Vintage Fender Bassman 50 ?'s

[esoxhntr]

Hey Brotherdoc, did ya buy it?

 

[johnk_10]

here's a quick evolution of the Fender bassman (and some of the features & major changes):

Bassman - tweed combo-single channel w/2 inputs 1 volume, 1 tone, 6SC7 & 6SL7 preamp tubes, 1-15 speaker
5B6- tweed combo
5D6 - tweed combo, single channel w/2-inputs, has treble, bass & presence, w/2 volume controls, 12AY7 & 12AX7 preamp tubes, dual tube rectifier, 4-10 speakers
5D6-A- tweed combo-
5E6-tweed combo
5E6-A -tweed combo
5F6-tweed combo- two channels w/4 inputs, added middle control
5F6-A -tweed combo- single GZ34 tube rectifier
6G6 -blonde head/cab -tube rectifier
6G6-A-blonde head/cab SS rectifier
6G6-B-blonde head/ 2-12 cab
AA864 black head/2-12 cab no presence control
AA165-blackface black tolex head/cab, different preamp, output tube balance control instead of bias control
AB165 early blackface/ later ('67 silverface) black head/cab
AC568 silverface
AA270
AA371
Bassman 10- silverface 4-10 combo
Bassman 20
Bassman 50- silverface similar to AB-165
Bassman 60- all solid state amp
Bassman 70 - silverface similar to AB165 but with different transformers, added master volume
Bassman 100- four 6L6GC output tubes
Bassman 125
Bassman 135 - similar to bassman 100 but with different transformers
Super Bassman - similar to bassman 135 but with taller head cab (like a dual showman reverb)

2 cents

 

[will33]

That's good info. True CBS "improved" things according to them but they also continued to produce amps just after the buy using up inventory and building some more of what they just bought so there's a "gray" area around the buyout year and the year after it. You'd need an actual amp tech/old fender guru to tell exactly what it is. This is getting into minute detail here, to answer the OP's question does it sound good, oh yes. Will it have the volume you need to play it for other people (audience), likely not. Practice with it, rehearse with it, RECORD with it. Don't expect it to shake the walls and for God's sake, plug a guitar in there once in a while.

 

[chadds]

This where you have to realize you are reading reviews online. I've used these Bassman heads. I had to use two and was drowned out by a Super Reverb, 40 watts.

A Showman at 85 watts was superior and yet wasn't enough. In those days the A/B test was to play a Fender at practice or at a gig and then show up the next day with a Marshall or Acoustic or Ampeg or Sunn and you new Heaven was here. You could hear yourself. You could take part in the music. You could drown out any one if you needed to.

Those square 2x15 cabs were incapable of doing much either in a live environment. The cab was just not designed to do much. The same D or K140s in a Sunn cab would shake a room and cause loose bowels.

So reader beware. The rig might, "keep up" but that's not enough if you are trying to play your part and bring the bass.

As was said in another post by the time you buy this head and retube or have a tech look at it you could have an LMII that would spank it every which a way. If we'd had a choice in those old days between the two we wouldn't have played a Bassman. I'm not a Markbass fan actually, but I can tell a great unit when I see/hear one.

 

[troubledog]

I had a blonde Bassman 50w head that I bought in a pawn shop for $50. Ok so that was in 1974 but it was my first amp. Back then when playing Deep Purple covers I always struggled to keep the volume up to compete with my bandmates. It was an impossible task, especially because that damn thing distored so much (which I hated). I finally unloaded it around 1981 or so with a modern (at that time) powerful SS pre-amp and amp. Today, I wish I never sold it. I sure would love to be playing my telecaster through it!

 

[Hawaii Islander]

Correct. The early Bassman 50s were exactly the same circuit as the 50 watt Blackface Bassman. My brother, a guitar player, used to have a '67 blackface bassman, he had a '68 silverface as his backup. The insides were 100% exactly the same. The early 50 watt bassman amps are identical to the blackface amps. I bought my brother's blackface and used it as a bass amp for years, with a great deal of success! Recently I've been gigging so I replaced it with a solid state modern amp, as I needed more headroom and was nervous about gigging an antique in dives. But I kept it close - sold it back to my brother.

