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I missed out on one the other day but i've found another up for sale. It's apparently a 1969 silverface in immaculate condition, it's a US model recently imported into the UK so will need a transformer in order to run it. I'm trying to get info on the circuit type but the guy doesn't seem to know much about it so he's going to send me some photos of the guts, does anyone know how I can determine what the circuit type is?

Anyway, this guy wants £600 for it - it seems a little steep to me but I thought i'd ask on here to see what people thought of this price.

Transformers are easily found, I've just bought one for a £30 on ebay for my Champ which is a US model. You just have to make sure they have enough wattage to run the amp, so don't cheap out and buy a £10 jobbie.

As for the price, I think £600 for a Silverface (even a '69 like that one) is pretty high, even in mint condition. He's probably inflated the price since it's recently bought and imported. Personally I wouldn't pay more than £500 for that. James got a Blackface desirable circuit version for that much if I recall correctly.

Thanks Mike.

The guy is flogging it on ebay and that is his reserve price, I think he'll be lucky if anyone bids it up that high. There's another on there at the moment too (a late 70's model) and there's a starting price of £500 on it, it does have a cab though but the one I missed out on last week was from the same era and that went for £382 so i'd be surprised if anyone bids on it - if so i'll be interested to see if he relists and if he changes his starting price.

£382 is a much more reasonable price. If I were you I would just sit tight and wait until another comes along with a decent start price; whack a £400 bid on early doors and walk away. If it goes for more feel satisfied it was overpriced.

This is what I did with my Champ, I sat and waited and knew I wasn't going to pay more than £300 for one. Eventually one came along collection only in London and I scared off all the other fuckers with a £300 bid days before it ended.

Yeah, that's pretty much my plan. I don't intend paying over the odds for one even if it is in immaculate condition, in fact i'd rather get one that looked a bit scruffy. Someone once told me that there is a reason immaculate pieces of vintage gear are in immaculate condition, it's because they haven't been played - and the reason they haven't been played is because they sound rubbish compared to other similar bits of kit. It's the vintage gear in scruffy condition that has obviously been well loved over the years because it sounded good to somebody's ears. As i've got your old Bugera i'm in no rush to get a Bassman, as you suggested i'd rather sit it out and wait for one to come up at the right price.

I wouldn't use that as a foolproof guide to vintage gear- sometimes it just means some tit has enjoyed kicking it round a stage every week... or the previous owner took care of it. don't set too much store by old wives tales like that.

Yeah a flightcased amp kinda blows that theory out of the water. So does new tolex and cloth for that matter.

I think the guy that told me that was talking about guitars really but thanks for the words of warning.

Yea my ampeg svt was beat up as hell when I bought it and the inside was just as beat up as the outside. I had to spend almost $400 fixing that amp, but it sounds amazing now!

A guy offered me a late 70's Bassman 70 for £500 today, personally I think he's dreaming at that price but if I can knock him down to £350 I might be interested.

Just to chip in on prices I'd say you're looking at something like this. all based on the standard 50w version and buying from another person rather than a shop/dealer.

preAugust 64 (tweed covering, blackface, used by Townsend so has mojo value) about £1000
August 64-Jan 65 (black covering blackface, AA864 the daddy of the non tweed models) £700-1300 (hard to say as I've never seen one for sale in the uk but based on years around it)
Jan 65 (AA165, you're very unlikely to come across this one) £never seen one but I imagine 600 or so, it could be higher because they're so rare
Jan 65 - 67 (AB165 blackface,) - £500-600
67-68 or so (AB165 silverface but with the 'drip edge) about £400-500 (same circuit as the blackface above but less mojo points
68-7? (AB165 silverface with some gradually implemented changes, there are some different circuits in the 70s also) about £320-450, £350-400 being about 'right'. the later they get the less desirable because a few parts of the circuit get a little wonky, but I doubt there's much difference in in

You'll find that some of the late 70w, 135w, etc. models can go for more than the 50w models and I'm fairly sure that's just because they have added value to bassists wanting headroom so the demand increases and although they do pop up quite often the vast majority of these amps are 50w and the supply is relatively low. Prices on those sort of models seem to be £350-550 or around there, buy they frequently hit the higher end.

The earlier ones tend to come with matching cabs about a third of the time. That can add a fair bit to the value as you'd imagine. You do sometimes see later ones with cabs and that is difficult to judge because the sellers seem to overvalue them and ask a lot.

You'll almost certainly be buying an AB165 and I think you're best to because there's the most information available about them online. They're a well known beast, easily the most available and completely affordable. They're fairly well received in the blues mojo market (which doesn't matter too much, but if you come to sell it it will be that bit easier than if you're selling a more oddball late 70s circuit) and you can definitely get one for a what a 'less desirable' 70s one will cost.

Thanks very much for that info James, it's most helpful.

The guy with the Bassman 70 wouldn't go any lower than £450, I tried to tell him that it was one of the less desirable models but he was having none of it. The search continues...

