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THE BASSMEN - fender bassman players

echodeluxe

By echodeluxe
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blackba Newbie

blackba

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Allrighty then, I just paid for a 68 Bassman head, AB 165, this morning I was reading that this was not a great circuit for guitar players. Oh well, I guess I'll find out in a week or so.

 

 

Not sure where you read that, but my '68 Silverface bassman with that circuit sounds great.

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skipstar59 Newbie

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what are you Bassman head guys using for cabs and speakers?



Right now I'm having a blown Celestion V-30 reconed and made into a 4 ohm speaker and loaded into a Mesa 1x12 cab. I can use it with my Bassman heads as well a my new Sewell Blistertone 35 amp head. The Sewell has 4,8,& 16 ohm speaker taps. I think I'm going to get away from my Fender combos and go with the heads for a while. I like the idea of just having to transport a head. I'll leave the speaker cab in the band trailer and won't have to lug it back and forth.:)

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blackba Newbie

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Right now I'm having a blown Celestion V-30 reconed and made into a 4 ohm speaker and loaded into a Mesa 1x12 cab. I can use it with my Bassman heads as well a my new Sewell Blistertone 35 amp head. The Sewell has 4,8,& 16 ohm speaker taps. I think I'm going to get away from my Fender combos and go with the heads for a while. I like the idea of just having to transport a head. I'll leave the speaker cab in the band trailer and won't have to lug it back and forth.
:)

 

That's a big reason I like heads and cabs. Wtih a stable of 112, 212, and 412 cabs I can choose what I need and am willing to haul.

 

I am thinking of going even smaller with a Champion 600 reissue miced. I have a keyboard amp behind me already, I will just mic it into that.:D

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Singin' Dave Newbie

Singin' Dave

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OK....I'll play by adding a picture of my '67 blackline SF and a brief story of a ridiculous score I had just yesterday. First the pic of my '67 head w/ my v30 loaded TopHat cab which I've wired to run at 4ohms or 16 ohms:

BassmanTopHat.jpg

I bought the head for $280 and the cab for $250 on separate craigslist deals...

But this is NOTHING compared to the craigslist bassman deal I scored yesterday....

a '65 BF bassman head and matching '65 2x12 cabinet for $200!! Insane!!

Don't want to make the Bassmen here too jealous, but this was a once in forever piece of luck. Here's the story....if you have the time.

I do my regular afternoon craigslist check at my office and see as the second listing from the top "SilverFace Bassman and Cab - $200". Well of course I'm all over checking that out. Open up the decription and the somewhat out of focus picture is obviously of a BF bassman and cab in apparently pretty good shape. Send email as fast as possible....

Within the description, the owner stated that the head was not working - powered up, tubes glowed but no signal. Her assumption was that something was wrong with the circuit etc. but she really had no idea and was cleaning out her basement and the thing hadn't been played for over 20 years so "anything could be wrong with it".

Get a call from her and she says - yep...it's still available because "I just listed it!" Turns out she lives 3 miles from where I work. I tell her I'll be over in 20 mins w/cash in hand.

So I'm driving over there like a madman, thinking this is just too good to be true and someone is going to beat me to the punch on this one. Get blocked by an accident, rerouted and stuck in traffic. "ARRRGGHHHH. Move Motha!!"

I'm also debating if I should tell her what this thing is really worth, but not knowing how much work it'll need and knowing how much a full cap job etc. costs etc. I figure I better hold off on the nobility a bit.

Anyway, I get to her place about 40 minutes after I talked to her by phone and she has the amp and cab in her garage. Cosmetically in great shape, only a few very small blemishes w. some tolex coming up lightly in a couple spots, but actually pretty amazing shape for a 40+ yr old amp. While I'm looking at it, this woman explains how these amps would go for ~$800 in working shape, but this one doesn't work and she has no idea why and they are moving and she has to get rid of it today. "Cool" I think to myself - she does know "approximately" the worth so I don't need to go there.

