Fender Bassman Head

Simple to use. No reverb, no effects loop, no channel switching. A straight forward amp that's been the model for many builders. Forget the Bass Instrument Channel, go into input 1 of the normal channel. Turn the bright switch on. Adjust the volume, treble and bass to taste. I run this thru a 4x10 Marshall cab. At 50 watts, it's got plenty of power. I give it a 6 on features, even tho there's very few, what it has are extremely effective. If you're lookin' for an amp with bells & whistles this ain't it. If you can deal with the straight forwardness of older amps, you've got to give this one a look.

I run a 72 Les Paul Custom, a 70's strat, and a 60 Meleody Maker. The Paul has stock pickups, as does the strat. The Melody Maker has a single PAF and is set up strictly for slide. The Bassman does everthing I need. I play blues and R&B covers, styles running from Otis thru SRV and the Filmore era Allmans. On it's own, the Bassman sounds great. It has respectable, natural sounding gain when the volume is set between 7-8. Unfortunately, that's usually too loud for the venues I play (small time). I run my guitars thru a vintage RAT and a couple of TS-9 reissues for distortion/overdirive/clean boost. The amp responds wonderfully to these pedals being driven thru the front end. Sounds? Nice and spanky at low volumes (3-4), begins to show its teeth at 5. You can find some of Dickey's tone at 5-6, Duane's begins to show at 7, early Carlos at 8. I used to run this thru a 4x12 Ampeg V4 cab, and it sounded kinda tubby. When I started going thru the 4x10 Marshall, it really came to life.

Hmm, I should think so. This amp is over 30 years old and it's still on club stages! I re-tube it as necessary, and I just recently had it gone over and re-capped by Mike Holland. I expect this amp will be helping to make music long after I'm done.

Well now, I don't think I'd have the nerve to call Fender if I had a problem. There are plenty of qualified techs out there to take care of these amps. Choose one with care, make sure they understand the nature of the beast. This ain't something for the VCR repair shop.

I'd buy a hundred of these if I could afford them. They're a hand made point-to-point wired amp that can be had for $200-$350. I mean, give me a break, they are an outrageously great value! (hope this doesn't drive prices up)

If you are the kind of player who can not play without reverb,chorus, or delay try another amp. The Bassman 50 head (1972 Silver face) that I own is simple and to the point. Normal and bass channels are available without the ability to switch between them without an external A/B box. The controls are also to the point Treble, Bass, Volume, and a brightness switch. If you can't get the tone you are looking for with these features you probably need to practice your guitar more and stop worring about your toys! Reverb would be a nice feature but that effect generally does not cut through a loud bad. Therefore, playing it dry is fine for me.

I generally play a 1972 custom shop Fender Telecaster with a humbucker in the neck position and a Fender Lace Sensor at the bridge. The amp really brings out the quality of single coil pickups. I would recommend pairing the bassman head with the Marshall 4X10 closed-back cabinet. For blues and country work in small to large clubs this configuration can't be beat. I generally avoid setting the amp volume above 4 or 5 because higher volumes distort the sound. For distortion use an Ibanez TS-9 set low on distortion for nice Stevie Ray Vaughan tone. I have tried to use my Gibson B.B. King Lucille with the Bassman 50/Marshall 4X10 configuration with less than pleasant results. For humbucker equiped guitars, try running the head through a 2X12 open-cabinet for an improved "airy" response. This amp functions best if you run the volume about 4 with a microphone positioned dead-on to one of the speakers and run the sound through the P.A. system.

Other than swapping out the two prong power cord end for a three prong unit I have had no problems with this unit. Although, with any tube amp, wisdom dictates that you let the tubes cool before moving it. Cranking the amp up at volume level of 5 or more for prolonged periods of time (3 to 4 hours) may overheat the circuitry sufficiently so that even at lower volumes the amp can distort. Simply turn to amp off to cool the tubes then power it back up and try it again.

Overall, this amp is great for blues and country and can generate decent replications of Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan tones when the amp is mated with correct cabinet (in my case a Marshal 4X10 closed-back). I would highly recommend the bassman head for use in any single coil application but would suggest looking to a different head if you are running humbuckers.

Versatility is not why I bought the amp. I bought the amp to use on traditional country gigs, but I have found that it can do much more than that.
Volume, treble, bass, bright switch. That's it. This is NOT the batmobile of amps. But, seekers of great tone will not be disappointed. 4 preamp tubes, 2 6L6's, a solid state rectifier, and a 4-ohm transformer.
Tweed Bassman fans, take note: this amp is the AA864 circuit, and you CANNOTrun both channels simultaneously like you can with some Tweed Bassman amps. They are out of phase!!

This is one of the last of the Pre-CBS Blackface Bassman models! It's a loud, clean Fender, but responds VERY well to external sources of distortion. It copes well with everything from low output stock Strat pickups, all the way up to Active EMG 'buckers, thanks to the high and low input jacks.
I primarily play an alder- body maple/maple-neck Strat with Rio Grande single coil passive pickups. This combination does the clean thing EXTREMELY well, but it is just begging to rock out. If cranked up past 5-1/2, you start getting a little smooth distortion from the two 6L6's, but this is getting pretty loud!! It's definitely meant to run pretty clean.
Only the "normal" channel has a good tone, so I pulled out the two preamp tubes on the "bass" channel, and this gives the normal channel a little more volume and clean headroom. I currently am using two Sovtek 12AX7WB tubes, and they are very clean but offer a smidge of fuzz and warmth in the upper volume ranges. Using a 12AT7 driver cleans up the sound even more.
It sure seems a little louder than 50 watts! Plugging a guitar straight into it yields a full, spankin, jangly clean tone. Putting a Tube Screamer or similar fuzzbox in front of it produces mouth-watering grit, wail, butter, and crunch. Don't expect Marshall Plexi tones, but you can get all the David Gilmour, SRV, or Tom Petty tones your little heart desires.
The amp made a little hissing when I first got it, but installing a 3-prong power cord and new capacitors fixed this completely. Neon beer signs within a 20 foot radius will produce audible hum until they are turned off.
I tried the following speaker combinations:
2 Celestion V-30's, open back cabinet: very bad choice, the speakers break up too soon, and there is no power tube distortion to smooth out the sound. The amp is too clean for these speakers.
4 Celestion Vintage 10's, semi-enclosed cab: GREAT tone, lots of bottom end, just a smidge of gritty overtones from the speakers distorting.
1 12" JBL D-120, open back cab: Welcome to the Country!! Clean, spankin tones, but you have to turn the treble control almost to "zero" to keep the highs under control.
1 12" EV SRO, Mesa closed cabinet: My favorite. Lots of bottom end, smooth highs, any speaker distortion is smooth and sounds like it's just part of the amp's sound.

Preamp tube shorted in the middle of a gig once, but I think it had been there since the 1960's! No serious problems yet.
Handwired amp, built like a HumVee, back when labor must have been free! Modification options are practically unlimited. With a fair amount of maintenance I wouldn't anticipate many problems. I usually bring along a solid state backup just in case.

Not applicable. 32 year old amp, still running strong. Any reputable repair person would be GLAD to work on it. They're built to be worked on, just like Model T's.

If stolen, I think I would save my pennies for a Blackface Super or Concert type amp--just because of the mid control, tube rectifier, and reverb. I really am very happy with this Bassman overall. There is just no comparing a Blackface and Silverface Fender amp.
This amp will not do the "work" for you--whatever you put into it comes right back out. It's not a magic wand, but will respond magically when stroked properly.