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Fender Bandmaster Q


Fingermush

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Anybody heard about these? I just picked up an '67 Bandmaster & was wondering what would be a good speaker combination for it. Currently I'm using the 15" JBL d130 in my mesa mk II, but I can't haul around my mesa (it's hardwood & I don;t want it to get all messed up). I kinda like the sound of a 15" but I was wondering if anyone has any input on different 12"s. So juat kind of speaker cab should I get for this thing?

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The original cab is a 2x12 if that helps. Fender made 2 different 2x12's for the Bandmaster. One is normal looking and the other has the speakers in the corners of the box and looks goofy as can be.

 

When I got my Bandmaster, the cab was empty. I put some Jensen C12R's in it because I had them around, but they probably aren't high enough wattage. So I upgraded to C12N's. Nice sounding speaker.

 

Sorry that isn't terribly informative, but it depends on what kind of music you play too.

 

-Zach Omega

 

 

Originally posted by Fingermush

Anybody heard about these? I just picked up an '67 Bandmaster & was wondering what would be a good speaker combination for it. Currently I'm using the 15" JBL d130 in my mesa mk II, but I can't haul around my mesa (it's hardwood & I don;t want it to get all messed up). I kinda like the sound of a 15" but I was wondering if anyone has any input on different 12"s. So juat kind of speaker cab should I get for this thing?

 

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no, any input is greatly appreciated. I haven't tried it with 12s yet. I have two 8ohm emnence speakers in my bassment that I'll wire up parallel & see if that works. If not I might look into getting a 4ohm 15" as I really like the sound of the JBl d130 with it.

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serousy try it with 12's. i had 65 and it was amzing. It had the matching box with the original speakers. i dont know much about speakers only that when i played it through another fender cab with 15's it lost all it's break up.

 

the 12's with any hollowbody on about 5 sounded amazing.

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I've owned a couple of Showmans and I love them...but the smaller Fenders really do it for me. I don't see the sense in deafening myself every time I want to get some good tone.

 

The Showmans came in a host of cab options. There was a 1x12 and a 1x15...I believe (although I could be wrong about the 12") they both came with tone rings which were supposed to accentuate the bass. I can assure you that this actually works. I used to have the 1x15 with my 1965 Showman.

 

The Dual Showman didn't have the tone ring. Instead it had 2 15" speakers in the same size cabinet as the single showman cab.

 

Later the single showman was ended and the dual showman cabs became even larger. Think stupid large.

 

While I love 15's for guitar, I think the Bandmaster really will sound its best with the 12's. But that is of course all dependent upon the type of cab (open or closed back) as well as the speakers themselves.

 

-Zach Omega

 

 

Originally posted by Fingermush

there's a shop here in Reno that might have a Showman cab & I know they still have a bandmaster cab (blond).


what ohmage are those d140fs? edit: oh right 8ohms, nevermind.


I also have a '66 showman, but I actually like the bandmaster better.

 

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Originally posted by ZachOmega

The original cab is a 2x12 if that helps. Fender made 2 different 2x12's for the Bandmaster. One is normal looking and the other has the speakers in the corners of the box and looks goofy as can be.


When I got my Bandmaster, the cab was empty. I put some Jensen C12R's in it because I had them around, but they probably aren't high enough wattage. So I upgraded to C12N's. Nice sounding speaker.


Sorry that isn't terribly informative, but it depends on what kind of music you play too.


-Zach Omega

 

 

Heh. My Bandmaster 2x12's got C12N's. I think it contributes a LOT to the sound. When I got my first tube Fender head, I immediately got Jensens - I guess I thought I was 'supposed' to use them. As far as I can tell, I was right.

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I've never heard of this...And true or not...a total pain in the ass since Fender required you to have a footswitch or something to short out the rca jack in order to make the tremolo...err...sorry Leo...Vibrato work.

 

Another trick to get your Vintage Fender to break up earlier (as I have posted a couple of times in various threads) is to pick a channel that you use...If you bridge channels, stop reading now...Which reminds me, bridging channels is fine on the non reverb models, but on the reverb models your signals are out of phase so they actually cancel...which can lead to some cool tones, but will not increase your gain...anyway, pick a channel you use...if you use the non effect channel like me :D remove the second preamp tube working right to left...If you use the effect channel, remove the preamp tube to the far right. Since these tubes share a common cathode resistor and cap on the second gain stage, the bias point on the second gain stage is lowered resulting in more gain and a more midrangey kind of sound.

 

Another option for more gain is to use a 12ax7 for the phase inverter instead of a 12at7...perhaps you can use the 12ax7 that you just removed in the previous paragraph. ;) Although I suppose if you don't use tremolo, you could always remove the tremolo tube and use that for the PI tube.

 

Another trick for more clarity/midrange on the effect channel is if you don't use the tremolo disconnect the ldr from the signal path. Even when off, it presents a large shunt resistance which kills some signal and dulls the sound of that channel.

 

And for those of you who want to have your cake and eat it too...If you have a reverb amp but like me find that the reverb channel sounds kind of anemic, you can plug into the normal channel and crank the reverb control. The vibrations from the amp will send a small signal through the reverb pan in the form of acoustic feedback. This small signal will then be amplified through the reverb recovery stage giving you a reverb sound while you are playing into the non reverb channel. The bad news is that this is subtle and the effect increases with volume. Additionally, if you have microphonic tubes/reverb tubes particularly, you will get squeals and other bad noises.

 

Have fun! ;)

 

-Zach Omega

 

Originally posted by hbar

I've got a '65 with the 2x12. Little known fact is that the vibrato eats up about 5W, so you if you're not going to use the vibrato, turn it on and zero both knobs to get the thing to break up a little sooner.

