Fender Bassbreaker 15: Review, Tone Tips & More
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ย. 2022
- #fender #fenderamps #guitar @fender @jackfossettofficial
Welcome to this in depth demo and review of the Fender Bassbreaker 15 Guitar Tube Amp! What do you think? Using a Gibson Les Paul with Mojotone PAFs and a Fender Stratocaster with Lust for Tone Monterey pickups, as well as an Ibanez TS808 Tamura Mod Tube Screamer. Find out more here:
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I play this amp pretty much everyday. It's my favorite living room tube amp
Their bad rap is they are near impossible to work on. I’ve had one for five years or so. It had problems that took two trips to a tech, after a few turned down even working on it, and about six months to work out. Now it’s great and has been for a few years. I don’t gig. Much. And live in a house by myself and can Crank it. Lovin’ it 🤙🤙
Bought this as my first tube amp back in 2016. I've bonded very closely with it over the years. Recently had to change out the power tubes.
Remove D12 and D13 zener diodes. They are leaky like one of mine was, driving your tubes to red plate.
Went to the BB30R after a bit just because I wanted footswitchable channels… loved playing that amp at gigs! The XLR out to the PA was very convenient. It was a lot of fun, in general, playing that amp. Great tones!
Great amp and nice playing Jack !
I own the 15 combo, the 007 head and the 112 cab. The 15 is great in gain structure / clipping dynamic. It's like the essence of tube distortion. It sounds vintage, boxy, less so via the external cab, but the mid focus is still there. Not too versatile for my needs, but what it does, it does wonderfully!
The 007 is extremely versatile in terms of EQ, though its distortion is kind of generic by itself. Basically, these two amps are complementary in terms of features, I am thinking whether they were designed to make you need both 😅
The cab is great. It is light but full sounding. This one is a hit, IMO.
Cool vid. I’ve got the 15 with the creamback speaker. Probably the amp I’ve played the most in the last year or so. I find it sounds good at lower volumes and can get some versatile sounds from it. I don’t use the higher gain stack much if at all. Mostly the middle but also been playing the lowest more lately.
Have the BB30 and just LOVE IT!!
Love my bb15. The high gain setting works for modern metal. I throw my fishman equipped SG and a tube screamer type pedal in front of it and it sounds killer.
I bought the head version years ago. I run it into the matching 212, that’s loaded with celestion cream and vintage 30. It’s a fantastic amp, I just wish the channels were foot switchable.
I have the 15w head. I like running it cooking at high volume, and dial the volume back on the guitar. I don't use the verb, I sometimes plug it into a 2x12 with Celestion Anni's, which sounds good, and often use it with a Two Notes Torpedo Captor for recording (I don't like the sim). It sounds great with 2x12 and 4x12 cabs, best with a little darker mic/cab combo. I also use the amp for bass, as it has a great smooth drive. In fact, it's my main amp for bass recording, I use it with the Captor and add IR's itb. Really great sounding! I think of it as a well balanced, modern sounding low gain Marshall style amp. You can get nice jazz tones, americana/ southern rock, and indie pop/rock with it. Takes pedals well, imo. Zero quality issues here (prior owner got the fx loop fixed with the ring, no issues after that), I get a lot of use from mine.
For what it's worth, it's fine (I didn't say it sounds unimaginable, although it does well). If you don't like it, buy a more expensive or cheaper one that sounds the way you like it, but you can make music with this amplifier and with other similar ones without a doubt. Excellent how you play Jack!. Greetings from El Salvador in Central America.
Great sounding video. While washing dishes and just listening, I thought all the sounds you got sounded very good.
Since the Marshall JTM45 is based on the Fender Bassman, is this Bassbreaker based on the older Bassman or the JTM45?
Totally agree the mid structure is the best setting.I use only that channel.With this amp you can really play at home and adjust volume easily without big jumps. Marketing wise I would compare it to the Vox nightrain, which did not have a huge succes despite some good tone/options.
