Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp

I'm a guitarist who plays exclusively through Fender Bass amps. I have a Silverface Bassman 4x10, and this little thing. They both rule...
One volume, one tone knob and a ****oad of good old tube distortion from 2 6V6s and a 12AX7. Takes effects pedals very well, making it more tweekable than first imagined. Great for Rock, and Blues Guitar. Not much headroom before it kicks into overdrive. Just Like the Doctor Ordered. A Killer little amp that never fails to surprise people I gig with.

Kick ***, raw distortion dimed... loads of compression and overdrive at 6. I play Rock, Punk style. This little thing is a Twelve Watt wonder that is one of the best kept secrets of Fender amps. Really loud for 12 watts. Put a boost pedal in front of it and you can play small venues.

A sturdy little amp that is easy to carry, and very reliable. I have had this thing for ten years with the same tubes, and I play it most weekends.

Who Cares? It really isn't needed. If an old amp was going to fail, it would have failed.

Wish it were a 2x12. But, it sounds great with one speaker. I've been playing for 15 years. This has been my primary practice amp, and occasional gig amp for ten years. This little amp is one of the tools I've built my reputation as a Rock guitarist with. Highly Recommended.

One volume and one tone knob on a one channel amp. Great tube tone from the two 6V6 tubes running push-pull, and great distortion that intensifies as you turn it up. It could use a reverb, so it only gets an 8.

This amp is great with single coils, P-90's, or humbuckers. The bigger, the sooner it growls. Single coils from my strat push the amp into overdrive around 7, while humbuckers start distorting around 5. Killer tone. The smaller silverface Fenders(5-12 watts) have that Blackface tone, and break up nicely, and early like a Fender should. This bass amp (that no one uses for bass) is certainly no exception to that rule. I chunked the worthless Oxford speaker and put in a Jensen C12R. It really rocks, now!!!

This amp is somewhere around thirty years old, and is still kicking. I took the head off the cabinet, and discovered that the point to point handwired amp's capacitors, etc. looked almost brand new, and showed no sign of heat, or humidity damage. This Amp is a little brick ********.

Compared to the 800, or more bucks you would spend on a Princeton, or Champ from the 70's this amp is a real bargain that can be picked up for 350-450 in online auctions. So, don't buy one from a shop and pay too much. I love this amp, and I would never part with it. My old one had a pair of 6aq5 tubes, and I must say the 6V6 tubes sounds way better than I remember my other amp sounding, and louder, too. I bought this to replace one that was stolen from me, and I shopped around and got a good deal. I highly recommend this amp for that dirty Fender Champ sound at twice the volume.

I have a 1977/78 (pots dated 33rd week of 77) with push-pull 6v6's. I don't play bass.I am using it stricly for guitar, and that is how I'm rating it. This amp was given to me by a friend who is moving. It needed retubing, and some tlc. I am giving it a 7 on features because there isn't alot of crap in between you and some good 6v6 tone. The amp takes pedals very well, but you have to have the pedals. I tested it with an Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes(discontinued, get them while you can. they rock), a Guyatone MC-3 Chorus, an Ibanez TS9, and a Guyatone flanger pedal. All work well, and give the amp some versatility.

This is one of the best low power tube amps for guitar I have run across in quite awhile. Turn the volume to 3, and it's nice and warm, crank up further, and it screams and distorts all the more the closer it gets to 10. Just what I wanted. Rocks like a Champ, but louder and just a tad cleaner. I am using a Fender MIM Stratocaster with aftermarket overwound pickups(I'm not plugging the maker because he's an *******, and the pickups need to be modified, i.e., the vintage staggers he pushes as the answer to "that tone" need to be pushed down flat, so the mids don't scream and your bass at high end sucks hard). Trust me on this one. If you have a 63 fender neck, you might need the stagger, but it is just a ticket to bad tone with a modern neck's profile.

A particle board encased brick house. Rugged, and light enough to schlep around.

CBS has left the building... No warranty, no problem.

One of the best kept secrets in the Fender amp legacy. Don't buy into talk that these amps need modifications. Just because Torres floods the internet with links to his mods doesn't mean it needs, or can be improved by one. Keep it simple, and if it ain't broked, don't try to fix it. This one's a keeper.

Not much on the Features its a 1978 Musicmaster bass
- 12 watts RMS With 26 Watts Peak Music Power.
- Single Channel With 2 Instrument Inputs.
- Special Design 12" Bass Speaker.
- Finest Acoustic quality Grille Cloth.
- Numerically Graduated Controls.
- Professional Fender Styling and Quality.

This sounds great i use it with my 1978 Fender bass and its just awesome. Its loud enough and clear enough for my likings.

This amp is so old and still works great. Never had to do anything to it. its got the 6v6's and never had to replace them very reliable!

Never needed it lol.

Overall its great for beginners or people who just like to play and not get too crazy with stuff but all in all its a great vintage amp.

Built in the early 70's I think, it has little to no literature on it. 2 inputs and minimal knobs. I traded a valvestate 25watt marshall straight across for it and it was the best trade I ever made!! This amp has a pure tube tone from the get go!! I started out with el 34 power tubes and an aux7 preamp the combo lite up and purred! But the transformer ran hot and always smelled like cigarette smoke, lol! I then switched to a 12ax7(stock) and 6l6gc power tubes and the amp sounded awesome and if possible a little louder than normal. The transformer still ran hot, but not as bad, so I switched back to the stock 6v6 Fender tubes and the amp sounds as good if not better than any other combo. Mine puts out a wopping 9 watts on the meter, but sounds like 30 and when you power a 2-10" box it really works well for small gigging and recording.

