A lot of questions I've got. And most of them are stupid. (It's originally made for bass right?) So. If it's 60's-70's tube head, how is it possible that it costs around 700-800$? Does it sound well with modern cabinets or an original one is better? Is 100 or 135 watts enough for small gigs or I'll need something more powerful or a mic? (I heard that Fender amps are quite loud even when the label says that it's not a whole bunch of watts there.) I'd be great to hear some owners' opinions.
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Fender Bassman head (old one)
- Thread starter random fat guy
- Start date
Which model do you have? Generally, Bassmans make better guitar amps than bass amps. In fact, the reissues are intended for guitar.
I do not have any model yet. But I'm thinking of getting one.
Like this one, for example:
Link Removed
Only with knobs, that are not broken.
Like this one, for example:
Link Removed
Only with knobs, that are not broken.
I have the 135 and I really like the tone of it. The don't get real loud with bass though. Fine for smaller gigs of to cover the stage in a bigger place where you're run through the PA. Hard to get loud without getting to distorted, sweet tone for quieter stuff. They originaly came with a 215. 610 or 810 or anything with high SPL or lots of speakers will work. The amp without a cab should run about 1/2 of the prices you're talking though. For 700-800 I'd be looking at something a lot newer with a lot more power.
I live in the ass of the world (Russia) so everything costs twice here cause of lots of shipping issues. And getting a cab actually seems almost impossible, but I'll still try. And I guess old tube amp must be better than new solid state crap for 700-800$. But if I'm wrong a bunch of names of modern not-so-expensive amps would be great. However, why is bassman so cheap?
1) Because people are stupidly tied to nostalgia.
2) Yes. 2a) today's cabs are better designed.
3) Yes, but the standard Bassman is 50W. Still enough for small gigs if your band isn't stupid-loud. 3a) No, depending on volume needed. 3b) Mics have nothing to do with it.
I have that head. I really like it, but it doesn't get much use anymore. Have it paired with a Traynor 215, and it was enough for small bar gigs. Only one guitarist though, and he used a 2x12.
will33 is correct about the resale value around here. If I could get $800 for it, I would wave goodbye in a heartbeat. Since the number is closer to $400, and it was my first amp, it will likely be mine forever.
...and my knobs are not broken
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the amount of times ive had to say this i should really have it on perminant copy and paste. i have the bassman 50. i love it to bits. ok ill admit mines has had the tubes and transistors changed so it gives off bout 65 tube watts per chanell. honistly its too loud. i was in the studio last year and the owner came in shouting "sean, your bass is shaking my office again. now please turn down" most drummers when i use it have to mic up. i say buy it. you will only regret it when you have to lift it. however i do use modern cabs with mine
I bought a new Bassman and 2x12 cabinet in 1965, 50 watts. I got it to replace my Supro bass amp which had two speakers, either tens or twelves. The Supro was about twenty watts and wasn't quite cutting it. I figured the Bassman would be plenty loud. We didn't mic the drums, and the quitar player ran through a Fender Champ or Princeton, probably five watts. For PA we had a Bogen mixer/amp running into two of those giant metal horns like you used to see at the old baseball stadiums. They were about twenty inches across at the big end. To "mellow them out" my sister made some covers with elastic around the edges that snapped over the front. Paisley and flower pattern, real psychedelic. My first suspicion of trouble came at band practice the day before out first big pay gig. I had to turn the Bassman up quite a bit to be heard. And sure enough, at the gig when I turned it up to try and match the volume of the five watt Fender guitar combo it farted heavily on any note on the "E" string. That really pissed me off because I picked beans all summer to pay for the stupid thing. The other half of the twin bill played all Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Animals. They ran through two Sears Silvertone piggyback stacks. One for bass and one for guitar and vocal. They really blew us out of the water. It seemed like they were ten times as loud as us with their Sears amps. The crowd went wild. Of course it wasn't just their loud volume. They had been growing their hair out longer than us and the lead singer actually had a little pony tail in back. I dragged that stupid Bassman amp home and a couple of weeks later I sold it to a guitar player. Bottom line, that thing barely was loud enough for a quiet band practice. Playing a live gig with a rock band it really sucked. I replaced it with custom made preamp going into a GE commercial tube power amp driving two 15" Altec Lansings. Problem solved.
What you will hear from a Bassman depends a great deal on the efficiency of the speakers. The older speaker cabs sucked for efficiency. Newer, more efficient cabs will put out more sound with the same input power.
That said, EVERYTHING boils down to one answer: "it depends..."
That said, EVERYTHING boils down to one answer: "it depends..."
I don't have it but I often use it cause my friend's has it - the old one. He is a guitarist
Yes it's guitarist's favorite amp.
But IMO it sounds so good with bass too.
Better with the Fender original cabs perhaps (my friend's cabs is old Fender 2x15), although yes, newer speakers technology maybe better in spec.
Not so loud but I think it's ok for gigs.
But if I have to choose personally I'll prefer Ampeg Micro with it's 210AV..
Just my 2 cents
Yes it's guitarist's favorite amp.
But IMO it sounds so good with bass too.
Better with the Fender original cabs perhaps (my friend's cabs is old Fender 2x15), although yes, newer speakers technology maybe better in spec.
Not so loud but I think it's ok for gigs.
