Which do you think is the greatest amp of all time, and why did you pick the Bassman? 😃 And follow me on Spotify to hear this very amp on some tunes! open.spotify.com/artist/6RLQFre2Qp5T454mFR5Ol4
I think you are right about the Bassman being the best sounding amp. I also like the Twin Reverb, '62 Princeton reissue, and "custom" Vibrolux Reverb. Your blue telecaster is the best I think I have heard and the natural one too. I can't tell which one I like better. They both sound so beautiful! What models are they?
Woe: Alright I just left Motor city guitar playing through a brand new w " Fender Bassman" and it's new,, with all the goodies: Cover etc.,but its a 2018 : It was stashed away,, in their attic.Going back tomorrow. THANKS FOR USING 335 CAUSE I USE A 60 ES 335 ! I only use a, tube Screamer.
100% agreed…my Bassman has seen countless gigs in every imaginable setting and it never fails to perform. if you like pure sounding tube amps and/or you’re a pedal junky, it really doesn’t get any better than a good Bassman. It’s perfectly pedal friendly but still has the charisma of a high end guitar amp. The best onstage tone I ever got with it was at a theater gig with Yvonne Elliman last year at the Regent. It filled the entire theater with pure guitarness. I’m sure there’s footage somewhere on TH-cam…I just can’t stand to watch myself onstage so I never really look for that stuff 😣
the first time I saw anyone running a 410 I was 15 (I'm 68 now) it was Jerry Miller with Moby Grape. He had the 410 & a twin linked together with a Y cord it was devastating!! i wasn't able to get my hands on one till the late 70's. my main amp of choice ever since. cheers
Bassman the greatest amp of all time? You're not wrong! I'm a bit of a Bassman fan. A few years ago, I stumbled across a '62 Bassman (blonde head & cab version) in a used guitar shop. It's my #1 surf amp. I also have a Super Bassman for my bass guitars. Primarily a Fender brownface guy, I wanted to dip my toe back into the Fender tweed tones. I recently returned to that used guitar shop and I acquired a very clean, used '59 Bassman LTD Reissue 45 watt 4x10 - it's a keeper, I love it! Definitely does pedals, well, too!
Great video! Thank you for the insight. I too have a 59 Reissue but it’s the second generation LTD. I purchased it new in 2006 with the plan to use it as a pedal platform. And I also use an MXR OD albeit it’s the Badass Modified OD. And sometime around 2013 I took it to a local amp guy to have it retubed and when I picked it up the guy is like “you wanna try it before you take it?” For some reason I replied “no” Then he says “well would you mind if I did?” He cranked this thing up just like you did, and all I remember is me saying to myself “I can’t believe I have this amp for 6 years and I had no idea it could do that” Great amp indeed. I will keep it for as long as I can still play.
After years of buying "other amps" instead of the Bassman I always really wanted, . . . a couple of years ago I finally wised up and bought a '59 Bassman reissue. And yes, I fully agree with you. I love me some Vibrolux and Super Reverb, but the Bassman is truly King. It is the Buddy Rich, Bo Randall, and Abe Lincoln of amplifiers.
There is another way to get great tones. Turn it up all the way, and roll the volume down on the guitar to just on. That's where the amp will shine. Great video and thanks. Cheers
Thanks! So tonally I totally agree with you, however I generally find amps to be very noisy when you run them that way which for me kills the tonal goodness.
I purchased a used 2nd generation '59 Fender Bassman LTD, (Tube Rectifier, Jensen Speakers), and your video was very helpful in getting the amp dialed in. It was nice to know that it was me and not the amp that was keeping me from realizing the tone I should be hearing. Much obliged and keep them videos coming!
Do you still have the LTD? What settings did you decide if you don’t mind me asking. I’ve got one and I go back and forth with it. I know the tones are there but I can’t find a setting I like.
Another great video Jack. I like the combination of entertaining historical reference to useful purchasing information I get from your videos. The Fender 59 Bassman Reissue was the first tube amp that I bought with my own money in 2006. I didn't know anything about amps I just liked the way it sounded and man is it loud. I mentioned that amp to my guitar teacher and he said that country players really love those amps as well. Now I only play at home and try to do home recordings. I use a Supro Keeley amp for that.
I agree. I had this same amp (first gen reissue) and I regret selling it. I bought it used for $500 and sold it later for $750 to GC of all places. It was the perfect amp.
@@JackFossett Rory played a lot of amps - tweed twins, ampeg, marshall combos, etc. The vox is the amp(s) he used the most with the others running in parallel.
Rory with a Vox ac30 and a range master, Rory with a bassman , Clapton with a JTM-45 or Freddy King with his bassman. Those are the electric blues. Hands down. It was a Bassman that started it all. ‘Nuff said. The rest just suck.
Actually believe it or not I mentioned Buddy Guy in my rough narration but accidentally cut it. I love Buddy, I used to jam over one of his Live in Chicago albums when I was learning guitar
@@JackFossett I saw Buddy at Antone’s playing through 4 Bassmans cranked to 12. It was so insanely loud that there was no note definition at all - just a wall of white noise tearing everyone’s ears off. Two songs in and we hear a loud bang. Two of the amps blew up in a puff of smoke. Buddy asks if he needs some replacement amps and the whole crowd says “No way!” He played the rest of the night with just the two and it was so much better sound. I’ve heard a B1 bomber going into full afterburners and the start of an F1 Grand Prix back in the day of v10 and v12 engines. Neither compared to the outright pain and screeching sounds from Buddy. Crazy loud!!
I've had a RI Bassman for decades dating back to the mid-late 90's. It sits here right beside me as I type this. It survived gig after gig after gig, no worries, no issues. While it has a solid state rectifier available, I always used the tube rectifier option. As I'm way past my gigging days now, it still ain't goin' nowhere! My kids can deal with it and all my other amps (ten in total at the moment) when I'm dead and gone!! Every serious musician IMHO needs to have a Bassman in their inventory... period!!
Great video Jack. Some awesome tones. The cleanish 335 was my favourite. If I had to pick a best ever amp tone I would go for Robben Ford's Dumble, but that could have a great deal to do with his fingers too. The Two Rock Bloomfield Drive and Morgan MVP23 are awesome amps too.
Thoroughly enjoyable thoughts on the Bassman and I enjoyed the demos. Some of the sounds remind of the the great tones I get from my Roland Blues Cube Hot, which is modeled after a Fender Bassman, and is an excellent pedal platform too.
I think the Fender Bassman 59 is the best as I was fortunate enough to buy any amp, I tried lots of amps, guess what the Bassman came top. A brilliant sound, just my opinion. Thanks for the video, always look forward to your video 👍🏻
I have a MiG 50 head, which is basically a 59 bassman clone Bass 0, treb 0, mids 10, presence 2-4 depending Volume 4-6 are about the deepest, richest cleans out there. Vol 6+ turns into a total overdriven freight train Thru a 4x12 cab, this amp is… loud. but it’s not just big dumb loud. The bassman truly was the first amp with “big iron,” massive mains and output transformers, so there’s a ton of bandwidth coming out of this thing. It’s loud as hell but you hear absolutely **everything.** Pedals - I use a blues driver, a super fuzz and a big muff. Often all at once. Sounds amazing. The blues driver by itself just adds one more layer of grit… and frankly the bassman circuit just sounds so good I’ll often use no pedals at all, too. I’m really more of an amp guy than a guitar guy and the bassman circuit is just a marvel.