The only thing I didn't like about the amp was when you turn the tone knob past 7, the volume drops??? Is this some kinda safety feature? It kills me cuz the sound is great then I try for a touch more bright and the volume drops 30%.
The amp sounds best when I play my Fender TC 90 with P 90's thru it I could jam blues rifts all night E B A baby, no one dies and we all go home alone!! a 7 cuz of the volume drop for no reason thing.

Never had a problem with it and I've driven it way harder than you should, changed tubes that pull to much from the transformer and never even biased it! Tuff Unit!!

Local amp guru is a former Fender shop guy, he has the ultimate set of tools, he can fix it!!

I've been playing 24 yrs, seriously gigging and recording for over 10 of them, I have a Mesa Boogie 200 watt Bass Buster, a Fender BXR 300C, and a Marshall 3020 artists series, Bassman 60, Line 6, Vox ac 30, Peavey Pro sys 112's and Samson power amps.
1998Gibson Blueshawk, 1983 Carvin DC 150CE, @005 Fender Mustang bass, 2006 TC90 tele, etc.. I've bought and sold more gear in 10 years than most schools will ever own, and these are the ones that stuck around. For the price <300 bucks you can't go wrong with the Musicmaster bass amp, it doubles as a killer guitar amp and it will give you the tone that should be coming outta yer fingers(hey, some of us just don't have the raw talent and need to experiment with gear)

Lightweight tube combo with 12" speaker, volume, tone and not much else. Fender had no small bass amp so about 1970 they brought out the Musicmaster. well, they still had no small bass amp but it turned out to be a pretty fair guitar amp.

A little thin compared to the comparably powered Princeton or the dredded Blues Junior but still fun. Turn it up past "3" and the P90s wail. Contrary to what another reviewer suggested, it is not class A but runs a pair of 6V6GTA in push/pull. The topology is a bit unusual as the phase inversion ahead of the power tubes is by transformer. Maybe that and the rather light output transformer conspire to roll off the bottom so drastically. I'm thinking I'll pull the phase inverter out, put a big single-ended output transformer in it and run this thing class A. I like the simplicity of the controls and the handy size. Seems like a great place to start.

It's simple as an anvil. What could break?

Fun as it is. Great potential.

1 12AX7 preamp tube, 2 6V6 power tubes, 1 volume, 1 tone, power switch, 2 inputs (high and low) 1 12" speaker, light weight, long power cord, cool red power light, silverface, very simple design, very sturdy and reliable.

Not enough features for my liking. Either it's clean at low volumes, or it distorts at higher volumes. Very simple, but not enough tweakability for me. I like to have control over things such as the amount of distortion, and at what volume. The tone control doesn't do much at all. Another separate channel, fx loop, and footswitch would be nice.

It does sound great though. Nice full clean sound, and great, Marshall-like growling distortion. Problem is, I can't use it for clean sounds with a band because it doesn't have enough power. I added an external speaker jack and hooked it up to a 4X12, which improved the sound a lot, but with a band I have to crank it up to about 7 or 8 on the dial, to be heard. Anything above 3.5 on the dial distorts. Wish it had more power, because I do love the sounds it makes.

Some see this simplicity as a god-send. I agree with this, to some degree, but I also require flexibility.

I use it with a Les Paul custom, Fender Strat and various other guitars, and they all sound great through it. I love the clean sounds. Only wish I could get them louder so I could play clean with a band. Distortion is awesome as well - no problems with that, except that you can't get it at low volumes. A gain control is really needed to control the amount of distortion, at different volume levels. I love the crunch this thing gives when at volume 7 and up.

The stock speaker by itself sounds ok, but distorts earlier. An external cab fills out the sound, gives a later onset of distortion and seems to have more power.

I'm only giving this a 7 because, although the sound is great, I can't control the distortion and clean volume levels.

I got it used, and it looks all original, and still works perfectly. Built like a tank.

Haven't needed it yet.

As much as I love the great sound of this amp, I have to give it a lower score, simply because I can't control the sound I'm after. I won't get rid of this however, since I do love the sound it makes, and it's pretty cool looking.

Rockin' class A point to point hand-wired amp!! 12 watts. This sucker rocks. Read the "Sounds" section for all the real goods.

Features? Ha! It's got a rubber handle!

May not seem like a whole lot of features when you compare it to a super-gold-plated 57-knob 8x12 I-can-digitally-model-every-vintage-amp-ever-created amp...but that's just ridiculous. Some people need to get real and get down to the basics and discover how to create good tone from the ground up. This is the way to go!

Two inputs. I assume one hi and one lo. Plug into both at the same time and they level with eachother.

Simple volume and tone knob.

12 inch speaker.

The amp starts sounding good at 3 on the volume and just a *tick* below three on the tone. Nice and clean with some brightness on top and a little rolloff on the low end. Volume at 4; it sounds superb! The tone warms up a lot more than sitting at 3. This is where I keep mine most of the time. A super nice clean tone with the ability to get some nice clipping if you dig in a bit. That's what I love about tube amps, they follow your dynamics!

