What did I buy??

[madbass6]

Hello!!!
Forgive me in advance. I don't play bass. I bought what I was told was a bass amp on the secondary market. I told the individual that there was nothing to plug into. After a difference of opinion I bought it thinking it was a vintage speaker. It is actually a cabinet without an amp. Its a fender vintage cabinet with the fender logo underlined. As far as I can see it was made between 1968 and 1974. Where is a good source of information??? Fender tried to help but couldn't. The serial number as far as I can determine is M 18020 or M16020. I have no clue as to whether it would work if had an amp. Or if it could be used for a fender guitar that isn't a bass. Would there be no treble or midrange?
What the heck is going on??? Any ideas??

Hey just a tip.. next time you should probably consider doing your research before buying not after. and as others have said, a picture would really help! pictures speak a million words as the old saying goes!

 

[Giffro]

Hey just a tip.. next time you should probably consider doing your research before buying not after. and as others have said, a picture would really help! pictures speak a million words as the old saying goes!

As a first post it really does aid us to help you identify the cab if you supply the clearest most comprehensive pictures of the cab you possibly can. That way we can help you more completely. Take some clearer pictures from all angles front, sides and the back where the jack plate is, handles etc..every bit will help and check back often.

 

[Wesley R]

I don’t think the older blackfaces had either of those.

While I am not certain when the slide out brackets were stopped on the Piggy Back series, I am fairly certain that the Showman's, Bassman's, Bandmaster's, Tremoluxe's had them. They brackets may very well have stopped with the XL series.

 

[beaglesandbass]

1) If you don’t play bass, why did you buy what you think is a bass amp?

2) If it’s being described as a Fender and Fender can’t help you find out what it is, I’d start to suspect that it may not actually be a Fender.

 

[dbase]

I used to put Fender logos on my Silvertone cabs to impress people

 

[tpaul]

More and better quality pictures are needed from all sides of the cab. Folks here on TalkBass are very helpful and we'll be happy to assist but you have to give us some information to go on.

 

[Sid Fang]

It’s easy enough to do a Google image search on “blackface Fender Bassman cabinet”. You can see that on most of them:

• There is no useful identifying label on the back, though the placement of screws and the input jack can be checked against what I take to be a garage sale gamble by the OP.
• There is no head mounting hardware.

I really don’t get people sniping about the original poster’s reasons for buying or failure to do research. I can see not wanting to take the time to help an ignorant stranger, but if I’m not going to take time to help, I’m certainly not going to take the time to criticize.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

If you can post the dimensions of it, that would narrow down the choices considerably.

 

[Madhouse27]

Perhaps drawing a picture of it would be better.

 

[BadExample]

You know, we have no idea how big that SUV is. It's all about scale and perspective. It could be a 2 x 10. As for being heavy, guitarist just aren't known to be as strong and muscular as bassists.

Just teasing you OP.

Hope it does what you want.

 

[InhumanResource]

I'm perplexed about buying a cabinet one cannot move themselves...

 

[mapleglo]

I'm perplexed about buying a cabinet one cannot move themselves...

That's why we have bandmates and husbands.

 

[mapleglo]

Hello!!!
Forgive me in advance. I don't play bass. I bought what I was told was a bass amp on the secondary market. I told the individual that there was nothing to plug into. After a difference of opinion I bought it thinking it was a vintage speaker. It is actually a cabinet without an amp. Its a fender vintage cabinet with the fender logo underlined. As far as I can see it was made between 1968 and 1974. Where is a good source of information??? Fender tried to help but couldn't. The serial number as far as I can determine is M 18020 or M16020. I have no clue as to whether it would work if had an amp. Or if it could be used for a fender guitar that isn't a bass. Would there be no treble or midrange?
What the heck is going on??? Any ideas??

Fender did not keep very detailed records of their early guitar or amp serial numbers, so it doesn't surprise me that they couldn't help. With the fuzzy pictures, it difficult to tell what you have, but it's likely an early Bassman or Bandmaster cabinet. Oddly enough, the Fender Bassman was as popular for guitar use as it was for bass, perhaps even more so. If it is in functional condition, it should sound fine with guitar.

If it were mine, I'd probably just plug in an amp and test it. A more conservative user might test the impedance of the cabinet, or pull off the back to take a look inside to make sure the wiring is intact. One thing to be careful about, is to make sure that the amp you will plug into this cabinet is compatible with regard to impedance. In other words, if you have an amp that has a minimum of a 4 ohm load, and it's already hooked up to a 4 ohm speaker, plugging in this cab may cause damage to the amp. If this doesn't make sense, you may wish to bring the cab to a local music store and ask the tech to take a look at it.

 

[Chris76]

That's why we have bandmates and husbands.

Aside from chores, sitting my brothers and sister, that was my dads explanation as to why I was born. I hauled equipment around 4 nights a week from the time I was 10 till he passed.

His 215 cab was VERY similar to this.

 

[TheReceder]

I see this is your first day on talkbass. Welcome.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I don’t think the older blackfaces had either of those.

Yes, they did.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Are the cabinet dimensions around 21″ x 32″ x 11-1/2″?

 

[dan1952]

The OP has been a member at TDPRI (Tele discussion page) for a long time. Don't be rude to her, please.

 

[SactoBass]

Hello!!!
Forgive me in advance. I don't play bass. I bought what I was told was a bass amp on the secondary market. I told the individual that there was nothing to plug into. After a difference of opinion I bought it thinking it was a vintage speaker. It is actually a cabinet without an amp. Its a fender vintage cabinet with the fender logo underlined. As far as I can see it was made between 1968 and 1974. Where is a good source of information??? Fender tried to help but couldn't. The serial number as far as I can determine is M 18020 or M16020. I have no clue as to whether it would work if had an amp. Or if it could be used for a fender guitar that isn't a bass. Would there be no treble or midrange?
What the heck is going on??? Any ideas??

Hello Fendergirl and welcome to Talkbass!

I think what you have there is a vintage Bassman cab. Beach Boys bassist Brian Wilson (and many other bassists of that era) played through a cab like that. The cab was usually driven by a 50 watt Fender Bassman tube amp, such as shown in this pic:

 

[wmhill]

I used to put Fender logos on my Silvertone cabs to impress people

I had a Peavey cab that i put a Ford emblem on ..... just so folks didn't know I had a Peavey