That bassman sounds great. My favorite amp of all time (and believe me, I’ve had them all) is a 90’s USA made Fender Deville 2x12. Clean tone is perfect. TS9 for dirt OR I bought a little device that plugs into the line out/amp in jacks with a potentiometer. Crank the amp and use it to control the volume.
I had a USA deville and I thought it was great as well until I borrowed my friends twin reverb and it made the deville sound like crap to me. Devilles are cheap and they’re a dime a dozen nowadays. Good for the price, and swap out the speakers with some green backs and you can make them sound great but I’ll stick with a deluxe reverb, or twin or super or bassman.
Tweed Bassman is Great! But VOX AC 30, Peavey Delta Blues, Marshall Bluesbreaker, Mesa Boogie Calber 50, Vox AC 15 HW, Fender Blues Deville 4X10 Blue Alnico….they Are all Great Amps and pedal platforms… Ist Hard to pick only one, they Are all outatanding!
Excellent video and i simple can't agree more. I also have a 91 reissue and it's had been my main gigging amp for over a decade. I have tons of vintage amps- this reissue is my favorite tone-wise over my Marshalls and my other Fenders (like a '67 Super Reverb- and a '76 JMP) You point out very well that straight in it's just a beautiful rich tone machine- but it really needs pedals to get gain at a club venue volume like you mentioned. I can't really turn mine up past 3 realistically- although there is something to be said with running it louder with the volume on the guitar turned down (which is how I run most of my amps anyway). My go-to pedals for the amp are a Jersey Girl Fulltender for SRV-in-a-box it's absolutely perfect- and for heavier gain I put a MI Audio Tone Zone (the original version) and can nail the EJ violin tone right away. --- all that being said- it's really too loud to gig anymore- it's just loud as hell- beautiful- but too loud for my gigging life in the size of clubs I play. I do so miss it and it's deep resonant tone at a gig though. Maybe I'll take it out next time and see if my playing style has improved enough to tame it on stage! Subbed! By the way- if you lacquer that with Zinnser Amber Shellac- it gives it that vintage amber tone that the originals have and "relics" very, very, very realistically. You can even do it over the already torn tweed. When I take mine out everyone thinks I'm playing through a real '59- it has all the mojo and patina on 40 years older has. Just beautiful and the Shellac is really easy to work with- just brush on~ that tweed of yours needs it to not look too "Peavey" Classic. 50 watt... happy to send pics if you tell me where. It's pretty unbelievable how authentic it looks.
ES 335 sounded the best w/ the bassman followed by the tele. Thanks for putting this together. I had my Bassman on the classifieds and i think you might have convinced me to keep her.
I love the Nerdiness of your intro Jack! it's awesome! As far as the Bassman, I have to say I don't favor this amp when its breaking up because it gets too Boomy and muddy for me , but , the clean clarity it gives and tone is exactly what I love about it. I love the fact that it has 4X10's Jenson Alnico speakers which are so nice when clean! Thank you for this video!
Very nice demo, thank you! In 2009 I had the rental of a large room in a former Bank of America to practice in. I took among others my black Fender Vibro King and my '83 62 Strat. My friend brought his 1990 Bassman and his G&L F100. We started jamming at enviously loud levels. He fell in love with my Vibro King and Strat and I with his Bassman and G&L. I was convinced that his tone was the finest thing I'd ever heard out of an amp/guitar combination. At medium volumes the cleans were supreme; at full volumes it bespoke the very Meaning of Life. Interestingly he liked my Vibro King more. I now have that very Bassman thanks to him and will seek out the G&L.
Totally agree. I also have an old 59RI Bassman. Of all the amps that I have, it has the best awesome headroom! A good pedal platform and works well with ALL guitars! 😊
The Fender '59 Bassman Ltd. Reissue is a real working man's amp! It's straight forward and easy to work on and even take apart. As I said down below it has the "bias" ports so with just a simple meter the owner can adjust the bias of his Bassman. Also it's easy to get to the carriage and circuit board and work on or change tubes. I think Leo Fender was really on his game when he designed this amp. I think he wanted it to be a real workhorse and easy to maintain. Besides having the ability to play loud and clean and loud with grit I have noticed the Bassman has its own natural resonance which sounds better than any reverb I have ever heard. The Pine wood cabinet is robust and that's the reason for the wonderful resonance. Thank You so much Leo! - Peter age 73
I found a first year reissue used years ag, and regret selling it to this day (I was chasing a 2 channel amp sound, and trying to keep up with the other guitarist in the band, who had a Dual Rectifier). As i reflect back, that was a fantastic amp!
Have the 1992 Reissue and it is just an amazing amp (prefer it to the LTD version which is still great). The blue-frame Eminence speakers are amazing. The 4x10's have a 3D quality & resonance you can't get anywhere else. Best amp you can find anywhere for the price. Had a vintage Marshall stack and it sounded very similar to the Bassman to the point I sold the Marshall.
I'm certain that Jim Marshall used the Bassman as a template for designing his first amp which might explain why your Marshal stack and Bassman sounded so similar. It would be worth checking out the history.
Thank you for another video! :) You have always nice playing and good comments of these classic amps! I have a Fender Bassman clone as a bass amplifier. Bassman was originally designed to be a bass amp. It is a very good one for both guitar and bassguitar. A Finnish technician who built it for me (Rikstone is his company) recommended to have a separate amp head and speaker cabinet for bass playing of this size of amp so I followed his recommendation when I ordered it. It is a very loud amplifier - 50w all tube (well the first tube of preamp is replaced by mosfet in this clone, so mine is kind of hybrid, although mosfet sounds very much like AX7 tube). Lots of headroom! I haven't even tested if it gets overdriven - I would need to protect my ears with earplugs (and to run the test in a solitary place). I tried also it with a guitar speaker and it sounded great. It is a too powerful for me as a guitar amp (Fender Blues Junior clone 15w is enough for me) but as a bass amp it is just right. :)
Haven’t played every amp there is but purchased a Fender Bassbreaker 45 which is an awesome tone(s) replaced my Twin with the Bassbreaker to me an affordable Bassman alternative 👍🔥🎸🦅 Sounds great Jack but haven’t ever heard bad tones or playing from you 👍🔥🎸🦅
Awesome! The Bassbreakers are seriously good amps. The funny thing about it is that they're going for a Fender take on the classic Marshall, which was the exact one inspired by the Tweed Bassman.
@@JackFossett Full circle is how I see it I run this through a Morley ABC box with an AC30C2X & a Blues Jr 4 Tone heaven 4me but all your vids are great always have an awesome tone 👍🔥🎸🦅
Was my main amp for years. Miss it. 👍😎 When it arrived, 2 of the speakers were wired in reverse! Took me awhile to figure what was going on🤣 4 X10's for that clarity, directness and punch when needed is heaven to the ears👍😎 Pedalboard loved this amp and Visa versa 🤣👍 Hoping Fender makes a Tone Master version!👍😎 👍😎❤🖖 Love brother
The Bassman is the Sunday Roast Beef and potatoes that Grandma makes.No frills lots of love.Really like the sky blue 335 you play never seen one that wasn't vintage cherry or sunburst before.