Low wattage tube amps rock because you can squeeze the good juice out of them without blowing the doors off your house! Even in spite of that, when I practice in the music room I set up in my house, I can't turn it up past 4 otherwise my ears start to hurt. At 4 it starts to get a good crunch. Turning up the volume past that starts to give you the good ol' American style overdrive. It's pretty flippin' sweet. At 10 it roars. It follows your every nuance. If you're not too embarassed to play power chords, try it. It's sweet. Keep it at 10, but then change your picking dynamic a little and that natural tube compression happens and you get a cleaner tone at a good volume. You'll smile yourself to retardation.

I took this in to a tech to get it serviced. The dummy didn't even know what it was. He laughed thinking it was some crappy fender solid state. I told him to shut his face and just play it. His jaw dropped. Then I told him to drive a 4x12 with it. He nearly cried. It was beautiful. Bassman chunk!

Then I left the store because I didn't want that guy fixing my amp if he didn't even know what it was!

I've gigged with it every week for over a year. Practice an hour or so daily. Haven't changed the tubes. Rocks just as hard as it did when it was made in the 70s. I tell ya, if you can find one of these around you better snag it. All those crappy modern amps will strand you in the middle of a gig after a couple months of hard play. These *TRUE* vintage hand-wired amps are where it's at! They knew how to make 'em back then!!!! Leave those modern re-issues alone! They may sound great in the store...but what good is that gonna do if you're playing live and you're on the 6 song of the set and your amp dies? At that point you'll be so embarassed you'll wish that you had died right along with your overpriced modern amp.

I wouldn't even think about sending it to Fender. They probably wouldn't even recognize it!

This is a great little tube amp. I can't say it enough. I won't buy any more of those I-pretend-to-be-vintage-but-really-I'm-just-a-crappy-reissue amps. I've had too many bad experiences with them. They just can't nail it right. This musicmaster bass amp is not one of those monstrously overpowered amps where you will only use a small spectrum of it's possible operating range. Everything is useable on here, and you won't give yourself a concussion just trying to get good tone. I always enjoy being able to play my instrument without causing myself bodily injury. Try that with your 8x12 Marshall-Boogie-Randal signed-by-Jesus hybrid.

Is this the best tube amp in the world? By no means! But I do believe it has to be just about the best deal in the world. You won't ever find a Class A point-to-point hand-wired tube amp for this price...especially one that lasts this long!

I enjoy it a lot. If you try one and don't like it, I give you permission to come piss on my grave when I die.

Update of previous review. Using it for regular guitar.I e-mailed Fender, trying to get info on the owner's manual.I was very reluctant, because of previous problems.Well, I was surprised when they sent me the manual via pdf file.Mostly ads for their less expensive basses, etc., but there isn't much to the amp anyway.I guess because they're so big it takes a lot of time to get stuff together.I now love Fender again.Now if they could get someone to sell their Charvels and Jacksons besides that stupid c**t jenna jamison.

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Update on my previous review. I installed a 1/4 in-line female to male jack to the cable coming from power amp to the speaker. I can defeat the speaker in the amp by unplugging the male (speaker connection) jack, plugging in a speaker cable into the female jack, and run the cable into an outside cabinet. The amp absolutely roars through my 4x12 box. Incredible low end and sustain. It may not be "vintage" now, but it sounds great. I'm using straight 8ohm speakers now. The 16ohm speaker actually added a bit too much crunch, and reduced the decibel output as well. If you don't care about keeping the amp vintage, this mod is well worth a try in my opinion.

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Amp is a '77, bought used in local shop. Previous owner bought it new in'77, and it sat in his closet until now. Features are listed in numerous reviews below. I give a 9 for my own needs.

I had a tech check it. Replaced pre-amp and one power tube with NOS Fender 6V6 tube a direct replacement(how cool is that?). I put in a Celestion G12-75 16ohm speaker. Amp is 8ohms; the 16 makes the power amp work a little harder, with a bit more crunch. Amp alone has very nice old school tone, very natural overdrive and sustain. Cleans up beautifully when guitar volume is rolled back. My pedal board REALLY brought this amp to another level. Effects: TS9 Reissue, Vintage CS9 Chorus, TK999US Tube King. My secret weapon is a vintage MXR Micro Amp. The Musicmaster's front end isn't loaded with gain, so the Micro Amp is a great volume boost for solos. This won't work on amps with alot of pre-amp gain. I've also found the Tube King can ruin tone in amps with alot of pre-amp gain; it really squashes the sound to almost nothing. With this amp, it screams. Think of a cross between Jimi, SRV and ZZ Top. I kick on both the Tube King and TS9 for a massive lead tone. Gain settings: TK gain at 10, level at 4; TS9 gain at 4, level at 10. Loud as hell for 18 watts, way louder with the Micro Amp kicked in. Extremely versatile. I think experienced players will get more out of this amp and its possibilities.

One power and preamp tube in thirty years, works great everytime I turn it on.

????????

