Fender '59 Bassman Reissue

Very straight forward amp. No bells and whistles like pull switches, FX loop, reverb, tremelo, choras, fax machine etc. Just volume, bass, middle, treble and presence. Two channels normal and bright with two inputs each. They both share the same eq's. 4 really nice 10" alnico speakers and classic tweed covering. I rated this amp for what it is: a reissue of a 1950's bass amp. I gave this amp an 8 because it is not a true reproduction. It has circuit board wireing insted of point to point, it came with a solid state rectifier (it can be replaced with a tube rectifier) and the ground switch that does not work (I asked Fender about this and they said that because of the URL (?) rating they could not hook up the switch so they put it on any way purely for cosmetics.

I play mostly blues and R&B. This amp sounds great for both styles. In fact I think that is will sound great for most styles of music although you will need to add an outboard effect if you want to do rock or metal. This amp has a very bluesy sound. The tone is warm if you want it to be or you can adjust the eq for more of an edge. I found that in order to get my tone I had to turn up the amp to about 5. You can get some clipping below 5 but above 5 is where this amp starts to kick in. The 4 ten inch speakers give this amp a nice rich tone and nice spanky sound. You can easily dial in that classic tweed grind ala ZZ Top with a lot of bottem end. I like to bridge the bright and normal channels together by running a patch cord from input 1 of the bright channel into input 2 of the normal channel and pluging my guitar into input 1 of the normal channel. This gives the amp Balls!! Now we are talking about a fat, warm and rich ballsy tone. The two volumes interact with each other to add fatness and huevos without any master volume effects. I rated this amp at a 9 because I love the tone which it produces however it lacks the sustain which I crave. I use a TS9 Tube Screamer which sounds wonderful with the Bassman, however, at the volume levels which I am forced to play at (club owners, premadonna singers etc) it does not produce the sustain which I need. If could turn up to 7 or 8 (volume and tone controls go to 12, that's two louder) then I think my problem would be solved.

I have owned this amp for 6 months with out any trouble.

The tech I talked to was helpful and nice.

I wish that this was a true reproduction. However I like this amp and would definatly purchase it again.

This is a plain and simple tube tone machine. Features ? There aren't any ! One channel, no effects loop. It doesn't even have reverb. It's the least flexible amp that's on the market. So why did I buy one? Read on.

I'm a blues player and I was looking for great blues tone in the price segment I was looking in. I wanted tone first and features last. So I started with the best clean I could find. Then it needed to move into nice natural overdrive To my ears there are two clean reference amps..the Twin Reverb and the Bassman. The problem with the Twin is that it has so much power that my jams and small to medium size gigs would not allow me to get anywhere near it's natural breakup point.On the other hand it had the one feature I needed...reverb.The Deville was an alternative too. Once I auditioned the Boss RV-3 Reverb/Delay I found I could get acceptable reverb for the Bassman. So here's what I found with the Bassman so far.
The blues tone alone is FABULOUS even without reverb. It's fatter, richer and warmer than the Deville which obviously traded features for some tonal sacrifices.(I play Strat Lone Star by the way).The 4x10 alnico speakers have a nice blues feel. Think newer Otis Rush and that's the sound with a Strat.For you Stevie Ray clones the fact remains that no single combo could replicate his sound. But the Bassman is as close as you're likely to come with one single amp.
The Boss RV-3 added enough reverb for me. It's not the Fender outboard reverb unit but it's ok for my needs. It gives me reverb without screwing up the fine Bassman tone.
Now for the best surprise. I'm a TS 9 Screamer fan but on this amp I only use it at bedroom volume levels. The Bassman starts to breakup sweetly at about 5 (on the 12 scale) and just gets better. The TS9 at that volume changes the tone toward a TS9 tone and away from the smooth Bassman overdrive. So at about volume 6 I turn the TS 9 off and enjoy the Bassman's direct into the amp tone. It's GREAT. My jam pals were amazed that I went through a 4 hour jam and didn't use the TS 9 even once. Like all amps the tone you want takes a little tweaking but the tone is very cool. I don't do country but I think you Telecaster twangers would love the Bassman. Early rock and roll...perfect. Seventies rock...not bad but there are better amps for this stuff. Metal...forget it,look somewhere else. But if blues is your music must at least audition this thing. The Bassman is 45 watts with the solid state rectifier that it comes with and 40 when you do the rectifier tube swap. DO THE SWAP ! Better compression, nice sag and even more warmness.

