Blues Pearl '58 Bassman Replica

Very simple layout the same as the original late 50's Bassman with the 5F6A circuitry..no reverb....no vibrato....nothin fancy....It's all tube, including the rectifier....It uses 5881 tubes since mine is an early Blues Pearl clone....It's rated at 40 watts, and mine has MP-10R's in it....The volume controls can both be used even if you don't have a jumper going across the channnels just like an original Bassman for different tones without changeing the bass,treble, mids, or anything else.....Very cool feature !! The Blues Pearl is also point to point wired and uses all high quality componenents....The amp runs very quietly even when turned up

This amp plays the BLUES, and what blues it plays !!...I have a lot of other amps in my studio, but none of them sound as good as this amp sounds like playing the blues...The full, FAT tone of this amp just makes you want to smile the whole time you're playing it....This is one of those amps that you plug into and start playing, and you don't want to stop !!....It really does sound better every time you plug into it ....I've never smiled so much playing ANY amp ....I own Matchless, Dr.Z's, Voxes, Marshalls, Hiwatts, VHT's, and a lot of other brand amps, and I have 10 different preamp also, and none of them hold a candle to the Blues Pearl playing the blues...All of my other amps have various other tones for metal, country, rock , and other tones, but none of them have the full, rich , FAT tone that the Blues Pearl has for blues.....not even the Matchless amps that I own..and they're great amps !!..The bottom end is very Fat and Full, and it doesn't mush out like a lot of other amps..The mids are nice and in your face, and the highs just sing so nice..No raspy sounding tones from this amp !! You have to change the tone settings depending on what guitar you're using..Every guitar sounds GREAT thru this amp..Some amps like Strats and Tele's..Some amps like Humbucker guitars..This amp makes EVERY guitar you plug into it sound great..I was floored with the tones I got from my Strats..Then I plugged in my 67 Gibson SG Special with P-90's in it !!...WOW !! That's all I can say..The I plugged in a light weight Tele that I have have with a Humbucker in the neck position..Absolutely fabulous !!..Like I said, you will be playing this amp for a long, long, time before you stop...If you've ever wondered what a great sounding 59 Bassman sounds like, or if you've wondered why the 59 Bassamans are called the "Holly Grail" of amps, check out a Blues Pearl and find out at 1/2 the price of the Vintage Fenders....but make sure you have some time on your hands, cause you're not going to want to stop playing once you start !!...You WON'T miss not having reverb, believe me !! I change amps about as much as some people change their underwear !! This amp will be staying in my studio for a long, long, time...

I haven't had this amp long enough to know how reliable it will be, but I do know that Rob Hudson (owner/builder) is a very straight forward, stand up guy, and will stand behind this amp 100%....I took it appart to see what made it tick, and the soldering job, and the wiring job was extremely well done, and it had top shelf components so I'm not really worried....Will I have a backup ?? Sure, I always have a backup....I will buy more Blues Pearls to back up my first one...I have Brittone on order now !!...and maybe a Texas Tornado for my smaller gigs !!...or maybe a Vibraverb .....

There are a small handfull of people in the wicked world of amp building that you can really trust...It's a very competitive market, and sometimes you just don't know the person behind the amp when you buy from these large outfits....When I buy a Blues Pearl, I know that every feature I want on the amp will be there...I also speak with Rob Hudson, the builder/owner of Blues Pearl before I buy an amp...Tell him the tone that you're looking for, and if he has an amp that will fit the bill, he'll let you know...He won't sell you a bill of goods..If you're looking for a particular amp that he makes, and you describe the tone that you're looking for, and the tone of the amp that you picked won't do what you want it to, he will let you know ..He's not going to sell you an amp that won't do what you want it to do....Find me a person not happy with his Blues Pearl amp, and I'll show you a person that just plain doesn't know tone..Either that, or the amp has some serious problems....I have talked with Rob about many of his amps, and I assure you that I can buy a lot of different amps, and I can also assure you that the next couple amps I buy will be Blues Pearl amps !! Check out the Blues Pearl site at
http://bluespearl.netfirms.com Click on the dealers and get in touch with Scott Kelce...He's owned a lot of Blues Pearl amps, and was responcible for me trying out the Blues Pearl line ... I remember calling him "nuts" when he was starting his collection of Blues Pearl amps about 1 1/2 yrs. ago !!...."I take it back Scott !!"