Been playing 30 years, had alot of amps. In the process of getting a THD amp. Had Boogies, Marshalls, Laneys, Fenders. I played through a Musicmaster my friend owned when I was 16. I've always remembered how great it sounded, but thought I'd never find another one. I consider myself very lucky. As far as pure tube tone, accurate reproduction from my hands, guitar(Les Paul Classic Double Cutaway W/Chambered Body) and outbaord gear, and that great clean tone, it's near the top of my list for favorite tones. I'd try to get another one for sure.

If you are reading this...you know the features..on/off switch and tone control---essentially barebone. The only features you will get with this amp are the ones you add yourself....13 wartts comes with a standard 12" speaker...an all tube amp that will give you all the tone you could want.

As others have written...the key to this amp is making some modifications per your own taste. Me, I added a new and much larger hammond output transformer and cut the baffle whole and added an eminence 15" legend 151 speaker. Now the sound of this thing is to die for! I play tele's and strats a les paul with p-90's and an early 60's harmony meteor. They all sound fantastic. The bottom end is now huge--clean at lower volumes but the amp starts to scream as you move up the dial...

It's a 30 year old fender...

There's no warranty...but find yourself a good tech and you will be set for life. This is a really simple amp.

I couldn't be happier. Mine is the version with 6aq5 tubes...which are killer. However, many people are partial to the later version with 6v6's instead.

I would get one of these while they are still out there at anything reasonable...this is after all a point to point silverface fender...and when you make the mods it will hold its own or better anything else you can think of.

As listed by others, it's just a 12 Watt 1x12--very basic controls,
but enough for what it is.

I got this thing at a yard sale for $15! At the same yard sale, I got
a "Mako" bass--a nice looking and sounding korean-made budget model,
ALSO for $15! My lucky day....
This has one thing going for it--"tube warmth". You can't get that without tubes. The speaker is probably the main limitation on this thing, but it still sounds pretty damn good. I like to play reggae,
and that means LOW! This thing does pretty well even with a 12 inch
speaker.

I have had it for 2 years, and just traded it for "something" worth over $200, to my buddy who uses it every week in a "praise band" at his church. The few I have seen on Ebay went for at least that much.
I never had any problems, and my buddy just had to replace a tube--
no telling how old it was.

No warranty---it's ancient.

A cool practice amp that is capable of gigging in smaller venues with no problem. It has enough volume, and the tubes make up for
any deficiency in power--with cool tone

This amp showed up at a local pawn shop for $50. Being a sucker for Fender tube amps, I picked it up, and I've been incredibly happy ever since. This thing has 12 watts from 1 preamp tube and a pair of 6V6 power tubes. One channel, no effects, no switches, no FX loop, just controls for Volume and Tone. I use this for bedroom jamming mostly, but I can't wait to try it on stage or in the studio. My model dates to 1978. It's a one-trick pony, but I love the trick!

It must've been intended as a practice bass amp, but I've played nothing but guitar through it. And it sounds pretty good, for $50. The first thing I should mention is that I tossed the stock Fender speaker right away. Too low-powered. I put in a Weber California ceramic 12" speaker rated for 60 watts at 8 ohms. I also retubed it with a Groove Tubes 12AX7 and Electro Harmonix 6V6's. This amp is now a little Mesa Boogie! No kidding! My current rig:

Fender Tele w/ Fralin P-90's -> Ernie Ball mono volume -> MXR DynaComp -> MXR Phase 90 -> Keeley TS-9 Plus -> Keeley TS-9 Baked -> Boss DD-6 -> DigiTech DigiVerb -> Fender Musicmaster Bass amp.

The P-90's drive the amp into light overdrive at around 4 on the volume, and it just gets fatter and more driven past that. Add the compressor and/or the overdrives, and you have 16 flavors of overdrive to choose from, all with fat tube saturation and monster tone from the Weber speaker. It's absolutely amazing! It's a bare-bones amp, but for someone like me, that's exactly what I needed. My "10" rating is based on the amp with the Weber California ceramic speaker, with the stock speaker I'd rate it an "8".

It seems tough, and it's so simple, I can't imagine it needing any more than basic tube maintenance. The only problem I might have with my amp is that the tube sockets are wearing out and need replaced, but the amp is 26 years old, for heaven's sake.

Never dealt with them, and I wonder how well they'd support a CBS-era practice amp. Side note: A friend of mine said that Fender's main competition in the tube amp market are vintage Fender tube amps. Ain't that the truth...

Try it out with the stock speaker, but if you find it lacking, get a replacement. I can't say enough good things about this amp in combination with Weber's California ceramic 12". I own a Fender Vibro Champ with a Weber alnico and a 4x10" cabinet loaded with Weber speakers, and I love them all, so check them out! I really like this amp, great tone, fits my style and tastes nicely. I bought it on a whim, now I'm not sure I could live without it.

This is a 1979 Silverface 12 Watt, 1 X 12" all tube combo in a tall, open back design. The cabinet seems like chipboard. It's a single channel job and has 2 inputs, HI & LO, 1 volume, 1 tone and an on/off slider switch. There's no FX loop or headphone socket. I retubed it myself with EHX tubes from HOT ROX here in the UK. Good people to deal with. While I was about it I had to marvel at the lovely simplicity of the wiring inside there. There's just a strip of tagboard and a few components hand wired in, cos that's the way they did it back then. Next to nothing between your axe and the speaker - great. It'll certainly fill a room but I'm only a home recordist anyway so it's not too much of a concern. It has all I need for what I use it for - recording clean to crunchy guitar sounds.

