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The Fender Super Bassman 300 thread

#142
today i got my sb300 back after just over a week in the repair shop, it was defaulting to the warm bias mode, the repair says "insulate worn ribbon cable going to bias pcb", seems ok now. So if you get your bias going to "warm" by its self it may be the ribbon cable.
hey DerekP, did you ask fender regards the no load/mute switch question?
 
#143
Hi,
my first post here on TB.

I'm a truly happy SB300 owner now for some months and the amp keeps amazing me and any fellow musicians nearby. The sound is exactly what I've been seeking for my current band, a bass&drums two-piece vehicle (of the nosier variety) where a fat full range bass tone with authority is requiered (even when powering only a single 4x10").

Zero issues with the amp so far but I'll open it and check for proper workmanship (thanks for the pointer to the ribbon cable, Chris) while I'll be trying to figure out if the amp can be reconfigured to optionally feed the overdrive channel's input for the "clean" signal routing from the vintage channel's output, by use of a push-pull pot for "blend" control.
Idea is to make use of the channel EQ, notably the semiparametric mids, for the vintage channel as I feel this is the only point of the amp that is lacking a bit and I don't want to use outboard additional gear (even though the insert loop in front of the power stage would make that easy).

Also I'm not very happy with the slide switches for channel and speaker selectors, I feel those won't live long given the part quality (the channel selector already is weak/sloppy) and it's an akward solution IMHO, right from the start.

I'll report here in case I succeed with these mods.

- George
 
#144
Hi George, not sure that I would be wanting to add EQ to the vintage channel - the whole point being that that channel is set up to be vintage and traditional. I use the overdrive channel by itself set up as an alternative clean channel much of the time. It is very versatile used this way and the mid frequency adjuster is icing on the cake. Re the sliders, I haven't had any issues with mine and there are many old Fender heads around using them apparently without problem, although the supplier/manufacturer might be different. I have wondered occasionally about the bias adjuster system, but I think to be fair to Fender we should not second guess them and give the head a chance. There certainly don't seem to be any major issues so far which speaks volumes for the quality control at the factory.
Chrisan, in case you missed it you cannot use the SB300 without a speaker connected although it is fine to do so with the 100T. Have a look at the review in Bass Gear Mag for further details. Pleased to hear it is all up and running again.
 
#145
Tim1 said:
Hi George, not sure that I would be wanting to add EQ to the vintage channel - the whole point being that that channel is set up to be vintage and traditional. I use the overdrive channel by itself set up as an alternative clean channel much of the time. It is very versatile used this way and the mid frequency adjuster is icing on the cake.
Click to expand...
That's why I'll try to make that routing optional with a pull pot so I can have it both ways.
Think of it as a post or stage EQ because the tone stack settings of the vintage channel affect saturation of the second section of V1.

Maybe the channel selector in my amp just was a "monday part" (as we say here) and replacing it would do but I really prefer rocker switches.
 
#146
DerekP said:
Can somebody please clear this up for me? I recently read the review of the super bassman/6x10 neo by bass gear magazine (great job btw)

Tom states "Note: the manual cautions that a speaker must ALWAYS be connected to the main speaker jack when the amplifier is on."

But as you see below I have copied and pasted directly from the PDF of the owners manual and if you read the last couple lines of section 'Q' and then section 'R' you'll see why I'm confused

Q. SPEAKER OUTPUT SWITCH — Select the MUTE position if you want to disable the MAIN and EXTENSION speaker outputs {R} but not the XLR OUT {AA} output. This allows for "silent" recording by keeping the preamp active, while protecting the power amp if the speaker is disconnected, and to reduce wear on the power amp tubes.

R. MAIN SPEAKER / EXTENSION SPEAKER —
A speaker must ALWAYS be connected to the MAIN SPEAKER jack when the amplifier is ON or damage may occur to the unit. Switch the amplifier to STANDBY {N} or switch SPEAKER OUTPUT {Q} to MUTE while changing speaker connections.
Click to expand...

I would think Fender were meaning "POWER amplifier on" when they stated "amplifier on".