My old bassman, which sounded tremendous with the Eden 210 cabinet:
Link Removed

Silverface version of the same amp - says "Bassman AMP" not "Bassman 50":

The blackface versions are more valuable because they look so much cooler. If the amp you're looking at actually reads "Bassman 50" and has a different knob configuration it will be a completely different circuit, of which I am unfamiliar. That would be what JTE is referring to (with the master volume).

If the amp you're considering looks like this:

I would suspect it's the same circuit that I am in love with.

More info here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The bottom head is the one I owned back in the seventies. It had a matching 1 x15 cab.

Despite what some people are saying about it on this forum, I really liked it. I only sold it because I joined the Air Force and didn't think it would get much use.

 

[Dezzy_UK]

By the time they called it the "Bassman 50", it wasn't a great (nor, in my opinion a very good) bass amp, nor a decent guitar amp. The revered Bassmans for guitarists are generally the old 4x10 tweed covered combo Bassmans from the '50s, and for to a lesser extent the black-faced piggy-back 45 watt heads from the '60s.

The Bassman 50 had the power rating upped to 50 WRMS, still used a pair of 6L6 power tubes, but had a lot of changes in the other circuitry, especially the pre-amp that cleaned it up- exactly what guitarists don't want. These have the master volume control which SHOULD allow you to push the channel volume for some overdrive, but it's pretty lack luster.

If the cabinet is the very shallow 2x15 that's about the same size as a modern 4x10 only not as deep (front-to-back) it's a particularly putrid sounding box for bass. The box just isn't big enough for a pair of 15" speakers. But the $350 price might make it more attractive. If you play pretty quiet gigs, you don't slap, and you like an old-style sound with a bit of mush instead of a precise attack, it might just be perfect for you. BUt, I was a Fender dealer from 1977 -1988 and I hated having to try to sell 'em.

jte

The above is totally wrong, the bassman 50s are awesome, infact if U compaire it to what fender are knocking out nowadays, it rocks big time, would have a bassman 50 over any modern fender amp, U pay a lot less for a bassman 50 than U would for a HRDx, and it smokes a HRDx all day, I had the HRDx, and I tried my mates sf bassman 100 one day, well I now have the bassman 100 in my garage, it totally blows a hrdx away like, it has one of the best clean sounds I have hears, it is very very chimey and bell sounding, it is amazing, every one of my mates that have tried my bassman 100 have fell in love with it, 3 of them have tried to buy it, people are always lending it to record with.

Take my advice and buy one, U will not be disopointed, it has killer tone, and I also have a blackface 66 bassman, and if I am totally honest I like the silverface clean better, but I like the blackface for breaking up, as it breaks up really nice, but the silverfaced ones were desighned to stay clean, although they can be modded to blackface spec, my silverface still gets a nice compressed sound, which is great, but trust me when I say, the silverface amps are fenders little gems, low priced compaired to a new fender, PTP hand wired little gems, U will not be dissopointed with any silverface amp over todays standards, just try to keep clear of anything made after 78 ish, as a lot of them got the push pull boost, which was not fenders best idea

 

[Dezzy_UK]

I totally disagree with JTE.
My neighbour has a Bassman 50 with the 2x15 and it sounds fantastic. I would grab that up right away.
But, it is only 50 watts and overdrives really quickly. I really do like the distortion it produces, but you can't get a clean sound at very high volumes.

If it's on your way home, just go plug in and see. If it was me, I'd do it sooner or later.

