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New Fender Bassmans

#4
Nighttrain1127 said:
If they were all tube and like the original they might worth that kind of dough but for a tube Preamp and solid state power amp it should cost much less all you are buying here is a name. Just IMHO
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I don't know. A Markbass CMD 102p costs more and is all solid state. So is the Genz Benz Shuttle 210 combo (tube preamp). Plus the Fender name isn't all that prestigious in the bass world when it comes to amplifiers.

The Bassman stuff I've tried isn't half bad. I wouldn't instantly write this one off.....

Looks ugly though. And not a light weight either. No handles on the sides it seems...........
 
#6
I'm an old guy and like the vintage, tweedy, TV look. The 15 is of interest to me and as long as there is a tube in the circuit somewhere, I can live with it. I'm a big tube guy as well but own and love an Ampeg B-100R. It pains me as it is all SS but somehow this little Ampeg sounds very "tubey". It must be magic!!! Back to the Fender, they would look very cool on the stage of a blues club.
 
#9
I was really excited for these, because I would like nothing more than a combo tube amp, even if it's relatively low wattage, and just mic it (like what guitarists do with, say, an AC30 instead of a huge stack). Alas, I found out they were solid state power and was disappointed...

I did see these at a shop in Cologne, Germany, and they looked excellent. I believe they're made in China, but the fit and finish looked really good. I didn't have a change to play one, however, but they looked really nice.
 
#12
Probably just like any other overrated SolidState poweramp-throw-a-tube-in-the-circuit-for-a-pilot-light amp.... :rollno:

IMHO the Only reason anybody is even noticing these is because they Threw the FENDER name on em'......
 
#13
I got the Fender Bassman TV Ten and it is a cool little combo. And not that little! Still, weighs only 38 lbs, sounds great, and is pretty loud. I was concerned it would not be loud enough, that the 10" speaker may not perform, and that I might miss the "deep" and "bright" buttons found on the others in the series, but now that I have it, I am very happy with the combo.

First, it looks very vintage and classic. That works for me, as I play 50s rock in a trio. Perfect!

Second, it sounds great! Punchy, bassy, warm and articulate.

Third, it's easy to use, I love that it is just volume, bass, mids, and treble. Nothing else!

For the mose part, we play small clubs, so this will work just fine for me. It's the perfect addition to my amp collection, along side my Ampeg B100R and VOX T60!
 
#15
Rob Martinez said:
I got the Fender Bassman TV Ten and it is a cool little combo. And not that little! Still, weighs only 38 lbs, sounds great, and is pretty loud. I was concerned it would not be loud enough, that the 10" speaker may not perform, and that I might miss the "deep" and "bright" buttons found on the others in the series, but now that I have it, I am very happy with the combo.

First, it looks very vintage and classic. That works for me, as I play 50s rock in a trio. Perfect!

Second, it sounds great! Punchy, bassy, warm and articulate.

Third, it's easy to use, I love that it is just volume, bass, mids, and treble. Nothing else!

For the mose part, we play small clubs, so this will work just fine for me. It's the perfect addition to my amp collection, along side my Ampeg B100R and VOX T60!
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Good to hear, I was down at a shop earlier today hoping to see if they had any in, they didn't. I'd love to give them a try, I'd love to hear the 15.
 
#16
I played the duo ten today with my bass (70's jazz) and thought it sounded great. With the levels flat, it still had plenty of low end and it's even better with the low end boost. Fiddle with the knobs (which look killer) and you can easily dial in a nice, warm bass tone. I loved it. Now saving up for one.
 
#18
I just pulled the trigger on a Duo Ten after going back to the store and playing through the 12 again. The tone really smokes. I thought the 150 surprisingly loud watts the 12 was pushing was plenty to compete with drums, so I feel confident the 350 watts in the Duo Ten will be plenty.
 
#19
I got the TV 12 as a gift. It is pretty nice. I has great tone (works well with my P-Bass) My guitar player who is a vintage tone nut was impressed. (By the way I have a 60's all tube Blackface/silver cloth Bassman too.) The nice thing about this is that it looks classy, has a tube in the pre-amp (with a fan,) has a balanced out if you want to go to the board. (It is made in Mexico BTW, not China) it had a class D power amp so it is really light, and it does not distort. Has a really vintage tone perfect for the P bass.
I did not realize that the duo 10 had the 350 power amp...as does the TV 15.
 
#20
Jazzman said:
Calling them a TV Bassman and making them look like the original bassmans is downright insulting to the heritage of their amps. It is a solid state budget combo dressed to look like something else. IMHO it is highly deceptive from a marketing standpoint. :rolleyes:
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strangely, nobody ever said this about the Ampeg Rocket Bass combos, which were made to look/sound like a vintage all-tube ampeg, but were, in fact budget all-SS amps (they are great, mind you)
 

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