NAD: Musicmaster Bass Amp

[PennyroyalWe]

Just picked this up today off FB Marketplace for $550. Not a steal, but a decent price IMO.

I did have to replace the preamp tube, as it was rattling pretty bad. Luckily, I had plenty of 12ax7 on hand, so no sweat.

It sounds great with my guitars, and is loud af to my ears. Much above 2 I need to pop in my earplugs. With bass I can turn it up a little louder, but still not much.

There is something of a hum to it no matter what, so I’m thinking it might need a good servicing/recapping.

Anyway, here’s pics!

 

[gtirard]

Congrats, enjoy!
Is it open back, or did you open the back just for the photos? (I thought open back was only ok for guitar amps…)

 

[Wasnex]

Congrats, enjoy!
Is it open back, or did you open the back just for the photos? (I thought open back was only ok for guitar amps…)

Open back can sound fine as long as you don't expect huge lows. No idea how much power the speaker can take, but I believe the amps is about 12W. That speaker may not be original.

 

[pasmithy]

I have one of those ! Bought it from a local shop 5-7 years ago. I have to admit that I've never plugged a bass in to it. But all my guitar playing buddies who use it when they are over, love it !

 

[tubedude]

Date code tags it as a 1973 Musicmaster. Nice and clean for a 53 year old amp. These were student amps and they took a few shortcuts in production. You may want to add a fuse holder to avoid trouble.

 

[bass player 53]

There was a recent thread about this:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/amp-deal-of-the-day.1681320/

 

[fdeck]

Fond memories: My first amp was a Musicmaster. It was plenty loud for the middle school jazz band. Later, bands I played in used it as a guitar amp, and I eventually sold it to a guitarist.

 

[Jefenator]

You win the prize for fewest knobs – which is actually a really good thing IME.
I love it when my guitarist buddy uses his old Musicmaster amp. It just sounds good. He took a detour with an old Bassman head and 2x15 cab, then realized he likes the smaller simpler setup better. (My kind of bandmate.)
My Sunn 200s head can at least hang with all the cool old small tube combos the guitar players get to use. Of course, it's not quite as practical.
When I become emperor, the FMIC will be required to reissue the Musicmaster Bass combo – with upgrades that make it more viable in its titular capacity.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

You win the prize for fewest knobs – which is actually a really good thing IME.
I love it when my guitarist buddy uses his old Musicmaster amp. It just sounds good. He took a detour with an old Bassman head and 2x15 cab, then realized he likes the smaller simpler setup better. (My kind of bandmate.)
My Sunn 200s head can at least hang with all the cool old small tube combos the guitar players get to use. Of course, it's not quite as practical.
When I become emperor, the FMIC will be required to reissue the Musicmaster Bass combo – with upgrades that make it more viable in its titular capacity.

View attachment 7399652

I’ve had that wish for a while. Reissue the MMB, give it a direct line out, and close the cab (they’d need to figure out how to keep the tubes vented, though).

It’d probably sell better than the bassbreaker did.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Date code tags it as a 1973 Musicmaster. Nice and clean for a 53 year old amp. These were student amps and they took a few shortcuts in production. You may want to add a fuse holder to avoid trouble.

I have no idea what that does, or how to do it. I’m thinking it should get a trip to the repair shop soon, though. It does have a noticeable hum to it, so sounds like it ought to be recapped. I assume the tech could add this fuse while at it.

I wouldn’t mind adding an external speaker jack, as well. See how it plays with a bass cab.

 

[gtirard]

close the cab (they’d need to figure out how to keep the tubes vented, though).

Like in the ACB 50 maybe? (closed back & vented tubes)

But wait… isn't this a new Fender tube combo?

OK, OK, I know what you're going to say "too many knobs…"

But Volume, Bass & Treble on channel 2 is pretty minimalist IMHO

 

[StyleOverShow]

I remember that amp, SIR in LA had a whole bunch of them. Don’t remember what they sound like.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Open back can sound fine as long as you don't expect huge lows. No idea how much power the speaker can take, but I believe the amps is about 12W. That speaker may not be original.

I’m not sure if it is the original. The seller and ChatGPT both said it was, but I have my doubts as I’m not finding any pics of other MMB amps with that speaker. Either way, it seems more robust than the other speakers I’ve seen.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

I’m not sure if it is the original. The seller and ChatGPT both said it was, but I have my doubts as I’m not finding any pics of other MMB amps with that speaker. Either way, it seems more robust than the other speakers I’ve seen.

Like in the ACB 50 maybe? (closed back & vented tubes)

But wait… isn't this a new Fender tube combo?

View attachment 7399672

OK, OK, I know what you're going to say "too many knobs…"

But Volume, Bass & Treble on channel 2 is pretty minimalist IMHO

View attachment 7399673

I’d never heard of this amp. I’m glad I hadn’t, cuz I can’t afford it haha

 

[Wasnex]

I’m not sure if it is the original. The seller and ChatGPT both said it was, but I have my doubts as I’m not finding any pics of other MMB amps with that speaker. Either way, it seems more robust than the other speakers I’ve seen.

I assume it will work far better with guitar than bass. Lot's of demo's of the amp with guitar on YouTube. The only demo with bass I found used the internal speaker for guitar and switched to an Ampeg cab for bass. The resultant sound was thin and distorted. IME, it needs a fairly robust speaker to take 12W of bass in an open back cab.

I have a 12W vintage Princeton that I have used as a low volume practice amp. I thought it sounded good, but the original speaker developed a soft buzz that drove me nuts. I replaced it with a Celestion G10 Gold, which is rated for 40W. I think the Gold sounds better and is also more efficient/louder. I still keep the volume down.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

I found a sticker on the speaker’s magnet. It is indeed not original. It’s a mid-late 90’s eminence. Whatever, it sounds good as it is.