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Fender Bassman 500 Head
- Thread starter Thornton Davis
- Start date
Chef
In Memoriam
If it's anything like the SB300, with the BLEND control and the mid Freq sweep, the drive cab be crunchy or buzzy depending on yr settings
Chef
In Memoriam
I really like the idea of this but I do think the price point is a bit higher than I would pay. Not that it's not worth it, just that in spite of the relatively light weight the form factor, as cool as it looks it is less convienent than what I've been gigging for the last decade. Can they just make it push button inflatable? Come on man!
Chef
In Memoriam
I don't have any issue with a dead sexy 14lb lunchbox.
I played a lot of bassman amps waaaaay back when so I dig the size and look and weight.
I like the look way better than the Orange Terror.
I played a lot of bassman amps waaaaay back when so I dig the size and look and weight.
I like the look way better than the Orange Terror.
Any more of these out in the world yet?
I have a 100T - the "vintage" channel is cool, but the "modern" channel is awesome. You can dial in the overdrive tone you want with the gain, blend it with clean tone, then adjust the volume to match (or whatever) the volume of the other channel. Plus you have semi parametric mid freq control.
I have a 100T - the "vintage" channel is cool, but the "modern" channel is awesome. You can dial in the overdrive tone you want with the gain, blend it with clean tone, then adjust the volume to match (or whatever) the volume of the other channel. Plus you have semi parametric mid freq control.
Last edited:
Chef
In Memoriam
My Super Bassman DI has the same level control. I've just set it at 5 (outta 10) & haven't had any complaints from Sound engineers
I wanted to post my experiences with this head and maybe see if anyone has any advice for me going forward. I've been playing an all tube head for a while, and this Bassman 500 seemed like a good compromise to obtain a lightweight amp that would still translate a nice overdriven tube preamp. I play in mostly loud bands, some instrumental progressive and some hardcore/punk. I mostly play venues that are not mic'd up so a loud amp is required. I'm using a Fender Deluxe Jazz bass and an Ampeg 6x10 cabinet.
When I played the bassman 500 in the store I was able to dial in a tone that I was very happy with. Though, I was playing in a store, at store volume. That day I had a rehearsal and a show later that night. At rehearsal I noticed that the peak light was going on every time I played (master volume was on 4, playing on the overdrive channel). The only way to get the peak light to stop doing this seemed to be either to turn down the overall volume or turn down every EQ knob to a point where I wasn't happy with the tone at all.
I was upset that a 500 watt amp seemed to start peaking when the volume was on 4. Settings where as follows:
Gain - 6
Volume - 2
Bass - 7
Mid Freq - 5
Mid Level - 5
Treble - 7
Master - 4
At the show I had the same issue. I ended up returning the amp this morning. In the past I had used a solid state GK800RB which didn't have a peak light and never seemed to have this problem. I'm told the peak light is pretty standard on solid state bass amps, however not on tube bass amps.
Anyone else who plays in loud bands have any advice?
When I played the bassman 500 in the store I was able to dial in a tone that I was very happy with. Though, I was playing in a store, at store volume. That day I had a rehearsal and a show later that night. At rehearsal I noticed that the peak light was going on every time I played (master volume was on 4, playing on the overdrive channel). The only way to get the peak light to stop doing this seemed to be either to turn down the overall volume or turn down every EQ knob to a point where I wasn't happy with the tone at all.
I was upset that a 500 watt amp seemed to start peaking when the volume was on 4. Settings where as follows:
Gain - 6
Volume - 2
Bass - 7
Mid Freq - 5
Mid Level - 5
Treble - 7
Master - 4
At the show I had the same issue. I ended up returning the amp this morning. In the past I had used a solid state GK800RB which didn't have a peak light and never seemed to have this problem. I'm told the peak light is pretty standard on solid state bass amps, however not on tube bass amps.
Anyone else who plays in loud bands have any advice?
I don't have the amp but find it strange that yr peak light is on with master at 4 and channel volume at 2!!!!! What does the manual say about it? Could you try another amp. ..i.e. Return it and get another. ..? ?
Was the light flickering on our on steady? If it was flickering, I'd probably ignore it.
Was the light flickering on our on steady? If it was flickering, I'd probably ignore it.
I don't have any experience with the Bassman 500 (yet) but peak light implementations can be misleading. For example, many Ampeg users are guided to push their gain to the point where the peak light is on nearly constantly (as with my SVT 6Pro) - then master volume up to meet stage volume needs. Could be that Fender has taken a similar approach on the Bassman 500.
It would be interesting to hear what Fender might say about this officially.
I understand. I use a Sansamp RPM and sometimes adjust the drive to taste. This throws off the DI level so I adjust it to compromise for the increased or decreased drive. We do our own sound so all I need to do is glance over to the board.
Oh, I do have a question about this head. Only the vintage channel is tube, right? It only has 2 12AX7's so I figured the active channel is solid state?