But if I have to choose personally I'll prefer Ampeg Micro with it's 210AV..
Just my 2 cents
The couple that I have played both were the 50 watt versions, not the 100 watt.
As far as volume goes, two that I have played broke up pretty early, which for guitar was very nice, but for bass not so much. The clean head room would not have been enough for even a small bar, but perfect for "coffee shop" music.
A third one may have had different power tubes or newer tubes, I'm unsure, but it had a lot more head room. Same volume wise for the most part but stayed clean for a lot more volume. Though it still broke up pretty quickly.
I prefer them for guitar but they are well suited, imo at least, for bedroom practice or quite background music.
Though as others have said, it really depends.
As far as volume goes, two that I have played broke up pretty early, which for guitar was very nice, but for bass not so much. The clean head room would not have been enough for even a small bar, but perfect for "coffee shop" music.
A third one may have had different power tubes or newer tubes, I'm unsure, but it had a lot more head room. Same volume wise for the most part but stayed clean for a lot more volume. Though it still broke up pretty quickly.
I prefer them for guitar but they are well suited, imo at least, for bedroom practice or quite background music.
Though as others have said, it really depends.
I bought a new Bassman and 2x12 cabinet in 1965, 50 watts. I got it to replace my Supro bass amp which had two speakers, either tens or twelves. The Supro was about twenty watts and wasn't quite cutting it. I figured the Bassman would be plenty loud. We didn't mic the drums, and the quitar player ran through a Fender Champ or Princeton, probably five watts. For PA we had a Bogen mixer/amp running into two of those giant metal horns like you used to see at the old baseball stadiums. They were about twenty inches across at the big end. To "mellow them out" my sister made some covers with elastic around the edges that snapped over the front. Paisley and flower pattern, real psychedelic. My first suspicion of trouble came at band practice the day before out first big pay gig. I had to turn the Bassman up quite a bit to be heard. And sure enough, at the gig when I turned it up to try and match the volume of the five watt Fender guitar combo it farted heavily on any note on the "E" string. That really pissed me off because I picked beans all summer to pay for the stupid thing. The other half of the twin bill played all Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Animals. They ran through two Sears Silvertone piggyback stacks. One for bass and one for guitar and vocal. They really blew us out of the water. It seemed like they were ten times as loud as us with their Sears amps. The crowd went wild. Of course it wasn't just their loud volume. They had been growing their hair out longer than us and the lead singer actually had a little pony tail in back. I dragged that stupid Bassman amp home and a couple of weeks later I sold it to a guitar player. Bottom line, that thing barely was loud enough for a quiet band practice. Playing a live gig with a rock band it really sucked. I replaced it with custom made preamp going into a GE commercial tube power amp driving two 15" Altec Lansings. Problem solved.
Great post, thanks for sharing. If you've got any pics of that band, it'd be fun to see them. Pretty amazing to think how few choices there were for backline and sound reinforcement duties just a few years back. And how comparatively expensive it must have been too.
One reason they hold their value is that they're handwired, vs newer mass produced circuitboard amps with tube sockets often mounted directly to those circuitboards. Price out a new, quality handwired 50w or 100w tube head and $400 to $800 doesn't seem so bad.
The tweed Bassman combos (59, 4x10 etc) are not really any good for bass, the later heads sound great through modern cabinets. I've had a couple of late '60s 50w bassman heads, I've been really happy with them through modern cabinets. I sold mine when I had a Dual Showman type head custom built.
The tweed Bassman combos (59, 4x10 etc) are not really any good for bass, the later heads sound great through modern cabinets. I've had a couple of late '60s 50w bassman heads, I've been really happy with them through modern cabinets. I sold mine when I had a Dual Showman type head custom built.
I have a blackface Bassman head from 1967; I've had the caps replaced and it works fine. Sounds good as long as the volume control is at 5 or lower - tends to break up a bit after that, but it's mighty loud at 5.
It will never leave my house because it's as heavy as a boat anchor. I have a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 that weighs less than 4 pounds and has more than 7x the power into 8 ohms.
If I was starting out and had $700 to put into an amp, it would be a Genz-Benz- not an old Bassman.
It will never leave my house because it's as heavy as a boat anchor. I have a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 that weighs less than 4 pounds and has more than 7x the power into 8 ohms.
If I was starting out and had $700 to put into an amp, it would be a Genz-Benz- not an old Bassman.
These were not well-loved by bassists at the time; I knew more than a few guitar players who used them. I had several opportunities to get one of these when they were new (or newish) and opted for a cleaner solid state head (in my case, a Sunn Concert Bass). That they are born-again popular I attribute to the "vintage" craze.
I don't want all this to turn into another hey-people-choose-an-amp-for-me thread, but do you guys seriously think that modern solid state and hybrid 700-800$ heads sound better than old tube bassman?
As noted earlier, I have a '75 Bassman 100. I also have an early 90's Yamaha 55w combo, and a late 90's SVT 4PRO. I am able to produce sounds that I like out of all of them, hence I have not sold any of them.
Good luck getting a definitive answer out of TB. Better to prepare yourself for YMMV, IMHO, IME, etc.
Choose with your ears, not with your eyes.
Good luck getting a definitive answer out of TB. Better to prepare yourself for YMMV, IMHO, IME, etc.
Choose with your ears, not with your eyes.