I had one of these reissues. It was in the 90s. As a standalone amp it was okay but it was not a great representation of the original. I traded it but having been studying the tweed tone I would like to get it back to see if I missed something.
Great video enjoyed the tones and tips. Only thing that you didn’t mention was that without jumping the channels, if you roll up the unused volume it changes the tone.
you can find a canadian made traynor ycv80q as a cheap alternative to the 4x10 bassman , they are kinda rare but are out there , you can pick em up for around 400 dollars , the mids turned to 12 is something i've never seen anyone do , tried it and love it , great video , thanks ...
I picked up a used Bassman 59 reissue today. $750 so I jumped on it. Needs a bit of a cleanup but my God the tones from this bad boy! Love it. And, to my surprise, it does not seem as heavy as I anticipated. I had a Matchless Lightning that cam in at 45 lbs. I looked up the weight of the Bassman and Fender claims it is 55 lbs. I think because it is larger in size from the Matchless it seems lighter. The Matchless' weight is concentrated in a smaller box and seems heavier for some reason. Crazy. All in all, it's a keeper!!!
The Bassman is my favorite!!! I purchased a Fender 59' Bassman 4x10 re-issue last year. I put in $500 in all new JJ tubes (both Power and Pre-amp) and the other neato burrito caps and stuff. It takes pedals like a CHAMP!!! I use a HOF Reverb pedal with it to get my space (spring reverb setting). I have other Fender amps as well as Roland JC's. The Bassman is my big-boy amp.
Playing an amp in an open room that's mic'ed to pick up that sound accurately is the best way to judge the SOUND of an amp from a listener's perspective. You created a recorded rendition of the amp using two mic's, fed into i assume a mic preamp then into a recording interface with all the attendant addon's - EQ'ing, etc. The sounds are really nice, particularly the cleans. The fundamental thing about this typical set up that so many posters use is that these sounds can be produced in so many ways using so many varying rigs and recording set ups. What i hear in this post is what i can hear from basically ANY similarly designed recording. Little nuances will of course come across, and one's guitar has a big influence on the result, but overall, a properly set up open-air recording that sounds like the room rather than a typical recording interface that one would hear in a HiFi set up is the most honest rendition of an amp. This can be done and i have heard many recordings that are so rendered. Whatever this Bassman brings to the game is compromised by the generic recording technique which can make many, many different amps sound much more THE SAME than different. (btw ... i like your videos.) rgds.
Respectfully I disagree. I record them this way because I feel it’s the best representation of what an amp actually sounds like. Room recording is just another method, but then the biggest variable is the room the amp is in, which adds color to the sound way more than any preamp or EQ I’m using here.
I have a JTM45 Bluesbreaker reissue head from 1990. Very like a Bassman, huge clean sound, essentially a clone - right down to its 6L6 power amp tubes. A great pedal platform.I don't know when Marshall stopped using the 6L6's but more recent ones have lost their Bassman loveliness, IMO. I'm without a cab for the Marshall currently and trying to decide whether to get an open back Marshall JVM 2x12 with mixed G12's or try and find an open back 4x10. I recall seeing a Bassman combo in a shop 30-ish years ago, my memory tells me it was a Mesa Boogie (could be wrong, but very 'boutique') and insanely expensive but l wish I'd bought it. Bassman into 4x10 just sounds great.
Clean sound is the greatest my opinion. Very blues and very nice feel when playing. Some say that, JTM45 cleans are nicer but i like Bassman cleans more. I had Bassman clone some years ago.
Hi. I 'm using the RI 59 for some months now (tweed LTD). What I find is that it sounds amazing on its own and can take lots of pedals. Classic for high wattage Fender amps is that they are difficult to distort at low volumes. I can compare it with my Bandmaster RI tweed, handwired, and although these are totally different beasts (they look the same), the Bandmaster is softer, and it distorts at lower volumes. Since I play only in small venues, I am tilting back to my Bandmaster (which is a fine amp), especially bc we play covers and have many different sounds (the Bandmaster, in my opinion, is more versatile). Greetings, Marc
Love the 50’s tweed amps! The bassman being king in that lineup. But, for me, the bassman is a close 2nd. I’m a Marshall 1962 (Bluesbreaker) guy all the way. The combo of course, I’ve done JTM45’s with all different configurations of cabs, and for me the 2x12 Bluesbreaker combo is “IT” for what I do, with the bassman being a close 2nd. (Original bassman or point to point replicas, the RI doesn’t make the list to my ear…)
The guitarist from a little band called socialburn (they got kinda big in early 2000s) dropped by my house one day. We talked for a little bit and then he left. Ten minutes later he showed back up with a 98 fender bassman, a reverb pedal, distortion pedal, a Casio keyboard, and a bag of dentist refrigerator magnet teeth. He said "I come with gifts" 😂 I had sold off my orange th30 and my orange cr120 combo so for him to just give me a fender bassman was pretty wild. Just bought a gretsch g5622t and it sounds amazing thru the bassman. Best tones I've heard in my life
I'm rocking both a Fender '59 Bassman LTD. and a Marshall JTM45. Importantly, I may have finally found my guitar a G&L ASSAT CLASSIC Bluesboy Natural. It weighs less than 6 lbs and is chambered with an "f" hole and is basically a high quality Telecaster. Because it's chambered it acts like an acoustic unplugged. No, not as loud as a regular acoustic, but loud enough to hear and enjoy the acoustic resonance and tones. I can play during the night in our bed and it sounds good but does not awaken my sleeping wife. It's smaller and almost as loud acoustically as my Casino. Being smaller makes it is so much more comfortable to play through. I love it. Because it's an electric guitar I play her through all my amps. It only took me until age 71. -Peter I want to add that I tune her a minor 3rd. down C#, F#, B, E, G#, C#. String bends are so much more lively and easy. This also allows me to play all day and all night without destroying my hands- a bonus I was not expecting
The '59 Bassman has a built in bias port so using a few tools such as a bias meter, and a screw driver I can always do my own bias. The Marshall has a fixed resistor that may or may not need to be changed in value one day. I tried a different 5881 and the bias was exactly the same so perhaps I can just replace the tubes when they wear out and not have to do a bias procedure. That would make my life so much easier than figuring out what resistor value and then DE soldering the old one and soldering in the new one. The 6L6 is very similar to the 5881 power tube BTW. The Jensen P10R 8 ohm is a 25 watt speaker so 4 of them makes the Bassman 410 a 100 watt speaker cab! They start at 70Hz and I read that some Bassists used to blow the speaker and that just helped guitarists to use the Bassman because at 70 Hz a guitar wont be pumping out enough to destroy the Jensen speakers. 70 Hz is well within the normal GUITAR RANGE. No matter what, I am happy. The playing is all up to me and I enjoy playing very much.
The Marshall JTM45 / 2245 failed within 10 days. That was my 3rd. JTM45 and they all failed in about 10 days. I sent it back. I have well over a dozen tube amps and only the JTM45 has failed. I'm thinking about paying an electrician to come over and examine my wall outlets and see if there is a problem (bad ground?). However if I can get my Bassman sounding like a JTM45 then there's no problem because it has no issues with my house electrical current which I repeatedly measure at 123 VAC. I have a Variac to bring down the voltage to 115 or 110 Vac when I want too.
