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The Fender Bassman 100T thread

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#823
Question for those who have used both the Bassman 100T and the Super Bassman 300.

I am considering adding an all tube amp to my arsenal. I will for the most times pair it with an 8 Ohm Eden D410XLT. I am looking for a very powerful, clean tone. Of these two amps, which do you think will perform best with this cab? Right now I'm leaning towards the SB300 but I'm wondering if this amp might be overkill. On the flip side, I like the idea of having plenty of headroom and would be worried that the 100T might not be able to deliver if needed.

Thanks,
Bones
 
#825
alembicbones said:
Question for those who have used both the Bassman 100T and the Super Bassman 300.

I am considering adding an all tube amp to my arsenal. I will for the most times pair it with an 8 Ohm Eden D410XLT. I am looking for a very powerful, clean tone. Of these two amps, which do you think will perform best with this cab? Right now I'm leaning towards the SB300 but I'm wondering if this amp might be overkill. On the flip side, I like the idea of having plenty of headroom and would be worried that the 100T might not be able to deliver if needed.

Thanks,
Bones
Click to expand...

The extra size, weight, and cost may be a consideration. Hard to say without knowing your needs, I have paired the 100t and a xlt and it is no slouch. I haven't tried the 300 but I don't think the trade off would be worth it.
 
#827
The 100T has an amazing amount of clean headroom and I would imagine would be a fine pairing with the 410XLT. If that is the only cab you will be using with it frankly I doubt whether it is worth going for the SB300, given the extra weight - and it does definitely feel significantly heavier than the 100T to schlep. That said, I love the feeling of having power in reserve so can understand where you are coming from ;).
 
#828
I recall reading your post regarding this several months back. It seemed spot on.

Freight Train said:
I just tried the tone test again, and it's pretty much the same as what I found in the old post, except now I'm finding the passive channel to have lower gain than the active, which is making me crazy. I really don't think I wrote down the wrong volume settings when I did the first test, but it's sure possible. It's either that or my passive channel has lost gain. (?!) But regardless, here's what I'm hearing. Try this with your bass and see if yours acts the same.
First, we're assuming that the center detent positions on the active channel's eq is flat. (It doesn't matter where the 'frequency' knob is set in this case.) So what you're doing is adjusting the passive channel's volume and tone so that when you switch back and forth between channels you're hearing the same volume and the same amount of lows, mids and highs - so there's almost no difference in sound at all when you switch back and forth. Just to get a basic start, the open strings work fine using open E to match the bottom end, A and D for mids and G for highs.
Here's what I found:
With the active channel set to 1-1-2.5-6-6-6-6
The passive channel sounds the same at 4-6-6-4

With the passive channel eq's all on 10, channel volume still at 4, the gain on the active channel has to be raised from 2.5 to 3 to match the volume, but now the passive channel is noticeably brighter, so what matches to me is:
Active channel 1-1-3-6-6-6-6
Passive channel 4-10-10-7

With the passive channel at 4-1-10-1 or 4-2-10-2, it has very noticeably less bottom and top end than the active channel set flat. So if 1-10-1 or 2-10-2 on the passive stack is flat, Then the active channel has a big built-in mid scoop, which it sure doesn't sound like it does to me. I'm prone to believe that the active eq's centered is flat(ish).

This is pretty much exactly what I found before, except I noted the passive channel volume to be at 5 and the active channel 6, meaning I was getting more gain out of the passive channel. I really feel like I must've reversed those two.

This is all VERY inexact as I'm just using my ears, but I'm interested to see if you guys get the same thing. We've got a couple week lag in gigs coming up so Im going to really try to drag the head down to the studio for some tests.
Click to expand...
 
#829
The 100T will do just fine with the 4-10. A 300 SB will do potential damage.

I wouldn't push my 4-10 NEO with my 300SB. I wouldn't push my 6-10 NEO with that heaed either. You run the risk of damaing the speakers.

100 tube watts is loud. 300 tube watts is incredably loud. Read my previous posts regarding matching these heads with their respective speaker enclosures.

alembicbones said:
Question for those who have used both the Bassman 100T and the Super Bassman 300.

I am considering adding an all tube amp to my arsenal. I will for the most times pair it with an 8 Ohm Eden D410XLT. I am looking for a very powerful, clean tone. Of these two amps, which do you think will perform best with this cab? Right now I'm leaning towards the SB300 but I'm wondering if this amp might be overkill. On the flip side, I like the idea of having plenty of headroom and would be worried that the 100T might not be able to deliver if needed.

Thanks,
Bones
Click to expand...
 
#830
Just re-reading the Bass Player magazine of the SB300 with the 410 Neo cab. Brian Fox wrote of the the 410 cab:
In terms of sound—perhaps because the head itself colors the bass tone in such a big way—the cabinet seemed able to handle whatever I gave it, whether it was deep and dark or bright and aggressive.
Click to expand...
Since he seemed comfortable with the SB300 into the 410 I am optimistic I will be happy with the 610 combination. Don't think he would have been really cranking it, but then again neither will I.
Hey Chrisan, have you had a chance to gig the super Bassman with your Neo 610 yet?
 
