I've got a '67 Blackface Fender Bassman head (Model AB165) that I'm tempted to have mods done to it, to increase it's usuable potential as a Fender amp. Forums online often have owners who want to turn them into Marshalls or Dumbles, but I'm quite happy keeping it in the Fender realm of things, and sticking a distortion pedal in front of it when needed.
The tone report on mine, unmodded, is as follows:
The normal channel is what you'd call 'Fender clean', though it sounds slightly edgier than other Fenders (namely, a '67 Twin Reverb and a '73 Vibrolux Reverb). I like this! No changes really necessary.
The bass channel needs some modification, it's kinda weird as you'd expect it to have lots of bass and be boomy. It ISN'T. Bass is good, but it seems to have LOTS of mids/high mids, it can get really bright on the bridge pickup (I used a FM Special) making turning down the tone almost mandatory, and very 'acoustic' sounding on the neck pickup.
My question: has anybody else run into this on a Blackface Bassman head? Did you make any changes (besides sell it? )?
This amp has got LOTS of potential IMHO, the output transformer is HUGE, and there is TONS of clean headroom, and I consider the lack of reverb/vibrato to be a plus as there is nothing to get in the way of the signal except the amp itself...but the frequency range definitely needs tweaking on the bass channel. I'm thinking about having mods done along the line of this, as it doesn't seem to radically alter the amp. Anybody try this, or know of anybody who did? Pointers appreciated!
Question
crunchee
I've got a '67 Blackface Fender Bassman head (Model AB165) that I'm tempted to have mods done to it, to increase it's usuable potential as a Fender amp. Forums online often have owners who want to turn them into Marshalls or Dumbles, but I'm quite happy keeping it in the Fender realm of things, and sticking a distortion pedal in front of it when needed.
The tone report on mine, unmodded, is as follows:
The normal channel is what you'd call 'Fender clean', though it sounds slightly edgier than other Fenders (namely, a '67 Twin Reverb and a '73 Vibrolux Reverb). I like this! No changes really necessary.
The bass channel needs some modification, it's kinda weird as you'd expect it to have lots of bass and be boomy. It ISN'T. Bass is good, but it seems to have LOTS of mids/high mids, it can get really bright on the bridge pickup (I used a FM Special) making turning down the tone almost mandatory, and very 'acoustic' sounding on the neck pickup.
My question: has anybody else run into this on a Blackface Bassman head? Did you make any changes (besides sell it?
)?
This amp has got LOTS of potential IMHO, the output transformer is HUGE, and there is TONS of clean headroom, and I consider the lack of reverb/vibrato to be a plus as there is nothing to get in the way of the signal except the amp itself...but the frequency range definitely needs tweaking on the bass channel. I'm thinking about having mods done along the line of this, as it doesn't seem to radically alter the amp. Anybody try this, or know of anybody who did? Pointers appreciated!
http://acruhl.freeshell.org/mga/main/AA864_vs_AB165.html
10 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.