I used to be more of a black panel fender guy, but ever since purchasing a pro jr iv tweed I’ve grown to be more biased towards tweed amps. The pro jr iv tweed and most tweed amps have the perfect amount of mids, and can sound a bit chimey like a vox or a Marshall, while also pulls off fat, saggy, fuzzy overdrive better than ANY other amp I’ve ever used.
I love turning hot rod deluxe and deville etc into bassman/jmp hybrids. So fun to tear out those cheap pcb and hand wire one of these circuits in !! Bassman is the shit !
What do you think of the 4x10 reissues that came out in the 90s vs. the 59' reissue they are making today? Is it better to get a vintage head? There are nice blackface heads available for less than the combo. Is the circuit that different from the 5F6 or whatever the original circuit was?
I disagree about the bright channel. I always avoided it because I'm mostly a single-coil guy. I guess if you're playing without a band, the normal channel is better. In a band though, the bright channel cuts through the mix way better and sounds surprisingly good. The guys in my band made me try it at practice one time years ago and I've been doing it ever since. Having said that, I don't use it live too often anymore (even before covid), because it's too loud. I like to turn the amp up loud and use the vol on the guitar to clean up. Now I use either a 70s Music Master bass amp (12 watts, and soundpeople still ask me to turn it down...lol), or, more often, one of my Quilters. My Bassman an OG reissue with the blue-frame speakers. I'll never get rid of mine either!
Absolutely! There might be "better" amps out there for it, like if I were playing a surf rock set I'd probably favor my Super Reverb, but thats not to say this one can't do it beautifully.
Very nice! In the studio? With a speaker upgrade you could be pretty much in the right ballpark. Not sure how well the stock speaker would pull it off. Of course the advantage of the Pro is you can get the natural overdrive at a way more reasonable volume.
I had a bassman twenty years ago,it has a 3d tone that fills the room,ive been trying to find an amp for the last year they all sound and feel xxxxxx, i havend played for 20 years due to an accident,im up and runnng again,SO THE PIONT IS.i whent to se a friends band last week,the lead guitarist had a big pedle full of sounds,it sounded thin,and not real,my friend had a bassman it filled the room with tone,i hate cause he has a bassman and i haven’t no not really,he couldent get a good sound out of it ,i gave him my old setting it was marvelus,i want one NOW,but im gonna have to save some more,
Yes it does sound good I had built cabinets for a while I had bought a guy that was building for Yamaha I might go back into it next spring I might be able to recover and recondition that for you if you wanted it back like brand new. Personally I’m not a relic kind of guy. I would say the fender is more of a great tone and volume that is usable in a reasonable size place to play where are those big hundred watt marshals are more like outdoor concert or big locations etc. everything that you stated is pretty much what everybody says about the same going straight in etc. not every amp can have a good tone at lower volume this that’s what I say this is a good usable volume we used to always get told turn it down with the big marshals we had cabinets facing backwards and everything in the master volumes on three. Fender is a fantastic company I’ve written letters to them before in I was blowed away by the answers they gave me for restoring equipment and stuff they have really done a lot for us in many different aspects. I would buy a new fender guitar just because they’re such a good company and I know that just about anything I’ve ever had from them has been a real good investment as long as you’re going to hang onto it A while. my first good guitar was a 72 telecaster I think you know what those are worth. It was the wangiest twangiest thing I ever heard but you know what that’s what all the Country guys want.
Hi, I just bought the 90s RI 59 bassman with the blue eminence speakers. I was wondering if I’m missing out on not getting the LTD version or if the 90s model is up to par?
Unsure how much you come back to these old posts, Jack, but thought I'd share that I've been watching a bunch of old live Springsteen clips and he's got two Bass...men? One is mic'd so I assume the second one is a backup. Makes sense that he has been playing Marshalls the last two decades or so, considering the lineage-
That was a lot of fun,what do you take out in it's place?of all time?so far it would be both twin and princeton,must say though my OR has been pretty awesome thanks happy Easter!!!
Happy Easter to you as well! Over the past several years I’ve used different amps for a bunch of occasions - last summer I actually still had outdoor gigs and used a Fender Mustang GTX believe it or not, for its versatility and how light it is. This summer I’ll probably use a combination of the Princeton and a Pod Go. I also have a lot of hours on an AC30 over the years although I don’t currently have one.
Which do you think is the greatest amp of all time, and why did you pick the Bassman? 😃 And follow me on Spotify to hear this very amp on some tunes!
open.spotify.com/artist/6RLQFre2Qp5T454mFR5Ol4
How much does an amp like this go for used?
@@houseoftrek611 Probably $800-1000 on average
@@JackFossett Okay. I understand, sir.
I think you are right about the Bassman being the best sounding amp. I also like the Twin Reverb, '62 Princeton reissue, and "custom" Vibrolux Reverb. Your blue telecaster is the best I think I have heard and the natural one too. I can't tell which one I like better. They both sound so beautiful! What models are they?
Woe: Alright I just left Motor city guitar playing through a brand new w " Fender Bassman" and it's new,, with all the goodies: Cover etc.,but its a 2018 : It was stashed away,, in their attic.Going back tomorrow. THANKS FOR USING 335 CAUSE I USE A 60 ES 335 ! I only use a, tube Screamer.
100% agreed…my Bassman has seen countless gigs in every imaginable setting and it never fails to perform. if you like pure sounding tube amps and/or you’re a pedal junky, it really doesn’t get any better than a good Bassman. It’s perfectly pedal friendly but still has the charisma of a high end guitar amp. The best onstage tone I ever got with it was at a theater gig with Yvonne Elliman last year at the Regent. It filled the entire theater with pure guitarness. I’m sure there’s footage somewhere on TH-cam…I just can’t stand to watch myself onstage so I never really look for that stuff 😣
Yeah, pretty good for a Bell Labs public address amp.
the first time I saw anyone running a 410 I was 15 (I'm 68 now) it was Jerry Miller with Moby Grape. He had the 410 & a twin linked together with a Y cord it was devastating!! i wasn't able to get my hands on one till the late 70's. my main amp of choice ever since. cheers
Great tone and playing! Cheers
Thank you Johan - high praise coming from someone like you, love your channel 🙏🏻
Bassman the greatest amp of all time? You're not wrong! I'm a bit of a Bassman fan. A few years ago, I stumbled across a '62 Bassman (blonde head & cab version) in a used guitar shop. It's my #1 surf amp. I also have a Super Bassman for my bass guitars. Primarily a Fender brownface guy, I wanted to dip my toe back into the Fender tweed tones. I recently returned to that used guitar shop and I acquired a very clean, used '59 Bassman LTD Reissue 45 watt 4x10 - it's a keeper, I love it! Definitely does pedals, well, too!
I can honestly say that my 2020 ‘59 bassman LTD Is the best amplifier I have ever played. I am playing a 6120 signature Gretsch through it.
I notice that your delivery and presence are getting a lot more fluid and natural. I've always liked your stuff, but it's nice to see it improving.
Great video! Thank you for the insight. I too have a 59 Reissue but it’s the second generation LTD. I purchased it new in 2006 with the plan to use it as a pedal platform. And I also use an MXR OD albeit it’s the Badass Modified OD. And sometime around 2013 I took it to a local amp guy to have it retubed and when I picked it up the guy is like “you wanna try it before you take it?” For some reason I replied “no” Then he says “well would you mind if I did?” He cranked this thing up just like you did, and all I remember is me saying to myself “I can’t believe I have this amp for 6 years and I had no idea it could do that” Great amp indeed. I will keep it for as long as I can still play.
