Bassman! (awesome!)

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:00 am

I just bought a Bassman! Awesome! It's a Bassman 10 (fuck yeah yeah fuck yeah?) that had been modified into a head. The whole thing looks brand new (since it's a new head cabinet) and sounds great. I've played around with it a bit, and it sounds great when pushed a little using my LPB-1. Right now it's set up with my friend's Marshall MG cab, but I'm looking for a 215 refrigerator cab to use with it.

Anyways, I like it a lot, but I've got one little problem. It's set up right now with a 2 prong AC cable, which scares me a bit. I need to fix this soon, right? I don't want to get electrocuted! Does anyone know how to do this? Do I need to take it in? I know how to solder, and verrrry basic electronics. can I just get a three prong and throw the third to any chassis ground?

Please, someone explain this to me in the simplest ways possible. Hopefully with some very clear pictures.

Thanks guys, you've never failed me before, don't let me down!

Oh, pics.

chisa · Post by **chisa** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:08 am

tech, don't anger the gods of electricity

those american plugs WTF, they are very insubstantial

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:12 am

I could do it. I could explain it. I wouldn't try it without someone looking over yr shoulder, though. Shit is proper dangerous.

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:19 am

I'm thinking of taking it to work and letting one of the guys there look at it. I work at a place that rents out sound gear, and we have a repair guy who knows a lot more about electronics, but we never deal with any sort of tubes. If he's confident about it I might have him take a look, but we'd have to do it on our own time, my boss can be a proper asshole.

Duo, can you explain it to me, then? If I know what needs to be done, and my friend uses his smarts to not get us killed, we could probably do it.

Or maybe I ought to just see a tech. Any idea how much this would cost? I know it's a standard procedure.

Thanks for the quick responses!

chisa · Post by **chisa** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:21 am

it would cost very little and be a very quick job to someone who knows what they are doing

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:22 am

well, looks like you have it easy, seems it was a two prong then converted to three, and then the ground was ripped out.
slice off that head(the plug in part, male)
go to the hard ware store and scource a 3 pronger.
remember which wires go where and don't be afried to look at a wiring diagram to be sure.
simple install the neck one with solder and heat shrink.
wrap it really well and you are on your way.

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:29 am

Awesome, that's what I wanted to hear. I do repair work myself at work all the time. I've repaired power plenty of times, and I can even buy one from my company. Hopefully this means the problem is solved, I'll be bringing it in when I go to work on Thursday to take a look.

Thanks chisa for the help, too. If I can't do it myself, it's nice to know that it won't cost too much, though the techs around here always overcharge. There are really only two nearby, and they work for the big stores like Guitar Center, so they charge a lot, take forever, and you never actually get to see them face to face.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:00 am

That's a wicked amp. Lovely to see the setup too.

How's it all sounding? I would get a ground added by a tech, I don't like to monkey with high voltage at the moment.

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:20 pm

That's true, the ground may have just been pulled off the plug. Look inside and see if there are 3 wires coming out of the power cord. There should be a black and white connected to the transformer and a green connected to the chassis.

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:21 pm

The sound is great. There's a bit of buzz, but that could be from the grounding issue, or because I only have single coils in my guitars. What's worse than the buzz is the audible POP every time I touch a grounded area on the guitar - is that because suddenly all the stored up extra energy is being shot through my body into ground?

But more importantly, it sounds like a Bassman. Powerful as hell, stays clean all the way up to ten on the preamp, (could be because of low output on my Telecaster and Bronco, I haven't gotten a chance to use it with my Univox with P90's) but I actually get some power amp distortion when I crank that. What I really like is to push it with the booster, and I can quickly get some very natural sounding tube distortion. Mix that with a little touch of the RAT, and I get a really strong chunky overdrive. Cleans are great, too, but I like to keep the booster on and roll off the volume on the guitar to get at least a bit of breakup that I can control with my picking hand.

I do miss the reverb from my Twin, but I just ordered a Marshall RF-1 from Musician's Friend's sale they have going right now. Won't be shipped until late March, though. Oh well, that'll give me some more time to get to know the amp as it is now.

EDIT: Oh, and the Shiva sounds great, too. My Twin couldn't handle the strong low end that came out of it (that amp was always finicky about low end response) but this one seems really suited to it.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:28 pm

Sounds fierce. Enjoy yer new amp

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:35 pm

Thanks, I definitely am. I should have never told my girlfriend about it, either, because now she gets nervous every time I plug it in.

I cut a little section out of the cord to see what's what. Here's what we get.

Looks like it's got the third cord for ground. As long as green goes back the chassis, it ought to be an easy fix.

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:12 pm

Yep. Black goes to the smaller paddle on the plug, white to the larger, green to ground.

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:44 am

Fix'd!

I did this at work today, no problem at all. All the problems are gone now. Thanks everyone for helping!

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:45 am

chisa wrote:tech, don't anger the gods of electricity

those american plugs WTF, they are very insubstantial

How's that for a real man's plug, btw?

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:19 am

awsome!
its good that you got this sorted yourself and didn't have to blow 100 bucks at some inferior amp tech shop for the same or lesser quility of a repair, bravo!

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:26 am

what kind of crazy ass colouring for electrics is that? I know you guys have freedoms and stuff...but you loose at the colour coding of electrics. I thought that shit would of been universal.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:40 am

No blue/stripey/brown in the land of the red, white and blue.

*buffs cubs electrician's badge*

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:30 pm

Well you, see, umm... you know... er, the green you see represents the ground because.... well... you know... um... it's green. Like. The earth, you see? umm... and well... the earth is a ground, right? Yes, and umm... the white is...

No, I give up. I really don't think that people were thinking when they made this stuff. Like the metric/standard systems. Everyone knows metric is better, but us American Patriots are so used to our own (flawed) system, why would we ever change?

JamesSmann · Post by **JamesSmann** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:05 pm

Hurb wrote:what kind of crazy ass colouring for electrics is that? I know you guys have freedoms and stuff...but you loose at the colour coding of electrics. I thought that shit would of been universal.

i think what ends up happening is the cumulative effects of all this freedom ends up killing brain cells like cocaine.

or

electricians are all massive coke fiends and they can't get anything right.