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The Fender Super Bassman 300 thread

#201
So glad I read this entire thread.

I ran into the same issue where there was no sound coming out of it when I first fired it up. I immediately replaced the stock speaker cable with one of my own and Voila! glorious tubey tones appeared.
 
#202
Am I right in this:-

This amp (& the 100T) can be set up as 2 separate channels, or U can Blend them together? Then footswitch between ch.1 & blended CH.2 or unblended CH. 2??
Also as 2 seperate channels-
- can you set up one(vintage) as clean, then the 2nd as CLEAN & TOTALLY unblended with the ch.1 ??
OR - ch.2 as CLEAN AND blended with channel 1 ???
OR Ch.2 as dirty & UN-BLENDED or dirty & Blended...???

Sorry - confusing I think?!?!!!

Basically- I'm wondering if Ch.2 can be either clean OR Dirty, blended OR Unblended with CH.1 then be able to switch between 'em.
AND...(Sorry) can the 2 channels be set with totally different EQ & Gain?

Thanx
 
#203
Hi Rod. You cannot blend channels one and two, but they can be setup with totally different EQs and gains. You can footswitch between the two channels. Channel two can be set up as clean or as overdrive, the overdrive blend is a part of the channel two preamp section.
So: Channel two can be either clean or dirty. You cannot blend the two. You can switch between the two. The two channels can be set with totally different gain and EQ.
Go on Rod, you know you want one.......:D :D
 
#205
channel one is only the vintage "clean"... but it will get dirty if you play hard and loud enough.

channel two is a totally different tone stack and seperate channel that cannot be blended with channel one but has an overdrive gain knob and blend knob that you can set the amount of overdrive gain for channel two and then blend in the amount of if you want to the clean tone of channel two. so you could, for example set it with a low amount of overdrive gain and blend it in a little... or you could set it for a ton and blend it in a little or blend it in totally 'wet'. very versatile.
 
#207
rodl2005 said:
Cool, thanx.
Another tho...:rolleyes:
Can Ch.2 be set CLEAN also?
eg. Set Ch.1 clean, & Ch.2 clean & with a totally different eq to Ch.1 ?
Sorry for all the questions. I'm thinking seriously about this amp & another too, as I've gotten rid of a few things lately- a "sea-change" if you will. :o
Click to expand...
Yes indeed, Rod. I don't own one, but I was able to audition the 300 at Bass Club Chicago for about 15 minutes a while back. The second channel can be clean as a whistle, just turn the blend knob to zero.

I was very impressed with the head. I plan to go back for a longer audition when I go tube amp shopping in late summer or fall.
 
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#208
yes, by setting the gain knob very low and just using the volume knob. The gain knob on channel two adjusts the level of PREAMP tube overdrive for the channel.

edit.. or as he stated above... set the blend knob to zero no matter where you have the gain knob set.
 
#211
Jazzdogg said:
My '64 blackface has no mid control, but it has a presence control.

Does the mid on the new Super Bassman's vintage channel fulfill the same EQ function?

Has anyone compared the sound of a vintage blackface to the Super Bassman?
Click to expand...
I think Bass Gear Mag may have covered both these topics in its review, but I can't recall. Definitely worth a read if you haven't looked at it already.
 
#212
azwhofan said:
So glad I read this entire thread.

I ran into the same issue where there was no sound coming out of it when I first fired it up. I immediately replaced the stock speaker cable with one of my own and Voila! glorious tubey tones appeared.
Click to expand...
Correction: I don't know what happened when I first used the stock cable, but it is working fine. Even went so far as to test it with an ohm meter.

This is one mother of a totally tubey goodness amp. It's a monster!
 
#216
Jazzdogg said:
My '64 blackface has no mid control, but it has a presence control.

Does the mid on the new Super Bassman's vintage channel fulfill the same EQ function?

Has anyone compared the sound of a vintage blackface to the Super Bassman?
Click to expand...

FWIW, I would not expect a mid control to fill the same function as a presence control. IME, controls labelled "presence" affect primarily frequencies which are well above the midrange, and usually above the treble range.
 
#217
well well , its seems the auto bias has failed ... again, its been 2 months since the first repair.However this time is different, previously it was defaulting to the warm setting and that was a faulty ribbon cable, now it will not adjust to the cool setting. It has a back to base warranty , which means i have to pay for the freight to send it back , each time. Will let yas know whats up .
 
#218
Sad to hear this, Chris :(

From an EE standpoint this has become a suspicious fault scenario, something seems really wrong with the rather complex bias circuitry and/or workmanship in your amp.

Don't know if you have a handle on this, but I would try to (calmly) insist that they exchange the whole amp with a tested fresh one this time, or at least have them swap the complete lower chassis containing power amp and supplies, incl. the tubes. Mass production implies some lemons to show up now and then, you happened to run into one. Well that's bad luck but now it's their turn to really get that sorted out to your full satisfaction... stricly IHMO.


My SBM has been running with no issues for months now, getting hit some 10hrs/week at full throttle. It teams up great with my G&L's. I didn't twiddle much with the bias so far as it made only a subtle difference to me, so I adjusted it one tick below standard and left it there since.
 
#219
Yep, really sorry to hear that Chris. To be honest, I don't like your chances of getting a replacement unit - they import so few downunder that they all seem to be spoken for well in advance. But you should expect that they give it a decent test running before returning it to you this time. Eugene is a good tech and a muso and is usually pretty good on these things. Seems a bit tough that you should pay for shipping though. To be honest, I never really wanted adjustable bias in an amp - it has always seemed to me to be just one more thing that could potentially go wrong. On both my 100T and SB300 I have never once touched the bias feature and have had no issues at all (although obviously since it is there you should expect to be able to use it safely). I did appreciate the autobias when I swapped out the power tubes for Winged Cs in the 100T and all went smoothly. While we read of very few problems with these heads, the adjustable bias feature does crop up occasionally so it could be a bad production run or a one-off component or a Friday problem. Whatever, it would not surprise me if Fender have sent out a memo to their techs on how to deal with it - although these days it should be just to replace one component with another you would expect.
On a more positive note I just played a 300 seater room with the SB300 and neo 610 cab. Sound guy used the DI out and a mic on the cab. We were playing fairly loud, great bass tone out front and on the stage. Funnily enough it sounded to me so like my old SVT VR rig on the setting I was using, just goes to show how versatile these new Bassmans are.
 

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