Needless to say, I can't get the 10 jacksons out of my hand fast enough and get this thing into my car. Hustling back to my rehearsal space with a big smile on my face, I'm wondering how much it'll cost to repair. Load it in and start testing.

First thing I do is pull out my '67 bassman head and cab above and connect the 67 head to the "new" 65 cab just to see how it sounds before I open it up. No sound. Hmmmm. OK, somethings wrong with the cab too. Then it dawns on me - maybe she tested out the head with this cab and its the CAB that's busted not the head. But then again, maybe not.

So I take the 65 head and plug it into my TopHat cab. Holding my breath, I take the bassman off standby and..... BANG, I hear the light hiss of a working amplifier!! Plug in my Heritage LP and let her rip. SWEET Bassman TONE! ACK! The head works!

I do notice that the normal channel is really soft until I basically dime it where it jumps up a bit, but nothing like my '67, so I may still need to cap it etc. Bass channel HOWLS though, so I start to look through the amp, pulling and swapping some pre-amp tubes (all nice old USA tubes in it still!) since the 6L6's seem to look fine.

AHA!! There it is - a 12AU7 in the V3 normal channel driver. Pull out a NOS RCA 12AX7a I have lying around, turn her on again, and again hold my breath as I take it off standby.

and don't you know it - she roars to life! All the volume of my '67, with slightly nicer tone and creamy breakup! The amp works just FINE!! Go for short walk with fists pumping.

About 20 screws later I open up the cab, and it looks like original Eminence speakers, but the jack is a bit worn and the speaker wire is loose and off one speaker. Holy crap, I think, the cab may just need to be connected right and I could be in complete business with minimal work! Try to hook up the speakers using just the wire (no solder etc. at hand) and still no workie....hmmm OK. I'm taking the cab into my tech.

Right now both the head and the cab are in the shop. I took them right over before I could snap any pix. The head is just getting checked out for any hidden probs and a 3-prong installed (still had original two prong cord which I am saving) and the cab is getting tested speaker wise and wired up.

UPDATE: Finally snapped a few pictures of the '65. Look how clean!

RSpace121307004.jpg
RSpace121307006.jpg
RSpace121307018.jpg

tag says AA165 - but who knows

Anyway - I'm beside myself ..an unreal deal. So I may sell the '67, but probably not as the beat up '67 will likely remain the gig amp while the '65 will be used for recording etc.

Rock On Bassmen!!

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The Chinese Newbie

The Chinese

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HAHAHAHA here's me at this years Burning Man festival...You can see my '66 in the background. Played into a Fender 2x12 that's bee re-loaded with Greenbacks. {censored}ing amazing tone, and the thing kicked some major ass. Used a Keeley TS, Fulltone OCD as my main Dist units. My tone kicked ass.

 

hehehehehehe

 

FUNK.jpg

P1010005.jpg

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Electric Catfish Newbie

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OK....I'll play by adding a picture of my '67 blackline SF and a brief story of a ridiculous score I had just yesterday. First the pic of my '67 head w/ my v30 loaded TopHat cab which I've wired to run at 4ohms or 16 ohms:


BassmanTopHat.jpg

I bought the head for $280 and the cab for $250 on separate craigslist deals...


But this is NOTHING compared to the craigslist bassman deal I scored yesterday....


a '65 BF bassman head and matching '65 2x12 cabinet for $200!! Insane!!


Don't want to make the Bassmen here too jealous, but this was a once in forever piece of luck. Here's the story....if you have the time.


I do my regular afternoon craigslist check at my office and see as the second listing from the top "SilverFace Bassman and Cab - $200". Well of course I'm all over checking that out. Open up the decription and the somewhat out of focus picture is obviously of a BF bassman and cab in apparently pretty good shape. Send email as fast as possible....


Within the description, the owner stated that the head was not working - powered up, tubes glowed but no signal. Her assumption was that something was wrong with the circuit etc. but she really had no idea and was cleaning out her basement and the thing hadn't been played for over 20 years so "anything could be wrong with it".


