The video below compares a bassman ab165 to a princeton reverb and a deluxe reverb. Rightclick to save the file or leftclick to open from your browser. Marshall would be the first to do so back when they released. Ive had a fender tweed super amp for a long time now.
Hoffman amplifiers tube amp forum, tweed bassman cabinet. Need help in dating a fender 59 bassman 410 reissue my. The same fender amp model might have used several different circuits over a series of years, some more desirable than others. Mods for reissue fender tweed bassmans carls custom amps. Legendary fender bassman the tweed covered fender bassman is considered by many to be the epitome of tone, and every current tube amplifier myth revolves around this amplifier. They are ges i might be wrong about those being the original ones, and now i am thinking of changing the tubes. You see that one of my old tubes may have cracked from overheating when a. Mod your bassman reissue for vintage tone singlecoil. In this video and at the end of this description, i document all of the differences in two original fender tweed bassman amps, 1959. The bassman is a clean amp at low volumes and when cranked boasts a creamy overdrive, its no wonder why its everyones favorite iconic amp.
I explain a few safety measures i take when checking out an amp for the first time. The rest of the amp has a few more changes compared to a tweed bassman. For pricing and hold status of this instrument, please check here. The bassman 50s and bassman 70s can be some pretty goodsounding amps. A blown or cracked resistor can look normalgentle pressure from a. Reissue tweed bassman amplifiers have paid the mortgage for more than one tube amp guru. Vintage gibson skylark 1484 twin twelve showman blackface sears silvertone 1484 silvertone 1484 twin twelve 1484 tube sears silvertone twin twelve fender deluxe reverb blackface twin twelve guitar silverface tube guitar amp ab763 fender champ silverface vintage 1x12 tube fender vibro champ tube twin twelve tube guitar harmonica amp amplifier precbs skylark tube vox berkeley. If youre familiar with the tone controls on that amp, youll. These are all time classic amps and are destined to become highly priced museum pieces. Fenders new ri bassman has the 25k lin presence pot, someone said. The cpc40t is my version of the legendary 5f6a tweed bassman.
It is brighter and harsher sounding and the overdrive is not the same. The tweed 59 bassman influenced many amp builders to replicate or to improve the circuit in there own way. Gold as an example 57 telecaster as an example 59 tweed bassman as an. This victoria 45410 is our loving recreation of the 59 bassman and no detail is left undone. Closed cab with 12 inch speakers makes a big difference as well. These are invaluable reference tools if you are digging around inside of your vintage fender amplifier. I understand they break in after awhile, but can be annoying at first. The fender has been reissuing the 5f8a 4x 10 tweed bassman for quite some time now and its one of fender better amps but it does not sound that much like a original bassman. To be notified of examples of this or any other model in the future, please email your specific requests to email protected. There are a plethora of bassman heads out there, and just as many circuit variations. Using the pedals with the bassman i enjoyed them again so much even though the pedals are just boss a bd2 and other cheap stuff every pedal, in particular the ds1, blue box and even bd2, had so much more shades slight changes made a huge difference in tone and ive used settings i never used with a twin.
Very tight precise finger jointsi surely would have broken one of those off. Aug 24, 20 ever since i have been involved in electronics i never once built an electronic kit of any sorts. If you plan on working on, or building a tweed bassman, there are a few things that you might want to know. Id use a router and a template that youd make ahead of time, that way you will. I played used a tweed bassman for several years and reached the place you seem to be. Schematics and layout diagrams here are hundreds of original fender schematics and layout diagrams, available for free viewing and download. If youve ever wondered why expensive new reissue amps often sound cold and chiseled compared to their vintage counterparts, now you know. I use heyboer transformers built true to the original specs with paper bobbins and interleave windings.
The cap board is usually located outside the chassis in a dog house next to the choke but it will. At 40 watts its great mid powered amp for blues, rockabilly, rock and roll and classic rock players. Youtuber johan segeborn played a tweed bassman 1959 5f6a, a brownface bassman 1962. We believe that this is the most complete, highest resolutio. Yep jtm 45 was inspired by a bassman, but the uk didnt have a lot of access to 6l6 tubes so the kt66 was used. While each instance or variation of the bassman design is slightly different, most have a classic sound that is recognizably bassman. The bassman ri is a very, very bright amp, and stays clean for a while, especially with single coils. The advantage of a comparison video is that you can listen to the amps in an a similar environment with a similar setup. The most popular vintage fender circuit of them all is the 5f6a, used in the 1959 tweed bassman.
