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Fender Bassman 300 vs. Ampeg SVT-CL

#2
What is your preference in sound? Ampeg or Fender. Not being a smart @ss but Fender is going to have a vintage Fender tone and the Ampeg will have that ............. well you figure it out. About 15-20 years ago Fender was making some real junk but they are make 1st class stuff these days. Ampeg under SLM is spotty. I had to send my SVP-Pro back because out of the box it was noiser than H#ll. But upon its' return it is the best pre-amp I've owned. Quieter and tubier than my FX-1.
 
#3
The Bassman 300 doesn't sound too much like the vintage Bassman heads Fender made- although those sound good as well. The 300 Pro was origionally a Sunn head, but Fender bought them out and renamed it. And the CL doesn't have a real vintage SVT tone- if you want that get a vintage SVT or SVT-VR. Comparing these two amps though, I would prefer the 300 Pro. It is much more versitle, with tons of features. The CL sounds very muddy to my ears and is not very versitle. The tone controls on it are decent, but you can't get away from the one sound it seems to do very easily. The 300 Pro also got a bit louder through the same cab to my ears.
 
#4
As much as I am a Fender fanatic, and I do love the old classic Bassman's but I must say, I would much prefer the Classic tone of an Ampeg, especially if played thru an Ampeg fridge.
 
#5
:smug: I much prefer the Fender tone. Although I guess some would describe it as thin. BTW I can't figure out if we're talking about the Fender 300 pro tube head or the 350 SS? I have the latter and it rocks. The preamp is very versatile. Athough, I tried my AI Clarus this weekend at a "AC/DC esk" jam and it RAWKED! :bassist: Cranked, you'd swear there's tubes in there.
 
#6
fish slapper said:
....Cranked, you'd swear there's tubes in there.
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Does it have a tube pre-amp? My SVT3 does, and even though it's solid state MOSFET, when I tax it a bit, I get the tube overdrive tone out of it, even if not quite as pronounced as an original SVT or Bassman from the 60's..
 
#9
SamJ -

At this point the Bassman 300 is sounding really good to me. But it could be out of my price range for new Bassman and I'm having trouble trying to find uit used. I was wondering if you knew anything about the Fender Bassman 400. The one i'm talking about has the black face not the silver. What do you think about those heads. There are considerably cheaper and I know they are solid state heads. But is it with the 300-400 dollars? I'm finding a lot of used out there, would this be a good buy or not?
 
#12
I have the Fender as well, and I love this amp. I tried 2 SVT CLs and the fender through an ampeg 810 and I found the SVTs to be really "boring". They sounded flat and had no depth or sparkle and needed to be played much louder to get a nice tone out of. The Frender on the other hand has a much more 3 dimensional sound and more low end as well. It weighs 10 Lbs less too.

You should be able to fin a used 300 Pro or Sunn 300T for $700-$1000. just keep looking they pop up on ebay once ina while and on this forum as well.
 
#13
zoso1977 said:
SamJ -

At this point the Bassman 300 is sounding really good to me. But it could be out of my price range for new Bassman and I'm having trouble trying to find uit used. I was wondering if you knew anything about the Fender Bassman 400. The one i'm talking about has the black face not the silver. What do you think about those heads. There are considerably cheaper and I know they are solid state heads. But is it with the 300-400 dollars? I'm finding a lot of used out there, would this be a good buy or not?
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I own a Fender 400H and I like it...I gig medium sized venues and outdoor shows all the time with it and sounds fine. I have to agree with the other guy and say that the Pro 300 is like a rocketship compared to a VW (the 400H).

The 400H is a good value. You should be able to find it for way less than $400. I paid $450 for my whole setup (Fender 400H with a Fender Bassman 410 ProSL) If you are just looking to buy a head I wouldn't go for one over $350.

I would love to have a 300Pro or Sunn...:bassist:
 
#15
zoso1977 said:
SamJ -

At this point the Bassman 300 is sounding really good to me. But it could be out of my price range for new Bassman and I'm having trouble trying to find uit used. I was wondering if you knew anything about the Fender Bassman 400. The one i'm talking about has the black face not the silver. What do you think about those heads. There are considerably cheaper and I know they are solid state heads. But is it with the 300-400 dollars? I'm finding a lot of used out there, would this be a good buy or not?
Click to expand...

Well, I've played thru one recently actually while sampling some Sadowsky's at Gelb Music in Redwood City, CA; and for a combo, it's professional grade stuff.. Punchy, and also bright if you're into the slap / jazz bass thing..

VERY Impressive actually.. Better than the Ampeg combo's IMHO. And like Ampeg, Fender uses Eminence USA speakers which are the best bass speaker IMHO.

Now I won't blow smoke up our ass and say it begins to compare to a 300 mated to a nice fridge, but heck it's a LOT less money, and more than enough to gig with a drummer. I use a 450W (solid state amp RMS rating) head, and 2 2x10's to play with a LOUD drummer all the time, and never have to turn it up past 75%.. so a 350W with 2x10 is going to do you fine.

I'm personally going to look again at the Fender 300 when I decide I'm ready to go for an all tube rig, with the Ampeg SVT2 being my other choice.. so those are my GAS list amp heads.. But I have to wait till next years GAS budget is released before I can do that! :D
 
#16
SamJ said:
I'm personally going to look again at the Fender 300 when I decide I'm ready to go for an all tube rig, with the Ampeg SVT2 being my other choice.. so those are my GAS list amp heads.. But I have to wait till next years GAS budget is released before I can do that! :D
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I'd also check out the Mesa 400+ and SVT VR. The 400+ will probabally get you the closest to a vintage Fender Bassman (although with a much larger power section) of all the heads you are looking at, and the VR would get you closest to a vintage SVT. Anyway, good luck!
 
#19
Rodslinger said:
having the same problem deciding at this very moment. I'm leaving my Ampeg SVT 4 Pro for either an Ampeg SVT Classic or a Fender Bassman 300 Pro
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Are you looking at the Fender 300 Pro as has been discussed in this 12 year old thread (and is no longer made) or the Fender Super Bassman? If it's the Super Bassman, I can tell you that it can do the Ampeg tone very well, plus a lot more. With two channels (vintage and modern) it has a good range of tones it can cop, and it's quite a bit lighter than the Ampeg.
 
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#20
There are two completely different heads. We may be confusing the two.

The Baseman 300 Pro... no longer made
s-l400.jpg


The Suparbassman.... this is the current 300W Fender offering.
2249000000v1_hi-d427d40d160404084c630414a3c2a541.jpg


They are not the same at all.
 
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