I have both the BB15 & BB30r. I tend to play the 15 at home when I just want to play with no pedals. I live in the mid gain setting for sure! In a live setting my goto is the 30r mainly because I find the clean setting far superior to the 15 which sounds a bit dark.
I have a special run BB15 combo that came with a Greenback, and it makes a big difference compared to the stock speaker. A little less mud in the low end and a little more clarity in the upper mids.
It’s funny. I tried the greenback in mine and I didn’t like it so much. I went back to the v type. The greenback sounds great in my Blackstar 5. I suspect a creamback would sound good.
Nice job Jack!
killer LP!
I have this one in the ox blood ( cream colour ) and the 007 but unfortunately haven't had an opportunity to try them yet but looking forward to it after watching this.
I have both the 007 combo and the 15 Limited Edition "tweed" as well as Marshall, Vox Boss Katana custom hand wired boutique 5 watt tweed cone by local amp maker and a Hartke bass amp.... LOVE the bassbreaakers great tone good looks and NON BANK BUSTING $$$ ... whats not to love ?!?!
I picked one up really cheap recently and it’s a superb amp. It’s my favorite recording amp now. I prefer it to my Blues Jnr but that amp has its own unique sound too.
I’ve been using BB007 for nearly 4 years now. I own the combo and the head and cab. The cab can be added to the 15!
I also own a Marshall TSL but the BB is still nicer overall. I was never a fan of Marshall amps. The direct out is something I was disappointed with but I always prefer to mic up! I think your review is pretty balanced and fair. Overall it’s a fine amp and versatile for both recording and gigging. These things are complicated for techs to work on I must add and some of the components are cheap. I’ve had burn up on a 007 combo and my Blues Junior but I’ve had the poorer parts upgraded. It’s a common complaint apparently.
I totally agree with you here Jack I actually returned mine for the 30r limited edition tweed and the clean sound is so good! And the gain will rival any Marshall in my opinion. Would love to hear your opinion.
Is the structure knob like power scaling or not really? I’ve heard there’s major volume difference based on the setting and I’m looking for a smaller tube amp that could scale from 15 watts to like 1 watt.
Good overview. I have one. It really does do a good job of getting that old school Marshall 70s crunch, which you either like or you don't. I agree that it's OK for clean, great for crunch, no good for high gain. But I don't understand some of the hate in the comments here. The Blues Junior is for cleans, and maybe an ever so slightly breaking up sound. Out of the box, no one would call the Blues Junior's gain sound "a great classic rock crunch." That's not what it was made for. That is what the Bassbreaker was made for. Some folks like tube distortion instead of what comes out of a pedal. It does sound a bit boxy though. I connect mine to an external can with a Vintage 30, which makes it sound even more like a classic Marshall.
I do the same. It makes a great "mini Marshall" sound :)
This was my first ( of many ) tube amps … probably 10 years ago now i got the 007. Had some issues ( pot needed to be replaced) but I absolutely love it. Even against all my other great amps, i would say the mid gain sound i get from that amp is probably still my favorite. If u hit it with a tube screamer or something its magical. That speaker combo they did w the 10/30 really paired well. I would love to try out the 15 w a broken in speaker. Thx for the video Jack 👊
It was announced at namm 2016
Good points and I agree with the higher gain limitations. Too noisy higher than 4 or 5.
I had one of these for a while. It was a cool amp. I liked the middle gain setting, that seemed to be where the best tones lived, could get vox-y in a good way. I’ve moved on to a couple of quilter aviator cubs (I have the standard and the uk, both great) which I absolutely love, but the bass breaker 15 was totally cool. I kinda think Fender should’ve picked a different name though, I get the bassman-bluesbreaker connection, but I think a lot of other folks just thought it was some kinda bass amp. 😅
Did you think the aviator cub sounds better? just curious
I like mine
I have the 15 LE or something version with the greenback speaker. I never really use the high gain channel, but the clean and mid gain channels are glorious. For a rock and blues-rock amp, this blows the blues Jr clean out of the water. I mean it can really crunch, and the lead tones are thick and rich and really satisfying. It even does jazz on the clean channel no problem.