Oh yeah, the vol pots are 1 meg lin, not 1 meg audio log like the schematic. I built a 5f6a head amp and its the sweetest sounding amp ive ever heard. I purchased at a pawnshop a fender bassman 50 head and cab for a really good price. Her condition is excellent there are no marks or tears anywhere on the amp, the control panel is also exellent and it was just checked out by voodoo amps and in perfect working order. These controls reproduce exactly, partforpart, the tone circuit tone stack of the tweed bassman. Leo fender got the design for the amp from ge it was an old design when he used it, which is why it was stealing when jim marshall borrowed the design for his amps. The specimen tweed bassman is a beautiful guitar amp that produces a massive wavefront of air. Of late i have been dabbling in tube guitar amp repairmodding with my good friend kris and discovering how great older tube fender amps can sound. Fender narrow panel tweed bassman february 25, 2011 november 30, 2017 admin 9 comments. While theyre not quite their blonde or blackface predecessors, they certainly dont command the same price either, which gives them a pretty good bang for the buck. After downloading, the file may take a moment to open in the browser.
The early era of fender bassman amps laid the groundwork for virtually all rock combos to follow, so much so that it was the 4x10 bassman that inspired the very first marshallbranded amp in 1962. With a tele and that amp things can get really bright and piercing, so really, really watch the treble control, and keep it set low. From the blonde era fender made the bassman as a amp head and 2. Fender bassman 5f6a amplifier project by edmund henke on.
As with all the tweed amps we build, the bassman embodies authentic 1950s construction all the way down to the fiberboard motherboard for superior structural integrity, just like the original. Starting in mid1957, this map had four inputs instead of two. Nov 15, 2011 bringing a blackface bassman in from the cold by jeff bober now lets move to the mixer circuit and the output stage. Full volume here i gradually cranked my original fender bassman 1964 a real one, not a fender bassman 59 reissue to 10 to see how it affects tone. Ground switch is deleted, 3prong power cord, balanced 6. In my 5f6a bassman it just caused strange noise layered on top of all the notes.
During this time i have discovered that one of the holy grail of amps is the 1959 tweed bassman. At home i couldnt do more than crack the volume before i was, um, risking the. We specialize in vintage fender amplifier cabinet restoration from late 1940s and up. Now i only play through this tweed circuit to get a bit grittier sound. What started the whole reissue series of amplifiers from fender also prompted many eccentric tv repairmen to put out their own tweedstyle clone. The bassman channel sounds like a bassman through a 12inch along with the drawbacks of the current drri type amps they generally lack the warmth of the hand wired ones. Specimen tweed bassman tweed tube amps specimen products. This is, in our opinion, perhaps the most important continue reading american classics 5f6a bassman.
Fender narrow panel tweed bassman february 25, 2011 november 30, 2017 admin 9 comments modelcircuit number. The bassman was a combo amp in the tweed era with the 1. The mystery of the fender bassman 5f6a schematic cracking the code. This is the layout of the bassman 5f6a guitar amplifier from aspen pitmans book. Bringing a blackface bassman in from the cold by jeff bober now lets move to the mixer circuit and the output stage. Its loud enough to play at most clubs and it great for a player for which touch sensitivity and awesome 50s tone is key.
You can easily date a vintage tweed fender champ amplifier by the code. The only thing i have not done is to varnish the tweed like fender does. This phase inverter used both halves of a 12ax7 to place a driver stage in front of a phase splitter, a configuration that is arguably more a part of the legendary tweed tone than the sophisticated longtailedpair in the bassman and highpowered twin, thanks to its propensity to distort rather early and thicken up the tone in a way we. Yeah i ve seen tweed cabs cracked at one or both of the two primary. The fender bassman is a bass amplifier introduced by fender during 1952. This leads to some poor soul complaining that his bassman doesnt sound like the one used by his favorite guitar player. If you have an original tweed bassman, dont touch it unless its broken.