Reason for this warning is that the MAIN jack appears to be a shorting jack (shorts when no cable is plugged), so you short the power amp when you happen to have signal fed to the power stage.

This may result in red hot plates quickly and even tube meltdown or other serious damage (to output xfomer etc)... that is, if the jack can handle the shorting current that long. And when it goes open, that's not good either because the plates then will see extremely high voltages when the output tranny runs unloaded, inducing high "kick-back" voltages.

For the same reason one must always use the MAIN output when using a single cab.

- George
 
#147
chrisan2 said:
today i got my sb300 back after just over a week in the repair shop, it was defaulting to the warm bias mode, the repair says "insulate worn ribbon cable going to bias pcb", seems ok now. So if you get your bias going to "warm" by its self it may be the ribbon cable.
hey DerekP, did you ask fender regards the no load/mute switch question?
Click to expand...

I did, but to be honest the guy didn't seem very sure at all! He said "it should be okay without the speaker connected" but admitted he was even confused by the manual. So all in all not very much help.
 
#148
GeorgeBerlin said:
I would think Fender were meaning "POWER amplifier on" when they stated "amplifier on".

Reason for this warning is that the MAIN jack appears to be a shorting jack (shorts when no cable is plugged), so you short the power amp when you happen to have signal fed to the power stage.

This may result in red hot plates quickly and even tube meltdown or other serious damage (to output xfomer etc)... that is, if the jack can handle the shorting current that long. And when it goes open, that's not good either because the plates then will see extremely high voltages when the output tranny runs unloaded, inducing high "kick-back" voltages.

For the same reason one must always use the MAIN output when using a single cab.

- George
Click to expand...

Thanks for th explanation, I appreciate it!
 
#149
The manual and the rear printings are in fact a bit confusing, I also was puzzled at first when trying to make myself familiar with the head.

The "speaker mute switch" actually is cutting off the main supply to the output tubes, so they should have named it "power amp standby" because that's what it actually does.

So when you have the switch set to standby ("MUTE") the power amp IS safe without a load connected and that's what the manual is saying once we understand their nomenclature.
 
#150
There has already been quite a bit of discussion on this topic either earlier in this thread or in the 100T thread. Tom Bowlus also chipped in on it and the consensus is the 100T is fine in silent mode without a speaker connected as it has a built in power soak. The Super Bassman 300 does not have a power soak (too large and expensive in a 300 watt amp) and the safest way to treat the 300 is to have a speaker connected at all times on all settings. That way there can be no risk :). And yes I agree the manual can be a little ambiguous and again I suggest any owner of this head reads the Bass Gear Magazine review which goes into greater detail.
Then subscribe to Bass Gear Mag.....best review source currently available for us bassists.
 
#156
Looks like the SBM is an excellent guitar amp too... the other day after the end of our regular practise session my drummer, who also is an excellent guitarist, hooked up his Telecaster to the overdrive channel. OMG, what a jawdropping stoner-style tone came out of my bass rig let alone of the insane levels that were possible. The blend feature of the head turned out to be very useful to dial in the right amount of attack/definition to that monster growl. He'll be using that for upcoming recording sessions so finally the OD channel will see some use...:bassist:
 
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#157
Just wanted to ask if anybody else is getting a buzz/hum from the amp. I'm pretty sure mine used to be dead silent.... and in the last week or so it's seems to be getting louder.

I've tried different basses, speaker cables, patch cables, powercord and other locations etc. it happens with or without a bass being plugged in and it also happens on both channels but on the active channel more so.

If it get the master above 6 and the channels above 6 the buzz is so bad it's unplayable (I never need to have it that loud but that still shouldn't happen)

Ether way I'm going to take it in to be looked at but I just wanted to see if anyone knows what might be causing this.

Thanks
 
#160
Taking it in first thing tomorrow, it's a little frustrating.... this is the 2nd time in under a year that ill have to take it in. It's under warranty so I won't be out of pocket. I'm trying not to lose faith because I love the amp, hoping they'll just give me a new one but either way I'm sure it'll get fixed.
 
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