Selmer Treble 'n Bass 50 Mk III

handwired British amp,2 channels. They don't make them like this anymore

AMAZING sought-after tones with this great amp! Crank it up and you will get a great Marshall 1987x type sound,and I mean it,as I have compared it side-to-side with a 1987x !!!!

excellent build quality

All tube, point to point wiring. Two channels. One Bass one Treble. There is a definate difference in the voicing. Either channel could be used for guitar or bass. Both channels well voiced. Treble channel is not too harsh, bass channel is not too bassy. Does have an effects loop. Switchable voltage located on transformer. You have to take the chassis out to get to it. This amp does one thing, but it does it really, really well. It gets a great Hiwatt like, classic rock tone (with mod mentioned below) and cleans up very nicely when you turn the guitar volume down a bit.

I bought this amp never having heard one. When I got it I was suprised at how clean the sound was. Excellent tone, but it just got a little bit of crunch when I turned it all the way up. Not very loud for a 50 watt head. Sounded great, but I was hoping for a bit more crunch. So I took it to my trusted amp repair man hoping there might be some easy and quick fix. That was not the case. As stated in the features this amp has an effects loop. One of the pre amp tubes is wired to this loop. My amp man said he could disconnect this tube fron the effects loop and wire it in line with the rest of the pre amp tubes. Since I have no use for an effects loop, I told him to go ahead and do it. When I got the amp back it made a world of difference. It really is quite a bit louder now. Really punchy too. Nice amount of distortion with the volume halfway up. Reminds me ALOT of a Hiwatt. $180 in mods/repairs later a really excellent sounding amp!

I was told by my repair man that the wiring is all single strand. Not the most durable kind of wire. Might not takes heaps of hard touring.

Of course the company is out of business. It's an easy amp to work on because of the nice point to point circuit board. My repair man had no problem repairing and modifying the amp.

I paid $400 for this amp and put $180 into it. After repairs and mods it sounds EXCELLENT! I feel crazy having $580 into it, but If I bought a brand new "boutique" all point to point wired 50 watt head that sounded this good I'd probably be paying $2000 for it. And chances are it wouldn't sound quite as good as this one!

Made between 1967 and 1969 - full details of these can be found on the excellent www.vintagehofner.co.uk web site. Effectively 2 sets of identical channels with volume, treble and bass. There is an effects loop which I haven't tried yet and two outputs for speakers at 8 and 16 Ohms. There's no standby switch which could effect valve life. This amp is about a simple good sound and simple operation so I can't score as high as a Mesa Boogie for features but that's not the point. My recommendation is to get an AB box so you can switch between channels and straight away add some extra functionality.

I am yet to gig this beauty but the sounds are really good at a low volume. It may be 50 watts but this is loud! In my garage I haven't had it above 3 as my neighbours will hate me. I play a strat and use an analogman tube screamer to create the tone. It's stunning - my strats have custom shop texas specials and '57 vintage alnicos and they are both great through this beast - can't wait to gig it. I tried it with some old Goodmans speakers and it sounded OK but not as clear as the pair of Celestion G12T 75 watters which I am now using. Definition is very clear and the difference between the two channels is very different. Very easy to use one as a rhythm and one as a lead. Experimentation is the key. I understand you can daisy chain them but haven't tried this yet. Very low noise and no crackling pots on mine. I haven't cranked up the natural distortion yet and may not bother - the sound is good enough at lower volumes.

Can say yet really but if it's lasted 40 years and plays this good then you've got to give it a 10. The (ugly) metal grill at the front of mine has been broken by the previous owner. I have removed this and will replace with speaker grill cloth which I reckon will look superb. I have also replaced the aluminium knobs with chicken head knobs - not for any reliability reasons but because I think they're easier to see and look nicer.

They don't exist anymore but this is a simple hand wired valve amp. Any good technician should be able to work on it.