It has plenty of headroom for the bassman cleans your use to and breaks up nicely anround 56. Tweed bassman tweed bandmaster sterling family contact us yes, this is that bassman this is the bassman sound that you know well. Three speakers have been reconed, one has the original cone. It is the raw sound of days gone by, with modern reliability.
Schematics bassman ab165 layout prowess amplifiers. I have a bassman that started out a blackline dripedge ab165. I have a pretty accurate boutique tweed bassman copy. For this model of bassman, the 6g6, 6g6a, 6g6b circuits were the golden years, made from 1961 to 1964 or so. This book sodnus great and i would love, love, love to win. This is the schematic of the bassman 5f6a guitar amplifier from aspen pitmans book. This was the original tube in the first gain stage of most fender tweed amps. I should note that i have been using thd yellow jacket converters to use el84 tubes in class a in place of the stock 6l6gcs, and this is a nice way of getting earlier breakup at low volumes, and a slightly warmer sound. Faceplate design, amp build and photos by david jones. Admittedly, they sound great for guitar, but lets back up a little and see as. I only use the best componants to ensure your tone shines. Though your amp is a blackface, the ab165 circuit is a transitional unit. The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to fender musical instruments corp.
A retweeded 1959 fender tweed bassman first sounds youtube. As with all the tweed amps we build, the bassman embodies authentic 1950s construction all the way down to the fiberboard motherboard for superior. The mojotone generic tweed bassman sized fiber board is an eyelet and backer board that are the same size as the fender tweed bassman fiberboard. If this instrument does not appear on the instruments page it has been sold. Besides being a popular and important amplifier in its own right, the bassman also became the foundation on which. Aug 10, 2014 three speakers have been reconed, one has the original cone. Marshall would be the first to do so back when they released the jtm45 in 62. The real vintage bassman 5f6a amps sound so good because they all. In many fender 1960 and newer two channel amplifiers the first tube on the right, v1. I use an unshakably strong glass fiber turret board that maintains point to point wiring. It was breaking up really early, turns out there was some sort of limiting circuit coming off the transformer and it was only putting out 25 watts. The layout is basically the same as regular 5f6a eyelet boards but they have. The jensen p10r speakers are very forward and bright.
The ceriatone 5f6a amplifier is based on the tweedcovered amplifier of the same designation. Fender amplifier cabinet restoration by armadillo amp works. Tweed bassman sound and clarity in a smaller, lighter amp. Fender bassman 59 reissue settings gretschtalk forum. The hole eyelets are laid out so that you can come up with your own, custom fiberboard. But, i have found a company that makes a kit that you can build with the same circuit and cabinet design that fender used all. Ive been gassing for clean tweed tones, and the tone of the tweed bassman pretty much nails the sound i cant get out of my head. How to improve your amps tone with preamp tube reverb news.
It is disclosed solely for use by qualified technicians for purposes of equipment maintenance and service. Gerald weber helps troubleshoot my vintage 1959 bassman. If the 5v circuit tests good and your amp has a fixed bias circuit, power down, drain. Mod your bassman reissue for vintage tone to start i. You can make the circuit much closer to the tweed bassman circuit, and any classic marshall, by substituting a 12ax7 in its place. Bassman vs jtm45 page 1 joes guitars, amps and gear. Have had and used for years the bassbreaker, which is the same circuit as the ltd but with. In 1954, the bassman was upgraded from a 1x15 to a 4x10inch combo. Lastly, the resistor values are altered to attempt a better balance, as well as reduce the gain slightly and more so with a lower gain tube. The mystery of the fender bassman 5f6a schematic cracking the. Im a big fan of the 1950s fender tweed amps and the 5f6a bassman is a legendary amp that was copied by marshall and became the foundation of that companys amp lineup. Scott bassman concentrates his practice on state and federal civil trial and appellate law, including civil rights, class actions, commercial litigation, condominium and homeowners association, employment and labor law, land use and real property disputes, premises. How to date a tweed fender champ amplifier by the tube chart.