the soft, medium, or hard tubes?
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I can't remember but I think I went medium. I'm looking at the boxes and the tubes and don't see any indication. I should have marked them. Think I may pop them into my PF-50T and see what it thinks.
 
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#1,357
oldskoolskatedad said:
So, have you made your decision yet? A few years back I found myself debating the same scenario, and though I ended up with way more gear than I "need", I couldn't be happier with my rig.

After reading everything I could about the SB and the 100T, I decided on the 100T & a Neo410. I was quite certain that the power tube breakup at lower volume levels and the excellent DI post power tube feature was what I was after. And I loved it! But it did leave me wanting for more clean headroom so I added another neo410. This definitely added volume but not exactly the "weight" that Rodl2005 and Tim1 attributed to being delivered from the SB.

So long story short, I now have a SB as well which makes for destructively amazing Ric-o-sound rig. I do not regret any of these purchases and will never part with any of it, but if I had started with a SB and neo410, which to me has way more clean headroom than the 100T and both 410s, it would have ended there.

Not sure if this was helpful.

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