I use it with a Les Paul Std, AM Std Strat & Tele and and SG Std with Maestro vibrato tailpiece (to use the correct terminology!!)
It suits what I want to do perfectly, although it does hum a bit, especially when it's warmed up. I had a cap job done on it but it's made no difference at all although the "amp tech" tried to tell me it had. As there's no gain control, the only way to get it crunchy is to wind it up, and on full, I'd say it was about half as loud as my mates AC30 Reissue on full. Not bad for a wee 1 X 12.

I've only had it for about a year, but apart from the retube and the cap job (about #60 for the 2 all in), and the hum it's been great. I don't gig so I'll take my chances and just run it till it needs something else. I wish I could do something about the hum though, it gets pretty intrusive sometimes...

wouldn't fancy my chances much with Fender on this old girl, so I'll look for a reputable repairer when the time comes.

I've been playing since I was 16 and I'm now 42 (Where did the time go...) and I also own a Cornford Harlequin mk1, which is lovely. If it were stolen ( I'm not gonna lose it!!) I'd get the insurance money and get something similar but not necessarily the same. I bought it cos it was the best sounding "clean to crunchy" amp in the shop at the time. It's different to the Cornford, not better, not worse, just different. The Cornford has less hum, and is louder, which at 6 watts (half the power of the musicmaster) is uncanny, but then it's brand new; maybe it makes a difference, new components and all that.

I have only had my fender music master bass amp for about a year. i have recived this amp as a gift because i love bass music. my amp was proaily made in 1982 because it is 21 years old. i like the amp for the style i play i play gospel to bluegrass or sometimes country i use this amp at home to just have jam sessions

i am using this amp with a Fender Music Master Bass.

i can depend on this amp 100% all the way

i like this company. the only problem i have encountered is the tubes, but otherwise it is really good

Price reflects after the musicmaster mod from torres, and weber speaker put in, ill do an update when i switch over to 6v6's and change the caps. Early 70's. 6aq5 power tubes, 1x12 inch speaker, two inputs, volume knob, and tone knob.

Using with Hondo 740 custom strat clone 3 single coils. Good clean sounds, not noisy. i was looking for more distortion. i did the musicmaster bass amp mod and it became more clear, more sparkly. big improvement, i recommend it. www.torresengineering.com i also put in a blue dog vst weber in it, that made a good improvement, when i got it the stock speaker was blown, but i could still use it for having some fun crappy sounds :) i play jazz, blues, what i like about this amp is if i want to play other styles, i can just put a good pedal in front of it, i used a friends boss me3 and it worked great! for blues though, i would need a ts9 style distortion to have everything i need for blues though.

A++ Id use it without a backup sure. Seems pretty reliable. no circuit board to have problems with.

In its stock form, it's as basic as it gets. On/Off slider switch, volume and tone controls. Two 6V6 output tubes, one 12ax7 preamp tube and a hardwired 12" speaker ..... uses a small transformer for the phase inverter.
The thing that prompted me to want to try this amp is the fact that it's Class A biased ..... pretty easy to convert this to a near clone of a tweed deluxe ..... and after all is said and done, it's dirt cheap!
I installed a speaker jack, fuse (?!), standby switch, Celestion speaker, new tubes and sprague filter caps ... I pretty much scrapped the preamp/tone circuit, at least up to the phase inverter, and rewired it like a deluxe, & likewise installed a N.O.S. 12AY7.

Played a new club with my new rock/cover band Friday night and brought my Musicmaster as a backup to my Traynor YBA-1. It was a good size room, 300-400 people, but the accoustics sucked and I found that I was unable to get a decent tone out of my Traynor without being to loud on stage. So I switched over to my little Fender and never looked back!
My set up that night included Les Paul > Fulltone FD2 > Ibanez Chorus > Ibanez Delay into my amp. With the volume set at 8-9 and tone at around 6-7 my stage level was just right and the tone rivaled any of my other amps.
I find the tone to be somewhat more full and natural sounding than my '68 deluxe reverb and, because of the Class A output section & tweed tone circuit, it breaks up much more smoothly. In fact I'd have to concur with the previous reviewer, that after executing some simple, well thought out mods, these little bargain amps can be made to sound absolutely top rate!

Well made and totally reliable. One nice thing about this amp is that, because it's cathode biased, you can change tubes at a gig if need be, with out re-biasing. Just keep a spare set of tubes and your covered!

Forget it

Been playing/gigiing now for 30+ years & have lots-o-stuff. I originaly bought this pup to serve mainly as a cheap, portable practice/backup amp but after last weekend's experience I'm very much apt to start using my Musicmaster as my main gigging amp! I own some pretty nice vintage amps, a '68 JBL Twin, a '68 Deluxe Reverb and '67 Traynor YBA-1 bassmaster & others. This little amp compares favorably to any of them!

A cathode biased 6V6 12-watt amp with one preamp tube using two gain stages and a transformer for a phase inverter (weird). No negative feedback loop. Hand wired on fiberboard (cool). Volume and tone only, no standby. Hard wired speaker into open back. Tall cabinet for a 1x12.

