Members doc oc Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 Anyone know anything about the Rivera era bassman 20 (82-83) other than it is super rare? Anyone actually played one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 It's probably point to point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratocaster202 Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 It's expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Drak Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 You could go to the FDP (www.fenderforum.com), and look up Stratopastor, he has been collecting data on all things Fender Rivera for many years. If anyone knows, he knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 Closest thing I've played through is a Champ II. Exact same power amp and the preamp is 80-90% the same was well. The differences is the Champ II is Master Volume amp and designed to get some preamp overdrive going. The Bassman 20 is built a little more like a vintage amp, to get the preamp sizzling, you have to crank it, which will also get the power tubes going as well. And the Bassman 20 has a 15" speaker. Otherwise nice circuits, not my thing, but there are people who love the Rivera's, solid in the fender tone camp, but a little more rock oriented than the BF/SF amps. It's a matter of personal taste. It should be traditional eyelet-board construction, I think all rivera-era amps were. Joining the FDP is a futile, short-lived exercise, everyone gets banned at the drop of a hat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SPONGEBOB Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 Can't speak about the Bassman, but I have owned 5 other Rivera Fenders.. 2-Fender 140 heads 1-Fender 75 1x 15 Combo 2 Fender Princeton Reverb II 1x12 combo They are good tube amps.. nothing special.. Last of the point to point Fenders... They DO NOT sound as good as a Good Silverface or Blackface amp IMHO... They are loud and powerful, but a lot of that "classic Fender" tone is just not there... IMHO you are WAY better off with a good Silverface or BF Bassman,.. If you want an authentic Bassman sound, just buy a "real" Bassman. The Rivera Fender were good amps, but NOT as good as the older models.. Not even that close really.. bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 4, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 It's expensive How expensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shaun126 Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 Ok little amp, doesnt get too loud. Sold mine for $400, if you pay more, you are paying too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members akapuli Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 I seriously considered buying one and convert it to mini piggyback set, but then no. It just wasn't loud enough, but sounded nice. I had the Super Champ, Twin II and now I bought the Champ II. They are much better amps than those Fender is trying to advertise today in the smaller range. Zero noise floor. But on the other hand, they don't have the BF clean we all like, more like kind of Rivera interpretation of the BF + tweed tones with the mid-boost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 My advice would be this: If you play through one locally and dig it and think it will be loud enough for your purposes, go for it. They are as easy to repair as any point to point Fender. But the Rivera era stuff in general is unique unto itself among Fender. If you keep them clean, I don't feel they are a radical departure from the Blackface and Silverface amps, but they have a couple unique features. If you haven't played through a Rivera amp or a Rivera-era Fender, imagine if a Blackface had a baby with a circa 1980 Mesa Boogie. There are folks that LOVE the actual Rivera era amps and the red knob Fenders that were actually his design, but they have more detractors than advocates. On the other hand, you can get great deals from time to time. Silverface Twins usually go for around $600 - $900 or so and I got a perfectly functional Twin II for the equivalent of $400. That's a lot of loud Fendery goodness for $400. Maybe not quite Blackface goodness, but when's the last time you saw a $400 Blackface Twin? I have seen two of those Bassman 20s lately and two Bassman Bantams which is kind of weird because I had never seen either of them before this year and I've been looking at Fender amps for over 25 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 4, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 How different is the circuit from a deluxe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dixie789456 Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 i have a '78 bassman 10. 75 watts of pure PTP tube goodness and 4X10....... and they can be had for under 5 bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GreaserMatt Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 They only made like 500 of those; great as a collector piece/home practice amp. Not sure how loud they are though. It's on my 'list', lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted December 4, 2009 Members Share Posted December 4, 2009 How different is the circuit from a deluxe? I've never played either a Deluxe II or a Bassman 20, but I've played plenty of Blackface and Silverface Bassmans and Deluxes both original and reissues. In general, the Deluxe is going to give you Blackface tone, but at reasonable volume levels compared to a Twin. The Bassman starts sounding quite a bit like a Marshall once you get it to break up. Having said that, according to Ampwares.com, the Bassman 20 and te Deluxe II circuits looks somewhat similar. Not identical, but similar. I'd still expect the Bassman 20 to be about vintage Marshall type breakup while a Blackface, Silver or reissue Deluxe to be about clean Fendery tones, capable of breakup, rather than BEING about breakup. Most people don't realize how similar the Bassman circuit is to earlier Marshalls. If you plug a Les Paul into a 1970 - 1985 Bassman and run almost any sort of boost in front of it, most folks would think it was a Marshall rather than a Fender. Just throwing that out there. The Bassman is definitely a cool amp, but I doubt many folks that have played through both many times intentionally cross shop the Bassman with a Deluxe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 I've never played either a Deluxe II or a Bassman 20, but I've played plenty of Blackface and Silverface Bassmans and Deluxes both original and reissues. In general, the Deluxe is going to give you Blackface tone, but at reasonable volume levels compared to a Twin. The Bassman starts sounding quite a bit like a Marshall once you get it to break up. Having said that, according to Ampwares.com, the Bassman 20 and te Deluxe II circuits looks somewhat similar. Not identical, but similar. I'd still expect the Bassman 20 to be about vintage Marshall type breakup while a Blackface, Silver or reissue Deluxe to be about clean Fendery tones, capable of breakup, rather than BEING about breakup. Most people don't realize how similar the Bassman circuit is to earlier Marshalls. If you plug a Les Paul into a 1970 - 1985 Bassman and run almost any sort of boost in front of it, most folks would think it was a Marshall rather than a Fender. Just throwing that out there. The Bassman is definitely a cool amp, but I doubt many folks that have played through both many times intentionally cross shop the Bassman with a Deluxe. Fair enough. I just figured low wattage blackface circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted December 5, 2009 Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 Fair enough. I just figured low wattage blackface circuit. And again, I want to make it clear, I've never played a Bassman 20. For all I know, it sounds a lot more like a 'Deluxe but with less controls' than it does a typical Bassman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SPONGEBOB Posted December 5, 2009 Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 The Riveras are good amps, not knocking them, but they just don't sound like a "real" Fender.. Got thier own sound.. Half Fender, 30% nondescript tube amp, 20% Mesa... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 The major appeal to me is a low wattage fender with a 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted December 5, 2009 Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 I've never played either a Deluxe II or a Bassman 20, but I've played plenty of Blackface and Silverface Bassmans and Deluxes both original and reissues. In general, the Deluxe is going to give you Blackface tone, but at reasonable volume levels compared to a Twin. The Bassman starts sounding quite a bit like a Marshall once you get it to break up. Having said that, according to Ampwares.com, the Bassman 20 and te Deluxe II circuits looks somewhat similar. Not identical, but similar. I'd still expect the Bassman 20 to be about vintage Marshall type breakup while a Blackface, Silver or reissue Deluxe to be about clean Fendery tones, capable of breakup, rather than BEING about breakup. Most people don't realize how similar the Bassman circuit is to earlier Marshalls. If you plug a Les Paul into a 1970 - 1985 Bassman and run almost any sort of boost in front of it, most folks would think it was a Marshall rather than a Fender. Just throwing that out there. The Bassman is definitely a cool amp, but I doubt many folks that have played through both many times intentionally cross shop the Bassman with a Deluxe. There seems to be a lot of jumping around about the name here. First off, the tweed Bassman was the basis for the Marshall JTM-45. The Tweed Fenders and BF/SF Fenders have very little in common, design-wise or tone-wise with either the tweed Bassman or a Marshall, you may think they sound like one, but they are big step away from the tweed/Marshall design and no where near as close as several tweed models. Second, this is a Bassman 20, it has absolutely nothing in common with any previous Bassman amp except the name. 100% different circuit. This was, for all practical purposes a practice bass amp based on the Champ II circuit. To tell anyone shopping for a Bassman 20 that they should buy a BF/SF Bassman head is as big a leap as recommend the Bassman 20 to anyone shopping for a BF Bassman head. Come on people just because it says "Bassman" doesn't mean it has anything to do with the rest of the line. Nor does the Tweed Bassman have anything to do with the heads that followed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 There seems to be a lot of jumping around about the name here. First off, the tweed Bassman was the basis for the Marshall JTM-45. The Tweed Fenders and BF/SF Fenders have very little in common, design-wise or tone-wise with either the tweed Bassman or a Marshall, you may think they sound like one, but they are big step away from the tweed/Marshall design and no where near as close as several tweed models. Second, this is a Bassman 20, it has absolutely nothing in common with any previous Bassman amp except the name. 100% different circuit. This was, for all practical purposes a practice bass amp based on the Champ II circuit. To tell anyone shopping for a Bassman 20 that they should buy a BF/SF Bassman head is as big a leap as recommend the Bassman 20 to anyone shopping for a BF Bassman head. Come on people just because it says "Bassman" doesn't mean it has anything to do with the rest of the line. Nor does the Tweed Bassman have anything to do with the heads that followed. I'm with you. Thanks for the informative post as always Wyatt. I just closed with the guy. Meeting tomorrow morning to pick it up. I'll post some impressions. Apparently it is a sealed cab which I imagine will make it quite a bit darker than most fender guitar amps but I won't know till I actually play it. If nothing else, I see myself recording a little bass on it or plugging it into a cab for raunchy guitar sounds without earbleed. I can't really imagine going wrong with 18 watts of PTP fender but we shall see. For the price I'm paying, I figure I can always turn around and sell it for a quick buck and since these are pretty scarce I would rather shoot first and ask questions later. $200 and an EHX tube zipper sound fair to you guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 Opinions anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted December 5, 2009 Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 Hell yeah, I would have done that deal as well... or at least I would have gone to check it out. If my defense Wyatt, I admitted that I had never played the Bassman 20 but the OP asked about how the Bassman 20 would compare to a Deluxe and I still would suggest that a most Bassman amps that I've played through - Silverface, Blackface and Reissue - have more in common tone-wise with lower gain Marshalls than they do with the 'Fender tone' we usually expect from Silverfaces and Blackfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted December 5, 2009 Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 Hell yeah, I would have done that deal as well... or at least I would have gone to check it out. If my defense Wyatt, I admitted that I had never played the Bassman 20 but the OP asked about how the Bassman 20 would compare to a Deluxe and I still would suggest that a most Bassman amps that I've played through - Silverface, Blackface and Reissue - have more in common tone-wise with lower gain Marshalls than they do with the 'Fender tone' we usually expect from Silverfaces and Blackfaces. You post wasn't the only one to compare apple and orange Bassman, my comment was more general. The BF/SF Bassman heads retain the cathode-follower of the tweeds (the reverb combos did not) which is why they can be more aggressive. But otherwise it still has the scooped mids BF tone stack. The lack fo a Middle control to cut mids further is what gives the Bassman and Deluxe Reverb their reputation as being more midrange-heavy than the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 I learn something every time I read a post from you two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted December 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2009 Okay. I just picked it up this am. This amp is amazing. It sounds VERY blackface unless you crank the mid knob. Beautiful articulate bass. Not as much overdrive as I had thought but, I'm about to change all that with some pedals. Cya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.