Don't know yet. I'll let you know later. It's too new right now.

I've called Fender's customer support line in Arizona several times for information. They are very helpful. The real support is your Fender dealer. I've bought a lot of stuff from my dealer and he's great.

I' d buy this again in a heatbeat. I wanted a blues tone machine and that's what I got. The Twin and Deville 4x10 were serious considerations (and they are both fine amps) but for my needs the Bassman was the one. I must say though that finding an acceptable outboard reverb was critical. Otherwise it would have been the Twin or Deville. But I DID find one and the result has been very, very satisying. Hell, even my wife heard the difference immediately.

I bought mine in 1992. When I heard it on the shop floor it sounded a bit harsh. But having rebuilt over 50 valve amps from the chassis up I knew exactly what to do. As soon as I got back to the workshop, without hesitation I gutted the insides to reveal a bright, new, clean chassis. That took 10 minutes. Then a new "old" PCB board based on the 5F6A schematic (available from the "Groove Tube Amp Book") was designed and constructed. The older style of using eyelets and point to point hand wiring was employed as well as placing the critical screen and grid resistors directly over the output valves as in the original 56 Bassman. In this particular case top of the shelf close tolerance components were used as well as the highest quality pots and "atom bomb proof" wiring, as when you wind this amp way up a fair amount of heat is generated. Extra care was taken with every solder joint. The PCB board of the original 56 Bassman is smaller than the reissue, but I kept the dimensions of the reissue PCB board. This allowed me to add extra 500v caps and decouple evey valve in the preamp and phase-splitter stages independently of each other. Finally special care must be taken in earthing each stage to completely eliminate hum. Trial and error as well as time is essential here, as this is probably the most critical part of the excersise. 12 hours later, the amp having been completed, stock standard preamp tubes, the 5U4GB rectifier and a set of 5881's were fitted and biased correctly. Road test time!! The power switch was hit. Great no fireworks! Then the moment had come. The standby switch was opened and I was greeted by total silence. A Telecaster was connected and the sweetest sound I have ever heard echoed around the neighbourhood. The sound of this rebuilt unit was totally different to the amp I had taken out of the shop the day before. With all tone controls off and using the normal channel you can dial in the warmest, smoothest tone you have ever heard. Change to the bright channel, dial in some bass, treble an prescence, and the bassman twangs an sparkles like it should. Wind the volume up and it sings without breaking your ears. I use it for bass and guitar in jazz, blues and funk musical situations and have found through time that I can dial in any sound I want. A final note. New amps are like guitars. They sound better with age. 6 years down the track I have not had one problem with reliability and the amp has now settled into a nice groove.

Dial in any sound you wish Add Fender outboard reverb unit for the smoothest reverb you have ever heard.

Handle with care

who knows?

10

Definitely a Blues Amp. One channel tone king. No channel switching, no Reverb, no Tremelo, no effects loop, no headphone jack (are you for real??). 2-5881, 3-12AX7, Solid State Rectifier. 4-10" Blue Frame Alnico Speakers. 45 Watts w/Solid State Rectifier, 40 Watts w/ 5AR4 Tube Rectifier. Very straight forward amp, although I wish it had a reverb.

Blues, Blues, Blues... If blues is your thang, then this is your amp. The amp is pretty clean up to about 4-5 after which it goes into some soft clipping and smooth distortion. I swapped out the Solid State Rectifier the day I bought it and found the amp to have more of a sag. I also swapped out the original Phillips 6l6's and put in some Sovtek 5881's, What a difference! I play Strats w/ Texas Specials and a TS-9 Tube Screamer and have found that I can achieve about three distinct voicings with different guitar volume, tone and TS-9 in/out combinations. The speakers seem decent, although I have thought about replacing them with Mojo's. Maybe time will tell what these speakers will sound like after they are really broken in. Overall this amp may not be a Victoria, but for about a 1/4 of the price its a bargain.