#831
Tim got the 610 yesterday, first of all the look and size of that cab really do sit well with the blackface amp, very vintage 60s cool. At home i ran it up on vintage ch. at 5-2-5-10, with bass deep pulled out , master on 5, and bais 5 clicks cool, this is about my normal practice room setting, tone wise at this point , smooth as butter and squeaky clean. I have band practice tomorrow in a room im familiar with and has nice neutral acoustics , will let you know how that goes , but so far im stoked. Next gig is 17th nov.in quite a big golf club house[ the maroi bay boardriders ball.!]
 
#832
Hello Tim,

Thank you for your thoughtful and helpful reply. (I was out of town so I only got to try it and reply today)

The truth is I only started playing bass in February so I don't have very much experience (like none). Up until this, everything just worked.

So I used a different bass with a different cord, and for good measure I used just one speaker, all was fine. I added the other speaker, still fine. Went back to the other bass and cord, still fine.

You would seem to have got it right about the bad connection.

I suppose I was asking, in an inarticulate way, what should I try before bringing it to the shop and you provided the correct things to check.

I would never have even replaced the tubes myself, because as you say, it is under warranty. Why mess with it.

Thanks again for helping out.

Lesson learned and the best news is, there is nothing wrong with the amp! :D

BP.
 
#833
Hi BassmentPlayer,thanks foor that and it was my pleasure. It is rewarding to be able to give something back to a forum which has helped me out so many times over the years. Rock on, and congratulations on buying a great amp from a great company.
 
#834
Tim1 said:
Just re-reading the Bass Player magazine of the SB300 with the 410 Neo cab. Brian Fox wrote of the the 410 cab:

Since he seemed comfortable with the SB300 into the 410 I am optimistic I will be happy with the 610 combination. Don't think he would have been really cranking it, but then again neither will I.
Hey Chrisan, have you had a chance to gig the super Bassman with your Neo 610 yet?
Click to expand...

AFAIK, Brian plays in a Who cover band and has used the SB300 + Neo 410 in that setting. I'm guessing he was probably cranking it pretty good. I was able to use the same rig and it was killer. Huge warm tone coming from that combination for sure. Actually way more than I ever need.

I am also quite interested in a compare bewteen the SB300 and the 100T. I did feel as if the SB300 was pretty heavy for any regular schlepping, but would like to have some of that Fender all tube goodness on hand in a lighter, more flexible package like the 100T with its reduced power mode. Have not had the chance to try one out yet though. dang!
 
#835
That is very encouraging to hear, pfschim. I am extremely frustrated waiting for the SB300 to arrive so I can give it a serious workout.
You are right about the weight though, when I picked one up side by side with the 100T a few months ago the increased weight was very noticeable.
 
#836
just got back from practice with new 610neo and sb300 rig, my usual master setting with the 810 cab was 5, had to turn up a fraction to 5 1/4 to get a similar volume with the 610, on the sb 1/4 fractions on the master make a big differance. The tone was clear and with good definition of notes, maybe not quite the room filling presence of the 810, but definitely loud enough and a great size for studio and small to medium size clubs.
Looking forward to hearing what you think Tim once you get a chance to compare the two heads as a piece in Dave Hunters book Amped, comes to mind "....the perceived volume increase of 100 watts over 50 watts to the human ear is relatively minor, but the interaction of the larger output transformer and more tubes, the increased body and headroom, and the way the bigger amp just breathes all combine to make a sizable impression on the player and audience.
however when i cranked the 100 and 300 up in the shop i thought the volumes where similar to about 5.
so just to see what the 610 could take , hitting hard with a heavy pick and seymour duncan quarter pounders in a precision i found the cab would fart at 6-3-9-6 on the vintage channel with master on 6 . i think to get well past noon with the sb , like Fenderlove already said , you would probably need 2 810s .............and i dont need .
 
#837
Thank for that, Chris. I agree with your quote from the Ampeg book, it is not necessarily about volume but the whole feel of the rig changes when you have those extra tubes in there. And I am pretty impressed if you can get a 300 watt tube amp to noon without farting into the 610. I very seldom played my old SVT VR into its Bergantino 610 beyond 11 o'clock and that was often too loud, so I think we are on the same page. Plus the SD Quarter Pounders on a Precision will be working the preamp a bit more than my old jazz bass I expect.
That said, I took my Orange AD200 and Bergantino NV215 to practice yesterday, just to remember what it was like and it is still one sweet combination.
Hopefully the SB300 should be here soon......:hyper:
One more question - when you pushed the 610 to farting, do you think your old 810 would have reacted much the same way given the same settings?
 
#838
Tim i never actually tried that, my feeling though is that the super bassman 300 , given the same settings, but at 7 vol and 7 master would probably eat up a single 810. Maybe you could ask Ritchie if you could try that in the shop, when the shipment arrives!?
Just been playing tonight, and ive got the front and rear covers off the amp, trying to locate a vibrating noise when you play a low note at a loud volume, imagine a tube spring being plucked, sounds like that , [ but i dont see any of them vibrating] it decays as the note decays, will let you know .
 
#840
Chris, I think any half decent 300 watt tube head at 7 and 7 would eat up most single speaker cabinets. Certainly my old Ampeg 810 with my old SVT2 nonpro would start to sound unhappy past noon. Again, the point for me of the extra power is not so much volume but the tone, weight, punch and authority it gives to each note.
As far as the vibrating noise my first thought would be something in the room or vicinity vibrating in sympathy, which has often fooled me. Next thought would be a speaker issue or simply it is just too loud for the cabinet. Keep us posted, I am sure Richie will look after you either way. His service at the Music Machine is second to none in this country IMO.
 
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