Get a call from her and she says - yep...it's still available because "I just listed it!" Turns out she lives 3 miles from where I work. I tell her I'll be over in 20 mins w/cash in hand.


So I'm driving over there like a madman, thinking this is just too good to be true and someone is going to beat me to the punch on this one. Get blocked by an accident, rerouted and stuck in traffic. "ARRRGGHHHH. Move Motha!!"


I'm also debating if I should tell her what this thing is really worth, but not knowing how much work it'll need and knowing how much a full cap job etc. costs etc. I figure I better hold off on the nobility a bit.


Anyway, I get to her place about 40 minutes after I talked to her by phone and she has the amp and cab in her garage. Cosmetically in great shape, only a few very small blemishes w. some tolex coming up lightly in a couple spots, but actually pretty amazing shape for a 40+ yr old amp. While I'm looking at it, this woman explains how these amps would go for ~$800 in working shape, but this one doesn't work and she has no idea why and they are moving and she has to get rid of it today. "Cool" I think to myself - she does know "approximately" the worth so I don't need to go there.


Needless to say, I can't get the 10 jacksons out of my hand fast enough and get this thing into my car. Hustling back to my rehearsal space with a big smile on my face, I'm wondering how much it'll cost to repair. Load it in and start testing.


First thing I do is pull out my '67 bassman head and cab above and connect the 67 head to the "new" 65 cab just to see how it sounds before I open it up. No sound. Hmmmm. OK, somethings wrong with the cab too. Then it dawns on me - maybe she tested out the head with this cab and its the CAB that's busted not the head. But then again, maybe not.


So I take the 65 head and plug it into my TopHat cab. Holding my breath, I take the bassman off standby and..... BANG, I hear the light hiss of a working amplifier!! Plug in my Heritage LP and let her rip. SWEET Bassman TONE! ACK! The head works!


I do notice that the normal channel is really soft until I basically dime it where it jumps up a bit, but nothing like my '67, so I may still need to cap it etc. Bass channel HOWLS though, so I start to look through the amp, pulling and swapping some pre-amp tubes (all nice old USA tubes in it still!) since the 6L6's seem to look fine.


AHA!! There it is - a 12AU7 in the V3 normal channel driver. Pull out a NOS RCA 12AX7a I have lying around, turn her on again, and again hold my breath as I take it off standby.


and don't you know it - she roars to life! All the volume of my '67, with slightly nicer tone and creamy breakup! The amp works just FINE!! Go for short walk with fists pumping.


About 20 screws later I open up the cab, and it looks like original Eminence speakers, but the jack is a bit worn and the speaker wire is loose and off one speaker. Holy crap, I think, the cab may just need to be connected right and I could be in complete business with minimal work! Try to hook up the speakers using just the wire (no solder etc. at hand) and still no workie....hmmm OK. I'm taking the cab into my tech.


Right now both the head and the cab are in the shop. I took them right over before I could snap any pix. The head is just getting checked out for any hidden probs and a 3-prong installed (still had original two prong cord which I am saving) and the cab is getting tested speaker wise and wired up.


Anyway - I'm beside myself ..an unreal deal. So I may sell the '67, but probably not as the beat up '67 will likely remain the gig amp while the '65 will be used for recording etc.


Rock On Bassmen!!



Awesome score!

I thought my $90 '71/'72 head was a good deal.:eek:

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Radiohead, lol Newbie

Radiohead, lol

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great score :)

i spent the day playing my old SG through my SF bassman through a 4x12 with V30's....that's some nice tone right there.

also, i put some GT 6L6GE's in there...breaks up way to early now, even though I had it biased correctly.

not a bad thing in a way, but it's not that easy to get a clean sound.

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blackba1 Newbie

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OK....I'll play by adding a picture of my '67 blackline SF and a brief story of a ridiculous score I had just yesterday. First the pic of my '67 head w/ my v30 loaded TopHat cab which I've wired to run at 4ohms or 16 ohms:


 

 

Very nice score on that BF bassman. Its amazing how usually the small things are the issues. A loose jack, wrong tube, etc. Enjoy it:thu:

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