After years of buying "other amps" instead of the Bassman I always really wanted, . . . a couple of years ago I finally wised up and bought a '59 Bassman reissue. And yes, I fully agree with you. I love me some Vibrolux and Super Reverb, but the Bassman is truly King. It is the Buddy Rich, Bo Randall, and Abe Lincoln of amplifiers.
There is another way to get great tones. Turn it up all the way, and roll the volume down on the guitar to just on. That's where the amp will shine. Great video and thanks. Cheers
Thanks! So tonally I totally agree with you, however I generally find amps to be very noisy when you run them that way which for me kills the tonal goodness.
Voodoo Chile is for me the best tone of all time. The reason why I'm into Bassmans. Jeff Beck is also a Bassman player!
My goodness that 335 took my breath away. The burst on that thing is perfection.🥰😍😍 Sounds incredible as well.
I purchased a used 2nd generation '59 Fender Bassman LTD, (Tube Rectifier, Jensen Speakers), and your video was very helpful in getting the amp dialed in. It was nice to know that it was me and not the amp that was keeping me from realizing the tone I should be hearing. Much obliged and keep them videos coming!
Do you still have the LTD? What settings did you decide if you don’t mind me asking. I’ve got one and I go back and forth with it. I know the tones are there but I can’t find a setting I like.
Another great video Jack. I like the combination of entertaining historical reference to useful purchasing information I get from your videos. The Fender 59 Bassman Reissue was the first tube amp that I bought with my own money in 2006. I didn't know anything about amps I just liked the way it sounded and man is it loud. I mentioned that amp to my guitar teacher and he said that country players really love those amps as well. Now I only play at home and try to do home recordings. I use a Supro Keeley amp for that.
I agree. I had this same amp (first gen reissue) and I regret selling it. I bought it used for $500 and sold it later for $750 to GC of all places. It was the perfect amp.
I finally found someone who can correctly do an amp review! Thanks!!!
Rory Gallagher's favourite amp. Enough said.
Which is interesting, I've only recently learned that and for years associated him more with the AC30, which of course he also loved.
@@JackFossett Rory played a lot of amps - tweed twins, ampeg, marshall combos, etc. The vox is the amp(s) he used the most with the others running in parallel.
Rory with a Vox ac30 and a range master, Rory with a bassman , Clapton with a JTM-45 or Freddy King with his bassman. Those are the electric blues. Hands down. It was a Bassman that started it all. ‘Nuff said. The rest just suck.
❤️🔥I have one. You are correct, Sir! Undoubtedly The Greatest Amplifier of All-Time!!!❤️🔥
It’s sad, but people forget about one of the last great blues men of all time: Buddy Guy. He is the one I think of when it comes to the bassman.
Actually believe it or not I mentioned Buddy Guy in my rough narration but accidentally cut it. I love Buddy, I used to jam over one of his Live in Chicago albums when I was learning guitar
No blues fan is forgetting Buddy guy lol...
Same. He was the first person that came to mind
@@JackFossett I saw Buddy at Antone’s playing through 4 Bassmans cranked to 12. It was so insanely loud that there was no note definition at all - just a wall of white noise tearing everyone’s ears off. Two songs in and we hear a loud bang. Two of the amps blew up in a puff of smoke. Buddy asks if he needs some replacement amps and the whole crowd says “No way!”
He played the rest of the night with just the two and it was so much better sound.
I’ve heard a B1 bomber going into full afterburners and the start of an F1 Grand Prix back in the day of v10 and v12 engines. Neither compared to the outright pain and screeching sounds from Buddy. Crazy loud!!
Buddy’s best contribution to music is being a major influence on Hendrix. His own guitar playing and singing is hard on the ears tbh.
This performance warrants a sub.
You have a new fan sir.
I've had a RI Bassman for decades dating back to the mid-late 90's. It sits here right beside me as I type this. It survived gig after gig after gig, no worries, no issues. While it has a solid state rectifier available, I always used the tube rectifier option. As I'm way past my gigging days now, it still ain't goin' nowhere! My kids can deal with it and all my other amps (ten in total at the moment) when I'm dead and gone!! Every serious musician IMHO needs to have a Bassman in their inventory... period!!
Great video Jack. Some awesome tones. The cleanish 335 was my favourite. If I had to pick a best ever amp tone I would go for Robben Ford's Dumble, but that could have a great deal to do with his fingers too. The Two Rock Bloomfield Drive and Morgan MVP23 are awesome amps too.
The 335 right into this amp is one of my very favorite tones ever!
Thanks for putting this out Jack! I just got my hands on one a couple of weeks ago. Your timing is perfect!
I've always wanted one. This was the best review ever of this amp. So much love. Thank you. Now you are gonna make me spend a lotta money. ;-)
Glad to hear it!
Voodoo Chile(long blues version),...I think this may be then pinnacle of blues rock tone for me. Jack your really making some great content!
Thank you kindly! That’s a Jimi tune I can just get totally lost (in a good way) in. Have you seen Justin Johnson’s recent jam of it?
It's just very nice see all kind of guitars passing throug this beautyful amp
Thoroughly enjoyable thoughts on the Bassman and I enjoyed the demos. Some of the sounds remind of the the great tones I get from my Roland Blues Cube Hot, which is modeled after a Fender Bassman, and is an excellent pedal platform too.
I think the Fender Bassman 59 is the best as I was fortunate enough to buy any amp, I tried lots of amps, guess what the Bassman came top. A brilliant sound, just my opinion. Thanks for the video, always look forward to your video 👍🏻
Really enjoyed the commentary and humor, good tones.
I have a MiG 50 head, which is basically a 59 bassman clone
Bass 0, treb 0, mids 10, presence 2-4 depending
Volume 4-6 are about the deepest, richest cleans out there. Vol 6+ turns into a total overdriven freight train
Thru a 4x12 cab, this amp is… loud. but it’s not just big dumb loud. The bassman truly was the first amp with “big iron,” massive mains and output transformers, so there’s a ton of bandwidth coming out of this thing. It’s loud as hell but you hear absolutely **everything.**
Pedals - I use a blues driver, a super fuzz and a big muff. Often all at once. Sounds amazing. The blues driver by itself just adds one more layer of grit… and frankly the bassman circuit just sounds so good I’ll often use no pedals at all, too.
I’m really more of an amp guy than a guitar guy and the bassman circuit is just a marvel.
That bassman sounds great. My favorite amp of all time (and believe me, I’ve had them all) is a 90’s USA made Fender Deville 2x12. Clean tone is perfect. TS9 for dirt OR I bought a little device that plugs into the line out/amp in jacks with a potentiometer. Crank the amp and use it to control the volume.
Looks like a great set up, I use the fulltone OCD for dirt, what a great amp 👍🏻
I had a USA deville and I thought it was great as well until I borrowed my friends twin reverb and it made the deville sound like crap to me. Devilles are cheap and they’re a dime a dozen nowadays. Good for the price, and swap out the speakers with some green backs and you can make them sound great but I’ll stick with a deluxe reverb, or twin or super or bassman.
Tweed Bassman is Great! But VOX AC 30, Peavey Delta Blues, Marshall Bluesbreaker, Mesa Boogie Calber 50, Vox AC 15 HW, Fender Blues Deville 4X10 Blue Alnico….they Are all Great Amps and pedal platforms…
Ist Hard to pick only one, they Are all outatanding!
