Toppscore
Joined: Mar 10, 2013
Posts: 40
Northern California
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Posted on Mar 20 2013 07:55 PM
Hi. I own a
1968 Fender Silverface Bandmaster Reverb TFL-500fD with the Drip Edge Trim.
Great 40w amp. Reverb is totally spring Fender awesome.
And being an amp-head, it's very light and can be used with any speaker cabinet.
Also, I own a 1968 Fender Showman Reverb amp head,
a 1964 Fender 4x10 Super Reverb combo amp
a 1964 Fender 2x10 Twin Reverb combo amp
a 1962 Fender 6G15 Reverb Tank Unit
a 1960 Fender 6G4 2x10 Super combo amp
and a 1954 Fender 5D6 4x10 Bassman combo amp
In my humble opinion, they all sound good, make different tones, but the Bandmaster
would not be my #1 choice in my collection for surf music. Personal taste.
IF ONLY a Bandmaster Reverb or Bandmaster (+)reverb tank was all I owned???
honestly, we'd be very happy and in great shape as they're great amp heads.
Toppscore 
— Fan of Surf & Rockabilly Reverb Music
Love Fender Trainwreck Dumbles Amplifiers
Play Fender Stratocaster & Fender Telecaster Guitars
Last edited: Mar 24, 2013 10:04:41
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nedorama
Joined: Oct 10, 2009
Posts: 229
South Bay, CA
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Posted on Mar 24 2013 04:38 PM
Really like my 65 Bandmaster and sounds great, either through the 2x12 combo cab I had Newell Amps build for it or through a 2x12 Bandmaster cab. You can get some grind at levels you never would with a Showman (duh).
Still would like to get a Tremolux head for the lower wattage and tube rectifier sag to add to the collection.
Blasphemy, but also saw someone had a Deluxe Reverb done as a piggyback head - that would be happening to have the 6V6 sound for either the Tremolux or Bandmaster cab...
—
'65 Fender Tremolux, '74 Princeton; 77 Vibrolux Reverb; '81 Princeton Reverb
'65-66 Hilgen Basso Grande
Dr. Z MAZ 18 Jr. + 1x12 Cab
Various Telecasters and noise-making pedals
Farfisa Compact Duo
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WoodyJ
Joined: Apr 05, 2006
Posts: 1547
Bethlehem, GA
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Posted on Mar 24 2013 04:56 PM
Since my earlier (2008) posting I recently replaced the Celestion Greenbacks with a pair of E-V EVM12L's and had the amp totally serviced by our local Super Tech. Holy crap, what a difference...louder, cleaner, more headroom. A huge improvement. 
— Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)
The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money (1978-1990)
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PrestonRice
Joined: Oct 05, 2012
Posts: 1725
Austin, Texas
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Posted on Mar 24 2013 05:18 PM
That's great to know! Those are the speakers I have!
I got to try out two blackface bandmaster heads, and they were WONDERFUL. They got dirty around 4, but it was a good dirty. I was impressed.
— IMO.
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Admiral_Fishwich
Joined: Nov 21, 2010
Posts: 118
surfin' Lake Ontario
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Posted on Mar 24 2013 06:30 PM
I have a 1965 Bandmaster and a 1971 Bandmaster Reverb - both are fantastic amps. I really love them both and 40 watts is great for my needs.
As an aside I also have a pair of 1966 Bassman amps and I prefer the bandmaster tone without question.
— the Undead Bureaucrats
http://www.facebook.com/TheUndeadBureaucrats
The Rum Sweats
Last edited: Mar 24, 2013 18:31:12
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moseseatonjr
Joined: Jan 22, 2013
Posts: 6
south shore-NJ
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Posted on Mar 27 2013 11:51 PM
My opinion on the bandmaster is that it is in fact an amazing amp. I have a near mint 1966 BF bandmaster and matching 2-12 cab. I also have a repro reverb tank in BF styling. I put RCA black plate tubes in the Amp AND the reverb tank and I used a 6K6 and tossed out the cheap china made 6V6 that was in it. I also did the cap mod-- This amp sounds incredible. If you are looking for an all around amp for many styles this is it. Main difference between it and a showman--less watts, and smaller transformers both IP and OP . Almost all of the BF amps are the same basic chassis and wiring with slight differences. But the AB763 Bandmaster is a great amp. It has A lot of clean head room and you have to crank it to get it to break up. I suggest a a tube powered overdrive pedal to get it to sweeten up long before you have it cranked to 8. Lightning boy makes a nice pedal called a soul drive.