My final update. I was able to try a Celestion Greenback 8-ohm 25-watt speaker and A/B it against the Celestion Vintage 30 I had put in the amp. Don't do it. It had a top and a bottom, but no middle, sounded harsher, less rounded and smooth, and with the mods I've made the amp hass too much bass for a Greenback to handle.

A summary of my mods described in the previous two reviews: My recommendations are to change the speaker to a Vintage 30 (or better), bypass the 68K input resistor and 0.0047 cap, change the 470K input grid resistor to 1 Meg, change the 100K plate resistor to 200K, change the 0.01 coupling cap to 0.022, change the 250K volume pot to 1 meg, and finally change the power supply stacked 20/20/300V cap to 50/50/500V. Now that last one I'm not convinced you need to do. It will give you more bottome end, maybe more than you want.

The end result is tone! Grinding 6V6 crunch at a reasonable low volume. Still loud enough to play in a small room with a drummer.

I did go head-to-head with that Dr. Z Carmen Ghia (Hi Rick). Which is an 18-watt head with only volume and tone controls, two pre-amp tubes, and a tube rectifier. I used to own one, but sold it. We both used the same speaker, the Celestion Vintage 30. Test guitars were G&L ASAT Classic, Hamer Newport Pro, and Tom Anderson Hollow T w/ P-90s.

Results: up to the first 1/3 of the volume you could hardly tell the difference between the two. Up to 2/3 is when the CG got into grind earlier, had more tube sag, had a little sweeter sound, and a looser feel. It got a little mushier at the top of the volume range and was better suited to the G&L with it's single coils. The MM had more clarity, note definition, bottom end, tighter feel, staying tight all the way up. All the different guitars worked well, although I prefer the P90s. Overall the CG was louder than the MM by a little and had more distortion although I thought it got a little mushy. The best sounds were achieved with the CG volume at 4 or 5 and the MM on 8. Both different and both good. We each walked away liking our own amps with no clear winner (except in my pocket book).

Great value for the money. If you can find one, buy it while there still under $250.

Very Little.

The modification story continues with this update. I decided to pull the stacked 20mF/300V power supply caps and replace them with a Marshall 50mF/500V to increase the bass and see what else happened. It was suggested to me that the bigger caps would follow the power supply better and make a tighter sound with less noise. The larger caps would be possible due to having a solid state rectifier. I didn't really notice if the sound was tighter and I think there is more noise (cap quality?). At the same time I increased the coupling cap from the first gain stage to the second from the stock 0.01mF to 0.047mF. After making the changes I brought up the voltage slowly with a Variac starting at 40V and eventually after 12 hours up to 110V to form the caps, but I don't think this was really necessary but I didn't know for sure what the history of these caps were.

Took it to practice, and it had heaps more bottom end, really too much as it was interfering with the bass guitar frequencies. Sounded like a 4x12 stack. So I changed the coupling cap back to 0.022mF, which is a more common value in most amps. In addition, to get a little earlier break up, I changed the 1st gain stage plate resistor from 100K to 200K, and then put the cathode resistor back to the stock value of 1.5k so as to not mess with bias of the preamp tube too much. This reduced the output of the amp so it's not as loud but it gets distortion earlier and a little more I think, a little browner sound. But with the Celestion V30 speaker it's still louder than it was with the stock speaker. I can play with a drummer in a small room and hear myself just fine. This is still a crunch tone like a small Marshall. not a searing lead tone, you need a pedal for that. I set volume=8, tone=8 and I'm ready to go.

Note: Most of these mods are very subtle and don't change the overall character of the amp and I suggest making only one or two at a time. I always make sure the big caps are completely drained before touching anything and re-check them from time to time just to make sure. I still think the biggest improvement was changing the speaker. I'm in the market now for a celestion blue as I'm still looking for some more chime on top.

Most fun you can have with a soldering iron and 300VDC! I think we need more 12 watt 6V6 based amps in the world. Great value for the sound in nice portable package. Next jam session I'm putting this amp up against the 18 watt Dr. Z Carmen Ghia in a head-to-head shoot out. Should be interesting to see who wins the top tone.

Mid 70's Silverface. Volume and Tone controls. Two inputs, high and low. Single 12AX7 and two 6V6 power tubes. On/off slider switch. Single 12" Fender speaker, I think is an Oxford, in an open back. Plywood sides with particle board speaker face. Point to point wiring inside all componants mounted on a single peice of fiberboard. No standby switch. Solid state rectifier. Bare bones for features.