My reverb went wonky and developed an airplane-like flangery hiss, so now I just use a pedal, but working it is definitely a useable reverb. I've heard about the repair issues, but the amp sounds so good I can't bring myself to get rid of it. These are really sleeper amps, hopefully fender will fix the chassis design next round, but yeah, maybe then it will eat into blues Jr sales lol.
I have the LE version w/Greenback and British racing green Tolex. With a Stratocaster, agree, sounds best on Low and Mid Gain, just enough on the dials for a bit of breakup, never use the high gain. Blues Jr always sounded boxy to my ears.
@@robertn8423 Nice! I love those green ones with that wheat colored grill cloth. And when I want a touch more fendery/ blackface tone, I just throw a Joyo American Sound in front of it and it nails it perfectly. Great amps, so versatile. Wish it weighed a little less, but you can't have everything lol.
I’ve been going through your channel and really like your perspectives.
I’m curious if you have an obvious recommendation for an amp that’ll move fluidly between fairly bright, chimey Fender cleans, and crunchy mid-gain, somewhere between the BB15 and something like a Sunn Model T.
I do a mix of pretty clean Ed O’Brien type stuff, very spiky Blixa Bargeld influenced material, and moderately gained thick, dark overdriven tones.
I’ve been using a BB15 but it needs replacing, and I’m looking to see if I can beat it. Maybe with a 30R… maybe a Supersonic.
Have pondered the idea of a clean Fender with dirt pedals, but (outside full blown distortion and fuzz) I have yet to find a drive pedal I like as much as amp dirt.
@jackfossettofficial What lens are you using on the DSLR camera?
Just bought one today my man
Had one, started blowing fuses after a week, I also kept my blues Jr.
I bought the BB30r because it was heavily discounted. Actually, I thought it was discounted because the name is a typo. It turned out that it makes a great pair with my FGN LS30 which has Seymour Duncan SH-18 Whole Lotta Humbuckers. The clean is sparkling as a Fender amp should be, super to play with pedals and the drive is nicely dark and fat and warm at least to my ears.
I have the FSR in british green with the celestion greenback i had to change the tubes shortly after buying it under warranty but no issues since. My only complaint is the lack of a footswitch to flip between the 3 gain settings
Love to see you demo the new Princeton Tonemaster if you get the chance.
I have the limited edition with the cream back. Mid gain setting rules this amp. I get some great tones with just the amp. Add a tube screamer and and ep booster and she screams.
I have this and love it, my main criticism is the D.I out. The signal is so weak you have to crank the input gain on a desk to use it which causes excessive background noise. I cured this by putting a Hughes Kettner Redbox 5 between the amp and speaker and took a signal from there. Shame Fender haven’t addressed this.
That is a bummer, but I appreciate you sharing it.
I have this amp
Use the mid setting at the brink of breakup, and control distorsion with pedals. I can go from sparkly cleans to blues to rock to metal that way (no pedal, boosting with a js pg14 or going full metsl with a metal zone at 2/5 of the gain)
All my recordings are with the xlr out anf a mooer radar.
And also sometimes you just want to plug a guitar a go, and this amp is perfect for that. If you want to enjoy a tube amp simply and quick, this amp is awesor.
My only issue is at high Volumes on metal tones gets without definition probably with an external better cab
I loved you in Firefly! - LOL
Just messing, great video. I had one of these amps, but it sounded a little “wooley”. Felt like it had blanket over it. It was an older one, so they may have changed the circuit. Overall, solid amp. They did make an update to the effects loop, I do know that.
If you’re referring to Nathan Fillion, he’s an exceptional handsome man and so I hold that comparison in the highest regard 🍻
better bassbreaker 15 or supro delta king 12?