I've been playing the guitar for nearly 20 years now (check out www.carfaxguitars.co.uk) and have spent years searching for the perfect amp. I have come to the conclusion that there isn't a perfect amp, but there are amps which are perfect for the different occasions. Inside I use a VOX Brian May tiny amp which is superb for bedroom volumes but you wouldn't gig it. The Selmer T&B Mk3 50 is the perfect gigging amp if you want something reliable that has great tone. It won't give you Fender tone, or Marshall tone, or AC30 tone but it will give a good tone at good volume. Try shaping your tone with pedals and you can't go wrong - well not at this price anyway. I love the simple ethic - great tone all of the time, superb! I got a bargain on ebay because the condition was a little ropey on the outside. I don't thinnk I'll be able to get a deal like this again......SUPERB!

Mine is a T&B mk3 from 69 i think. It is a powerful amp with 7,5 and 15 ohms output. It has efx loop but i haven't tried it out with delay or reverb. In puts are Hi Lo for each channel; bass ch (extremly bass) and guitar ch. (Bass enough!!). It has two el34 tubes wich are very strong and it plays loud. I use an old peavey 4x12". It has six nobs total: three for each channel. Volume, treble & Bass they work over a good range; you can get thin screaming sound and loud thik sound with treble.
The nobs are treble and bass, the inputs are treble and bass. (and the name of the amp is....?) It also distort when playing really loud, thats sound good but to loud.(Only beaten by my other amp Orange OR 120.)
I paid 100 Pounds when visiting Britain last autumn. Here in Norway i have seen only two. One was sold for 3500 NOK (320#), the other ones owner started laughing when i asked him if he would sell it.
Think it hasn't got enough nobs and yada yada lights? Enough for me!Volume, treble, bass, on/off (and on of indication light) thats what you need, and thats what you get.

I use different guitars on the Selmer.
I use an '74 Gibson SG (Yes the neck is broken), Musima de lux 25 (german good looking and good playin'), danelectro barytone (Lipstick picups) and a Framus Star Bass. In my opinion i think it manage to make my guitars sound great. I use distortin so that also counts for the sound. I get the thikness and vintage sound for my bass, the loud sound for my barytone and great tone for my guitars. The amp in general sound very clean, and gives tone with all the frequencies. It sound very tube (can I say that?) - it's british!
I play in i trio and it gives me a distinct nice tone. So my role as a guitar player gets easy.! But i have to say that i havent found the right distortion to connect it to. But i havent search that much either. But that hasent got any thing with the amp to do. The clean tone is round and nice.

I depend on it, it has lived since '69, why not 20 more years. Treat your tubeamp good, and i doesn't let you down. (Not a filosophy). I don't use a back-up. (I'm not profesional?)
I have not switched my tubes, i think it's mullard's in it (oooold).

If the amp breakes down, there are persons in Oslo who knows tube amps in and out. They will manage the selmer also. The tubes are common, so what can go wrong?

I cant give any rating since there is no selmer-service.

I have had it four 8 months. I have played for years, but for some reason i took a long time before i got a tube amp. Now i mostly play on a Orange OR 120, which really kicks! But when i bought the orange (on a coincidence) I discovered that the Orange sounded extreamly good, though the Selmer ain't bad either! Of course I wish it had an overdrive at a low volume, because it sounds so good clean, that if the selmer-people made a distorton, I would bet that the distortion would sound great! Go go Selmer!

FOUR inputs yes 4, 2 volumes, 2 trebles, 2 bass, Valve amp very sweet... it has a Echo/FX in out and can power 8 or 16 ohm speakers this is total luxury. Powerful I, have gigged this a lot and its very loud. Think this is a 68 or 69 because it ahs original plastic nobs, with metal inserts

I play strat and SG, but this amp does it all, not over crunchy like Marshal and not to clean like vox. These amps have been used by everybody and are in my opinion the ultimate workhorse. Love the cool gothic Selmer lettering