Had to replace the Jewel lamp bulb. Other than that, No problems.

Bought it used so no warranty

Wish it had reverb. But can't complain too much for a $350 amp with very close to vintage Fender tone.

Very basic control panel, 4 inputs, controls that go to "12". No modern features like channel switching, effects loop, etc. I use mine with the tube rectifier, as I prefer the more "compressed" tone vs. the s.s. rectifier.

I play in a country band, and this amp is the holy grail for rich, fat, twangin' punchy tones, awesome for this type of music. It also sounds great for the blues...One trick that I use is to put a short patch cord between input number 2 on the normal channel, and input number 1 on the bright channel, that way you have 2 volume controls, and can get that trademark natural overdrive at lower volumes.

Only had it for a short time, don't know about reliability, although all my other Fender amps have been fine, don't expect anything less out of this one!

Fender is very uncomfortable dealing with us consumers, try and find a decent warranty station for Fender products and stick with 'em.

Without a doubt I would buy another one...period.

As many have stated before, this is not your 5 in 1 amplifier. However, if you go for a a nice warm, bluesey clean tone....look no further. With four inputs (two normal, two bright), bass, treble, mid, presence, and normal and bright volumes. the 45 Watt tube amp cranks at most reasonable volumes. I can't find a more suitable amp (with a reasonable price tag) that offers this kind of sound.

I have made one major modification, and true amp officianados would probably find a more scientific way of achieving the same result. Originally an open back combo amp, I took a piece of 1/2 inch plywood with a layer of soundproofing on the inside and made it a closed back combo. The result is a more punchy, ballsey, clean tone that breaks with the volume at about 4. I also picked up a y splitter from Radio Shack, splitting my signal to both the normal and bright channel. The result is a fuller sound. I play Strats with lace sensors and before closing the back of the amp and splitting the signal to both inputs, I found the sound to be very "pingey." I generally keep the treble on about 4, the bass on about 7, and the middle on 0 ( I never really like Fender mids because to me it adds a signature Fender honk to the tone. Turned up a bit louder it sounds killer for bluesey playing... not so good for the modern rock sound but I'm sure with the right pedal that sound could be achieved. Sometimes I also run

Keep fresh tubes around and its good to go!

never had to deal with them.

I would buy it again. I love the tone. I wish I could get this clean tone and a nice switchable dirty sound but.......

This is a basic tube amp. No fancy features like effects loops, channel switching, or external speaker, not even reverbe. Its only feature is tone, lots of tone. Comes with the standard compliment of controls like treble, bass, mid and presents. It has two channels, one bright one normal, two inputs per channel, two volumes and one set of tone controls. Also comes with a ground switch that doesn't work and a solid state rectifier that is easly replaced for a tube rectifier, which incidently, lowers the out power of the amp. This is very versitile. It is the blues sound, period. It will easily do country, even though I don't play country, and turned up it rocks. Oh yeh, even our bass player likes it. For my taste its got all I need. I prefer to get great sound with my fingers and not with thousands of dollars worth of electronic gear.

I play rock and roll and have a Gibson SG. Plug that into the Bassman and turn the volume up around 4 or 5 with the tones set just right and you have got the most bluest sound ever. Listen to Stevie Ray, thats the sound you get. The tone controls are excelent, each individual control has a wide range, ie. you can notice the diference between say 5 and 8 on the bass control. Oh, by the way the controls go to 12. The presents control is not as good. It doesn't seem to have quite the range or the bite that I like. Most of the efect seems to happen between, say 7 and 12. The sound is basicly blues. It will easily do country and adequately do rock. I say adequately do rock because rock requires a certain amount of overdrive which usualy means volume. At volumes past 4 or 5 the bass notes become mushy. I've built my own amp and know a fair amount about tube circuitry and I would have to blame this partly on the basic nature of the circuit and partly on the open back design of the amp. On to more positive things. The distortion you get when driving the amp is smooth and sweet, never becoming harsh.