I strongly recommend anyone thinking of buying a Bassbreaker to get the dual channel 30R model, because it can do it all: vintange fender cleans on the clean channel with loads of headroom and the whole marshall spectrum on the gain channel
Curious your thoughts on this Jack. I’m not sure if Fender considers this series a success in terms of sales but Ive played the 15 and the 7 and I came away thinking Fender missed on what could have been something much more special. From a product development standpoint, like the idea of a modernized Bassman more than trying to produce an inexpensive do-it-all early Bassman-influenced Marshall this tries to go after. IMO they should have stuck with the Bassman aesthetics and overall vibe/tone but adding some modern features like FX loop, perhaps onboard attenuation like a Tone King. It would sit a bit higher on price but I would buy a more modern take on Bassman with Fender on the front panel.
I think you’re spot on - the styling is cool, but yet I feel like at the same time they missed the mark regarding marketability.
@@JackFossett
You both have a good point and I’m in agreement. However, I just want to point out that as good as the 59 Bassman Reissue is (and it is definitely a great amp) they aren’t exactly a top seller either.
Ten years ago when Fender did the modernized version of the Tweed TV Front Bassman they we’re really cool amps, but they didn’t sell well either.
I saw you did the super champ x2 review and ragin Cajun upgrade. How do you compare the SC with this one. I know this one is THE real full tube. I can get both for pretty much the same price but can’t decide eh! 😅
I personally prefer the X2.
@@JackFossett Thank you a lot for the reply. Keep up the good work.
I had a BB15 a couple years ago. While I thought it was an okay amp, I just didn't like it as much as a Blues Jr. I think it tries a bit too hard to sound like a Marshall. I would set it on the second gain setting and use a distortion pedal. When I used the highest gain setting it just thinned out too much. The highest gain setting didn't work for me at all. It's not the level of gain but the quality. I like taking a full tone with a perfect edge of breakup and giving it a push with the right pedal. I like a transparent, clean kind of distortion and I couldn't get what I wanted out of this amp.
The Marshall JTM45 was a clone of the Bassman, so it’s not trying to sound like a Marshall.
Jack, I have some news about this amp, please read. I came back to mine these days, indeed, the High gain structure sucked. Interestingly enough, I recall at some point it could chug neatly, but this time it wasn't event close. I changed the stock preamp tubes for 3x JJ ECC83S I pulled out of an Orange and... magic!
I suspect the stock Groove tubes are not necessarily bad, but they are all 3 different in specs and I rearranged them based on my intuition, which was probably off. 😇
Speaking of tubes: there is an issue these amps may have that the power tubes get redplating. It happened with mine, it already burned one power tube. Watch it for a few minutes after powering on, if the EL84 tubes glow (can happen with only one of the two), then it has to have a certain Zener diode removed from the circuit. You can look it up TH-cam or the Internet.
Interesting. I was thinking of getting one. Is removing the diode difficult?
@@grawman67 there are a couple of videos here by Allas Rotoni. I am not sure I used those instructions or just the schematic. If you just want to remove them, you may simply clip them off, using a wire cutter. It is not *that* difficult, you just need a bit of patience to disassemble the chassis and put it back again. Thes diodes are exposed on the bottom circuit board and they are large.
I wouldn't recommend it, though, unless you encounter issues with redplating. It is possible to require matching power tubes if you do this. It happened to me that my amp stopped working until I did rubik cube with the EL84s - I had one more sitting around. I ended up ordering the diodes from Mouser and putting them back (was a pain in the a** to solder them because the tight space - I didn't want to take the circuit out of the enclosure completely). Those diodes I pulled out were not matching, I think one of the two was faulty, but I don't remember the measurements.
The diode fix doesn't change the tone, but the preamp tube replacement does. If your high structure sucks, you may first just try swapping the three in it around until you obtain your desired tone. If that doesn't do the trick, try others, I am now very happy with three JJ ECC83S. 😌
@@mike42356 Thanks! I had heard a few people mention the redplating in the past so I was curious in case I decide on one of these bad boys. I've had a lot of success using these in the past and didn't find it hard to keep them from becoming too bright or brittle sounding. Even the newer ones sound great!
