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What did I buy??

#301
Fndrgrl said:
Thank you so much!! Its a beautiful vintage cabinet. I hope to get the rest of what I need!! I feel pretty lucky!! Thanks for your response!!
Click to expand...

I have the same exact cabinet. Measurements are exactly the same as yours. It is definitely a Bandmaster cabinet. Mine is a slightly higher serial number. Probably a year or two newer. I think mine is 1968. Last time I had it opened I had one original speaker and one Fender replacement from 1971, neither of which was a JBL though. Mine also has only one input jack on the back. I had the Bandmaster head too but traded it for studio gear years ago.
While that is my pre-CBS Bassman amp above the Bandmaster cabinet in the pic, I have the original Bassman Cabinet (2x15") in another room. I have in the past used the Bassman amp & Bandmaster cabinet combination for guitar as its an incredible vintage sound. I primarily use a Fractal Axe FX (which has great Bassman presets) for both guitar & bass in recent years so its rare I plug my tube amps in anymore.
Anything you want to know about the cabinet let me know.

bandmastercab.jpg
 
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#302
WebJunk said:
I have the same exact cabinet. Measurements are exactly the same as yours. It is definitely a Bandmaster cabinet. Mine is a slightly higher serial number. Probably a year or two newer. I think mine is 1968. Last time I had it opened I had one original speaker and one Fender replacement from 1971, neither of which was a JBL though. Mine also has only one input jack on the back. I had the Bandmaster head too but traded it for studio gear years ago.
While that is my pre-CBS Bassman amp above the Bandmaster cabinet in the pic, I have the original Bassman Cabinet (2x15") in another room. I have in the past used the Bassman amp & Bandmaster cabinet combination for guitar as its an incredible vintage sound. I primarily use a Fractal Axe FX (which has great Bassman presets) for both guitar & bass in recent years so its rare I plug my tube amps in anymore.
Anything you want to know about the cabinet let me know.

View attachment 3112243
Click to expand...
2 questions: are we talking about 2-12” speakers here? And were the 212 Bandmaster & Bassman the same box with different speakers? Thx.
 
#304
I have a memory (amazing;)) of being on stage outdoors with both of those amps & cabs in the late ‘60’s. My memory is that the Bandmaster head seemed underpowered for the gig. And of course the Bassman always seemed so back then for bass, but even then guitar sounded great through it. Was the Bassman amp a beefier circuit than the Bandmaster, or were the speakers the difference?
 
#305
Bandmaster - 40 watts, had a tremolo circuit

Bassman - 50 watts, no tremolo circuit

(these are the 1961-71 or thereabouts versions)

The piggyback Bassman is considered to be a significantly better guitar amp than the Bandmaster of the same era. Brian Setzer still uses two of them in his "Brian Setzer Orchestra" setting.

The '65 Bandmaster that I've had since 1965 wasn't a very good stage amp. My '65 Deluxe Reverb sounded a lot better to my ears and that is what I ended up using, with the Bandmaster cabinet as an extension in larger venues.

Eventually I replaced the original not-great Oxford speakers in the Bandmaster with a pair of EVM 12L's (pictured in an earlier post in this thread) and that finally made my Bandmaster into a very good sounding amp much improved headroom.
 
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#306
Back in the early"00s I had an early '67 Bandmaster head. I was okay sounding but I knew it had a very wimpy OT, so I sent the amp the Gerald Weber to massage the amp a bit. When I got it back from Kendrick it sported the usual things like replacing old, worn out caps and resistors, along with a Showman OT, KT66 tubes, and a switch on the tremolo's Intensity control to take the tremolo out of the circuit when not in use as even when turned all the way down some signal still bleeds to ground, otherwise. Oh yeah, the tremolo now worked on both channels. It was a great sounding bass amp after those mods/updates.
 
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#307
WoodyJ said:
Bandmaster - 40 watts, had a tremolo circuit

Bassman - 50 watts, no tremolo circuit

(these are the 1961-71 or thereabouts versions)

The piggyback Bassman is considered to be a significantly better guitar amp than the Bandmaster of the same era. Brian Setzer still uses two of them in his "Brian Setzer Orchestra" setting.

The '65 Bandmaster that I've had since 1965 wasn't a very good stage amp. My '65 Deluxe Reverb sounded a lot better to my ears and that is what I ended up using, with the Bandmaster cabinet as an extension in larger venues.

Eventually I replaced the original not-great Oxford speakers in the Bandmaster with a pair of EVM 12L's (pictured in an earlier post in this thread) and that finally made my Bandmaster into a very good sounding amp much improved headroom.
Click to expand...
Wow, thx! That really fits my perception of the two amps. Glad to know it wasn’t my imagination on the Bandmaster cab. OP, the lesson here for you is to try to find the right speakers for whatever you decide to use this box for. I’ve no knowledge/experience with the JBL product you mentioned is in there, but they do make great stuff!
 
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#308
TomB said:
2 questions: are we talking about 2-12” speakers here? And were the 212 Bandmaster & Bassman the same box with different speakers? Thx.
Click to expand...
Bandmaster cabinet is two 12" speakers
Bassman cabinet is two 15" speakers
different cabinets entirely. Also Bassman cabinet had two handles on side, so two people can carry it. Never weighed them but my Bassman cab felt twice as heavy as the Bandmaster.
 
