Fender Bassman 10

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:58 pm

One just came up for sale at the local mom and pop, they're asking $600 which seems a bit much for these... but I plugged in and really enjoyed it with a guitar, great headroom and plenty loud.

Anyone have any input on these? Do they handle bass very well (I'd be going for a brighter punchier bass sound, not so much of a deep groove sound)? How's it do with fuzz? If I were intending to put an offer down on it, what would you advise?

I do most all of my dirt via pedals these days and frankly the Sovtek Mig-60 is just coloring the sound too much. I was thinking about swapping it over to bass duty (though I'd need to buy a bass cab for it) and getting something with some nice clean wide open headroom for guitar. This bassman 10 seems just the ticket. But I'm unfamiliar with the model.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:41 pm

They're dead good amps. I've always liked them as they're a 4x10 combo. FUCKING WICKED. The later ones have a Mid control which may be to your taste, personally I've always liked the fixed Fender mids on my bassman [fixed at 3 or so] so you get that classic fender mid scoop that makes cleans so nice [my experience]. For 50 watts [70 on later years when CBS switched to ultra-linear transformers] and a LOT of speaker surface area I think they make a great clean slate amp.
Headroom? Depends on the tube configuration, but mine gets crackin around 4 with the master volume, starts to crunch at 7 and maxed out is fucking brutal.

$500 isn't a bad price, but nothing to write home about. I'd love to pick one up for $400 only because I know how useful it would be in a studio and because it'd make a great alternative to my Bassman head w/ 2x12

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:45 pm

Haze wrote:They're dead good amps. I've always liked them as they're a 4x10 combo. FUCKING WICKED. The later ones have a Mid control which may be to your taste, personally I've always liked the fixed Fender mids on my bassman [fixed at 3 or so] so you get that classic fender mid scoop that makes cleans so nice [my experience]. For 50 watts [70 on later years when CBS switched to ultra-linear transformers] and a LOT of speaker surface area I think they make a great clean slate amp.
Headroom? Depends on the tube configuration, but mine gets crackin around 4 with the master volume, starts to crunch at 7 and maxed out is fucking brutal.

$500 isn't a bad price, but nothing to write home about. I'd love to pick one up for $400 only because I know how useful it would be in a studio and because it'd make a great alternative to my Bassman head w/ 2x12

This one is either a 73 or 76, don't remember... thing look brand new oddly. Like barely ever touched, probably just sat in a studio it's whole life.

What's your opinion on them with some dwarfcraftian fuzz?

George · Post by **George** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:48 pm

I think it'd break your back lugging it about all the time, personally. That said, my favourite ever guitar tone which is throughout Television's Marquee Moon was recorded using Super Reverb's (40W 4x10) so I bet it sounds amazing.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:51 pm

I think Bassmans are a little wooly with bass, but that can be damn awesome in a lot of situations. With guitar, they sound great, as mentioned.

$600 doesn't sound too bad to my ears, but, I also don't know what the going rate is on these guys.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:52 pm

Casters would solve that. No harder to port around then my giant sovtek Mig-60 hear and Sovtek 4x12 cab. It probably ways less then my old Sunn Beta Lead 2x12 too, that thing was a monster.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:53 pm

The ECT sat really well with it. Since it is SO FUCKING LOUD you have the option of killing your amp which adds to the fuzz. The Great Destroyer that I built is what it is, nuckin futts with everything.
Overdrives that are somewhat transparent but have lots of volume work wonders, letting the amp colour what the pedal doesn't, but only when the amp is overdriving.

72-76 ran on 50 watts, 77-82 ran on 75 watts

Like any other tube amp over 10 years old, make sure you take care of the electrolytic caps and any tubes that may be going microphonic and, i'd recommend, a 3-prong cord.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:54 pm

Ankhanu wrote:I think Bassmans are a little wooly with bass, but that can be damn awesome in a lot of situations. With guitar, they sound great, as mentioned.

$600 doesn't sound too bad to my ears, but, I also don't know what the going rate is on these guys.

