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Fender Bassman overhaul

K

kyledood93

Mar 14, 2013
9
0
#1
Hey guys,
Rencently picked up a fender bassman cabinent on craigslist for cheap. its about a 60's cab. its got the 4X12 in it and there all faicing inward.

160794.jpg

(i just took the picture off the web)

but the speakers were bad when i got it, and its a badass looking cab and whatnot, but my question is;

What kind of speakers should i use to put in it? (in your guys opinion)

thanks for taking the time to read, opionions are always welcome
i play lotta ska, lotta punk, and some prog. so i like that upper mid range sound with the lower presence.

right now im rocking a made in the usa ampeg svt 410. but i want more than 400 watts, and i want the psysical size of the bassman
 
#3
A player I know had one. He beefed up the separating angles. The speakers were blown. He put in four Jensen C112K's. He wanted to use it for guitar and occasionally bass. He was really pleased with the Jensens. The Jensens are rated at 100 watts each. While they don't have much for excursion, he said it sounded great with bass or guitar.
 
#4
If you want to keep the angling on it then you'll probably want to be sure it's in good order.

As far as drivers that'll depend on your budget.

To me the easiest and ultimately most cost-effective choice would be Eminence S2012s. A number of TBers like them in sealed 4-12 cabs, they certainly model well that way and should sound fine for your particular needs.
 
#5
do the sound it produce sound fair? or would it be better to make it flat paneled? i know its all in prefrence, but i have not experience with cabs like this? i mean i can make it a 6x10 with 1 horn? like ampeg style horns. if nothing else, im just trying to save the Badass look
 
#6
Is that 412 sealed? I got my 100t and 610 neo o. CL and I was rockin out in my garage when a dude stopped outside and asked if I was the dude with the 100t on CL then told me he had a Bassman 100 and matching 412 cab from the late sixties. All refurbed. New tubes and recap. I'm wondering if its this same cab with those angles. What head was that angled cab suppose to play with back then? Looks like a really cool cab btw:)
 
#7
MrCool84 said:
Is that 412 sealed? I got my 100t and 610 neo o. CL and I was rockin out in my garage when a dude stopped outside and asked if I was the dude with the 100t on CL then told me he had a Bassman 100 and matching 412 cab from the late sixties. All refurbed. New tubes and recap. I'm wondering if its this same cab with those angles. What head was that angled cab suppose to play with back then? Looks like a really cool cab btw:)
Click to expand...

I checked the Fender Amp Field Guide and apparently it was used with the Bassman 135, a very nice sounding amp.

Yes, those are sealed cabs. Crappy speakers for what they were trying to do, unfortunately.
 
#8
kyledood93 said:
do the sound it produce sound fair? or would it be better to make it flat paneled? i know its all in prefrence, but i have not experience with cabs like this? i mean i can make it a 6x10 with 1 horn? like ampeg style horns. if nothing else, im just trying to save the Badass look
Click to expand...

You could make it flat paneled and do the 610 route, but if those angled panels are in good shape, or could be made so, then why not keep it that way?

The advantage to angling those drivers was to disperse the mids/highs better.

I ran a quick and dirty calc on the cab volume (read: best back of the envelope guesstimation ;)) and it seems you should be able to just drop in those Emi S2012s (after lining the cab walls and even filling a little), wire them series-parallel to get 8 ohms, and call it a day.

Should be a loud and tight sounding cab. And since those drivers are neos it won't be too outrageous in the weight department (get casters!!).
 
#11
Greetings from the North,

The Bassman 412 is not a sealed cab. I bought two of them brand new back in the day and I still have one of them. As you look at the photo you posted you will notice that the caulking looks like a stick figure of a man with the top speaker as the head. At the end of each arm & leg of the stick figure you'll see a gap of about 6 inches long between the baffles. This is intentional and is the worlds skinniest porting. Yes it can be found on every Bassman 412 of this era.

If you intend to service or replace the speakers or even keep your 412, it will be prudent to carefully remove the old dried caulking between the baffles and recaulk (Not Glue) it with modern silicone caulking that you can find at any hardware store. Do Not Fill In the 6 inch or so gap that originally came with the cab. If you don't replace the caulking the cab will rattle horribly. Before you do this remove the speakers so that you can vacuum out any of the old caulking that may drop inside during removal. This should only take the better part of an afternoon to do, but it's worth it.

I had my original speakers serviced so good luck on replacing yours. A lot of people don't like these cabs and swear they're an abomination on bassdom but I managed to make mine sound good. PM me if you want to hear how well they record.

Rezdog
 
#13
You might try a low pass filter on the left and right speakers. That way you'll enhance the dispersion on the high mids and maintain the power of all four for the lows. With all four run full range the upper mids will be unpredictable.

As it is ported you'll either have to model the cab and calculate what speakers will fit, or close those ports. By the sound of it a closed cab is close to your tasste anyway. It will need serious reinforcement though (both ported and closed)
 
#16
dhsierra1 said:
If you want to keep the angling on it then you'll probably want to be sure it's in good order.

As far as drivers that'll depend on your budget.

To me the easiest and ultimately most cost-effective choice would be Eminence S2012s. A number of TBers like them in sealed 4-12 cabs, they certainly model well that way and should sound fine for your particular needs.
Click to expand...

Those drivers would work, the eminence alpha 12's would probably do fine too. They might be even better for a small closed enclosure, I will have to look that up. I think any 12 inch would be an improvement over whatever is in there.
 
#17
Matthijs said:
Those drivers would work, the eminence alpha 12's would probably do fine too. They might be even better for a small closed enclosure, I will have to look that up. I think any 12 inch would be an improvement over whatever is in there.
Click to expand...

yeah, the S2012 models well in a sealed cab up to about 2 cu ft which is what I estimated each driver has in that cab. They're pretty forgiving. The Alphas seem to need relatively large Vb and have a higher F3 than the S2012s. Just my bias to go with the lower F3.

Ported? Good luck in a cab like that, you'd have to carefully measure the cab volume first. Can be done, but my suggestion is based on shooting for a simple and effective solution for a complex cab configuration.
 

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