• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Info on 1968 Bassman Silverface - buyer's remorse?

rappa29

rappa29

Aug 17, 2006
1,531
31
55
Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
#1
I impulsively bought one off 'that auction site'.

Probably overpaid and not really sure what I'm getting. What the eff is a TWEED MOD (see description):(

I bought it solely based on my experience with a Fender Bassman 100 that I use at our rehearsal space\studio that sounds absolutely AWESOME through my friend's Ampeg SVT 410HLF.

I've read a few threads that say it's more suitable for guitar than bass considering it's wattage (50w).

I haven't received it yet, but already having buyer's remorse and thinking about how to unload it when I get it! :(

Here's the description of it from the listing:

EARLY 68 BASSMAN HEAD
ALL ORIGINAL TRANSFORMERS AND PARTS OTHER THAN BASIC SERVICE.
Has all new Groove tubes i just took out of a new 57 reissue tweed twin,the 6L6 GE are made on the original GE equipment. They sound good,but i wanted old tubes in the twin.
This bassman really kicks now.
TRANSFORMERS DATE 7/37.
MUST BE a very early SILVER PANEL AMP. ALUMINUM TRIM,ALL EXCELLENT SHAPE,SOUNDS VERY GOOD.
FIRST CHANNEL HAS A TWEED MOD,EASILY REVERSED. BUT IT SOUNDS GOOD.
NO EXTRA HOLES.
SECOND CH. IS STOCK.
SERVICED IN THE PAST AND WORKS FINE......has hold down hardware on bottom.... HAND WIRED QUALITY AMP THAT IS EASY TO MOD AND SOUNDS GREAT AS IS.

I don't know squat about tube amps other than the Fender Bassman that I use for recording\rehearsal sounds fn AWESOME!

Anyone have any info on this head? What the TWEED MOD is (assume it's a guitar thing)? What I can do with this other than sell it or use as a boat anchor?

Been on the lookout for an old Bassman or Musicman all tube head and seems like I jumped on the wrong one! :(
 
#2
A 50-watt Fender like yours was my first serious bass amp that I giged with regularly back in the olden days. It sounded great and worked OK in an 8-piece soul band. It will be fine for recording or smaller gigs, blues clubs and the like. I wish I had mine back.
 
#4
A 68 will be a 50 watt two tuber.

I would recommend asking the seller what a TWEED MOD is... Might be something Larry Tweed did in Nashville last Saturday night behind the 7-11.

I think you are bashing your head against the wall for no reason yet. What did your girlfriend give you hell for buying the thing at Christmas instead of an engagement ring? :crying:

Get the thing and plug it in. SO the guy swapped out the preamp tubes with some Grooves, they seem to be gainier tubes than the stockers.

Make your determination on disposition of the amp after smoking it out thoughly. You may have stumbled on a diamond in the ruff. But you won't know until it shows and you have a good chance to actually blow it up yourself. BOB
 
#5
HI

I have a '67 I use at bars, small clubs and restaurants thru a 4 ohm Aguilar GS210. Sounds super. I run the volume about 4 or 5. Plenty loud. Breaks up a bit, nice tube grit to it. Awesome vintage tone, perfect for my gig. Make sure you use a 4ohm load with it. Thats what it calls for. Im sure its a 50 watt bassman.

Rob
 
#6
Hi.

IIRC the Tweed mod is a tonestack mod down to the earlier version. IOW a few resistors and capacitors. Could be a feedback loop mod too. Same thing, just a few components.

If You were the only one bidding, you may have overpaid, but I doubt that.

50W is a bit weak for bass for most modern applications, but if the tone is good it can always be miked. In fact You might have better control over the breakup with a head that small.

At least give it a try with an efficient cab before deciding. I think You'll like the tone ;).

Just my 0.02€
Sam
 
#7
You paid a pretty average price for it, given that it's in good functional shape.

The "tweed mod" likely refers to changing it to an earlier shcematic, but I woulda asked that first, myself.

It's not a loud head, at all, but a nice sounding one when it's running right.
 
#8
A "tweed mod" is changing the tone stack so it resembles the tone stack of the tweed Bassmans. Might be useless for bass, but it's popular with guitarists. It's a silver-face, and the listing says the trannies date from "7/37". That looks like a typo for what should be July 1973- in that case it's not really an early silver face, but it's still should be before they switched to the master volume.

Unless it's a Bassman 100 or the Super Bassman, it's got two 6L6 power tubes and it's rated at 45 or 50 WRMS. Nice little bass amp, but whether it's a great amp depends on your needs. If you like a slower response, you're not doing any popping slapping, and you don't need a lot of volume it's great. If you like Marcus Miller's sound this amp probably ain't gonna trip your trigger.

jte
 
#9
It's a 50w, as already verified by others.
There were several bids on it but I BIN because I really wanted it.
If it sounds anything like the Fender Bassman 100 that I've used, then I KNOW I'll love the tone.
I'm just second guessing myself because most of what I've read about it on the interweb is from guitar players praising it for guitar!

Oh yeah, and unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I don't have a gf or wife to answer to, so no influence there regarding the purchase! :)
 
#12
7/37 is a transformer from February of 1967.