@@apophispnw5717 funny thing is I'd actually take a Deville over the twin. More mid presence which dirt pedals prefer and I prefer for clean.
Excellent video and i simple can't agree more. I also have a 91 reissue and it's had been my main gigging amp for over a decade. I have tons of vintage amps- this reissue is my favorite tone-wise over my Marshalls and my other Fenders (like a '67 Super Reverb- and a '76 JMP) You point out very well that straight in it's just a beautiful rich tone machine- but it really needs pedals to get gain at a club venue volume like you mentioned. I can't really turn mine up past 3 realistically- although there is something to be said with running it louder with the volume on the guitar turned down (which is how I run most of my amps anyway). My go-to pedals for the amp are a Jersey Girl Fulltender for SRV-in-a-box it's absolutely perfect- and for heavier gain I put a MI Audio Tone Zone (the original version) and can nail the EJ violin tone right away. --- all that being said- it's really too loud to gig anymore- it's just loud as hell- beautiful- but too loud for my gigging life in the size of clubs I play. I do so miss it and it's deep resonant tone at a gig though. Maybe I'll take it out next time and see if my playing style has improved enough to tame it on stage! Subbed! By the way- if you lacquer that with Zinnser Amber Shellac- it gives it that vintage amber tone that the originals have and "relics" very, very, very realistically. You can even do it over the already torn tweed. When I take mine out everyone thinks I'm playing through a real '59- it has all the mojo and patina on 40 years older has. Just beautiful and the Shellac is really easy to work with- just brush on~ that tweed of yours needs it to not look too "Peavey" Classic. 50 watt... happy to send pics if you tell me where. It's pretty unbelievable how authentic it looks.
Thanks, you've jacked me up so much I've gone and bought the current '59 Bassman LTD. \m/
ES 335 sounded the best w/ the bassman followed by the tele. Thanks for putting this together. I had my Bassman on the classifieds and i think you might have convinced me to keep her.
That's the best amp tone I've heard on your channel, period. Awesome.
Btw, according to YT subtitles, your name is Jack Fawcett.
Well, I’ve been called worse!
Love this amp demo. Just the right range of tonal explorations, and sounds vs commentary.
I love the Nerdiness of your intro Jack! it's awesome! As far as the Bassman, I have to say I don't favor this amp when its breaking up because it gets too Boomy and muddy for me , but , the clean clarity it gives and tone is exactly what I love about it. I love the fact that it has 4X10's Jenson Alnico speakers which are so nice when clean! Thank you for this video!
Very nice demo, thank you! In 2009 I had the rental of a large room in a former Bank of America to practice in. I took among others my black Fender Vibro King and my '83 62 Strat. My friend brought his 1990 Bassman and his G&L F100. We started jamming at enviously loud levels. He fell in love with my Vibro King and Strat and I with his Bassman and G&L. I was convinced that his tone was the finest thing I'd ever heard out of an amp/guitar combination. At medium volumes the cleans were supreme; at full volumes it bespoke the very Meaning of Life. Interestingly he liked my Vibro King more. I now have that very Bassman thanks to him and will seek out the G&L.
Totally agree. I also have an old 59RI Bassman. Of all the amps that I have, it has the best awesome headroom! A good pedal platform and works well with ALL guitars! 😊
Couldn't agree more!
The Fender '59 Bassman Ltd. Reissue is a real working man's amp! It's straight forward and easy to work on and even take apart. As I said down below it has the "bias" ports so with just a simple meter the owner can adjust the bias of his Bassman. Also it's easy to get to the carriage and circuit board and work on or change tubes. I think Leo Fender was really on his game when he designed this amp. I think he wanted it to be a real workhorse and easy to maintain.
Besides having the ability to play loud and clean and loud with grit I have noticed the Bassman has its own natural resonance which sounds better than any reverb I have ever heard. The Pine wood cabinet is robust and that's the reason for the wonderful resonance. Thank You so much Leo! - Peter age 73
I found a first year reissue used years ag, and regret selling it to this day (I was chasing a 2 channel amp sound, and trying to keep up with the other guitarist in the band, who had a Dual Rectifier). As i reflect back, that was a fantastic amp!
Have the 1992 Reissue and it is just an amazing amp (prefer it to the LTD version which is still great). The blue-frame Eminence speakers are amazing. The 4x10's have a 3D quality & resonance you can't get anywhere else. Best amp you can find anywhere for the price. Had a vintage Marshall stack and it sounded very similar to the Bassman to the point I sold the Marshall.
Nice! Mine has the blue speakers too. I just love them. 3D is exactly right.
I'm certain that Jim Marshall used the Bassman as a template for designing his first amp which might explain why your Marshal stack and Bassman sounded so similar. It would be worth checking out the history.
This is one of the best videos of any gear i have ever seen.
This amp makes any guitar sounds (clean tone) in their own way. Love them
The tone cranked is mind blowing.
It’s a special tone for sure
Thank you for another video! :) You have always nice playing and good comments of these classic amps! I have a Fender Bassman clone as a bass amplifier. Bassman was originally designed to be a bass amp. It is a very good one for both guitar and bassguitar. A Finnish technician who built it for me (Rikstone is his company) recommended to have a separate amp head and speaker cabinet for bass playing of this size of amp so I followed his recommendation when I ordered it. It is a very loud amplifier - 50w all tube (well the first tube of preamp is replaced by mosfet in this clone, so mine is kind of hybrid, although mosfet sounds very much like AX7 tube). Lots of headroom! I haven't even tested if it gets overdriven - I would need to protect my ears with earplugs (and to run the test in a solitary place). I tried also it with a guitar speaker and it sounded great. It is a too powerful for me as a guitar amp (Fender Blues Junior clone 15w is enough for me) but as a bass amp it is just right. :)
Haven’t played every amp there is but purchased a Fender Bassbreaker 45 which is an awesome tone(s) replaced my Twin with the Bassbreaker to me an affordable Bassman alternative 👍🔥🎸🦅 Sounds great Jack but haven’t ever heard bad tones or playing from you 👍🔥🎸🦅
Awesome! The Bassbreakers are seriously good amps. The funny thing about it is that they're going for a Fender take on the classic Marshall, which was the exact one inspired by the Tweed Bassman.
@@JackFossett Full circle is how I see it I run this through a Morley ABC box with an AC30C2X & a Blues Jr 4 Tone heaven 4me but all your vids are great always have an awesome tone 👍🔥🎸🦅
Really great video, you covered everything with some tasty playing to boot , I’d like to own one, I’m a Vox AC 30 guy at the moment
Was my main amp for years. Miss it.
👍😎
When it arrived, 2 of the speakers were wired in reverse! Took me awhile to figure what was going on🤣
4 X10's for that clarity, directness and punch when needed is heaven to the ears👍😎
Pedalboard loved this amp and Visa versa 🤣👍
Hoping Fender makes a Tone Master version!👍😎
👍😎❤🖖
Love brother
Very cool! A lot of people have mentioned that they'd be interested in a Tonemaster Bassman, I hope Fender takes note
The Bassman is the Sunday Roast Beef and potatoes that Grandma makes.No frills lots of love.Really like the sky blue 335 you play never seen one that wasn't vintage cherry or sunburst before.