My bass work is noise oriented. Heavily distorted and more punchy than rumbly.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:59 pm

For bass duties Bassmans can sound wooly but I think the 4x10 will help a LOT. Typical rule of thumb for a bass amp is "three times the watts as the main guitar amp in the band". But FUCK THAT if you have a 4x10. If its a three piece or the guitar amp is 30-50 watts then you'll be PLENTY loud unless your guitar amps are actually full bore.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:08 pm

My sovtek is absolutely horrifyingly loud. What exactly is the difference betwen a bass and guitar amp? Can I safely use the mig for bass with a bass cab, it's essentially a gainier JCM800.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:15 pm

It simply takes more power to make high amplitude (loud) sounds in bass frequencies, hence the power discrepancies, and the need for a longer driver travel distance in bass amps. It's just physics. The speaker has to move further to get the same apparent volume.

In terms of amps, the difference is mainly in the voicing, the frequency ranges that the EQ acts on... ie. tone (timbre) is the only difference. You can safely play guitar or bass through the opposite amp (as long as your guitar speakers are up to the task, if they're not, they'll fuse)... in terms of the behaviour of the input signal, they're identical. You'll get different voicings from them, as each is optimized for their intended sound frequency ranges, but they work.

I run my Hellcat VI through my Twin all the time... and I've always enjoyed guitars through my solid state bass amps.

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:03 am

[quote="Ankhanu"]It simply takes more power to make high amplitude (loud) sounds in bass frequencies, hence the power discrepancies, and the need for a longer driver travel distance in bass amps. It's just physics. The speaker has to move further to get the same apparent volume.

In terms of amps, the difference is mainly in the voicing, the frequency ranges that the EQ acts on... ie. tone (timbre) is the only difference. You can safely play guitar or bass through the opposite amp (as long as your guitar speakers are up to the task, if they're not, they'll fuse)... in terms of the behaviour of the input signal, they're identical. You'll get different voicings from them, as each is optimized for their intended sound frequency ranges, but they work.

I run my Hellcat VI through my Twin all the time... and I've always enjoyed guitars through my solid state bass amps.[/quote

I've been think about getting a bass again, and was wondering if I can get away with using my twin, and then kid of decided against it. Can you get it loud enough to play with drummer?

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:14 am

just thought my Twin has after market speakers like a lot of silverface one do, so you can't really answer me even if you wanted to.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:45 am

You CAN... I'd be careful though. I've read in several places of classic keyboardists using Twin Reverbs for their stage amps (i.e Ray Manzarek, of the Doors), which gets down into the bass register, so figure that my Twin can probably handle it, and I do use it live and in jamming (though for most traditional bass work (with the VI) I use my bass amp). I try to keep it as low as I can get away with while using the bass though, just in case.

I've been considering swapping out the original speakers (Jensen or JBL, I can't recall atm) for ones designed to handle bass so that I don't have to worry... but that's a fair chunk of change.

My band did a live radio set a month or so ago, and I only brought my Twin for amplification, using the Clean channel to try and get a traditional bass tone, and the Vibrato channel for my more baritone type sound. It worked alright; I could hear myself over the drums and guitar just fine.
Traditional bass: http://soundcloud.com/joecostello/in-lo ... wn-live-at
Baritone style bass: ... er... that one's not uploaded, nevermind. EDIT - actually, the Neck and Middle pickup recordings here were done through the Twin http://soundcloud.com/ankhanu/
Excuse the off notes, etc

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:41 pm

Buy the bassman ten for $400, load it with jensen neo speakers to reduce weight. party.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:09 pm

I loved mine with all of my heart until it BLEW THE FUCK UP.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:36 pm

theshadowofseattle wrote:I loved mine with all of my heart until it BLEW THE FUCK UP.

dude send that shit to me, i will bring it back.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:55 pm

Sloan wrote:
theshadowofseattle wrote:I loved mine with all of my heart until it BLEW THE FUCK UP.
dude send that shit to me, i will bring it back.

How much would you charge? I wouldn't even know how to ship the thing.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:40 pm

Just to further muck up my decision making... a Mig-50 (sovtek bassman clone) just came up locally as well for 400. It's the non-high gain version so tons of clean headroom to work with...

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:02 pm

Guess it kinda depends on whether you want a combo or not then