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Totally true. You can hear the volume drop when you kick in the trem, even with both knobs zeroed out. Not to be confused with the typical perceived volume drop associated to tremolo pedals.

 

 

 

Originally posted by ZachOmega

I've never heard of this...And true or not...a total pain in the ass since Fender required you to have a footswitch or something to short out the rca jack in order to make the tremolo...err...sorry Leo...Vibrato work.


 

 

I've never bridged the channels...what exactly do you need to do?

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To bridge the channels, you plug your guitar into one input...and then run a small patch cable from the other input on that channel to one of the inputs on the other channel.

 

Note that when you plug into the second input on any of the channels, the input resistance increases lowering the gain of that channel...SO...Try plugging into different inputs and see which you like best if any at all. This is common practice on a Marshall Plexi style amp to get the best of both worlds. That is the bass of the normal channel and the top end of the bright channel.

 

-Zach Omega

 

 

Originally posted by hbar

Totally true. You can hear the volume drop when you kick in the trem, even with both knobs zeroed out. Not to be confused with the typical perceived volume drop associated to tremolo pedals.





I've never bridged the channels...what exactly do you need to do?

 

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Also, I completely believe that tremolo dropping the volume. The tremolo switch on Fender amps basically starts up the oscillator circuitry. When an amp has a parasitic oscillation (most unwanted) this can kill virtually all of the power in the amp. I just never noticed since I don't have a footswitch for either of my Fender amps nor do I use the onboard tremolo.

 

-Zach Omega

P.S. My shoe just fell apart. :(

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haha...The closest I come to silverface is a Bassman 100 that I completely gutted and am slowly rebuilding into a custom amp. Nobody is crying over this one. It had literally caught fire before I bought it.

 

My other Fenders are all blackface...1965 Bandmaster and 1966 Tremolux. Sadly I no longer have my 1964 or 1965 Showman nor my 1966 Princeton.

 

-Zach Omega

 

 

Originally posted by hbar

I told you silverface sucks.

 

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Sounds like we all like our old Bandmasters! :D With my '65, I use a 4x10 cabinet w/ new Jensens and I really like it. I've also tried running the two channels into an A/B box, with my dirt pedals and other fx in one channel. It sounds really cool when you combine both channels if you have a distortion box going, it smooths the signal out and sounds beautifully full.

So good to know that there are many others out there that enjoy the oft-overlooked Bandmaster! :wave:

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I have a '68 bandmaster Reverb, great amp. I run it through a '62 Bandmaster 212 cab (smaller one) with Weber 12A125's, light dope, alinco. Those speakers sound great.

 

There is another bandmaster 212 cab, that is very tall, I have never seen one in person, but it looks to be about as large as an Ampeg 810 bass cab:eek: Technically that is the cab that matches my amp.

 

Here's a link to a thread where I talk about what I have done to mine so far:

 

http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewtopic.php?t=53395&highlight=

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Awesome thx for the info, I've been reading Gerald WEber's Field guide to hip toob amps & I've been amazed at all the stuff I didn't know. I tried bridging the channels on the Showman before and really liked it. When I tested the bandmaster in the pawn shop I also bridged the channels & totally fell in luv with it. I doubt that I will have to pull any toobs as I get my tone from pedals, but I'll be damned if this amp doesn't make me want to just plug & play. it sounds that good & w/o the showmans blistering headroom.

 

EDIT: ANOTHER TRICK TO CONSIDER. I have a 70's Electro harmonix switchbalde that allows for Channel switching between the Normal & Vibrato channel. also it has a switch that allows for the selection of one channel or both at the same time. So I should check that out to.:cool:

 

 

Originally posted by ZachOmega

I've never heard of this...And true or not...a total pain in the ass since Fender required you to have a footswitch or something to short out the rca jack in order to make the tremolo...err...sorry Leo...Vibrato work.


Another trick to get your Vintage Fender to break up earlier (as I have posted a couple of times in various threads) is to pick a channel that you use...If you bridge channels, stop reading now...Which reminds me, bridging channels is fine on the non reverb models, but on the reverb models your signals are out of phase so they actually cancel...which can lead to some cool tones, but will not increase your gain...anyway, pick a channel you use...if you use the non effect channel like me
:D
remove the second preamp tube working right to left...If you use the effect channel, remove the preamp tube to the far right. Since these tubes share a common cathode resistor and cap on the second gain stage, the bias point on the second gain stage is lowered resulting in more gain and a more midrangey kind of sound.


Another option for more gain is to use a 12ax7 for the phase inverter instead of a 12at7...perhaps you can use the 12ax7 that you just removed in the previous paragraph.
;)
Although I suppose if you don't use tremolo, you could always remove the tremolo tube and use that for the PI tube.


Another trick for more clarity/midrange on the effect channel is if you don't use the tremolo disconnect the ldr from the signal path. Even when off, it presents a large shunt resistance which kills some signal and dulls the sound of that channel.


And for those of you who want to have your cake and eat it too...If you have a reverb amp but like me find that the reverb channel sounds kind of anemic, you can plug into the normal channel and crank the reverb control. The vibrations from the amp will send a small signal through the reverb pan in the form of acoustic feedback. This small signal will then be amplified through the reverb recovery stage giving you a reverb sound while you are playing into the non reverb channel. The bad news is that this is subtle and the effect increases with volume. Additionally, if you have microphonic tubes/reverb tubes particularly, you will get squeals and other bad noises.


Have fun!
;)

-Zach Omega

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