I had one of these reissues. It was in the 90s. As a standalone amp it was okay but it was not a great representation of the original. I traded it but having been studying the tweed tone I would like to get it back to see if I missed something.
Fender Bassman amps gives guitar bottom end you can feel when you play and it sounds so good especially when wide open.
Still The REAL DEAL amp-wise. Thanks Jack
Great video enjoyed the tones and tips. Only thing that you didn’t mention was that without jumping the channels, if you roll up the unused volume it changes the tone.
It's awesome. Tweed Deluxe and black panel deluxe are also right up there.
you can find a canadian made traynor ycv80q as a cheap alternative to the 4x10 bassman , they are kinda rare but are out there , you can pick em up for around 400 dollars , the mids turned to 12 is something i've never seen anyone do , tried it and love it , great video , thanks ...
I picked up a used Bassman 59 reissue today. $750 so I jumped on it. Needs a bit of a cleanup but my God the tones from this bad boy! Love it. And, to my surprise, it does not seem as heavy as I anticipated. I had a Matchless Lightning that cam in at 45 lbs. I looked up the weight of the Bassman and Fender claims it is 55 lbs. I think because it is larger in size from the Matchless it seems lighter. The Matchless' weight is concentrated in a smaller box and seems heavier for some reason. Crazy. All in all, it's a keeper!!!
The Bassman is my favorite!!! I purchased a Fender 59' Bassman 4x10 re-issue last year. I put in $500 in all new JJ tubes (both Power and Pre-amp) and the other neato burrito caps and stuff. It takes pedals like a CHAMP!!! I use a HOF Reverb pedal with it to get my space (spring reverb setting). I have other Fender amps as well as Roland JC's. The Bassman is my big-boy amp.
Playing an amp in an open room that's mic'ed to pick up that sound accurately is the best way to judge the SOUND of an amp from a listener's perspective. You created a recorded rendition of the amp using two mic's, fed into i assume a mic preamp then into a recording interface with all the attendant addon's - EQ'ing, etc. The sounds are really nice, particularly the cleans. The fundamental thing about this typical set up that so many posters use is that these sounds can be produced in so many ways using so many varying rigs and recording set ups. What i hear in this post is what i can hear from basically ANY similarly designed recording. Little nuances will of course come across, and one's guitar has a big influence on the result, but overall, a properly set up open-air recording that sounds like the room rather than a typical recording interface that one would hear in a HiFi set up is the most honest rendition of an amp. This can be done and i have heard many recordings that are so rendered. Whatever this Bassman brings to the game is compromised by the generic recording technique which can make many, many different amps sound much more THE SAME than different. (btw ... i like your videos.) rgds.
Respectfully I disagree. I record them this way because I feel it’s the best representation of what an amp actually sounds like. Room recording is just another method, but then the biggest variable is the room the amp is in, which adds color to the sound way more than any preamp or EQ I’m using here.
Had a bassman in the 80s - we used to use it for bass and it sounded fab!
'59?
@@OfficialRaddeck Not sure, it was old -bought used from local music store...
The Tweed Bassman to me is the Mack daddy of all guitar amps.
Great review. I wish you would have commented on the input 1 and input 2 choices.
I have a JTM45 Bluesbreaker reissue head from 1990. Very like a Bassman, huge clean sound, essentially a clone - right down to its 6L6 power amp tubes. A great pedal platform.I don't know when Marshall stopped using the 6L6's but more recent ones have lost their Bassman loveliness, IMO. I'm without a cab for the Marshall currently and trying to decide whether to get an open back Marshall JVM 2x12 with mixed G12's or try and find an open back 4x10. I recall seeing a Bassman combo in a shop 30-ish years ago, my memory tells me it was a Mesa Boogie (could be wrong, but very 'boutique') and insanely expensive but l wish I'd bought it. Bassman into 4x10 just sounds great.
Clean sound is the greatest my opinion. Very blues and very nice feel when playing. Some say that, JTM45 cleans are nicer but i like Bassman cleans more. I had Bassman clone some years ago.
Hi. I 'm using the RI 59 for some months now (tweed LTD). What I find is that it sounds amazing on its own and can take lots of pedals. Classic for high wattage Fender amps is that they are difficult to distort at low volumes. I can compare it with my Bandmaster RI tweed, handwired, and although these are totally different beasts (they look the same), the Bandmaster is softer, and it distorts at lower volumes. Since I play only in small venues, I am tilting back to my Bandmaster (which is a fine amp), especially bc we play covers and have many different sounds (the Bandmaster, in my opinion, is more versatile). Greetings, Marc
top amp. seriously great playing my friend.
I haven’t used one but there would be a huge argument towards the Fender Tweed 5e3 circuit. God bless !!!
With Hotel Cali being the song that made me pick up guitar in the first place, I will respect that counter argument!
@@JackFossett
👍🏻😂
great review! i prefer the princeton but this one rocks too!!
Great review! Thanks
Love the 50’s tweed amps! The bassman being king in that lineup. But, for me, the bassman is a close 2nd. I’m a Marshall 1962 (Bluesbreaker) guy all the way. The combo of course, I’ve done JTM45’s with all different configurations of cabs, and for me the 2x12 Bluesbreaker combo is “IT” for what I do, with the bassman being a close 2nd. (Original bassman or point to point replicas, the RI doesn’t make the list to my ear…)
What's wrong with it? I'm eyeing a dead mint LTD that's for sale not far from my place.
Nothing like a tube driven bass man tweed…..with strat that throaty sound…the les Paul..sustain…very Marshall like too…just amplifier bliss🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻
The guitarist from a little band called socialburn (they got kinda big in early 2000s) dropped by my house one day. We talked for a little bit and then he left. Ten minutes later he showed back up with a 98 fender bassman, a reverb pedal, distortion pedal, a Casio keyboard, and a bag of dentist refrigerator magnet teeth. He said "I come with gifts" 😂 I had sold off my orange th30 and my orange cr120 combo so for him to just give me a fender bassman was pretty wild. Just bought a gretsch g5622t and it sounds amazing thru the bassman. Best tones I've heard in my life
Seriously considering one now. Sounds amazing.
Just an update. Bought one. Love it. Re-issue from '91 as well!
Hi Jack, my Name is Thorsten from Germany. For me is the Fender Bassman the Holy Grail of Tone
Great Tutorial Dude...Well Done ! Ol' Yeller...Coool.
I'm rocking both a Fender '59 Bassman LTD. and a Marshall JTM45. Importantly, I may have finally found my guitar a G&L ASSAT CLASSIC Bluesboy Natural. It weighs less than 6 lbs and is chambered with an "f" hole and is basically a high quality Telecaster. Because it's chambered it acts like an acoustic unplugged. No, not as loud as a regular acoustic, but loud enough to hear and enjoy the acoustic resonance and tones. I can play during the night in our bed and it sounds good but does not awaken my sleeping wife. It's smaller and almost as loud acoustically as my Casino. Being smaller makes it is so much more comfortable to play through. I love it. Because it's an electric guitar I play her through all my amps. It only took me until age 71. -Peter
I want to add that I tune her a minor 3rd. down C#, F#, B, E, G#, C#. String bends are so much more lively and easy. This also allows me to play all day and all night without destroying my hands- a bonus I was not expecting
The '59 Bassman has a built in bias port so using a few tools such as a bias meter, and a screw driver I can always do my own bias. The Marshall has a fixed resistor that may or may not need to be changed in value one day. I tried a different 5881 and the bias was exactly the same so perhaps I can just replace the tubes when they wear out and not have to do a bias procedure. That would make my life so much easier than figuring out what resistor value and then DE soldering the old one and soldering in the new one.
