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The Fender Bassman 100T thread

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#124
FWIW - I just spoke with Fender customer support regarding the 100T fan issue. I don't know if these people really know whereof they speak, but the guy sounded like he was well familiar with the 100T. He tells me that the fan should come on under normal gigging conditions. He also said he wasn't sure but the fan may have a second higher speed that it will go to under extreme conditions, but that it should run under normal use.
Regarding the 410 neo cabs, he said he showed a large shipment going out the end of this month and next month, and that he has heard no news of that or any of the neo's being discontinued.
Again, don't know if customer service is just a placebo or if it's legit, but that's what they're saying.
I supposedly have a 410 neo on the way that should be here Friday. I'll report back on that.
 
#125
Freight Train said:
FWIW - I just spoke with Fender customer support regarding the 100T fan issue. I don't know if these people really know whereof they speak, but the guy sounded like he was well familiar with the 100T. He tells me that the fan should come on under normal gigging conditions. He also said he wasn't sure but the fan may have a second higher speed that it will go to under extreme conditions, but that it should run under normal use.
Regarding the 410 neo cabs, he said he showed a large shipment going out the end of this month and next month, and that he has heard no news of that or any of the neo's being discontinued.
Again, don't know if customer service is just a placebo or if it's legit, but that's what they're saying.
I supposedly have a 410 neo on the way that should be here Friday. I'll report back on that.
Click to expand...

welcome to the 410 neo club :)
 
#127
I do not think there is a "fan issue". No-one's 100T has blown up. We have seen the service manual. The service manual is presumably written by tech heads for tech heads specifically addressing technical issues and is quite clear.It would not be the first time customer service has given incorrect advice - Ampeg advised me years ago I could comfortably run my SVT2nonpro into an 8ohm load with terrible results.
I think that perhaps the customer service rep at Fender is confusing the 100T with the 300 watt Super Bassman - it would make much more sense for the fan to be on all the time with 300 tube watts than with 100 tube watts.
 
#128
Well, there you go. Still seems odd to me that it has fan that only comes on AFTER things get too hot and need to cool down, but there it is right in the manual, so who's to argue? Most tube gear could benefit from a fan - D.W. Fearn even has fans in his tube mastering eq's and compressors. So I still don't get why the fan wouldn't work during normal use.
Anyway, not trying to be a buzz kill. Just in my decades of experience with newly designed equipment, the best laid schematics gang aft agley, so I'm just being very watchful lest it become a conflagration.
Meanwhile, I'm loving the 100T! And the first gig with the new band and the new head is coming up May 18. Can't wait to get it out of the practice room and hear it wail!
 
#131
Ditto that with my Bergantino NV215. The 100T sounds great with the 610 neo but is superb with the Berg (although lacking the bling factor).
Chrisan, that makes sense that your super bassman 300 has the fan on all the time - it supports my theory that when Freight Train spoke to customer support they were confusing the 100T with the 300, or maybe just assumed that it was the same with both heads. The fan on my 300 watt SVT VR is also on all the time.
 
#133
I think the manual says they should stop when warm, but mine are always moving even after warming up for a few minutes. After a set they are solid but unsure when it actually changes.

On a side note I burnt my hand on the metal from the speaker cable after the gig last night :-(
 
#134
adivin said:
Ok, I just unpacked my amp. Should the biasing lights continue to move from left to right or should they stay solid? My lights continue to move left to right.
Click to expand...

They move left to right when you first turn it on and until you take it out of standby. After you go out of standby wait until they go solid. They then stay solid even if you go to standby again.
 
#135
BluesyCat said:
Yeah, my VR was on all the time too and it (the fan) was sooo noisy that I sold the VR and never got a tube amp again until this 100T. Been about 5 years.
Click to expand...

The fan in the 100T is very quiet. Not sure if it's a Whisperquiet, which is what you usually find in recording gear, but it's not noisy. But it's only come on in the rehearsal room, not when I'm at home practicing, so I haven't heard it in a quiet environment.
 
#136
Just steered another Kiwi into a 100T and neo 610 :hyper:. This is one of the few rigs I can currently recommend unreservedly. When I was running through the list of pluses I almost talked myself into buying another! :)
 
#137
Tim1 said:
Just steered another Kiwi into a 100T and neo 610 :hyper:. This is one of the few rigs I can currently recommend unreservedly. When I was running through the list of pluses I almost talked myself into buying another! :)
Click to expand...

My 410 neo just arrived. Only three major problems:
#1 - It's going to be tomorrow before I can even plug the 100T into in.
#2 - It's going to be next Wednesday before I can rehearse in the band with it.
#3 - It's going to be May 18 before I gig with it!
GAHHHH!!! Cock tease.
 
#139
adivin said:
Just from the little time I've spent with this amp, I can say - it is fun. What about sharing settings? That could be interesting. Are you guys cranking the tone controls on the passive side, then cutting to taste?
Click to expand...

This is my first experience with a passive tone stack, but I'm well familiar with passive filtering from my mastering business (Manley Massive Passive EQ, Pultecs etc.). It's very interesting on the amp, and I've approached it both ways - starting with everything on 10, which would be flat, and then cutting to taste.
But I've also found that, like my mastering eq's, there is a sweet spot in this tone stack. Starting with bass & treble on 10, mid on 0, then raise the mid control while playing say an opened D or A, just until you hear it 'bloom', or open up, then back the bass off to 0 and do the same, raise it until you just hear that openness occur, then do the same for the treble. I've found that by doing this, at least with my passive G&L L-1000, the passive side has more of the classic grunt or bark that I love in tube bass amps. And of course the amount of channel volume affects this too.
I haven't really gotten my head around the active eq yet. The midrange peak/dip seems to have an extra wide Q to me, or at least a lot wider than I'm used to. And the bass boost on the active channel seems very odd - not like the boost on the passive channel which does what I would expect, but it seems to be some combo of bass boost and mid scoop I guess. But again the scoop seems way too broad to me. Anyway, I haven't found any use for that at all.
So on the active side, I'm pretty much running the eq flat with just a bit of upper-mid presence, a touch of low boost.
Been playing since '66, and I've never enjoyed an amp this much. Can't wait to hear the 410 neo matched up with it tonight!
 
#140
The Fender passive tone stack is usually 0 - 10 - 0 for "flat" with the newer amps having "flat" at 2 - 10 - 2.

Bass and treble are boost only and mids are cut only.

Please correct me if I'm wrong on this amp as I haven't actually seen one in the wild. :)
 
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