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#309
TomB said:
I have a memory (amazing;)) of being on stage outdoors with both of those amps & cabs in the late ‘60’s. My memory is that the Bandmaster head seemed underpowered for the gig. And of course the Bassman always seemed so back then for bass, but even then guitar sounded great through it. Was the Bassman amp a beefier circuit than the Bandmaster, or were the speakers the difference?
Click to expand...
Have to put them in perspective for the times. Mid-to-late 1960's. Vox AC-30 & AC-50. Gibson had their Vanguard (25 watt). So they were all similar power at that time. Eventually some amps like Fender & Vox became valued like discussed here because of their sound, not power. So today power-wise & volume they appear out of place. But no one wants a Gibson Vanguard these days because they had no good cleans & overdrive was "farty" (technical term!) So 25 watts is immaterial.
Today power is important especially bass competing with large guitar rigs. When I bought my first GK (400RB) in the late 1980's it was all about power, competing with guitar. Sound though I love the amp, came second.
 
#310
WebJunk said:
Bandmaster cabinet is two 12" speakers
Bassman cabinet is two 15" speakers
different cabinets entirely. Also Bassman cabinet had two handles on side, so two people can carry it. Never weighed them but my Bassman cab felt twice as heavy as the Bandmaster.
Click to expand...

1961-66 and some 1967-68 Bassman cabinets were 2x12. 2x15's came later.

You are thinking about the later, larger vertically-oriented cabinets. All the 32x21x11.5 cabs had a pair of 12" speakers
 
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#311
TomB said:
OP, the lesson here for you is to try to find the right speakers for whatever you decide to use this box for. I’ve no knowledge/experience with the JBL product you mentioned is in there, but they do make great stuff!
Click to expand...
They need to match the speakers to the cabinet first. Not just use. Huge mistake often made is speakers designed for ported cabinet mounted in a non-ported like the Bandmaster or Bassman. Or size of cabinet. A speaker that sounds great in one cabinet may not function properly in another.
Also looking at volume requirements. Some speakers sound good or bad when driven hard though both accept the same wattage. Some sound better at low volumes than others.
This is usually why two people can have different experiences with the same speaker in the same cabinet.
 
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#313
The '65 Bandmaster that I've had since 1965 wasn't a very good stage amp.

I played in bands with guitarists using all of the above, and I really liked Fender guitar amps. The Bandmaster out of all of them was a dog IMHO.
 
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#314
WoodyJ said:
1961-66 and some 1967-68 Bassman cabinets were 2x12. 2x15's came later.

You are thinking about the later, larger vertically-oriented cabinets. All the 32x21x11.5 cabs had a pair of 12" speakers
Click to expand...
I can only tell you what I have and Fender back in the late 1980's told me the year for my head & cabinet. In fact I remember I had to pull the amp chassis out for them to verify the year with certainty.
 
#315
WebJunk said:
I can only tell you what I have and Fender back in the late 1980's told me the year for my head & cabinet. In fact I remember I had to pull the amp chassis out for them to verify the year with certainty.
Click to expand...

The head and bottom weren't necessarily matched. The Dual Showman cabinet of that time period were 2x15's
They are easy to identify they were larger and had high quality JBL D-130 or D-140 speakers in them. You could clearly see the aluminum dust covers through the grille.

I have to agree the earlier small horizontal cabinets were not 2x15. I had one. The early Showman had 1x15 and I think a short run of the original Duals had 2x12, The 2x15's were much larger, and the 1x15 tone ring bass reflex cabinet was retained. You could buy one either way.
 
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#316
WebJunk said:
I have the same exact cabinet. Measurements are exactly the same as yours. It is definitely a Bandmaster cabinet. Mine is a slightly higher serial number. Probably a year or two newer. I think mine is 1968. Last time I had it opened I had one original speaker and one Fender replacement from 1971, neither of which was a JBL though. Mine also has only one input jack on the back. I had the Bandmaster head too but traded it for studio gear years ago.
While that is my pre-CBS Bassman amp above the Bandmaster cabinet in the pic, I have the original Bassman Cabinet (2x15") in another room. I have in the past used the Bassman amp & Bandmaster cabinet combination for guitar as its an incredible vintage sound. I primarily use a Fractal Axe FX (which has great Bassman presets) for both guitar & bass in recent years so its rare I plug my tube amps in anymore.
Anything you want to know about the cabinet let me know.

View attachment 3112243
Click to expand...
Is the Fender logo on mine in the wrong place?? Most people think it is. Do you think I can clean the fabric cover on the front?? Does it sound as incredible as I hope it will?? I don't care how dirty the fabric is if it sounds great!! Is this a good find for a gear rookie?? I'm used to a combo speaker amp 1982 studio lead. This other type of set up is really intimidating!!
 
#318
Fndrgrl said:
Is the Fender logo on mine in the wrong place?? Most people think it is. Do you think I can clean the fabric cover on the front?? Does it sound as incredible as I hope it will?? I don't care how dirty the fabric is if it sounds great!! Is this a good find for a gear rookie?? I'm used to a combo speaker amp 1982 studio lead. This other type of set up is really intimidating!!
Click to expand...
So I can play a guitar that isn't a bass through this cab/ speaker?? Will I need more than one 16 ohm speaker if I can't find another JBL D 131 that I can afford??
 

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