@@grawman67 man, yes, it is a great amp! It is so versatile I stopped changing amps. The other issue mine had was the structure switch was failing - in the mid and high position it was not stable and was making noises. So I replaced it with a NKK SP3T, looks very close to the power and mute switches. The fact that its service manual can be found on the internet was gold.
I currently own the combo + the 1x12 external cab and it can do virtually anything! The combo sounds a bit boxy and works great with a Celestion A-Type or Jensen C12N to get the American lush tones out of it. The cab sounds differently, it is full and bassy and kicks ass at British tones using its V-Type, or with a Greenback or Vintage 30. 🤘
@@mike42356 I haven't had the chance to play it with a cab, let alone with another speaker but those sound like great choices! Glad to know even a 1x12 helps with the boxiness of it (not that the boxiness is bad at all). I never thought of putting a Jensen in! Makes sense. I always immediately thought a Greenback or V30 like you said to match the British drive tones and accentuate those.
I heard a few demos where people even played metal to awesome effect! I'm a big metal guy but never had the chance to try it. That'll be something to try when I find a good place to demo it more!
I have the 15 head with the 2x12 cab. Doesn't sound as boxy as the combo. I don't like the cab sim it has. I just run it through two notes wall of sound.
I think for the price and size there is no reason they couldn't have put in a sping reverb tank just like the Blues Jr.
You should try the Bassbreaker 30R.
I've had the Bassbreaker 30r for a year now. I love everything but the cab sim. It's simply next to unusable. I just mic the amp. That being said, at this price point, there's nothing like it on the market
The Bassbreaker does not get much love from the cool kids online, but I really liked the Bassbreaker 15 that I had. I'm sorry that I sold it.
That's cuz the cool kids are listening with their eyes and not their ears.
I like these amps a lot, but if I had to fix one - it would take me 2-1/2 days of labor. And still not sure how you would go about doing fault finding while the amplifier is powered on? From a technician point of view - hard pass! I would love to see video on those things being assembled, might unveil a way of working on them.
That seems the be the general consensus - I wonder why Fender would be so out of touch regarding repairs?
@@JackFossett James Brown designed the Peavey classic 30 & 50 the exact same way. I think he said it was an accountant issue, keeping costs down, etc. I think fender has built in planned obsolescence into this line of amplifiers. It dies….you buy another one. Same thing with their tone master series, when they die….you toss it out and buy another amplifier. Even fender is making plans to peel away from vacuum tube technology. Have you heard the disdain of Les Paul guitars from millennials? None of rock and roll heritage has rubbed off on them. Most of them don’t care for tubes or believe in tube tone
JACK FOSSET, can you make a video of your Blue strat with the white pickup covers
The one on the wall?
@@JackFossett baby blue strat on the wall with a pearl pickguard with white cover pickup covers it looks like?
Thats a modified Classic Player 60s Strat with Lust for Tone pickups - havent played it for a while
Fender Bassbreker or vox ac15?
I like the Bassbreaker tonally but I’d trust the ac15 more for reliability
Sold my BB15, kept the Jr.
Why?
@@nekkon1989 The BB15 sounded excellent...had to have a common Fender recall fixed (don't recall the bug) but that's another story. I wasn't into pedals at the time so it was a pain going from one tone to another, i.e., clean to dirty. Sold it several years ago. The Jr (6 months old) has a nice .5W setting that allows me to play quietly without loss of tone, and with my new love/adoption of pedals...is superb.
@@lazvt8469 yeah this makes sense. I have a Bassbreaker 30r which was only $80 more expensive than a blues Junior at the time and it has so many more possibilities, so for me it was a no-brainer. I tried the blues Junior at first, I did like the cleans, but they were not superior to the ones of the Bassbreaker. I liked the Spring Reverb of the blues junior more, but it was not a Princeton spring reverb, so I opted for the Bassbreaker. The blues junior is a nice little amplifier, solid, reliable, portable, with decent sound, but I don't know... When you are given more, why not take them?