I have been asked many times to do the 'tweed' mods. They involve either bypassing the input filter, oir changing the cap and resistor to a more guitar-friendly frequency. The tweed amps didn't have this filter pair, so the typical mod just bypasses them with a piece of wire. Reversal is simply cutting or removing the wire.

The second mod: The tweed amps had some feedback from the output to the preamp input. This is typically done using a simple voltage divider; a 1.5k resistor to ground from the preamp input pin, and a 22k leading to the speaker high-side to route a tiny little bit of the output back around. The reversal for this is simply cutting the wire from the speaker to the pin, and lifting the 1.5K from ground. I have actually seen some techs bypass the 'deep' switch and send the input through the switch so that the feedback loop can be turned on and off.
 
#13
I'm just going on pure memory here, but as I recall the silver faces didn't come out till well into the 70's (74ish? I may be wrong) and likewise with the whole 100 watt Bassman thing - I think that's from the 70's as well. 68 definitely doesn't seem right on either account. Transformers could have been changed as part of the 'Tweed' mod. I don't know; there's Fender freaks out there who have all the numbers memorized who'll tell you what Leo had for dinner the day that thing was made. I just know I was sure glad to see the backend of mine 35+ years ago - simply awful if you hope to play with a clean sound with even a medium loud drummer in a live situation. A complete fart machine.

IMHO.

Cheers,
Cameron

rappa29 said:
I impulsively bought one off 'that auction site'.

Probably overpaid and not really sure what I'm getting. What the eff is a TWEED MOD (see description):(

I bought it solely based on my experience with a Fender Bassman 100 that I use at our rehearsal space\studio that sounds absolutely AWESOME through my friend's Ampeg SVT 410HLF.

I've read a few threads that say it's more suitable for guitar than bass considering it's wattage (50w).

I haven't received it yet, but already having buyer's remorse and thinking about how to unload it when I get it! :(

Here's the description of it from the listing:

EARLY 68 BASSMAN HEAD
ALL ORIGINAL TRANSFORMERS AND PARTS OTHER THAN BASIC SERVICE.
Has all new Groove tubes i just took out of a new 57 reissue tweed twin,the 6L6 GE are made on the original GE equipment. They sound good,but i wanted old tubes in the twin.
This bassman really kicks now.
TRANSFORMERS DATE 7/37.
MUST BE a very early SILVER PANEL AMP. ALUMINUM TRIM,ALL EXCELLENT SHAPE,SOUNDS VERY GOOD.
FIRST CHANNEL HAS A TWEED MOD,EASILY REVERSED. BUT IT SOUNDS GOOD.
NO EXTRA HOLES.
SECOND CH. IS STOCK.
SERVICED IN THE PAST AND WORKS FINE......has hold down hardware on bottom.... HAND WIRED QUALITY AMP THAT IS EASY TO MOD AND SOUNDS GREAT AS IS.

I don't know squat about tube amps other than the Fender Bassman that I use for recording\rehearsal sounds fn AWESOME!

Anyone have any info on this head? What the TWEED MOD is (assume it's a guitar thing)? What I can do with this other than sell it or use as a boat anchor?

Been on the lookout for an old Bassman or Musicman all tube head and seems like I jumped on the wrong one! :(
Click to expand...
 
#15
John123z said:
1967 was the last of the Blackface Bassman. The silver face started sometime in 68.
Click to expand...

I had a 65 blackface 2x12 and a 67 silverface Dual Showman with 2x15 D140F drivers. They both were inadequate for what I needed, e.q., keeping up with a super reverb, a hammond B-3, and a loud drummer.

They heads were both nice little tube heads, though. No doubt good for small venues, stage monitoring, upright, or studio work, IMHO. Get an efficient 4 ohm cabinet!!!
 
#17
Jim are you sure the showman had D140's in it? The correct speakers would be D130 guitar speakers.

My 67 was a Black Face. Nice looking rig, but then the silver ones came out and I thought, man I need one of those new fangled ones. My buddy had a 68 silver one. Now 40 years later there is nothing sexier than a nice condition 67. BOB
 
#18
i have one of the early silverface bassman heads from 68. if i'm not mistaken, some of the earliest silver face heads had the same circuitry as the older blackface models, which are apparently now more sought after. so if this is the case, those early silver faces are a good one to have.

i certainly love mine, it's great for guitar or bass, though not terribly loud for bass. i did see a sort of noisy, psychedelic indie band not long ago that had their bass running through a 50w bassman with an original 215, and it sounded great. so it can be done, but for bigger venues you would either need PA support or a slave power amp.

the tone is great, i use mine for recording whenever possible. enjoy it!
 
#19
I just got a 68 silverface not too long ago. Retubed it to my liking, and it's really good. I use it regularly with a Rob Allen MB2 and a Berg HT112ER/EX112ER for jazz trio gigs. IMHO, it is even better than the Ampeg B15N because there is a far wider variety of good tones available, and it works well with different basses and different styles. With the right bass and cab you can even get a pretty good slap sound. The only drawback is - as everyone has already said - you can't get huge volume, but otherwise a great sounding amp that you may even like better than the Bassman 100.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back