— MEJr.
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Chippertheripper
Joined: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 819
Semass
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Posted on Apr 02 2013 08:28 AM
image
You may have seen this on another forum or two, but this is a 68 (ab763) in a 1-12 box. I love it. The trem channel is a little muddy at times, and the volume does disappear some, but that's why god gave us the tuna melt for basically free.
While I do miss the warmth of the 2-12, the c12n does just fine, and it's getting better as it gets broken in.
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psychonaut
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1304
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Posted on Apr 02 2013 08:39 AM
The Blackface Bandmaster and the Blackface Twin Reverb are the same exact circuit (AB763). You can think of it as an underpowered Twin.
— https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger
http://coffindaggers.com/
http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com
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DesignSpy
Joined: Jun 19, 2013
Posts: 182
Augusta, Georgia
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Posted on Feb 04 2015 11:37 AM
Thinking about buying a 1966 Bandmaster and cabinet. From what I gather, most of ya'll have a favorable opinion of this unit? Just curious.
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eddiekatcher
Joined: Mar 14, 2006
Posts: 2778
Atlanta, GA
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Posted on Feb 04 2015 12:05 PM
Buy it and if it has the original speakers, I'd swap them out to save them for the future, and just play the thing. Enjoy the early urgent compression that they do so well.
I have several Bandmasters and love them all. Like Woody said you can put some more efficient speakers in it and you will notice a difference and you can swap out the output transformer for a more hefty one with more iron. It will stay a bit cleaner as you get louder but it's not that different from a stock one.
Not loud enough? Set the amp and speaker up on a milk crate or tilt it back.
The Surge! boys are about ten or eleven tracks into our long overdue CD project and every one of my lead tracks so far was recorded with one of my Bandmasters.
Everybody needs one and they look so cool.
Reverbs, and go get the damn thing before somebody else does.
ed 
— Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?
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DesignSpy
Joined: Jun 19, 2013
Posts: 182
Augusta, Georgia
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Posted on Feb 04 2015 12:23 PM
Thanks for the helpful insight Ed. I'm going through the if I sell this and that I can buy it process right now.
Speaking of your long overdue CD project. Will "Tybee Island" be one of the tracks? I stumbled on to your video about a year ago when I was checking out Tybee surfing videos. I Love that song!
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eddiekatcher
Joined: Mar 14, 2006
Posts: 2778
Atlanta, GA
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Posted on Feb 04 2015 01:22 PM
Wow, thanks for the kudo's on "Tybee." (Woody likes to call it "cash cow") The funny part of this is that between the X-Rays and now the Surge!, we have included it on all four of the CD's we put out. There are actually at least four different recordings of it lurking around:
The X-Rays (Basement studio, original recording with Link on drums)
The X-Rays and Surge! live show recordings (we'll count these as one with Link and Sticks respectively)
The Surge! (Basement studio with Sticks Stecthkin on drums)
The Acoustisonics with Woody, Mitch and myself with nobody on drums.
Send me a PM with your address and I'll send you an out of print CD or two. They make great coasters.
ed
— Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?
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DesignSpy
Joined: Jun 19, 2013
Posts: 182
Augusta, Georgia
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Posted on Feb 04 2015 05:04 PM
Thanks Ed! PM on its way!
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SURFmole
Joined: Nov 22, 2007
Posts: 901
Portland, OR
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Posted on Feb 05 2015 01:03 AM
I've got a '66 Bandmaster and really like it. I've been playing my Deluxe Reverb more, mainly because it's easier to haul around and the Bandmaster is too loud for small shows. The Bandmaster needs to have the volume on around 4 before it opens up and sounds good in my opinion.
— www.apollo4.com
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DesignSpy
Joined: Jun 19, 2013
Posts: 182
Augusta, Georgia
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Posted on Feb 05 2015 12:39 PM
Thanks Surfmole... I think I'm going to pull the trigger on one soon.
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2537
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Feb 05 2015 05:46 PM
Today I put my newly acquired drip edge/BF through some paces and was quite pleased with both both channels jumpered and around 4 on the volume knobs. Starting to really dig it!
— The Kahuna Kings
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447
https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases
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