Perfect! Easy to carry into gigs and great tone. Problem solved. What was the final cost?
I recently acquired a BF Showman for 900.00. I didn't really need but couldn't pass it up either. What makes it more usable at lower volumes is running my quilter send to it to give it a more full tone and girth at much lower volumes.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

Speaker codes.
See if this explains it. 465 indicates Oxford drivers.

Squink Out!

Last edited: Jan 18, 2018 10:35:24

TomH wrote:

Thanks! Maybe from May 1981?

No. The code is 815. The first digit is the year, so either the 15th week of 68, or 78. Probably 68, they went to a four digit date code in the 70's sometime.

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

oh, wait. I remember now. The code is 125 "L" 6-1 Its an L, indicating 30 watt speaker.

https://schematicheaven.net/faq/oxford_speaker_history.pdf

I had a set of those in a cabinet assembled by John Benton of The Surfaris/Lively Ones/Eliminators for a while. He loved those speakers. Said they were his favorite original speaker. They were 8 ohm speakers, so yours should be too.

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

Last edited: Jan 18, 2018 12:24:37

Cool! It looks like a nice amp for sure. You can't go wrong with a vintage Fender and a 2x12 sealed cabinet.

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

Ok, just got back from checking out the newest addition to my bandmate TomH's Surf Room. His '64 Bassman looks and sounds glorious. Great score, Tom! Can't wait for our next gig!

Yes, I know that I didn't economize size and weight with this purchase, like I was intending, but I couldn't resist and I'm glad that I didn't

The head, with the mounting hardware, weighs an even 30 lbs (13.6 kg). The cab weighs more than my DRRI, but much less than my TRRI weighed. Both the head and the cab are do-able for me. I'm 65 years old and that might not always be true, but, for now, it's not a problem.

I doubt that I'll ever not be able to handle the 30 lb Bassman head. Plus, in addition to the great sound and tone, I love the simplicity of the circuit and how easy, with no circuit board, it is to work on. So, if I ever want to economize for some reason, I'll get a single 4 ohm 12" speaker for my empty 1x12 cab that I have.

Solid state options are improving all the time. So, who knows what the future will hold, but, for now, I don't mind carrying the Fender 2x12 cab. Plus, every time I walk into my music room and see what's sitting there waiting for me, I smile! At my age, that counts for a lot

TomH wrote:

Solid state options are improving all the time. So, who knows what the future will hold, but, for now, I don't mind carrying the Fender 2x12 cab. Plus, every time I walk into my music room and see what's sitting there waiting for me, I smile! At my age, that counts for a lot

Looks great! Solid State hasn't and will never overtake tube as the most used by 'professional/touring' bands. Digital modeling will though, sooner than later. Big touring acts are starting to really adopt digital solutions. Straight into the board.

TomH wrote:

Yes, I know that I didn't economize size and weight with this purchase, like I was intending, but I couldn't resist and I'm glad that I didn't

The head, with the mounting hardware, weighs an even 30 lbs (13.6 kg). The cab weighs more than my DRRI, but much less than my TRRI weighed. Both the head and the cab are do-able for me. I'm 65 years old and that might not always be true, but, for now, it's not a problem.

I doubt that I'll ever not be able to handle the 30 lb Bassman head. Plus, in addition to the great sound and tone, I love the simplicity of the circuit and how easy, with no circuit board, it is to work on. So, if I ever want to economize for some reason, I'll get a single 4 ohm 12" speaker for my empty 1x12 cab that I have.

Solid state options are improving all the time. So, who knows what the future will hold, but, for now, I don't mind carrying the Fender 2x12 cab. Plus, every time I walk into my music room and see what's sitting there waiting for me, I smile! At my age, that counts for a lot

I hope you don’t mind me weighing in at this late date.

I had a similar problem, my TRRI was more then I wanted to carry. I have a healthy back, and hope that it remains healthy for as long I am need to make use of it, so packing around a Twin didn’t seem prudent. In my case, I broke it into a piggyback setup with a very nice single 15 in a closed back cab. It sounds great and no part of it weighs much more then my DRRI.

For smaller gigs, I use my DRRI or my Winfield Cyclone (think AC 15). Either is plenty loud, in fact the Winfield is noticeably louder than the Deluxe. When I am certain of having an adequate PA, I use a 5 watt Winfield Typhoon, which sounds as big as a Showman through the PA.

You solution was fortuitous. A vintage Bassman is about as good as it gets. I’m certain that it sounds killer.

Someday, there may come a time when solid state amps develop to the point where they have as much “life” as tube amps. My bass amp uses a 12AX7 up front with a Class D solid state power amp and it sounds pretty good. I’ve cranked it to the point of breakup (a serious place with a 600 watt amp) and it actually breaks up in a pleasing manner.

Vox is making amps with something they call NuTube technology using vacuum-fluorescent displays as a triode. It’s early in the development of the concept, but there seem to be some promising signs. The main thing is that these do not require a high voltage power supply. This means that a circuit with many of the desirable traits of a vacuum tube can be used without a lot of iron, which adds both expense and weight. I haven’t read any tests yet, but there was a new generation of these released at NAMM 2018 which employ NuTubes in both the preamp and power amp sections.

In no way am I cheering on the demise of the traditional vacuum tube. I hope to play tube amps the rest of my days, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in new developments.

Again, congratulations on a great score with that Bassman.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Last edited: Mar 29, 2018 22:38:30

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 13:20:20