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Fender Bassman 300 Pro Settings

K

KG Bassman

Nov 16, 2012
6
1
#1
Hi,

I just purchased a secondhand Fender 300 Pro and was wondering if anyone can give me a hand with some great sounding settings on my Fender 300 Pro. It seems fairly complicated so I just need

I'm more into that classic tube sound rather than the modern sound you can get from this amp.

Also, and ideas for good cabs to go with this cab.

Thanks guys.
 
#2
Ignore the graphic EQ section. Just turn it off. It makes this amp sound horrible in my opinion. The compressor isn't really needed either, although it can add to the overdriven tone quite a bit.
I run both channels on mine with the footswitch. Bass and Treble around 5. It's hard to beat the awesome clean channel on this thing. For channel 2 I crank the gain and blend in as much clean as needed. I find my fuzz sounds better when used with just the clean channel.

I've used this head through 2x15s, 8x10s, 4x10s, 1x15 and all sounded great. Check out the Fender 215 Pro. Pretty amazing paired with the 300 Pro head.
 
#3
These settings belonged to eyeballkid. They sound fantastic. I eq my Bassman 300 pro this way as well. I use a Precison Bass, Stingray, fulltone OCD, and Ampeg 810E.

Channel 1: 4
Channel 2 Gain:5
Channel 2: 4.5
Blend: detent
-6db pad in
Low:7
High:7
Graphic: slight bump on 2nd and 3rd slider. slight dip on 500. slight bump on 1k and 2k.
Low Comp: 3 or 10
Hight Comp:3 or 10
comp bal: detent
comp gain 3
master as needed.
sound= KICKASS!
 
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#4
sammyfallen said:
These settings belonged to eyeballkid. They sound fantastic. I eq my Bassman 300 pro this way as well. I use a Precison Bass, Stingray, fulltone OCD, and Ampeg 810E.

Channel 1: 4
Channel 2 Gain:5
Channel 2: 4.5
Blend: detent
-6db pad in
Low:7
High:7
Graphic: slight bump on 2nd and 3rd slider. slight dip on 500. slight bump on 1k and 2k.
Low Comp: 3 or 10
Hight Comp:3 or 10
comp bal: detent
comp gain 3
master as needed.
sound= KICKASS!
Click to expand...

I'm going to give these settings a try next jam. Very different from mine. What's "detent"?
 
#7
hey thanks Sammy... I was gonna post my settings and saw you already did it for me !!! lol...

over time ive adjusted mine to be a little different.
Now I put both the comps at 2
both the high and low eq knobs at 6 instead of 7.
Those "slight" bumps and dips are slight.... just up and just down from the center.
also, I tend to now leave the -6db pad button out and adjust the gain on channel 2 back down to about 3.5-4 for just a soft edge of wooliness without real drive grit blended in.

KG: as for general use and understanding of the amp I would start with the compressor and graphic turned off so that really all you need to figure out is the channel volumes and gain on channel 2, the amount of blend you like and the basic lows and treble knobs. leave all buttons "out". find a sound you generally like, THEN turn on the graphic with everything flat. There should be no difference in tone. then slowly and minutely change any frequency you think needs added or deleted. Usually adjustments are very minor. you can also set the last slider up or down to be an overall volume increase/decrease for when you engage the graphic. you could use this for solos if you wanted if you were content with your tone without the graphic as your all purpose tone and wanted for example a more mid forward tone for solos and fills... I tend to use it engaged all the time.
once you are comfortable with the graphic THEN engage the compressor to see if you like it. If you take it anywhere away from equal balance it seems to really drastically effect whichever end of the spectrum your turning towards and I personally dont like it. However, if you leave it in the center, balanced between low and high band, it seems very tasteful and subtle just adding a little fatness to the low end and a little sustain to the highs. Experiment with it and you will find that with the balance in the middle you can even take the comp to 10 on either band and it still sounds good. I like using the high compression whenever I hit the ultra low button at home for insane dub reggae bass tones.
the amp LOOKS complicated, but its really not. start with the basic functions and work out from there once you are happy with your basic palette.

mickus.. detent is the spot in the middle of the travel of a knob that is the "center" of its range and where it stops a little.
 
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#8
It's been a while since I've used mine, and it's currently on the opposite side of the country, but these are the general settings for mine (I only really use Channel 1):

Ch.1=4 (depends on how loud I need to be, treat this as my volume control)
-6 dB pad off
Bass: 6
Treble:10
EQ: A profound frowny face (all boosted)
Bright Switch: In
Deep Switch: Off
Notch: Off
Comp: Off
I usually set the master to about 4, and leave it. I use the Ch. 1 gain as my vol control, as I'm used to non-master control amps.
 
#12
Hey folks.

I've tried a few of the settings. All great sounds, and very different too!

I think I like your settings Eyeball kid. I also tried turning the deep switch on but to me it was a little too much low end.

The sound sounds great thanks!
 
#19
Sorry, for the late response (I thought the forum would notify via my email that I had some responses). I don't know right now which EQ slider(s) aren't working. I think it's two of the middle ones. I just worked cross country and it's in storage right now. I'm going to get it out this week and fire it up to test it and then I'll verify which or the sliders. I was hoping it'd be nothing more than a loose solder joint.
 
#20
lawjcrg said:
Sorry, for the late response (I thought the forum would notify via my email that I had some responses). I don't know right now which EQ slider(s) aren't working. I think it's two of the middle ones. I just worked cross country and it's in storage right now. I'm going to get it out this week and fire it up to test it and then I'll verify which or the sliders. I was hoping it'd be nothing more than a loose solder joint.
Click to expand...
I just tested it again. It's the lowest frequency EQ slider that's not working.
 

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