AMP OF THE WEEK. Week 1 Fender 59' Bassman

Fabio KTG

Fractal Fanatic
OK, I thought i'd get this ball rolling and see how this unfolds. I think next week should be a high gainer and alternate every week.

Extracted from the Wiki (Thanks to Yek :))

1. Based on: 1959 Fender Bassman, a low-to-medium gain amp designed for bass but more widely adopted by guitarists. 5F6-A circuit, Bass and Normal channel, high and low input, 6L6, Tweed era. Speakers: 4x10 or 2x12

2. Stock cabinet suggestions:
32/33/99 (4x10)


3. Original controls: Volume, Bass, Treble, Presence

4. Try with a Treble Booster

5. Fender website: "In early 1952, the Fender Bassman amplified a great new invention - the Fender Precision Bass guitar. At 50 watts, it competed easily with the common instrumentation of the day: horns, piano, small drum kit, and maybe even an electric guitar through a new 10-watt amp. Through the ’60s and ’70s, the original all-tube tweed 4x10” Bassman was popular with rock, country and blues guitarists as a reliably great-sounding and easy-to-use guitar amp. In the ’90s, Fender released an affordable ’59 Bassman reissue amplifier to great acclaim. Many guitarists, tired of experimenting with preamps, equalizers and effects racks, rediscovered the simple pleasure of plugging into a Fender tube amp. The reissue Bassman’s wide stage coverage, touch-sensitive dynamics and full-frequency swirl make it perfect for building great tone with almost any guitar or effect, and it remains a staple of the Fender guitar amp line to this day"

6. Fenderguru.com: "The Fender Bassman is a legendary guitar amp known to both guitar and bass players. It was introduced in 1951, primarily targeted for bass guitar players and promoted as a bass amp for the Fender Precision Bass guitar, the first mass-produced electric bass guitar ever. During the different eras the Bassman amp came in many different shapes and configurations. Few other models experienced so many changes in terms of looks and tone. Unfortunately the Bassman was one of the first amps that CBS laid their hands on after buying the company from Leo Fender. A couple of things in the circuitry were immediately changed in 1965 when the AA165 and AB165 replaced the AA864, which by amp idealists is considered the best Bassman circuit of all times together with the legendary 59 tweed 5F6-A circuit. The bassman was a combo amp in the tweed era with the 1×15″ and 4×10″ speaker configurations. From the blonde era Fender made the Bassman as a amp head and 2×12″ closed cabinet. So what does the blackface Bassman sound like? Describing tone is best done with establishing a common and well-known reference point, for example the traditional blackface AB763 amps such as the Super Reverb and Twin Reverb. The Bassman is known for its simple, pure and raw tone. It is 50w loud with power supply and output transformers sized approx. as the Super Reverb and Bandmaster. The bass channel of the AB165 and AA864 is much mellower and deeper than the normal channel of any AB763 amps since it is voiced for bass guitars. The Bassman bass channel features a deep switch that can remove the lowest frequencies, which is practical when you’re playing loud and using different speaker cabinets where you need to adjust the lower bass. The normal channel is more relevant for guitar players. The Bassman sounds “browner” than the AB763-amps, particularly the AB165 model, and it has more preamp distortion and mids when the volume is turned up. The Bassman has significantly influenced the whole guitar amp industry since it was introduced. It’s tone stack, tube configuration, preamp and power section has inspired numerous amps builders including Jim Marshall, the founder of Marshall amps, who used the Bassman tweed 5F6-A circuit in 1958-1959 as template the legendary Marshall JTM45"



Please feel free to add you own thoughts, tweaking tips,preferred cabs, presets and videos etc.
 
If you find the Bassman to be dark, increase Presence. Most vintage Fenders do not have a Presence control, but some Bassman heads do, including the modeled one.
 
Most old Bassman's was/is used with 2x12". I have had many and they tend to sound a little dark and unfocused with 4x10".
 
Love me some '59 B. One of ten amps constantly in my rotation (along with the JTM 45..the Brit version of the same amp).

Super pedal amp.

Goes from clean to crunch to burn.
 
Bassmans dark? Seriously? There's one in our rehearsal room, and it'll take your ears right off with the treble if you're not careful. I can't make it sound really dark, even with treble and presence down.

On the RI's the flat setting in BMT is 0 10 0, btw. Otherwise you have a scooped, and very bright, tone.

Jan
 
With '59 Bassmans, for a old school blues or stinging leads type tone, literally take the Bass to zero or 1 or 2 (no more) and then crank the mid, treble and presence up to 8 or so, that's what Buddy Guy does paired with his Strat. Then dial it more to taste, but try that ball park to start.

Agree this vintage amp loves pedals. I like playing with Factory 4X10 cab choices, or 15" speakers -- but not 12's, does not sound right to my ears for "Tweed Bassman tone."

This is also an amp that likes a nice spring reverb added to it. Lots of pro players use old Fender reverb tanks in front of the amps (which gave a little input boost too).

That drive setting is all important, if you crank it too much you'll get mush. Unless you are looking for anarchy (non- classic Bassman sounds), don't jack up the drive too much over 5, try 3.5 drive.

For single coil pickups especially, try a FET boost or RC Boost around 6.25 or 7 and see what you think. These amps sound better to me with a medium (6,7 level setting) boost....not distortion, instead go for cleaner boost to whack that first (modeled) preamp tube into a pleasing distortion.

Love the idea behind this thread Fabio. Will try to contribute what I've learned on each one I've tackled.

We have over 170 amp choices now to play with!!! Such a great time to be a guitar player.
 
Ok, here is something I did a while back (maybe v10) using 59 bassman.. re-did it this morning using fw14 w/ TAF UKRox+BWMar.



Cheers!


For some reason your demo reminded me of Enrique's Can't Escape My Love It almost has an acoustic like quality to it. Very nice :)
 
Where else could this (hopefully) series of threads start but the 5f6a Bassman? It is the grandpappy of amps- Marshall's first amps copied the circuit directly (the JTM 45), and even Mesa Boogie got its start with a 5f6a circuit crammed into an old Princeton chassis and cab. The real deal is really loud, and loves to have the channels jumped. My old 59 ri was pretty darn bright too- it sounded best nice and loud and lightly driven by a darker overdrive- I used to use a ZVex Box of Rock and a Blackstone. The tweed Bassman is a whole different beast than the later head Bassman amps, which usually ran with a 2x12 cab. Setting up a Bassman via Albert Collins (with a treble booster) or Buddy Guy (no bass and plenty of treble and mids as mentioned above) will most definitely ensure that you're going to cut through the mix. You will probably kill a few innocent bystanders as well though- it will be piercing!
I agree with the settings above- take it easy on the gain, use a light boost, and adjust TMBP to taste.
 
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