Stock, sounds pretty good. Good break-up. I'm using as a guitar amp. I would give a 6 or 7 for sound stock. Now let's talk about the modifications. First I retubed it, Mesa 6V6 (probably Russian) but the circuit only puts out 290 DV volts so tube life shouldn't be a problem, unlike those Deluxes that run at 400+ DC volts. Then I replaced the speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30 to smooth out the highs and get some more mids. Big increase in volume (and weight) and sound quality. The magnet on the stock speaker was the size of a chicklet! This by far was the biggest improvement. Then I started messing with the circuit to get more gain. Changed the volume pot to 1Meg from the stock 250K, increased the grid resistor from 470K to 1 meg, decreased the cathode resistor from 1.5k to 850 ohms, I left the plate resistor (100K) alone so not to mess up the tube bias, and then finally I changed the input to eliminate the 68K resistor on input #1 and placed it in parallel with the other 68K to get effective 34K on input #2 (which is same as stock #1) and jumpered input #1 direct. Now this should open up the amp to all kinds of RF interference and noise on #1, but so far I haven't experienced any problems. A lot of old circuits that had microphone inputs were wired in this fashion, and this input is a lot hotter now. The result of all this monkey business is heaps more gain and a smoother sound with my Rangemaster boost pedal clone. I give it a solid 9 because I think it could have a little more upper end chime, but I believe that is due to the V30. I might try a Weber Blue or spring for a Celestion Blue speaker or decrease the cathode resitor bypass cap from 2mF to 0.68mF similar to a Marshall to get more upper midrange boost. This is too much fun and now I have a little grind machine in a light weight package to take to jams. By way of comparison, my main rig and tone comparison is a Bogner Ecstacy into '71 Marshall 4X12. It's 50/50 as to what I bring to practice right now.

Easy to fix, all point to point. Only 3 tubes!

Great value for the sound, once modified. I've paid more money for distortion boxes than I did for this amp and it doesn't even need one. Great fun if your into tube amps and want to get started on.

As many have said, single channel, very basic features, one vol knob, one tone etc, mine is fron the mid 70's with the slider on/off switch.
It was obviously sold as a bass practice amp but as with a lot of the bassman type amps most have found their way into guitarists hands, it's easy to see why. I've had it 20 odd years, know it backwards.
Give it a 7 as it does what it does, if thats for you, cool, if you want all the bells and whistles move on.

I use it with a Gibson Les Paul Special with p-90's. WOW ! These reviews are full of guys who have had stuff for 2 seconds and give the product a 10. I've had the 2 for 20 years and its super clean or dirty blues, just use the volume and tone controls on the guitar and the amp. It's the combination of an alnico Gibson p-90 with the 3 original tubes and a 25 year old original speaker. Simple but like a bulldozer-effective ! Give it a 9 only because there are times when 12 watts isn't enough, still if it meant I had to trade anything for more volume - no way.

It hums-it's a tube amp.
Played it for 25 + years, still got the original tubes and speaker.
Built like a truck. Why can't they make them like this now ?

Never used it, I may be lucky here I know but I can't comment on what I have not used.

Given the sound and the price I paid and the fact it's never been a minute of trouble, this has to be a 10

This amp, as other people say, is extremely minimalist as far as features go. You get 2 imput jacks, a 12" speaker, an on/off switch, power LED, Volume knob, and Tone knob. That's it. This 12 watt all tube amp is driven by 1 12ax7 preamp tube and a pair of 6V6 power tubes. Some musicians out there would consider this to be bad I suppose, but I give this amp a 9 in the Features category because I like when amps are basic. I dont even really wish that it had separate bass/treble knobs because my spector bass has an active 2 band eq anyways, and I usually keep that thing flat most of the time.

I play a Spector NS-2000 Q4 bass through this and I totally LOVE how this thing sounds!!! I keep the tone generally around 3 or 4, and adjust the volume however I want it. This is my first all tube amp and I apparenly serverely underestimated the power of tubes! I was quite amazed at how damn ballsy and punchy this little powerhouse is. It's 12 watts and it's volume seems to be the same as my Ampeg BA-115, which is a 100 watt solid state with a 15" speaker. I simply love this amp's sound

I've only had this for 10 hours right now. Can't quite say.

I wouldnt know

I cant say much more about this amp. It's probably the best amp I've owned yet! It seems rather old and used, but its sound is fantastic and I love how lightweight this thing is. And it's amazing how powerful it is too. It would definitely be enough to jam with a guitar player or two, but I dont really think that it would hold it's own against 2 guitarists AND a drummer. Damn, if only it was a few more watts. But, for $190, this amp is an excellent deal.

The amp is an early seventies model with 6AQ5A power tubes. Bought it used a Ebay for $150 as companion to my new (wonderful) japanese reissue Mustang Bass guitar. Features is as simple as can be: One volume control also serving as the on/off switch plus one tone control. I wish it has separate Bass and Treble control, but that's my only complaint. I have removed to original crap speaker and put a Weber Ceramic California C12CA Bass Version speaker in it.

I use the amp for playing my Mustang bass guitar at home for jamming and for home recording. It's perfect for this and loud enough for jamming with a drummer who doesn't play too loud. Would take it out for gigs too - if I had any - and have it mic'ed and use monitors to hear myself. The sound charactaristics and the tone of the amp could not be better for me. It's great.
I had doubts about the quality of the 6AQ5A tubes from reading other users reviews, and wanted a 6V6 version, but playing the amp I have no bad things to say about the 6AQ5A's. I like them so much I have bought a set of N.O.S. tubes for back-up when the originals RCA tubes call it quits. Only problem is the tubes are hard to get as they are not presently in production anywhere and probably never will be. And they are not available as matched pairs from any dealer I could find. Good thing is that they are cheaper than N.O.S. 6V6's or 6L6's because of a low demand. Very few amps use these power tubes.
The amp is VERY loud and clear sounding with the Weber speaker. You wouldn't believe it's only 12 watts. Break up doesn't happen until about 6-7 on the volume control. Bass reproduction is deep and punchy and full. I really enjoy the sound of the amp for bass guitar.
The amp is quiet. Only hum is what the bass guitar picks up.

