The Fender Super Bassman 300 thread

[flatwound62p]

I know what you mean, Rod. Plus, it is always tempting to favour something that is new to you. Got to say, though, that having shifted to Barefaced 10 cabinets the 751 is a pretty good match for them. It also pumps nicely with the Fender neo 810, should I need to go over the top. I don't think there is a big difference between the 750 and 751, the major one being a shift in the mid eq from 400 to 800 and making the eq more sensitive. The Barefaced 10 cabs are deliberately voiced to have a vintage character built in, which may be why the aggie works so well with them.

My SB has been running great since the bias chip was replaced last year

Have you tried your SB with Barefaced tens? I’m very happy with my SB and 115 Neo but I had my first taste of Barefaced (a 6 x 10 with a Markbass head) at a gig a couple of months back. Man that was a sweet sounding cab, getting gassy just thinking about it how it would sound with a Super Bassman

 

[Tim1]

My SB has been running great since the bias chip was replaced last year

Have you tried your SB with Barefaced tens? I’m very happy with my SB and 115 Neo but I had my first taste of Barefaced (a 6 x 10 with a Markbass head) at a gig a couple of months back. Man that was a sweet sounding cab, getting gassy just thinking about it how it would sound with a Super Bassman

Yes, tried the Barefaced tens with the Super Bassman and while it sounded great I preferred the Orange AD200 marginally in that combination. I think the Aggie 751 comes out ahead of both but will know more after tomorrow's gig with it, there seems to be a natural synergy between the two voicings.

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

WIf anyone is interested.

Spent the last two days tube rolling my SB V1 and V2 sockets with a dozen NOS tubes.

Tried Sylvania, RCA, Raytheon, Telefunken, GE, and newer Tung-Sols and Ruby’s.

My stock power tubes are GT Russians at a 5 rating, so right in the middle. The stock 12AT7 in the power section is a GT-R Russian made premium branded tube.

The stock 12AX7 in the power section is a GT-R Russian made select branded tube.

The stock 12AX7’s in V1 and V2 were not branded at all. They had extremely short plates as well. Kind of strange, but they sound good though.

I ended up putting in the newer made Tung-Sol’s in V1 and V2 because they seemed to have all the qualities of all the NOS tubes combined. Sounds great, not that it didn’t before, just more to my liking.

I’ve been experimenting with channel and master volume settings to see what I like. I have a few festival gigs in the upcoming months so I will be touting the SB/GB Uber 410 with me.

Do you guys keep your channel volume high and adjust with the master or vise-versa?

A little off topic but, I ended up putting the NOS RCA’s in my Ashdown Little Bastard and they sound absolutely amazing in it!!

 

[Goatrope]

Good intel. Thanks!

My Ch1 is set at 5, Ch2 at 3.5, with Master at 5.5.

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

Good intel. Thanks!

My Ch1 is set at 5, Ch2 at 3.5, with Master at 5.5.

I normally keep ch1 and 2 volume at 8 and master at 4.

 

[rodl2005]

Depending on cab/s used.. it's usually MASTER on about 5, channel vol ~ 5-7. It sounds so good in ANY configuration ... I have experimented with putting the master fully on, but can't remember if I thought it better or worse.

 

[SactoBass]

Hey there TB'ers!

I was surfing on the Sweetwater website and I came across the Fender Super Bassman. I zoomed in on one of the factory pics and noticed that the auto bias has "v.2" after the words "automatic bias" (see pic snippet below that I took right off of my computer screen). Do any of you happen to know what v.2 means exactly? I know that when the SB (and the 100T) first came out, there were some issues with the auto bias, and based on what I have read on TB, Fender has a replacement "chip" that fixes the issue on those earlier amps. I'm wondering if the new amps that have "v.2" means that the new amp has the revised chip. Do any of you happen to know if that is indeed the case? Or does v.2 mean something else (in which case, what??)

Do the earlier amps have "v.2" on that label?

I wonder if @Linnin has any info on the "v.2" designation since he is a TB resident Fender expert.

@Tim1: any info??

Or @rodl2005?

Thanks!

 

[flatwound62p]

Did not notice if it was there beforehand but I had my auto bias replaced last year and Mine says V2

 

[SactoBass]

Did not notice if it was there beforehand but I had my auto bias replaced last year and Mine says V2
View attachment 3440210

Thanks flatwound! Hmmm.....I wonder if yours had "v.2" on the label prior to the mod.

 

[SactoBass]

I just got through watching the NAMM 2012 vid showcasing the Fender SB, and the camera zooms in on the back panel. That "early" SB definitely *does not* have the "v.2" designation on that label.

Go to 1:47 in the vid:


Same here in another 2012 vid at 2:23...