I was considering buying one for about 3 months. I was watching ebay and at any time there was one ending soon, one recently ended and as one ended another was listed. It was odd there was such a continuous stream but at any point there were two-four on there, all for £320-400. Then I went to London (to watch Radiohead with Mike) and tried one in a shop on Denmark Street. A 70s silverface with matching cab but they were dicks about even letting me play it. At first they were saying they would only bother plugging it in if I was serious about buying it. And then, for a shop full of teles, about a third of them custom shop models, they hand me the cheapest one they have to try it out with. It was fantastic but with the steady supply on ebay I didn't even bother asking the price and feigned disappointment.

When I got back home the ebay rains had hit drought. It seemed to last forever. Nothing was there at all. I even called the Denmark St shop and asked them the price. £750 for the amp, the same for the cab or £1400 for the two together. I said something like 'good luck with that' or 'yeah.. alright mate' and hung up. No point even haggling when it's already over double the going rate. Then one of the ones that was listed but hadn't sold in the time previous when they seemed easy to get hold of came back up. I was fairly sure I could buy it for £350 as it hadn't sold for that before. While I was waiting for the auction to finish someone listed two blackface models 'priced to sell' at maybe a starting price of £400 or something. I was in a dilemma because I could leave the silverface one and try for a blackface, but I had no idea what they would go for. I could miss out on all three. I emailed the blackface seller explaining that I was planning on buying the other one listed and would prefer his but didn't want to go away empty handed. He had a 64 and a 67 listed, and said I could have either for £500 outside of ebay. I took the 64 and the rest is now shortscale history (its now with Thom as you may have seen elsewhere).

Anyway the point of all that is that I've just looked at ebay and it's a load of crap at the moment. £600 for a 69, £500 for a 70s and nothing having finished recently. There's no way those will sell for those prices (the £500 one has already not sold at that price at least once according to the completed listings). Hold on a bit and you'll find a nice one for around £400 easy.

James wrote:Anyway the point of all that is that I've just looked at ebay and it's a load of crap at the moment. £600 for a 69, £500 for a 70s and nothing having finished recently. There's no way those will sell for those prices (the £500 one has already not sold at that price at least once according to the completed listings). Hold on a bit and you'll find a nice one for around £400 easy.

They're the two i'm looking at. I like the look of the '69 but the I asked the guy what his reserve was, thinking it might be £400 or at the most 500, and couldn't believe it when he said £600. He couldn't even tell me what circuit it had when I asked him so I politely advised him that if he couldn't provide that info how could he expect to raise that kind of price - do these people not realise that we're in a recession? Anyway, I have Mike's old Bugera V55HD for the moment (which i'm actually really impressed with) so i'm in no rush to buy so i'll continue to keep a look out.

A 69 will be AB165. The most common one and likely the one you'll eventually find for a reasonable price.

I won me a Bassman on the ebay yesterday, 70's silverface model with 2 x 10 cab - picking it up tonight and pretty excited. Not sure what circuit it has or what year but hoping i'll be able to get this info once i've picked it up. Does anyone know how I can easily identify the circuit type? I'm guessing I can age it using the serial number and the Fender website like you can with their guitars.

johnnyseven wrote:Does anyone know how I can easily identify the circuit type? I'm guessing I can age it using the serial number and the Fender website like you can with their guitars.

The only way to be certain is to take a look inside it and look at parts of the circuit that change. You can perhaps get a rough date (certainly a made after date) by the pots or transformers, depending on the type used. And the serial number should help narrow it down too. It may have a tube chart, but I think those stopped in the 70s.

That it says 'Bassman 50' and not 'Bassman Amp' puts it after a certain date, but I imagine that year is in the late 60s anyway.

I'll have a quick read now but information on the circuits isn't that reliable or widely available.

AB165
AC568
AA270
AA371

I think those are the possible circuits, and that yours is 73 or later based on the Fender logo (it has the one without the tail underneath).

Thanks James, you're a legend. I'm collecting tonight so i'll be sure to give it a blast, if it sounds good (which i'm sure/hope it will) I won't really be bothered what circuit it has. From what I can tell anyway it seems that the more sought after circuits are sought after for guitar due to their ability to break up earlier, however as I want it to be loud and clean this isn't a problem.

One thing that has occured to me is that Bassman cabs seem to come in 2 x 12 or 2 x 15, I can't find any info about 2 x 10's - however I suppose the guy selling it could have measured the speakers incorrectly.

I paid £450 in the end, I figured this wasn't a bad price on the info I had been given due to the inclusion of a speaker cab, that it has apparently just been serviced and the fact that I haven't got to drive far to pick it up.

Picked it up yesterday. The guy had it listed incorrectly, the cab is a 2x15 not a 2x10 which is good but I don't understand how this guy couldn't have worked that one out - it even has the number 15 on the serial plate on the back.

It seems that someone has added an extra speaker input so that the cab can run in stereo, when I get round to it i'll get it wired back to how it was originally.

There is a fair bit of hum when plugged in and switched on and one of the normal inputs isn't working - I think the guy was slightly dishonest when he said it had recently been service as surely these would have been fixed - however I intend to get it looked at by a tech I trust anyway.

Chassis number and transformer serial numbers are below, I posted these on the Fender Forum to see if anyone can date for me as I find the internet info a bit confusing - however if anyone else on here can help I would be very grateful:

A73867

J022822 606 0673 CSA TEST
022699 - 606 - 5 - 04
022871 - 606 - 4 - 01