I own several 30-40 year old vintage Fender amps and they have never had any problems other than they need general maintenance. They are basically undestructable and can always be fixed.

I have been playing for 15 years. Only got into vintage gear in the past few years. Love small Fender amps. I believe the Musicmaster Bass is the best small bass combo you can buy - if you change the speaker. Prices is still low at eBay so I'd recommend it to anybody to get one while you can. I'd definately want to replace mine if it got lost or stolen. Can not see which other product can replace it - not in this price range!

Circa 1970-1982. If you can find "features" on a 1973 MusicMaster Bass amp, please show them to me. Volume (with integral on/off switch - later years had a separate slide on/off), tone, twin inputs, pilot light. Dat's it. Oh yeah, it's got a speaker, too.

The earlier 70's models used a pair of 6AQ5 power tubes and later models used 6V6's. Both types are worthy, I favor 6V6 tubes and my oldest MMB ('73) was converted. The single 12AX7 preamp tube makes a total of three tubes. The phase inverter is a transformer. It doesn't matter much what kinda pickups you feed this amp, it'll deliver pure tube tone. With single coils (and the noiseless Bill Lawrence Strat 'n' Tele pups I use) it's got great tube warmth starting at around 1/2 power, and it'll really start to sing/overdrive when really opened up, but lots depends on the speaker. It's as basic and true a tube amp as you can get, that'll work for most music genres. It shouldn't be at all noisy - if it is, something's wrong and get it serviced ASAP. It can get very loud, particularly if you ditch the crappy stock CTS or Oxford speaker and install a Good 12" speaker. I've got a pair of these amps right now (had up to four of them at one time) and I prefer a Weber wC12B Blue Dog but others enjoy a Jensen reissue C12N. Whatever, just stick in a good speaker as this amp has great potential that's limited by its mouthpiece. With that good speaker it can get very loud, louder than a dimed Blues Jr. that I also had. The volume control isn't particularly linear, it's a bit spastic but that's no problem. The stock tone pot is more like an on/off switch for dull bass or bright treble. You CAN play clean through this amp, but only up to a point and not with a lot of volume - this is NOT at all like yer sparkly clean Princeton non-reverb that can be dimed and still stay chimey clean. It's more of a blues-rock/jazz tube amp. Call it what you like, this amp's killer for me.

They're all old, they all need to be attended to, so before you dime your vintage MMB, Get It Serviced by a good Amp Tech ... go ahead, do it now! These puppies are too good to be killed by being dumb. As far as tubes go, geez, there's only three - keep a pair of matched power tubes on hand and a few 12AX7 and 12AT7 preamp tubes. Now go forth and make good righteous music.

Leo won't answer da phone any more.

Been playing guitars since '55 - played out for 11 years - use only Strats 'n' Teles thru old tube amps - rarely use FX - play mostly blues, jazz, some new age surf and ragtime - the MusicMaster Bass amp is my favorite little-giant tube amp. Give it a try, maybe it'll be your fave, too.

Has the brown thread in the Grill Cloth. This amp is NOS, left is a box in the store since the early 80's ?? It is a 9.99 mint. This amp was never used. Simple controls, the Tone control seems to take away from the volume when you lean it to the bass side. I play and Ibanez active pickup thru it and it cranks. It's great for guitar and bass.

I used a Strat,telecaster, acoustic alvares (electric) anything and vox tube tone effects, heck all effects. This amp is mega, quiet. It has super clean sound and no rauchy overdrive. It has mullard 6v6gta, EI 12axy good british sound. Not much of a blues amp period.
NO DISTORTION AT ALLLLLLL..... GREAT CLEAN<, you can add dirt as needed with an effects box. I understand there is a MUSICMASTER MAGIC KIT for 25 bucks that will give it a TWEED era sound. Never done this but sounds interesting to those that want some breakup.

Very dependable. Never done anything to it. Purchased it for 150 bucks and it's been doing great since!!! The tubes are the originals that I got it with.

Don't need it. What's that anyway?

I've been playing since 1965. I have all tube amps. did the rock touring in the early 70's, played bass. Play classical, all. This amp is cool for the money. Built tough enough for a small practice amp. I think and SS amp is nothing but junk. You get what you pay for. Roland is the only amp SS I would own. Heck even the old 50's amp's are great and still going. I hear every day about some SS amp. circuit board disaster.

I don't know what year this amp was made, but I think its early in the model's run, as it has 6AQ5A tubes, and nearly all the other reviews mentioned 6V6s. Features, sure, if you call 2 knobs, no speaker jack, no line out, no effects loops features :) Versatile, well, I've only had it a little while, but I'll agree with the apparent common opinion of a one trick pony, but a champion one trick pony. I love bluesy music and this amp is so unbelievably good at that. In fact, I probably would never have bought any of my Marshalls if I had found one of these 30 years ago. It is easily as loud if not louder than my '73 princeton reverb (i bought it new, yikes) and it has soul that my 'prince' can only dream about unless its dimed out. I sauntered into my fave guitar shop and this was sitting there. i tried it and it came home that same day. somebody at one point put a peavey scorpion plus speaker in it. it appears to still have one original CBS tube in it. I'll give it a 4 for features only because it doesn't have any really, definitely not because of the way it sounds