I know your pain bro I know your pain, JTE is talking utter bollocks, the silverface bassmans are fenders hidden little gems, proper little gems. I had a HRDx, and I went to a friends studio to try his bassman 100 ( boom ) it rocked big time, the 100 stays clean wright up to 7-8 as well, it had the best chimey bell tone I had heard, it blew me away, I asked him to sell me it, he turned me down for 3 weeks, then he finally give in lol I have had it for 4 month, and normally I would be looking to change an amp in that time, not with this amp, I love it like the day I first heard it, and it stays clean at high volumes, which I like, the only mod I am doing is, turning the bass channel into a simular tone to the normal channel, but going to get it to break up like the blackface ones, that way I have the best of both worlds, I am voicing it the same as the normal channel, then adding to it so that it breaks up on 3, that way it is going to be better IMO thatn a normal blackface bassman, which I also own, but not wanting to mod the blackface, the silverface amps are proper little gems, normally people who slate them, are people who have read on forums about them, most of them have never owned one lol thats what gets me, why do people comment on amps they have never had, that is like me saying a vox is rubbish, how would I know I have never had one, but U can npot go far wrong with the sf bassman, takes pedals well, cheap, awesomew tone, win win win

PS sorry this is an old thread I have just realised woops lolol

 

[Dezzy_UK]

"you will want to retube this thing" -not if it has good tubes in it, hell no. I had a '68 (silverface, silver trim) that I paid $250 for, it came with RCA greyplate 6L6GCs (they tested excellent and were a good match), USA RCA's everywhere else too, all good. Name a modern 6L6GC that's better than a '60s RCA. That's why God made tube testing equipment.
If it works even moderately well, that is a very good deal. I used mine pretty often through a modern 8x10 cabinet, I thought it sounded really good. It didn't get very loud, but I really liked the tone. I kind of forget why I sold it now, I got a '66 Dual Showman with vert 2x15, I guess I didn't think I'd need the Bassman. I sold the Bassman head all sorted out (3 prong, recapped, but with all new Sovteks, -I'm setting those RCAs aside for my 'real' bassman), I got $500 without too much trouble.

For your real bassman ? what do U the silverface is a copy lol they are all real bassmans, some like the blonde, some like blackface, some like 59 tweed, and some like the silverface, not are better than the other just different, I like my silverface one the best for the clean sound, and I like the blackface one the best for hte breaking up.

 

[Dezzy_UK]

I still stand by my assertion. Once the master volume was made a feature, the amp had changed enough that they're of really limited use unless you desire a certain kind of low volume tube sound. The Bassman 50 is NOT the same as the Bassman. Despite certain physical similarities, they're quite different sounding amps. And even worse is the Bassman 70 with the ultralinear transformers.

If it does not have the master volume, and the front panel merely says "Bassman" it's a much different amp than one that says "Bassman 50". Do not confuse them.

jte

Bid load of BS what U are saying, if U want to get picky, the 59 tweed is the only bassman, the rest are all different, at the end of the day they are all bassmans, and they all sound different, but they all have a very very simular voicing, and are all based around the same tone, I have BF and SF, and they sound pretty simular, the BF breaks up very early tho, and the SF does not, but when they are both on 3, they are hard to set apart, they are all killer amps, as for the master volume, on the bassmans if U have it to 10 it is off the circuit and will not effect the tone, master volumes are not a bad thing, they are very usfull if U want to use the amp at home as well as gigs. the silverface twins are all different circuits to, the 79 is totally different to the 73, that is what happens with amps, the same nowadays, the supersonic amps are different, one has a twin voicing, the other has the vibrolux, noe are bad, just different, I only ever comment on an amp if I have owned that amp ion person, otherwise I am just speculating or going off what I have heard in a forum, which would be silly

 

[s_mcsleazy]

ok you mentioned a bassman for bass wich means you get a reply from me.
if you want a really good dirty tone that sounds pretty fat the bassman is for you. its louder than you think and at that price you cant go wrong (i payed alot more for mine because in the uk fender amps are quite rare) ive heard a fair few complaints about how good the cabs sound for bass but i wouldent worrie about that if you have a 4ohm cab kicking about.

and just because talkbass is fed up with seeing it
my bassman 50

 

[Jimmy P.]

