Fender Bassman - what to buy?

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:11 pm

I'm going to be coming into some cash at the end of the month due to a backdated pay rise so i'm thinking of taking Haze's advice and getting myself a Fender Bassman head. I don't know much about these amps other than they are apparently awesome clean amps. I assume silverfaces are cheaper than blackfaces so i'll probably end up with one of those, but can anyone tell what what to look for/not to look for, what they going rate for one is (in the UK that is), are they awesome for pedals and any other advice you can think of. A few listings on ebay at the moment for reference:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:22 pm

The first one looks alright. Mine is a 76 as well but mine has the Master Volume control that is either love it or hate it. Its a goofy circuit with an odd inverse feedback. Mine is the AA371 circuit which most people don't like for guitar but bassists love it. I love mine and the topology isn't too far off from the AA864 anyways. That one could just as easily be an AB165 though

I haven't read up on the 135s as i've only seen a few. I like the classic Fender fixed Middle frequency so I wouldn't bother with this one. Not to mention that the seller has listed poor pictures as well as very little detail. He's owned it for 10 years and only mentioned replacing the valves so i'm guessing it would need new electrolytic capacitors soon. Only think i know about these is that they were made around 1978-1983 and should be silverface amps. It certainly isn't an original blackface/pre cbs amplifier.

The Third one seems too high. I have no idea what the red rotary switch is on the back but its on the 135 as well. Â£500 seems steep for a starting bid, even with a 2x10 cab. Even so, I'd recommend a 2x12 for guitar use. Likely to be an AB165 circuit. The odd rotary switch on the back and new lead makes me think its been monkeyed with and thats something i strayed away from when i looked into buying mine.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:03 am

Thanks for the info. I liked the look of the third one but agree that I think this guy has set his starting bid too high for it, I think he probably wants Â£500 for it but didn't want to pay the cost of having a reserve for that amount. From experience though, if he gets any bids at all he'll probably only get one for Â£500 and it'll get sold. I was a bit dubious about the first listing as the guy has no star rating, however if I pay with paypal and offer to collect i think everything should be ok.

Regarding the circuit numbers, if I ask these guys what the circuit numbers are and they have no clue what i'm talking about where can I tell them they can find them?

Post by **Mike** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:05 am

Third one way too expensive for a SF, you should be looking at Â£450 max max max.

Silverface Bassman heads I reckon should be placed between Â£300 and Â£450 depending on condition etc.

As for the other one, I think that's a less desirable 80s model. They are great with pedals though, so you can't really go wrong.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:05 pm

Haze wrote:I have no idea what the red rotary switch is on the back but its on the 135 as well.

Maybe a voltage selector? One of my friends had a Twin that could switch between 110V and 220V; but I never looked at the back and what that switched looked like.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:40 pm

Ah that makes some sense. I noticed that on the back of Mike's JCM800 listing. The serial number should give a good hint as to what circuit you're looking at but there is so much overlap with CBS fender stuff its hard to tell precisely.

this page has plenty of factual information as well as a chart that breaks down the years and circuit variations

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:53 pm

Haze wrote:Ah that makes some sense. I noticed that on the back of Mike's JCM800 listing. The serial number should give a good hint as to what circuit you're looking at but there is so much overlap with CBS fender stuff its hard to tell precisely.

this page has plenty of factual information as well as a chart that breaks down the years and circuit variations

Is there a link missing here?

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:17 pm

http://tone-lizard.com/Bassman_Modifications.htm

Julian · Post by **Julian** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 1:31 am

I love my Bassman 135, but I wouldn't recommend buying one. You don't need 135 watts. A Bassman 50 has plenty of wattage, and everytime you need to replace tubes it costs half the price.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:37 am

johnnyseven wrote:I'm going to be coming into some cash at the end of the month due to a backdated pay rise so i'm thinking of taking Haze's advice and getting myself a Fender Bassman head. I don't know much about these amps other than they are apparently awesome clean amps. I assume silverfaces are cheaper than blackfaces so i'll probably end up with one of those, but can anyone tell what what to look for/not to look for, what they going rate for one is (in the UK that is), are they awesome for pedals and any other advice you can think of. A few listings on ebay at the moment for reference:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

One of these auctions is for a Fender Bassman 50 Export - does anyone know the difference between an Export model and a regular Bassman.

Hoping to get a bargain here but unfortunately the auction ends at a time that i'll be knowhere near a computer.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:44 am

Export generally means it's setup ready to go with UK 240V out of the box.

An American model will generally be expecting 110V and have an American plug on it - you need to buy a Step Down Transformer to step the voltage down from 240V to 110V. These normally have an american plug socket and terminate in a UK plug. Plug that into wall and the amp into it.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:51 am

Thanks Mike.

I thought it would probably be something like that but it doesn't hurt to ask. I used to have a American Hot Rod Deluxe for which I had to carry round a transformer, it could be a bit of a pain in the arse but it didn't cause any problems.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:18 am

Am I right in thinking Bassmans only have 4 Ohm speaker outputs? I read that running an 8 Ohm cab from a 4 Ohm output is fine, is this the case? alternatively does anyone know where I can get a reasonably priced 4 Ohm cab?

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:37 am

Yeah it's 4 ohms minimum on a Bassman - an 8 ohm cab is fine - they used good transformers back then.

chisa · Post by **chisa** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:05 am

Mike wrote:Export generally means it's setup ready to go with UK 240V out of the box.

An American model will generally be expecting 110V and have an American plug on it - you need to buy a Step Down Transformer to step the voltage down from 240V to 110V. These normally have an american plug socket and terminate in a UK plug. Plug that into wall and the amp into it.

exports generally have the voltage selector on the back - the red dial. my twin is like that.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:39 am

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:23 pm

I found a well built Line 6 cab of all things. It has casters, handles on the sides and top, 4 ohm mono, 8 stereo, and built like a fucking tank.
I'd recommend an Avatar cab, you can get exactly what you need out of them too.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:30 pm

Thanks for the advice, I just need to win the ebay auction now.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:54 am

Missed out on the Bassman on friday, but nevermind as i'm sure another will come up soon.

Fender Bassman - what to buy?

Fender Bassman - what to buy?

Re: Fender Bassman - what to buy?