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April Birthdays
The new vintage Bassman amps?
Joined: Sep 07, 2006 Posts: 1506 Redlands, CA 
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 12:49 AM
Has anyone had the pleasure of trying out one of these? I'm interested in finding out if they sound similar of exactly like the originals? And of course if you have tried one, the real question is,,,, will it surf? I am also wondering if they are the same amp as the bassman heads with speaker cabinets? Any thoughts? http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=2171000010 |
Joined: Nov 22, 2007 Posts: 901 Portland, OR
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 12:55 AM
I think they sound great...very close to an original. That being said, they're a completely different beast than say a blonde or blackfaced Bassman head with MUCH less headroom, less bass response, and more distortion and breakup. They're a fantastic blues amp but I don't think they'd stay clean enough at high enough volumes for Surf. They're more similar to a Marshall than a piggyback Fender |
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Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 524 Bay City (Michigan) |
Posted on Mar 03 2008 12:56 AM
I personally love it for bass. I have no idea how it sounds with guitar, or how it compares to a vintage model though. But Bass + '59 RI Bassman = Awesome Tone —I am super sweet |
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle 
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 01:01 AM
They don't sound exactly like the originals. They sound sorta similar though. Not many people get the chance to get a lot of experience on Bassmans of that vintage. Very expensive and comparatively rare. I can't comment on how they compare to other Bassmans. It has a tube rectifier and uses the same power tubes as early Brown bassmans. I've heard that the headroom of the narrowpanel(tweed) bassmans isn't as much as the piggybacks despite similar wattage. However, the big difference is going to be in the 4x10 open back of the tweed bassman versus the closed back and 2x12s of the piggyback bassmans. I can't stress how much I feel closed back matters in the surf tone debate. |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 01:05 AM
Shaun is there enough headroom to play one of those live? Our bassist had an blackface bassman that we found broke up too early, and that was through a modern ampeg bass cab. If our bass sounds dirty on our CD that is why. |
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Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 524 Bay City (Michigan) |
Posted on Mar 03 2008 08:13 AM
Oh hell no. It sounds great, but wouldn't have nearly enough headroom for live use, at least not for me. I think you would need at least 85 tube watts for a live bass rig. —I am super sweet |
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 3546 mojave desert, california
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 12:49 PM
the '59 Bassman re-issue is a swell amp...it does sound quite-a-bit like the original... it's not the "amp-of-choice" for clean vintage surf...but, it will surf in the studio, and is plenty loud for most gigs... funny enough, the early Bassman has a unique sound when compared with the later piggy-back models of the 1960s. The piggybacks offer substantially more clean headroom before breakup... but, all that said, I like a little breakup with my surftone... Last edited: Mar 04, 2008 17:14:51 |
Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4542 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 08:24 PM
The amp was, of course, designed as a bass amp but that was a long time ago when volumes were a lot lower. Then, one fine day, a guitar player plugged into one and cranked it up. The result was an amp that sounded like it was on the ragged edge. Lots of harmonics, the odd squeal and a general sound of an amp giving its all are the trademarks of a cranked up Bassman. The '59 Bassman was the amp that the first Marshalls were based upon too. I imagine that at low volumes a '59 Bassman would sound great for Surf but the clean headroom is probably less than a Deluxe Reverb. —The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |
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Joined: Nov 22, 2007 Posts: 901 Portland, OR
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 09:58 PM
Definitely...I was going to say, a Deluxe Reverb is a much better Surf amp IMO; plus you get workable reverb and vibrato. — |
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Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4542 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Mar 03 2008 10:11 PM
Different tools for different tasks. If I was going to have a ZZ Top tribute band I'd choose the Bassman over the Deluxe. For Surf, Rockabilly or the like the Deluxe would be hard to beat. I heard a Surf/Instrumental Rock band recently at the Nimbus Brewery in Tucson and one of the guitarists had a Deluxe RI with the volume at 3. He filled that room, which is fairly large, without any strain at all on the amp. It was completely clean and not at all harsh. I play a Twin most of the time. If I could only lift the beast. The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |
Joined: Apr 20, 2006 Posts: 2054 
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Posted on Mar 04 2008 01:26 AM
Most people think that 22W (out of a Deluxe Reverb RI) is wimpy until they hear it in a venue that doesn't suck up the volume. They are loud folks. Even a dimed Champ can get loud in a house. As long as you have sufficient, clean, stage volume (which in my mind is the basis for surf) you are good with any amp that can give you that. "Tone" is a completely different discussion altogether. — |
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Joined: Sep 07, 2006 Posts: 1506 Redlands, CA
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Posted on Mar 04 2008 04:26 PM
Thanks for all the replies guys. I already have a DRRI and a HRD but I also like the sound coming from Paul Johnsons amp and I started looking at the Fender.com page and came across the reissue '59 Bassman. I think he uses a '59 bassman. (I could be way out in left field on that on though.) Joel |
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Joined: Sep 07, 2006 Posts: 1506 Redlands, CA
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Posted on Mar 04 2008 04:39 PM
So Jake, which do you feel sounds better? Thanks |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Mar 04 2008 05:58 PM
For surf closed back cabinets sounds better. Non-surf I think open sounds just fine. I have a Super Reverb that is my favorite amp. |
Joined: May 22, 2006 Posts: 500 Hamilton, Ontario 
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Posted on Mar 07 2008 04:12 PM
If I'm not mistaken, I used to play through a re-issue Bassman at a rehearsal space we used to rent... it really does distort too quickly for surf or instro rock'n'roll, it would get too saturated, no definition of the notes if you wanna hear a Deluxe Reverb play loud, plug it into a cab with a couple of JBLs! —http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/rockinrio.delrosa |
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Joined: Jun 05, 2006 Posts: 445 |
Posted on Mar 07 2008 07:59 PM
I was lucky enough to be able to compare 4 tweed bassman clones at one time: Weber clone, Holland clone, some unknown/hand built clone with all the boutique stuff, and a Fender reissue. I thought the Fender reissue more than held its own. It's a great value. I'm not a big fan of the Jenson reissue speakers (I think they're a little brittle sounding), but overall not bad. It would probably be tighter sounding with more powerful speakers. Those things that are in the originals only are 15-20 watts apiece, which makes for a 60-80 watt cabinet. That's not much beyond the capability of the amp. So, they're being pushed. Is it a surf amp? No, not in the style that y'all are interested in. It can probably surf in a small club setting, but in a larger venue or outdoors, it will have too much compression to it. I think of Tweed Bassmans more as blues/soul/R&B/shag-style amps. |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Mar 07 2008 08:04 PM
Is a 40 watt amp with 60 watts of speakers really being pushed? I'm not sure, but I don't think going over the wattage by too much is going to have a huge difference. |
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Joined: Jun 05, 2006 Posts: 445 |
Posted on Mar 08 2008 05:31 PM
Those speakers, even if they total 60 watts within the cab, are giving it up a lot earlier than a higher powered cabinet. If you get 4x25 watts or 4x30 watts, you'll get more bottom end and more headroom. |
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