S. Mcsleazy,

I don't believe we have we seen those cabinets before... are they two tens?

 

[s_mcsleazy]

S. Mcsleazy,

I don't believe we have we seen those cabinets before... are they two tens?

yeah. hh electronic 2x10 p.a cabs.

and the s. mcsleazy makes me sound posh

 

[4StringShooter]

Found this on Craigslist. I know they make a pretty good guitar amp, but how do these things do on bass? The price sound pretty sweet if it's the real deal and works. This is on my drive home from work.

What's the experts here say?

Fender Bassman 50 amp - $350
Had it for the last 15 years or so but its from the 50's or 60's, works great. 50 watt tube amp "silver face" head with 2 x 15" speaker cabinet, original "Fender" speakers. the body is in fair shape but not perfect. Got it when i started playing bass, played guitar on it too, sounds great either way. Got a banjo now, dont need the amp anymore, wife says Im loud enough. Price is firm. Local pick-up only.

" ..found this on my way home from work"....

You were surfing while driving? Shame..... BUY IT.

 

[Gabe Resto]

My first smp was a Bassman 50. I love it! My speaker cab is an SWR 2X10.

 

[buick]

I have a friend that's an old guitar tech and he explained that the blackface and most early silver face were good up to the early seventies and that's when the early transistor amps came out with the different knobs and that is where the Bassman reputation took a hit and this is where the confusion comes into play about the Bassman

 

[bobyoung53]

They aren't the same as the original 64 Blackface. When CBS took over Fender they used the same circuits but made some 'improvements' in the wiring and components, which ruined the amps as far as afficionados were concerned. That's why pre-CBS models have real collector value, post, not so much. Some of the later Blackfaces were produced by CBS, and incorporated their 'improvements', so it can be difficult to tell which is which without looking inside. If your brother's '67 and '68 were identical then the '67 was a CBS.

The later black face and early silver face amps have the same circuitry, but not the same as a 64, CBS bought out Fender sometime in 65. I have a 68 Silver face Bassman with the big double 15" cab, it's an AB-165, sounds good for bass but like others here have said it doesn't have the headroom, if you turn it up to close to the distortion point it won't have any more for when the band gets loud and you start really digging in, it does have a great tone though, very clear with lots of bottom. For 350 bucks I'd grab it. Never tried a bassman 50 though.

 

[Bruce]

Not sure if this is discussion is still alive.

I usually gig with a pair of single JBL K140 cabs, each ported, and about 3.5 cu. ft, and have always enjoyed playing through them.

Yesterday I bought a Fender double 15" cabinet and gigged with it last night.

The two 15" speakers are diagonal, and the tag on the back says that it is a Fender "VT Bassman 15".

I see cabs that say VT Bassman 50 on the web, but this is a VT Bassman 15. It is sort of odd, but the "VT bassman 15" cabs I see on the web have the pair of 15" speakers in line with each other, and not diagonal like mine has.

I am sure the speakers are the originals, and later today will pop one out to read its manufacturer code and year code.

I used a TC Electric RH 450 to drive the new cab, and thought it sounded healthy and quite good. I was really shocked!!

The speakers are probably the CTS originals, and have a 2 1/2 diameter voice coil.

I will probably move my pair of K-140 speakers into this Fender cab to see how they sound in it, but for now, I will use the original CTS speakers.

My only complaint with the original speakers in this old Fender cabinet is that I wish it had a little more highs. I do know that the JBL K-140 speakers will take care of that.

Any comments as to the model number vs the diagonal speaker arrangement would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Bruce on the coast of South Carolina

 

[johnk_10]

I have one of those. they often came with Bassman 50 heads. I have two K140's in mine and I love that cab.

 

[lermgalieu]

Great sounding amp...for recording. IME doesn't push enough juice for anything but pretty quiet gigs. But honestly, if I had the scratch I would buy one for recording in a second.