1976 Bassman 50

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:01 pm

i need to get some speaker cable first, its hissing and scratching occasionally through my 4x12 at 16 ohms, even when onlyl running 2x12 at 8 ohms
it should be fine to run it like that but it didn't do it on the bandmaster cab [albeit a proper 4 ohm cab] and also didn't occur on my friend's orange 2x12 at 8 ohms either, so i'll hold off a bit until i can get out and get some cable

Post by **Mike** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:41 pm

Hot Shit! I'm jealous.

That thing is a beauty. For a pedalhead such as yourself it's going to be a lush starting sound

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:04 pm

indeed it is Mike. I just put the box of cake through it and wow, new found love, especially with the boost section. I would love to hit it with a saltbooster if i'm off your "do not serve" list [joking of course]

caps don't look to be too expensive and the process seems simple enough. after looking through pat's picture tutorial i think i can handle it. I'll crack it open tonight and get some gut shots and a decent date for you guys.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:09 pm

You're not using a guitar lead are you? I would stop using it (as hard as that will be) until you have one.

Guitar cable + ohm mismatch = bad times.

Yeah you're back off the blacklist. I'm just chuffed you have a great amp now. Does the Jaguar sound lovely through it?

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:04 pm

Yeah, just a guitar patch. I know the implications but i just wanted to hear it through my cabinet. Some things on the list already though. New caps, including bias cap. Speaker cable. Possibly modding my cabinet for 4 ohm action. Will start looking into a bassman or band master cab in the down time

Post by **Mike** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:07 pm

I would stop now, seriously. Get yourself a proper cable and assess from there. If you hear weird noises then you'll have to get it looked at and maybe contact the seller if it's something untoward.

James · Post by **James** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:12 pm

I'd love to try a silverface with pedals. I've only ever played through a silverface bassman once and I loved it. It was on Denmark St and they wanted silly money for it. Something like Â£700 for the amp, Â£1400 for the cab with a matching cab. At the time an ampo the same age on ebay would sell for Â£350 regularly. Of course as soon as I got to buying the ebay market disappeared and I had to wait a while. The blackface came along and I picked it up.

I still wonder if a silverface like yours would suit me a little better. It's hard to compared the SF and BF versions because with the SF I didn't know what to expect and had a large 'I want this' reaction so it was almost like a honeymoon period without the purchase. The BF I'm now much more familiar with but I know it's a different sound. It's more than capable of sounding exactly like I want but it's hard not to wonder if there's a little bit of magic in a SF version that I haven't thought about.

I'd love to spend an afternoon doing some A/B tests on both bass and guitar.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:27 am

james, you will get to play my silver faced ab165 bassman at brofest, but it will probly be running thru an improper cab, so im not sure what the outcome will be like...

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:13 am

i don't know, i ran it through an 8 ohm orange 2x12 and it sounded just fine to me!

Opened up the amp and took some pics, also found the proper date: 1976

source: http://www.superiormusic.com/page195.htm

► Show Spoiler

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 2:53 am

robert(original) wrote:james, you will get to play my silver faced ab165 bassman at brofest, but it will probly be running thru an cougar 1000 cab, so the outcome will be... shite.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:34 am

well done haze, that amp looks the shiz and i bet it sounds fucking great too.

welcome to the big boys tube club, haze

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:51 am

James wrote:I'd love to try a silverface with pedals. I've only ever played through a silverface bassman once and I loved it. It was on Denmark St and they wanted silly money for it. Something like Â£700 for the amp, Â£1400 for the cab with a matching cab. At the time an ampo the same age on ebay would sell for Â£350 regularly. Of course as soon as I got to buying the ebay market disappeared and I had to wait a while. The blackface came along and I picked it up.

i reckon a silverface bassman will be my next amp purchase at some point down the line. need to do a bit more research though. the last one in my vicinity i saw for sale was a 135 with matching 2x15 cab (which is too big for me, in all honesty). think he wanted Â£600 for the pair.

James · Post by **James** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:54 am

The 135s go for a fair bit on ebay. I think the extra headroom makes them more attractive to bassists.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:03 am

Haze wrote:i don't know, i ran it through an 8 ohm orange 2x12 and it sounded just fine to me!

It's more of a "strain on the amp" thing rather than a totally audio thing.

But yeah, get a speaker cable. Using a guitar cable with a tube amp can be a fairly quick way to find yourself buying a new output transformer.

If you've got some chunky 2-core mains cable, a few 1/4" jacks and a soldering iron handy, use that. Just as good and beefy.

HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY

WIMPY WIMPY WIMPY

One of these can handle large currents and voltages with ease, the other can fail easily under such conditions and break yr shit.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:18 am

i'm thinking of replacing the speaker cable in my tweed, that thing is well thin and flimsy. would be surprised if that made things brighter.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:26 pm

lol, very true doog.
I'll run down to the local shop tomorrow and check out some speaker cable. Until then all will be quiet...

I'm thinking about flipping my 4x12 i just bought and building a 1x15 cabinet

possibly putting a reverb tank into it aswell... hmm...

Post by **Doog** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:43 pm

Sorry for the double parade piss, but you won't be able to put a reverb tank between your head and speaker- they wire in somewhere within the depths of the amp.

nomorebridge · Post by **nomorebridge** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:10 pm

Like this Reverb?

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:59 pm

nah i was thinking more like a pre-amp tube reverb or something like that. neat product though

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 12:46 am

or you could just continue to use that rv-7 you're always raving about...