Finaly we come to the reason why I decided to write this review. This is where I have a problem with the amp. I recently blew a speaker. I had the volume set on 6 on the normal channel, presences on 8, mid 0, bass and treble on 12. I was pounding out the standard rock and roll rythum when all of a sudden it went. Now I don't consider a setting of 6 for volume to be excessive. Fortunately this did not happen at a show, but now I am worried about being able to work this amp. As far as I am concerned, if the amp is rated at "well over 55 watts", with the solid state rectifier, then it better be able to take it otherwise it's junk.

Haven't brought it back yet.

The amp has a great sound, no two ways about it. But, from my experience, the speakers just don't cut it. Maybe in 59 you could pickup a new speaker for 10 bucks or so but today there 140 dollars and having one blow is not acceptable. PS I've had another problem with another speaker, (not the one I blew), which has a nasty habit of buzzing as a bass note dies out, which is only audible at low volume. I like this amp but I just don't feel I can trust it to preform.

No channel switching, master volume, reverb or tremelo. On the plus side, it does have midrange, presence, and a bright and normal channel (my jazzmaster goes in the bright, my jaguar and esquire into the normal channels). I use an outboard reverb unit. It has a useless ground switch (the plug is three pronged), and I'm trying to think of something constructive to do with it . . .

The amp breaks up enough for me in club settings. I play blues, 40s swing and surf music. I used to have a 56 bassman, and this amp's tone is a decent imitation. I use american NOS tubes, and did the tube rectifier swap. I have thought about swapping out the speakers for mojos, but these speakers are good enough.

This has been the most reliable tube amp I've ever owned. No problems ever.

Purchased from private party.

I think this amp is a terrific bargain. You can get them all over the place for $500 used. They look cool and deliver a classic tube sound. They're reasonably easy to carry around. I miss having tremelo, but otherwise this is all the amp you need if you don't wear spandex.

This is a pretty basic amp. Two input channels, normal & bright with two inputs each (4 input jacks total) no channel switching or reverb.

I've owned this amp for 4 years now and I swear it sounds much better than when I bought it. Maybe these amps need to be loosened up before they reach their potential (Speakers?) In any event I love the clean sound. I use both an ES-335 and 2 different Strats and it sounds great with both of them. I have also used a beautiful Gibson L-5 on a jazz gig with this amp and it got a great sound too. If you want channel switching, stay away form this amp, but for pure tone I love this amp.

Never had any problems with it at all. Also, this amp is extremely quiet. Don't know if they all this quiet.

Never had to deal with Fender regarding with amp.

The only thing I miss on this amp is reverb, but a good outboard unit can take of that.

Has two non-switchable channels for norman and bright. Has 2 inputs per channel and a volume control for each channel plus treble,middle, bass, and presence controls. Has 4 10" Fender alnico special design speakers, 2x6l6,3x12ax7, and if you choose the solid state rectifier can be replaced with a tube (I use a 5u4gb). Tweed covering, lokks just like an original.

This is the alltime classic blues amp. Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded hid firsf album with a tweed Bassman. The tone is fat and warm. Not much gain but a booster of overdrive pedal remedies that. I play classic pop influenced by bands like the Beatles, the Byrds and Big Star. It suits my needs well, excellent clean sounds and smooth,rich overdrive when cranked. I use it with a THD Hot Plate for home use.

I would depend on it for several years since it's new, but like always I'd have spare tubes and fuses just in case.

I've emailed and written to Fender a bunch of times always with quick and couteous responses.

For an extra $1000 you can get a Victoria Bassman which is more accurate a reissue. The Fender uses new production techniques which limit the potential of the amp, it sounds very fine, but it could be better still. I only wish it had built in reverb and tremolo but Peavey's Valverb goes well with it. All in all a great ampfor the money.