Delta Dirt
20 posts
Nov 01, 2009
3:08 PM
|
Ok guys after having my Bassman stolen a couple of weeks ago( It was the only amp i played for 30 years) it seems im still lost on what to buy .Its hell being po '. To my European friends that means no money. My question is...are the reissue Bassmans comparable to some of the older ones.Mine was from the late 60,s... or are they like the rest of the Mexicali Fender amps?
|
Cisco
32 posts
Nov 01, 2009
4:47 PM
|
The newer Bassman's are the Reissue (1990 - 2000) and the LTD (2001 - present) are great amps but do vary slightly from the original. The power supply has more filtering caps to keep the the amp tighter sounding and the tone stack is slightly different but easily modded if you want the original tone stack specs. The newer LTD Jensen speakers take a long time to break in to get rid of their high end harshness but the Reissue Eminence Blue AlNiCo's are my favorite. The LTD comes with a 5AR4 rectifier but can easily be swapped out for a 5u4G if you want more sag. The earlier Reissue models came with a solid state rectifier but they also can easily accept either a 5AR4 or 5U4G rectifier. Still they are fantastic amps!
|
Delta Dirt
23 posts
Nov 01, 2009
6:04 PM
|
Hey Cisco, Have you done all this yourself? How much bread are we talking for the transformation? Being a Bassman owner yourself, would you rather go with it than a botique harp amp?
|
Cisco
33 posts
Nov 01, 2009
7:17 PM
|
Yep, currently I have 2 Bassmans, a Reissue and a LTD. They are both set up for harp. I remove the treble bypass cap on the Bright channel so that you can now bridge both channels and keep the volume at the same level on both the Normal and Bright channels and it also reduces potential feedback. My pre-amp tubes from right to left when looking at the back of the amp are 12AX7, 12AU7, 12AU7. I use the 5U4G rectifiers.
I recently bought a new HarpGear HP50 1210 and the Bassmans can't compete at all. It's an amp designed from scratch for harp use only unlike the Bassman that is a guitar designed amp that has long been modified for harp yet still has some drawbacks. I'm selling one of the Bassmans and keeping the other for a backup.
The cheaper way to go is buying a used Bassman which are around $800 plus a few tube changes and one mod to the treble bypass cap on the bright channel. You would be quite happy with one.
|
Delta Dirt
24 posts
Nov 01, 2009
7:42 PM
|
So You tellin me your gonna jump on board with the fru fru crowd and leave all us po folks with our beatup and butt ugly amps? That what you tellin me? How MUCH FOR OTHER ONE?
|
Delta Dirt
25 posts
Nov 01, 2009
7:45 PM
|
What you buying Cisco? He was a friend of mine na na na na na.
|
Delta Dirt
26 posts
Nov 01, 2009
7:47 PM
|
Ma a old man an offer he cant refuse?
|
barbequebob
21 posts
Nov 02, 2009
6:14 AM
|
I've owned the real deal '59 Bassman since 1983 and tho the LTD is much better using the right cabinet, it still doesn't come close to the real deal. The only things close to it are gonna be boutique amps that are hand wired than the Fender RI's which use printed circuit boards and linear taper pots, and the boutique amps would be like the Victoria 45410, Clark Piedmont, Sligo '59 Bassman copy. The new Italian made Jensens don't come close to the sound of a real US made Jensen P10R, and I'd rather buy a Weber SVT or a 25 watt Eminence Legend, which is the speaker used on the first Fender Bassman RI's.
I don't believe in the bridging of the channels at all, and what I do is first set up the volume once I've plugged into #1 input on normal channel right to the brink of feedback, which will be somewhere between 2 & 3, (using JT30 crystals, older crystals and the old screw on setup), and then turn the volume control on the bright channel no higher than 6, and this boosts the gain and the bottom end more and I turn the treble completely off and set the presence at about 8.
If you want to find out more about the Bassman and the differences between the RI and the real deal, get a copy of a book called "A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps," from http://www.kendrick-amps.com and it has a chapter talking about every little thing about those amps.
BTW, this amp is NOT for sale!!!
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
Bluzdude46
245 posts
Nov 02, 2009
11:58 AM
|
Original '59 Bassman amps are great, but not worth the kind of $$$ that is being asked for them. I don't care how well you care for it it is still a 40 year old piece of electronics. Would you keep a Fridge that long? are you still listening to the 1959 RCA Radio? do you play records on a crank up record player? Yes the Boutiques are expensive and yes they are worth it, they are hand crafted with much detail in the way of discerning quality parts. Does that mean I have $2500 -$4000 to spend on one? This is not a definitive one way or the other answer. I've heard players on raggedy 1970' silver face Fenders sound great. I chose The LTD and my tube setup is 12AX7-12AY7-12AU7 does it sound like an original '59 Bassman, no, Am I trying to recreate someone elses sound? No. Do I still have fun playing thru my lil Modified Epi Vjr? You bet!!! For those who insist there is a right and wrong way, sorry I cannot agree, If you walk into a club I'm playing and don't like the sound, sorry, I hope you stay but everyone has different tastes.
|
MrVerylongusername
600 posts
Nov 02, 2009
12:24 PM
|
Good point Bluzdude46.
I have a 90s Bassman (5U4G rectifier added, first preamp swapped for 12ay7). It has the poke I need for large functions and outdoor gigs and it sounds great to my ears. Does it give me exactly the same tone of the original? probably not - I've never played an original, but I accept the experts' opinions. BUT... objectively, not compared to an original, it is still a great sound, better than all the other amps I've had and more feedback resistant. I have no doubt that a boutique 4x10 amp would sound better, but I haven't got the budget for that. I don't think I'd be too happy gigging with something that expensive either (I dread to think what it would cost just to ship an equivalent Harpgear or a Sonny Jr amp over to the UK). I paid £600 used for my Bassman and it's served me well with only one recent trip to the repair shop.
|
bluzlvr
258 posts
Nov 02, 2009
1:18 PM
|
I never hear amybody talk about the old 1960 brownface Fender Concert amps.
I used to have one of these (had to sell it when I ran into financial difficulties) and I had a lot of people tell me that they prefered the sound I got out of it over the R.I. Bassman I had at the time.
I never did any mods to it.
I just ran it the way I got it from Normans Rare Guitars for $400 back in 1987.
|
walterharp
103 posts
Nov 02, 2009
1:37 PM
|
I made a weber kit bassman 5f6a, it it sounds very good to me... they run around $650 and I have probably another $100 on tube/ speaker upgrades. The sligo amp will put this kit together and add harp mods for around $1000. The resale is probably not as good as a Bassman, but they are point to point wired and more voiced for harps.
If you get the harp gear 50 you probably would need nothing else. I saw ricci play this and went to the bathroom that was 200 yards away from the bar and still could hear it loud and clear. Note that brian uses weber speakers in his harp gear. as bbq said, the right weber speakers are better than the stock fender ones, and if you get a kit you can decide to choose which is best for harp.
|
Bluzdude46
246 posts
Nov 02, 2009
2:01 PM
|
Most of the pre '65 Fenders sounded good for Harp. If you didn't have trouble with feedback without doing a tube switch you probably weren't pushing it very hard and loud. I had a '65 Princeton Reverb that I loved. I regret selling it.
|