NEVER EVER BROKE DOWN since 69

SELMER dont do amps anymore

Well I'm gutted to see how cheaply some people got theres, but you have to pay for quality, these valve amps have been going up in brice by leaps and bounds all year, so if you see one for under 400 quid snap it up.... Mine was quite tatty when I got it, wouldnt buy anything mint think they look a bit rubbish if they aint been used a little, maybe hendix kicked mine who knows.. But go for it these are F*CKIN LoVELY

my t'n'b 50 must be from 67 or 68 as it still has the mark 2 cloth front. it has 2 chanels bass and guitar. both channels have indipendent volume bass and treble controles so you can use an a/b box to turn it into a three channel amp .its a realy simple amp to use but you can only have one sound per channel.It may ony be a 50 watter but it's all valve so it goes loud. it has an echo send return on the back which you can use as an effects loop

i use a gordon smith gs1 with a 70's gibson humbucker as my main guitar,also a squire tele and a 70's washburn eagle.both chanels are clean up to about 4 on the vol. dial the bass channel is thicker more blues/jazz sounding the treble channel is more 'in yer face' punk clean. start turning up the volume and the bass channel gives you a great stonesy crunch sound realy push it and you can even get a dark big black sabbath type sound.
the treble channel can take your head off even with the treble controle right doen it's very bright turn it up and push the amp hard and you are in to sonic youth extreme noise and feedback (fantatic to try if you have very understanding neighbers).thers is some hum if you're using a badly earthed guitar and different cabs will give you very different sounds.you only get one sound per channel but an a/b box will give you a supriingly versitile amp. i have mine set to give me a crunch sound on the bass chanell a harder ditorsion on the guitar channel turn the guitar volume down for a clean sound and run both channels together for a realy over the top sound.
the down side the distortion can be too harsh for blues style playing and you have to choose the type of speaker you use (the older lower powered the better, modern high power handling speakers leave it sounding dull on low power and very harsh when at full power.

i bought this baby 5 years ago for 100 pounds with a 2x12 cab i've never had it survised lent it out to freinds to gig moved house 4 times left it in the garrage for a year left it on for two days by mistake and it has never let me down. i haven't even changed the tubes!!!!!!!!!!!!

selmer no longer exist but it's a very simple amp you can do a lot to it you're self but any decent tech will be able to fix it if it goes wrong

i used to have a silver face fender delux reverb that is the only amp that can touch the selmer for soiund qualiy.(the fender was stolen from me) i would buy another selmer tommorow (but the prices are starting to spiral)
the only thing you could improve this amp with would be an on board reverb
if you see one going cheap even the later metal faced models buy it you will not regret it. in the past i've played through peavy marshall fender sound city carlsboro and HH amps and sound for pound the selmer beats them all!

2 Channels each with basic tone controls, I think the idea was to be able o run both a lead/rythm guitar & a bass thro the same amp, so just for the hell of it I teemed up with a colleague & did just that at a local jazz/blues fest, the amp was running thro a Trace Elliot 4 x 10 & the we had the loudest & clearest backline there!
As for playing solo unless you are doing screaming lead breaks the bass channel is the sweetest.

I tend to play guitar (64 Watkins Rapier 44) @ home & have regularly used the TnB as a practice amp (without complaints from my neighbours) and I love the sweet warm tones from the bass channel, occasionally I will add a Big Muff for distortion but I really prefer it clean.
When gigging I played bass in an all girl band (yeah I know I'm a guy so I lied about my age!) and use a Fender Musicmaster shortscale, I run the amp thro a Trace 4 x 10, I have never needed to go over 7 and that includes some large Uni venues as well as a 2500 seater concert venue & only at the latter did I mike up the cab, unfortunately it overloaded the desk! shame eh!!

I've had no problems, I did replace the original output valves when they expired, but I think they were over twenty years old anyway.
I have it checked over fairly regularly as it is stupid to go gigging with an amp you aren't sure of (I gave up carrying a spare round when I got rid of Marshalls, now they are unreliable.)

No official support, but lots of capable people around who know what they are doing, I get to know engineers by word of mouth & not thro ads in magazines.

I've been playing guitar for about ten years, & bass for three, I have a Watkins Rapier 44 guitar circa 1964 & signed by John Mayall, a Fender Musicmaster bass, an Ohm bass combo for dressing room practice,
and I have owned a Marshall super lead 50 which was gigged once, sounded awful and was promptly sold. Also I'm renovating a Sound City 120 PA head which should be fun.
The Selmer is irreplaceable, thro my old 4 x 10 it was awesome, I've recently used it thro a Community 4 x 18 sub (but one of the speakers couldnt handle valve power & promptly self destructed.

I would love to get my hands on a period bass cab but nothing either seems to be available or capable of handling this amp.