 

[flatwound62p]

I’m sure there’s a fair few that haven’t needed replacement and some here will have an answer

 

[rodl2005]

Will check. Thanx for the info

 

[frankzelf]

And it keeps your cognac at room temperature as well!

 

[rodl2005]

I just got through watching the NAMM 2012 vid showcasing the Fender SB, and the camera zooms in on the back panel. That "early" SB definitely *does not* have the "v.2" designation on that label.

Go to 1:47 in the vid:


Same here in another 2012 vid at 2:23...

Mine is a 2012 bought one and looks like this

so far, no issues! Touch wood!

 

[Down_Low]

And it keeps your cognac at room temperature as well!
View attachment 3442505

NO DRINKS ON THE BASS AMP!

... sorry, that's my standard reaction when I see someone put a drink on my SBM.

 

[rodl2005]

Ha I often put drinks on mine, just for the photo.

 

[Kerplunk]

Hey there TB'ers!

I was surfing on the Sweetwater website and I came across the Fender Super Bassman. I zoomed in on one of the factory pics and noticed that the auto bias has "v.2" after the words "automatic bias" (see pic snippet below that I took right off of my computer screen). Do any of you happen to know what v.2 means exactly? I know that when the SB (and the 100T) first came out, there were some issues with the auto bias, and based on what I have read on TB, Fender has a replacement "chip" that fixes the issue on those earlier amps. I'm wondering if the new amps that have "v.2" means that the new amp has the revised chip. Do any of you happen to know if that is indeed the case? Or does v.2 mean something else (in which case, what??)

Do the earlier amps have "v.2" on that label?

I wonder if @Linnin has any info on the "v.2" designation since he is a TB resident Fender expert.

@Tim1: any info??

Or @rodl2005?

Thanks!

View attachment 3440195

I, too, am interested on what the differences between the two versions might be, and why, and if anything needs to be done to a version one.

After reading about the Traynor YBA 200 and its auto bias problems, I was thinking about buying a Super Bassman. Now I'm wondering if I should steer clear of the earlier model SB.

 

[Ryan L.]

WIf anyone is interested.

Spent the last two days tube rolling my SB V1 and V2 sockets with a dozen NOS tubes.

Tried Sylvania, RCA, Raytheon, Telefunken, GE, and newer Tung-Sols and Ruby’s.

My stock power tubes are GT Russians at a 5 rating, so right in the middle. The stock 12AT7 in the power section is a GT-R Russian made premium branded tube.

The stock 12AX7 in the power section is a GT-R Russian made select branded tube.

The stock 12AX7’s in V1 and V2 were not branded at all. They had extremely short plates as well. Kind of strange, but they sound good though.

I ended up putting in the newer made Tung-Sol’s in V1 and V2 because they seemed to have all the qualities of all the NOS tubes combined. Sounds great, not that it didn’t before, just more to my liking.

I’ve been experimenting with channel and master volume settings to see what I like. I have a few festival gigs in the upcoming months so I will be touting the SB/GB Uber 410 with me.

Do you guys keep your channel volume high and adjust with the master or vise-versa?

A little off topic but, I ended up putting the NOS RCA’s in my Ashdown Little Bastard and they sound absolutely amazing in it!!

View attachment 3433793 View attachment 3433794

In what way did the tone change with the Tung Sol tubes?

I’ve been toying around with the idea of swapping out preamp tubes in mine, but I’m just trying to get an idea of how much of an effect it will have on it.

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

In what way did the tone change with the Tung Sol tubes?

I’ve been toying around with the idea of swapping out preamp tubes in mine, but I’m just trying to get an idea of how much of an effect it will have on it.

The Tung Sols seemed to be a little smoother with a little less harshness on the top.

It wasn’t a huge tonal difference and most likely won’t be noticed in a live band setting. The original tubes are just fine, I came across a bunch of NOS tubes to try out so I spent hours tube rolling with my amps.

I have a festival gig next week and I will be taking the SB out so that will be a good indicator on how the tube swap goes with a live gig.

 

[HOOLIGAN]

I, too, am interested on what the differences between the two versions might be, and why, and if anything needs to be done to a version one.

After reading about the Traynor YBA 200 and its auto bias problems, I was thinking about buying a Super Bassman. Now I'm wondering if I should steer clear of the earlier model SB.

I’ve only heard of the early 100T auto-bias having problems, and very few of the Super Bassmans having issues. In either case, the problem would most likely arise in early use, and since the Bassmans have a 5 year warranty, the original owner would have had it repaired, so buying a used one shouldn’t be a concern.
FWIW, I’ve had a Super Bassman since 2015, many hours of use, dropped hard twice, still going strong on the original tubes.
The auto-bias feature was a major factor in choosing this amp.