Vintage Fender Tube Amp Heads

[Caesar]

Any of you use or own some of the the old Fender amp heads like the Bassman, Band Master, Showman.

I'm thinking about getting a mid 60s Bandmaster/Bassman, and I just wanted some thoughts...

What cabs are you using with the heads?

[onthetundra]

I use a 68 bassman and a 69 bassman in stereo. 1 clean and 1 with effects. I use a split cab with a 15 and 2 hemp 10s. I also have a matching fender 2x15 cab with vintage cts square magnet speakers in it. Both cabs are the shit. I'd recommend something like that to use with a vintage bassman. It has been my favorite amp for the last ten years and Ive tried/owned quite a few others.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

i use a vintage fender pa 100 tube head with an avatar 2x12 and i love it... i've also used a bassman 50 and 100 with the same cab and it worked for me.

[theavondon]

i use a vintage fender pa 100 tube head with an avatar 2x12 and i love it... i've also used a bassman 50 and 100 with the same cab and it worked for me.

PA 100 GAHHHHHHH SO MUCH WANT

[dubkitty]

Stephen Stills used to use 2x12s with tweed/blonde Bassman heads. i believe he used a pair of 2x12s per head.

[DarkAxel]

I don't play them because they're silly overpriced here (when i'll be more rich, i will)

but when i tried a Silverface Bassman, i tried it with matching 2x15" and the whole rig was just THE SHIT

so i'd start with matching cabs

[the Life Aquatic]

i use a vintage fender pa 100 tube head with an avatar 2x12 and i love it... i've also used a bassman 50 and 100 with the same cab and it worked for me.

Do u daisy chain the channels at all? how does it sound?

[Gone Fission]

General thing to know about the dual 6L6 heads: the Bassman heads have a bigger transformer, better for big bass, clear highs, and headroom; the Bandmaster & Tremolux heads have a smaller transformer, for softer bass and relatively easier power-section saturation when cranked. Bluesy folk should probably like the small-transformer amps better, but somehow mass opinion goes towards the bigger transformers.

Oh, and there are at least five common Bassman circuits, with no one circuit being in all respects ideal. If I were hunting for one, barring a stellar deal on an earlier head, I'd look for an early 70's post-drip edge but still with the older wiring style, and then mod it to a hybrid of earlier circuits. Look here for specifics: http://www.tone-lizard.com/Bassman_Modifications.htm

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

i use a vintage fender pa 100 tube head with an avatar 2x12 and i love it... i've also used a bassman 50 and 100 with the same cab and it worked for me.

Do u daisy chain the channels at all? how does it sound?

i have in the past but not right now. it can be cool for mixing different effects and getting a slightly different sound... i don't notice a huge difference when chaining, maybe i'll revisit it today though!

[dubkitty]

if you do your research, you can find some sneaky deals in terms of heads that have earlier-style circuits in silverface packages, assuming that's what you're into. people used to hate the later 70s circuits e.g. the Bassman 100 as bass amps, but they seem relatively popular now for some types of music as guitar amps; they don't necessarily resemble early Bassman heads sonically, though, so do your research. it doesn't seem like anybody's ever really liked the Bandmaster; even back in 1970 it was relegated to garage bands along with Kents and Teiscos, and i can't ever recall seeing one used in a professional context. the Dual Showman is more or less a Twin Reverb amp stage in a head, and will kill small animals when wound up; people used them with in the late 60s with big cabinets as Fender's answer to the Marshall stack, and they were particularly popular with West Coast bands like the Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane. they're pretty rare nowadays.

[grindonomicon]

I will say that my ole' Bassman is the only amp of @ 20+ I've owned that I still regret selling.

I've got a Traynor Bass Master YBA1 now, and it's got most of that mojo, even more in some ways - much darker if you want... But I still miss the Bassman. Don't know if they sold, but the Bassman/ Sovtek listing in BST makes me .

[Caesar]

Got a blonde '66 Band Master for about $500

Now I've gotta find a cab...And sell my amp... and probably a guitar.

[dubkitty]

i wonder how that would work with something not stereotypically Fender, like a 4x12 or a 1x15?

[andtheLiquidmen]

I loooooove Dual Showmans. Dual Showman + EQD Monarch + Fender Reverb Tank =

Now if only I could afford one. Le sigh.

Twin Reverbs are nice enough, but the only time I've really heard one sound the way I'd like it to is when a friend of mine closed the back of his. Much punchier.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

alright, daisy chained channels 1 and 2 today at band practice.
results = pretty kewl! i guess i only tried it on my own and it didn't wow me too much, but with the band it was sweet.
i set channel 1 like i normally do (bass 0, treble +1) and set channel 2 (bass -5, treble +5) at a pretty low level for some nice added chimey high end.