This amp is beautiful, but unfortunately if anything happened to it won't be repairable .. a lot of amp techs on youtube have videos showing how it is impossible to repair this amp because of the way it is built from the inside
It’s funny you say that, I purposely called two of the largest and most respected amp shops in the Seattle area and asked that question. They came back and said it’s blown out of proportion and they can work on them..
if it went together it can come apart , don't listen to those cry babies, they're old school and don't want to change with the new tech.
Jack, did you get into a brawl after a recent gig? 🙂
Believe it or not that’s from my 9 month old son. He currently shows affection by tearing your flesh off 🤷♂️
Bassbreaker killed my Jr 4
While I luv my BJr, I kinda think instead of all this pussyfooting around to get tones of another amp, I’d just get that amp. Want a DlxReverb? Buy one. Want a Marshall JCM? Save up and get the real thing, ya know? I wanted the sound of the amps I own bc of their unique characteristics. Yeah, every amp has some sort of downsides but that’s life. Rock on!
I don’t disagree. I recently got a Marshall JVM, used to own a DSL40. The difference is more than palpable.
Doesn't really have that light, expressive clean tone that Fenders are famous for. That's kind of what I am after.
I have the 15W combo.
It sounds great. Tech's nightmare .
I use the extension 112 cab with my 8ohm heads. Good cab, I like the V-Type paired with another combo or head driving a Vintage 30.
Sorry Jack, but this amp is not for me, on any setting, with any guitar. I used one in a shop few years back when I was trying a Tele and thought it sounded cheap, boxy & harsh. There are much better amps out there for less money.
No need for apologies! I didn’t realize how polarizing this amp is until doing the video - seems it has a pretty vast range of reactions.
These amps from what I've read are extremely unreliable with many issues. I would stay away. I have a Tweed Blues Jr with a Fromel electronics upgrade and a cannabis rex speaker that I bought used and it sounds amazing, almost as good as my AC15.
That's not been my experience, and the Blues Junior has a totally different gain sound.
O come "The F*** On" Jack, the Bassbreaker series is total absolute garbage, all of them, I owned the 15 watt and sold it as fast as I could. It takes pedals horribly and the 30 watt is also crap, the 7 watt the 007 is okay as a practice amp. The best clean sound I've ever heard comes from the Limited edition Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a Jensen speaker. The Mesa Boogie Lonestar also has an amazing clean and there are a few more but I'm not writing a thesis. This is just to say that the Bassbreaker is NOT one of them. Cheerio, Mike.
Mike! Still incapable of saying anything positive I see. Happy Thanksgiving to you sir.
Why do we keep buying these cheap amplifiers. So many awesome Boutique amplifiers out there. Just save up.
I don’t disagree
You realize these aren't cheap amplifiers for many (maybe most) people, right? A LOT of people DO save up for months or years to buy these.
Well they should save up for another year. I was caught in that trap for ages I was so cheap I didn't want to spend a lot of money all at once so I bought cheap gear. I probably ended up spending $50,000 and ended with a blackstar.lol these type amplifiers are junk. You don't get the pro sound out of them either.
Back in the day there were no cheap tube amps so we had to buy solid state amps they were affordable. It all change with that Epiphone 5 watt thing made in Asia. And then it was all downhill from there. They started making tube amps with cell phone parts.
Because my friend... A boutique guitar amplifier is 5% better than a hot rod deluxe, but probably three times as expensive... I get the "it sounds better" part, but I don't get it from a value for money perspective. Same thing happens with guitars. An American Stratocaster is probably 20% better than a Mexican Stratocaster. It costs more than double, though. We live in a time when mid price gear is not garbage, but it is actually more than decent. So I would argue that the market as it is today makes you wonder if it is worth spending all that money for that small difference in sound (I get the difference in quality, I want to focus more on the sound)
Too much yap, yap, yap!
I thought it was just my amp but I don't like the high gain. Noisy
I actually thought something was wrong with mine at first - the gain knob just had a very limited range on the High Structure setting