The 6L6 is very similar to the 5881 power tube BTW.
The Jensen P10R 8 ohm is a 25 watt speaker so 4 of them makes the Bassman 410 a 100 watt speaker cab! They start at 70Hz and I read that some Bassists used to blow the speaker and that just helped guitarists to use the Bassman because at 70 Hz a guitar wont be pumping out enough to destroy the Jensen speakers. 70 Hz is well within the normal GUITAR RANGE.
No matter what, I am happy. The playing is all up to me and I enjoy playing very much.
The Marshall JTM45 / 2245 failed within 10 days. That was my 3rd. JTM45 and they all failed in about 10 days. I sent it back. I have well over a dozen tube amps and only the JTM45 has failed. I'm thinking about paying an electrician to come over and examine my wall outlets and see if there is a problem (bad ground?). However if I can get my Bassman sounding like a JTM45 then there's no problem because it has no issues with my house electrical current which I repeatedly measure at 123 VAC. I have a Variac to bring down the voltage to 115 or 110 Vac when I want too.
I used to be more of a black panel fender guy, but ever since purchasing a pro jr iv tweed I’ve grown to be more biased towards tweed amps. The pro jr iv tweed and most tweed amps have the perfect amount of mids, and can sound a bit chimey like a vox or a Marshall, while also pulls off fat, saggy, fuzzy overdrive better than ANY other amp I’ve ever used.
I love turning hot rod deluxe and deville etc into bassman/jmp hybrids. So fun to tear out those cheap pcb and hand wire one of these circuits in !! Bassman is the shit !
What do you think of the 4x10 reissues that came out in the 90s vs. the 59' reissue they are making today? Is it better to get a vintage head? There are nice blackface heads available for less than the combo. Is the circuit that different from the 5F6 or whatever the original circuit was?
Neato. I own a same year/model that is an absolutely smokin workhorse tone machine.
Pedals to be given a try, BB Preamp, MXR Micro Amp, Fukktone OCD.
Strat clean sounds heavenly
Awesome tones as usual Jack. When you were on the road with this amp, did you drag it behind your car? 🎸🇨🇦😎
Yup! Car had bad brakes so I basically used it like a boat anchor. ⚓️
@@JackFossett
Might have to do the same when I take my gear out to a jam in the MGB. No room in the trunk. Damned old English cars! 🤬
Yep. Best amplifier ever made.
I disagree about the bright channel. I always avoided it because I'm mostly a single-coil guy. I guess if you're playing without a band, the normal channel is better. In a band though, the bright channel cuts through the mix way better and sounds surprisingly good. The guys in my band made me try it at practice one time years ago and I've been doing it ever since.
Having said that, I don't use it live too often anymore (even before covid), because it's too loud. I like to turn the amp up loud and use the vol on the guitar to clean up. Now I use either a 70s Music Master bass amp (12 watts, and soundpeople still ask me to turn it down...lol), or, more often, one of my Quilters. My Bassman an OG reissue with the blue-frame speakers. I'll never get rid of mine either!
Interesting, I’ve found that it be true especially in a band setting as at louder volumes the bright channel on mine gets unbearably piercing
After watching this video, I bought the amp and 18 years after having quit playing, I started playing again.
Awesome vid 👍🔥🎸🦅
Tone tip for all the Bassman users… PLAY IT LOUD
The Bassman is definitely my favorite clean amp & edge of breakup amp.
Hey Jack, thanks for this in-depth video! Would you say that the Bassman is a good amp for surf rock?
Absolutely! There might be "better" amps out there for it, like if I were playing a surf rock set I'd probably favor my Super Reverb, but thats not to say this one can't do it beautifully.
@@JackFossett Cool, thanks a lot for your thoughts!
How close do you think a Fender Pro Jr comes to this sound? BTW, two of my favourite Bassman players: Steve Earle (in the studio) and Danny Gatton
Very nice! In the studio? With a speaker upgrade you could be pretty much in the right ballpark. Not sure how well the stock speaker would pull it off. Of course the advantage of the Pro is you can get the natural overdrive at a way more reasonable volume.
The Pro Junior is awsome.
Had one for a few years and I loved going to jam sessions and blowing away other guys with my little Junior - loud as fuck!!
Nice! I recently acquired a 72 Bassman 50 with 2x15 cab. I'm trying to make it sound like yours.
I had a bassman twenty years ago,it has a 3d tone that fills the room,ive been trying to find an amp for the last year they all sound and feel xxxxxx,
i havend played for 20 years due to an accident,im up and runnng again,SO
THE PIONT IS.i whent to se a friends band last week,the lead guitarist had a big pedle full of sounds,it sounded thin,and not real,my friend had a bassman
it filled the room with tone,i hate cause he has a bassman and i haven’t
no not really,he couldent get a good sound out of it ,i gave him my old setting
it was marvelus,i want one NOW,but im gonna have to save some more,
“…baby televisions in their pocket…” 😂😆
Yes it does sound good I had built cabinets for a while I had bought a guy that was building for Yamaha I might go back into it next spring I might be able to recover and recondition that for you if you wanted it back like brand new. Personally I’m not a relic kind of guy. I would say the fender is more of a great tone and volume that is usable in a reasonable size place to play where are those big hundred watt marshals are more like outdoor concert or big locations etc. everything that you stated is pretty much what everybody says about the same going straight in etc. not every amp can have a good tone at lower volume this that’s what I say this is a good usable volume we used to always get told turn it down with the big marshals we had cabinets facing backwards and everything in the master volumes on three. Fender is a fantastic company I’ve written letters to them before in I was blowed away by the answers they gave me for restoring equipment and stuff they have really done a lot for us in many different aspects. I would buy a new fender guitar just because they’re such a good company and I know that just about anything I’ve ever had from them has been a real good investment as long as you’re going to hang onto it A while. my first good guitar was a 72 telecaster I think you know what those are worth. It was the wangiest twangiest thing I ever heard but you know what that’s what all the Country guys want.
Hi, I just bought the 90s RI 59 bassman with the blue eminence speakers. I was wondering if I’m missing out on not getting the LTD version or if the 90s model is up to par?
Unsure how much you come back to these old posts, Jack, but thought I'd share that I've been watching a bunch of old live Springsteen clips and he's got two Bass...men? One is mic'd so I assume the second one is a backup. Makes sense that he has been playing Marshalls the last two decades or so, considering the lineage-
Rory Gallagher '54 Bassman! ... the "Holy Graill" of amps ...
Blues Harp, Shure Bullet mic, and a Bassman is wicked
That was a lot of fun,what do you take out in it's place?of all time?so far it would be both twin and princeton,must say though my OR has been pretty awesome thanks happy Easter!!!
Happy Easter to you as well! Over the past several years I’ve used different amps for a bunch of occasions - last summer I actually still had outdoor gigs and used a Fender Mustang GTX believe it or not, for its versatility and how light it is. This summer I’ll probably use a combination of the Princeton and a Pod Go. I also have a lot of hours on an AC30 over the years although I don’t currently have one.