FENDER MUSICMASTER BASS AMP

[Lonesomedave]

hey, guys...

anybody know anything about these amps- Fender Musicmaster Bass. it is a combo amp.

Vintage Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp | eBay

they have a few of them on ebay and apparently they are all tube amps, made in the mid- late 70's or thereabouts.

how many watts etc... were they good amps

any knowledge or thoughts appreciated.

 

[fenderhutz]

They sound great for guitar. I will leave it at that. It was the equivalent of a Peavey Microbass of it's day. Low volumes without much bass.

Used for a Tele and it sounded great until the speaker about ripped itself in half. I think they were 10-15 watts without googling it, at least sounded that way.

 

[bertbass666]

In it's day the musicmaster was Fenders cheapo range.

 

[bassvi]

Very low volume practice amp, 15w, open back. Fenderhutz is right, they do sound great for guitar. Not so much for bass. I like mine for the vintage aspect but it's not even a very good practice amp for bass by today's standards, IMO.

 

[rllefebv]

They sound great for guitar. I will leave it at that. It was the equivalent of a Peavey Microbass of it's day. Low volumes without much bass.

Used for a Tele and it sounded great until the speaker about ripped itself in half. I think they were 10-15 watts without googling it, at least sounded that way.

12 watts of soul searing tube tone!! Okay, that may be a bit much, but I'll pick this up and elaborate a bit if I may...

The stock CTS speaker ain't much for bass, and any originals that I've heard (including the stock speaker that I own) are pretty stiff sounding and lacking in bass... Replacing the stock speaker with a decent guitar speaker like the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] or an Eminence Patriot 'Red White & Blues' transforms the Musicmaster into a different amp altogether! Great for guitar or harp, sounding better the louder you go... Definitely giggable for either instrument. For a long while, mine was the de-facto 'spare' in my roots rock band and saved more than one gig when someone else's amp had issues... It also takes effects pedals very well...

With the speaker replaced, it becomes a reasonable 'coffee-house' bass rig, as long as you don't ask too much of it. Mine currently has the Eminence Patriot as it was a better sounding 'all around' speaker to my ears than the Tone Tubby and works better for bass IMO/IME... The cabinet's open-back design is a limiting factor in bass response. I built a temporary back that covered more, and while the bass response improved, the tone suffered when used with guitar or harp... The stock back is now in place.

I have wired an output jack on mine and have used it with various traditional bass cabs... Don't laugh, but coupled with a TL-606, (see photo), I can get a surprising amount of volume and tone that totally belies it's 12 watt output rating! The 'head' portion of the amp is a low-wattage, no-joke tube amp that sounds surprisingly good for bass (with an efficient cab) and grinds like nobody's business I've toyed with the notion of making a 'head-box' and using it with an efficient cab for smaller gigs... It does 'overdrive' tone at a sane volume...

As for it's being a 'cheapo', that's part of the beauty! Look at what Fender Champs are going for these days! To me, the Musicmaster is in the same desirability camp for guitar and harp tone-wise, with the addition of being a moderately usable bass amp as well... Versatility rocks

-robert

 

[fenderhutz]

It was about 17 years ago I got mine at a pawn shop for I think 20-30 dollars. Traded it later for a 1950's Harmony violin/semi acoustic type bass.

 

[Mastermold]

12 watts of soul searing tube tone!! Okay, that may be a bit much, but I'll pick this up and elaborate a bit if I may...

The stock CTS speaker ain't much for bass, and any originals that I've heard (including the stock speaker that I own) are pretty stiff sounding and lacking in bass... Replacing the stock speaker with a decent guitar speaker like the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] or an Eminence Patriot 'Red White & Blues' transforms the Musicmaster into a different amp altogether! Great for guitar or harp, sounding better the louder you go... Definitely giggable for either instrument. For a long while, mine was the de-facto 'spare' in my roots rock band and saved more than one gig when someone else's amp had issues... It also takes effects pedals very well...

With the speaker replaced, it becomes a reasonable 'coffee-house' bass rig, as long as you don't ask too much of it. Mine currently has the Eminence Patriot as it was a better sounding 'all around' speaker to my ears than the Tone Tubby and works better for bass IMO/IME... The cabinet's open-back design is a limiting factor in bass response. I built a temporary back that covered more, and while the bass response improved, the tone suffered when used with guitar or harp... The stock back is now in place.

I have wired an output jack on mine and have used it with various traditional bass cabs... Don't laugh, but coupled with a TL-606, (see photo), I can get a surprising amount of volume and tone that totally belies it's 12 watt output rating! The 'head' portion of the amp is a low-wattage, no-joke tube amp that sounds surprisingly good for bass (with an efficient cab) and grinds like nobody's business I've toyed with the notion of making a 'head-box' and using it with an efficient cab for smaller gigs... It does 'overdrive' tone at a sane volume...

As for it's being a 'cheapo', that's part of the beauty! Look at what Fender Champs are going for these days! To me, the Musicmaster is in the same desirability camp for guitar and harp tone-wise, with the addition of being a moderately usable bass amp as well... Versatility rocks

-robert

Thanks for posting this. I recently brought my old Musicmaster out of storage to use as a practice amp--which was the purpose for which I originally bought it back in the early 80's. With the tone knob all the way off it gets decent low volume tubey bass tone but distorts if you crank it too loud. I'm enjoying it again and now after reading this thinking about trying the speaker swap you mentioned here.

 

[Sav'nBass]

Link Removed

I bought this amp in 1977. I forget hoe much I paid for it. It still works too. I had to replace the stock speaker though. For $400 I wouldn't touch it with your wallet.

I hope you spent your money on something else. Vintage? Maybe .. but for $400 you can get a lot more amp than what this thing has to offer.

 

[blindmouse]

The TDPRI site has got a lot on this amp.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[will33]

Yep, great little guitar amps...guy I know used to have one..should've bought it off him. Alright with a bass at quiet, bedroom volumes, not really passed that. Openback speaker.