Advice needed, Fender Bassman

[Tempest]

Good news, the amp is finished up!

Set me back about $175 for the repairs.  I just need to go pick it up, find out what all was done, and pay for it then I'll be able to play the thing!  :cool01:

 

[Tempest]

OK sorry for the triple post...but i just played the thing....


HOLY COW THAT SOUNDS GOOD.  :headbang1:

No really, its awesome, I don't have a ton of time to spend on it tonight but I'm excited to play around with it more.

I don't know if this is atypical but the bass channel almost sounds better to my ears, a little smoother around the edges perhaps.

And I'm gonna need an attenuator cause this thing is loud! (obviously  :laughing7: )

 

[SlartiBartfast]

Wow, that's an amazing find! I'm totally jealous. Enjoy your new toy!  :icon_thumright:

 

[fdesalvo]

Link both channels and you can play with both volume controls.  You can get a mid-scooped blackface tone with more girth this way .

 

[Tempest]

Link both channels and you can play with both volume controls.  You can get a mid-scooped blackface tone with more girth this way .

Just tried that.  Sounds great! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

Link both channels and you can play with both volume controls.  You can get a mid-scooped blackface tone with more girth this way .

I've often read this suggestion for certain old Fender amps.  How exactly do you do this, a Y-cable going into both inputs?

 

[Cagey]

I've often read this suggestion for certain old Fender amps.  How exactly do you do this, a Y-cable going into both inputs?

Well, sorta. You put both inputs in parallel. A "Y" cable would do it, but most guys just use a regular short 1/4" TS cable. Many of the old amp designs had 2 inputs for each channel because back in the day, it was not unusual to plug more than one thing into an amp, rather than have multiple amps set up. For example...

The Bassman was a two channel amp, but each channel had two inputs. So, guys learned that since the two inputs were in parallel you could sorta use the second input on the first channel as an output and run that into the 2nd channel. Since the second channel had its own tone stack/effects, you could then blend the two to create a different sound.

It's a cheap trick, since all it requires is a short standard 1/4" TS cable rather than anything special.

 

[fdesalvo]

^^ :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

I should also mention that it's a neat way to get a wet/dry mix with effects on an amp that doesn't have an effects loop. You run your guitar directly into one channel, then use the parallel input of that channel as an output to drive an effects chain that terminates in the second channel. Diddle the volume/tone controls to get the mix right, and Poof! Instant karma. Sounds a LOT better than just driving directly through the effects chain because you get to retain the clarity and definition of your original signal. The effects are just icing on the cake.

 

[bagman67]

I've often read this suggestion for certain old Fender amps.  How exactly do you do this, a Y-cable going into both inputs?

Well, sorta. You put both inputs in parallel. A "Y" cable would do it, but most guys just use a regular short 1/4" TS cable. Many of the old amp designs had 2 inputs for each channel because back in the day, it was not unusual to plug more than one thing into an amp, rather than have multiple amps set up. For example...


The Bassman was a two channel amp, but each channel had two inputs. So, guys learned that since the two inputs were in parallel you could sorta use the second input on the first channel as an output and run that into the 2nd channel. Since the second channel had its own tone stack/effects, you could then blend the two to create a different sound.

It's a cheap trick, since all it requires is a short standard 1/4" TS cable rather than anything special.

Does it matter which channel you go into first?  I.e., guitar into Bass Instrument, then Bass Instrument into Instrument, or vice versa?

 

[Cagey]

Does it matter which channel you go into first?  I.e., guitar into Bass Instrument, then Bass Instrument into Instrument, or vice versa?

Not that I recall, but there might be a small bypass cap on one channel or the other to make it more friendly to the device connected. Since the trick only involves a short cable, it only takes a couple seconds to find out which way works better, if there's a difference.

 

[Cagey]

I should also mention that if you ever see an old Bassman for sale, buy it no matter what condition it's in. Those are some badass amps, and if the one you get doesn't work right, they're as easy as to fix as a bowl of cereal.

 

[stephenm]

the linking of the two channels sounds really cool.  I just received an early 70's bassman from my grandpa who had it sitting in his garage.  its got a really cool sound and probably the biggest 2x12 cab I've ever seen. 
does it matter if its a silverface rather than a blackface?  can I still link the two channels?

 

[Cagey]

does it matter if its a silverface rather than a blackface?  can I still link the two channels?

No, it doesn't matter. The critical point is whether or not it has 2 inputs per channel. Doesn't even need to be a Fender, for that matter. For example, back when walls of Marshalls were permitted, you could do the same trick with them, only you'd feed another amp instead of another channel. Other amps had the same capability as well.

Silverface Fender amps usually just mean they were made during the CBS era, when all things Fender were crap. Buncha MBAs who had no idea how to serve their customer base were running the joint so they were cost cutting where they shouldn't, marketing to imaginary demographics, adjusting dealer plans until they didn't make sense, etc.

That doesn't mean all silverface amps are junk; relative to many/most amps made today they're the very model of desirability.

 

[stephenm]

cool, thanks for the info!  i read about the linking and wanted to try it but figured i better make sure the circuitry wasnt different and i'd mess up my amp. but yeah, it has two channels per input.

yeah i've heard that the silverface amps were from the CBS period. but i still think it sounds fantastic. i would love to play through a blackface sometime to compare.  i'm curious as to why people seem to like them so much more

 

[bagman67]

I think the complaining is more about the poor QC on CBS era stuff than specifically about the amp designs.  Cutting corners let to poorly manufactured goods. Silly business decisions led in some cases to pointless product offerings.  But silverface amps are not necessarily bad - and one that's survived this long is probably no worse than a blackface, in terms of the individual specimen's build quality. 


SOmeone more knowledgeable than I am will have to weigh in on differences in the amps' circuitry, but that's all about personal preference anyway.

 

[mayfly]

Depending on the model, there was either a lot or very little difference. For example, the deluxe reverb did not change at all.

The silver face bassman had several changes in the power amp section, specifically to reduce distortion and increase stability. In the case of the latter, the changes were required to compensate for changes in wire dress that happened at that time.

If you like how it sounds, I'd do the usual overhaul ( new caps, 3 prong plug, remove death cap) and leave the rest alone. However, it can be 'blackfaced' easily.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Silly business decisions led in some cases to pointless product offerings.

Case in point:

 

[mayfly]

and another case in point:

 

[AutoBat]

Silly business decisions led in some cases to pointless product offerings.

Case in point:

That looks pretty cool.