Dollar for dollar, Blues Pearl has to be the best "bang for the buck" amps on the market..They surpass their value in quality, and tone !! They are just the best deal out there...I'm not saying that the other amp companies have bad amps, I'm just saying that they don't come near the same price as the Blues Pearl line, and have anywhere near the tone....You can buy a Blues Pearl point to point wired, 3 knob reverb, 20 watt 6V6 based amp with an absolute KILLER tone, for about the same price of a kit amp !!..I can't wait to hear of some shootouts with the different clone amps !!....Let the games begin !!......

If you are familiar with the Fender 4x10 Tweed bassman of the late fifties, you know what this Blues Pearl amp is about. Bob Hudson has totally recreated a 5F6A bassman including Bob's own hand-wound transformers and aged tweed. He even has a few obligatory cigarette burns in the tweed - a very nice touch. This amp is totally hand wired, not a circuit board in sight. Pine cabinet with dovetailed joints will keep it together forever. The amp came with NOS american power and rectifier tubes and the newer Sovtek 12AX7WXT+ preamp tubes (which sound very nice).

This amp will do country, blues, and rock. The amp has plenty of power, enough for a medium sized club. The amp is not feature-laden. If you want bells and whistles, buy a craptron taboo twin or a big-johnson millennium. I have owned a craptron, senator, and it is no '58 bassman. The Blues Pearl amp gets pretty close to the original - better than the Victoria that I auditioned. It also blows away the Fender reissue '59 Bassman. Give the reissue Jensens a good workout for a few years and the Blues Pearl and an original would be hard to tell apart.

I play various Strats through the amp: a '57 reissue, a roadhouse, and a Valley Arts Custom pro fitted with Van Zant vintage pickups. All three guitars sound great. My Valley Arts sings through this amp.

Noisy? Well, if you want vintage, single-coil tone, you are going to get some noise no matter what. It is not bad, though.

The amp stays nice a clean until the volume reaches around 4. Then you start to get a little tweed grit. Past that and you are into tweed overdrive heaven. It is fairly loud at this point since it lacks a tone-robbing master volume circuit.

The amp has never broken down in my 6 months with it, nor do I ever expect it to. The chassis is heavy gauge steel, welded at the corners - no stamped sheet metal here. The cabinet is dovetailed pine. The soldering is immaculate, as is the layout. It is not quite the artistry of a Hiwatt, but it is better than most. Bob used gold-plated ceramic tube sockets, cloth covered wire, etc. I will be very surprised if something ever goes wrong.

When I first received the amp, it kept going through fuses like nobodies business. I swapped out the rect tube and the problem continued. Eventually I swapped all the tubes and still the problem continued. I sent the amp back to Bob. He found that somehow, probably while being shipped, the lead on the fuse holder had gotten turned enough to cause arcing, which was blowing the fuse. Apparently this also prematurely killed my rectifier tube. Bob tightened up the fuse holder, gave me a different NOS rectifier tube, and had the amp back to me in no time.

Bob was extremely conscientious regarding my customer satisfaction and did all he could to make things right. He even paid for the shipping. This is the kind of treatment you expect to get when purchasing a handmade amp. Bob and his wife both are a joy to deal with.

I have been playing guitar for roughly 20 years. Other amps that I own are a '54 deluxe, a '57 harvard, a '63 tremolux, a '99 blues junior, and a crate VC3112.

This amp has the mojo look and taste of a real tweed bassman, yet is as reliable as a sherman tank and costs half what an original does. If you want an amp for blues and country, check out blues pearl. I know Bob also makes other amps. I have no experience with them. However, judging by my bassman replica, I bet he nails the blackfaces as well.

When shopping, I considered the real thing, fender reissues, and victoria. I could not justify spending the $3K to $4K on an original when I could spend around half of this to get a new, handmade exact replica that is reliable as hell. The Victoria and the reissue did not sound as good. The reissue is a steal though, at half the price I paid for the Blues Pearl. On the other hand, the Victoria bassman was more expensive than the Blues Pearl.