1959 Fender Bassman

[6v6ster]

I recently built a tweed bassman for my buddy. That amp is just so right. The eq is perfectly designed, and 4 10s gives you a big punchy sound a lot like a 4x12 cab.
just a perfectly designed amp.
I hear good things about these reissues too.

[vinnyv1k]

Even at bedroom levels they sound so awesome. Delicious tone !

[jim777]

How different are these from the Super Reverb? They both appear to be 45 watts pushing 4x10's?

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

How different are these from the Super Reverb? They both appear to be 45 watts pushing 4x10's?

They're totally different circuits. Here's a tech summary from an old comparison (in GP, I think - I only copied the text when I added it to my files):

"In place of the tweed amps’ 12AY7, the Super Reverb used a 7025 preamp tube (a more robust 12AX7) in the first gain stage of each channel, and it employed these tubes differently as well. Half of each of the first two preamp tubes provided the first gain stage for each channel, while the second half was used as a gain-makeup stage following that channel’s tone controls. And whereas the Bassman and other big tweed amps (as well as later Marshall and Vox amps) employed a cathode-follower tone stack, which used an entire preamp tube to drive the tone controls, the blackface amps sandwiched their tone controls between two more-traditional gain stages within the circuit, and that EQ stage comes before each channel’s volume control, rather than after it as in the tweed amps."

The practical bottom line is that the Super has that midrange Fender scoop and is a lot brighter than the Bassman, although both tone stacks will get them closer. The Bassman's not scooped, has a tighter bottom end, and breaks up very smoothly rather than with the higher gain of the Super's front end. I think the Bassman RI has a much lighter cabinet than the Super, too.

I've had the great pleasure of backing Larry Garner (a great Baton Rouge bluesman and a truly good guy whose lyrics are sheer poetry) several times over the last 25 years. He's an amp junkie who often showed up with a different one at every gig. But his favorite (and the backup he carried in his van for years) was a BF Super that he truly loved. I don't recall any pedals at all - he just cranked it just until it sang on the edge of roughness (which was pretty loud!). But it was brigher than Albert Einstein, and I far prefer the Bassman sound for jazz as well as blues.

[jim777]

I have a drip edge Bassman head from '68 that someone modified to sound more like a JCM45 (and added master volumes to both channels), but it needs a bit of work at the moment. I'm still waffling between picking up a Super or Twin from the TM range, but that's going to be after the holidays. I do like the sound of the Bassman I've got, but the best sounding amp of any kind I've ever played was a mid 60's black face Super. I may be able to swing both though; get the Super to play out with and the Bassman restored to play at home. When you stop and think about it, the amount of amazing equipment out in the market today really is incredible! All good info, thanks

And having seen you play live a number of times, you could back anyone

[Greentone]

Right on, Vinny. The Bassman is a helluva amp. Although I play out with Polytones, the amp I use at the home studio is a '59 Bassman. It just does everything right, IMO.

[strumcat]

Curious. What are your various takes on the Marshall Plexi head? Some people think they out-BM BMs for clean, smooth sounds.

[Christian Miller]

When I was in high school I used to gig an original 1960s Marshall Plexi (no really, it wasn’t mine)

it was impossible to get that thing to distort at any reasonable volume. I used a cheap drive pedal.

[bluejaybill]

Curious. What are your various takes on the Marshall Plexi head? Some people think they out-BM BMs for clean, smooth sounds.

I played original Bassmen, a '60 and a '59, for quite a while back in the day, and I currently have a '66 JTM45, which schematically is very similar to a Bassman.

I can't say that there is much similarity, one is still a Fender and one is a Marshall, so a lot more "crunch" in the latter.

Having said that, if you keep the volume down it also has great clean sounds, even a very good jazz sound. Keep in mind that the 4x10 speaker array is a big part of the Bassman sound. I have never played a batsman through a 2x12, or the JTM through a 4x10. And Celestion speakers have a very different sound from American Jensen style.

So a bit apples to oranges, and a bit hard to directly compare. Both great in their own way.

[strumcat]

When I was in high school I used to gig an original 1960s Marshall Plexi (no really, it wasn’t mine)

it was impossible to get that thing to distort at any reasonable volume. I used a cheap drive pedal.

I've become aware that there were a number of different 1960s "Plexi" amps, but the one you used must correspond to the one on my modeling device. It's the only amp model that I can crank to maximum gain, presence, and blend and barely get any hair, much less distortion. And it's the one I use most (but with the gain set very low). I kind of suspect it's based on the "Super 100" Plexi that was manufactured before the "Super Lead". What a beautiful clean, rich sound.

[strumcat]

Thanks for the first-hand comparison info. Was your JTM45 one of the lower (below 100W) wattage versions? That might account for the early breakup. Even on my modeler the Bassman doesn't sound like the Plexi, though the Plexi was based on the Bassman design. And of course the different speakers and cabinets would make a huge difference. So you're right about apples and oranges. Anyway, I don't want to hijack this Bassman thread, so I'll give it a rest. Bassman's do sound great!