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Poll: Fender Bassman 100-T reliability

Have you had an issue with your Bassman 100-T?

  • No.

    Votes: 53 86.9%

  • Yes (leave details in comments).

    Votes: 8 13.1%
  • Total voters
    61
#22
After about 6 months my only issue was with the tubes. the Groove Tube in slot 1B went out. I only get to play my amp on the weekends, low volume, 25 W setting, cool bias- so it wasn't that I was driving the amp too hard, it was a premature failure of that tube. I replaced all 4 with Winged C's and no problem since. I love this amp and its tone. I viewed this as more of a tube issue than amp issue.
 
#23
The bias lights keeps changing and flashing like a Saturday night in Las Vegas.

More often than not they either stay solid green or blink green from time to time while playing. When in standby mode, all or two at a time, goes orange and/or red - or stays solid green/blink green. Going out of standby mode the bias goes back to solid green or blink green.

One time the amp dropped in volume.

I have replaced the power tubes. The bias still changes colour. Obviously the tubes aren't the problem.

I look forward to fix this minor problem. The amp is just great and I recommend it to other people.
 
#24
Received my 100T mid-April 2012, and a matching 410 Neo cab first of May 2012. Have played 60+ gigs (power trio) along with rehearsals once or twice a week, and absolutely no problems. Best sounding rig I've ever had in over 45 years of playing. However, I take my old GK 800RB along to every gig, not because I don't trust the 100T, but because I don't trust any amp enough not to have a backup readily available.
 
#29
My replacement 100T finished a 2.5 hr outdoor patio gig with no issues whatsoever. Bias was green all night. Tone was just beautiful with the SVT210-AV's, P with flats, and all vintage NOS tubes. I recorded it with my Edirol r09, and this amp has the tone I have been chasing for my entire life.
 
#30
coreyfyfe said:
Bathtub curve man. You'd expect the highest number of failures to occur within the early days on-market and for them to taper off over time and then peak again as individual components meet their in-use limits.
Click to expand...

Not at all. In some cases yes, but this happens to all manufacturers. The manufacturer receives all of the individual components in batches, and it's not uncommon for them to receive a bad batch of a particular component whether it's a new piece of gear or it has been in production for a decade. I personally don't doubt that this is what's happened since the early 100T's like mine have shown no problems. I would suspect this over Fender getting clumsy in production trying to get more produced, mainly because of all the press the amps are getting you'd think they'd be extra careful, and also because they seem to be as scarce as ever, so I don't think they're rushing them out. I may be wrong, but I've seen it happen to the best of manufacturers both in musical instrument amps and esoteric hi-fi gear.
 
#31
I was just commenting on this with my guitarist last night, how it seems the guys that got the first batch have had no issues. Chalk it up to the vagaries of manufacturing - I haven't heard _what_ exactly had failed on the bias board, but I remember the 'capacitor plague' that hit the PC industry a few years ago.

The bathtub curve seems to be applicable to the individual units in question though; from what I've read here it seems to be mostly within a few weeks of first use.
 
#35
I'll update here too: after making it through last week's gig, my 100-T again developed the bias fault at friday's gig. Was fine during soundcheck, then when I flipped it off Standby for the first set, I heard the familiar distortion which heralds the issue. Looked around the back, had four orange lights. Also saw various combinations of green, orange and red when I checked again, but the distortion never changed.

It's worth noting I was able to make it through the gig despite the issue, but I'm concerned what that might have done to my tube life.

I'm beginning to think this particular amp is cursed. I really don't want to jump ship, as the Fender offers features that the Traynor & Ampeg equivalents don't.
 
#36
I feel for you idoru. Fender Australia should bite the bullet and just give you a new amp. I know the New Zealand agents have done everything they can to quickly sort out any issues over here and everyone seems pretty happy - try showing Fender Australia your posts on Talkbass and see what happens. I am just becoming more and more impressed with the 100T and the SB300 - especially into my just acquired Bergantino NV115, the 100T just kills with that cab.
 
#37
a little cross-pollination from the SB300 thread:

Had an early morning outdoor gig on Saturday in support of the Lung Cancer Society. This being Phoenix it's still pretty hot outside even early in the day. We wrapped up about 10:30AM and the temp hit 100F.

The back and top of the SB300 were in direct sun for the entirety of the gig, and it held up like a champ. Tho the outside casing was hot to the touch, the exhaust from the fan was barely warm! No issues with the bias circuit either.

I'm digging this amp the more I use it .
 

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