BASSMAN 100 INSTEAD OF DELUXE REVERB

[Dezzy_UK]

I have been to a friends studio tonight trying his bassman 100, and I was surprised at how 100 watts on these old amps is not like 100 watts on new one's, i had the bassman on 10 in the studio he he, but at home that aint going to happen, I am putting which ever amp in the garage, anyway my Hot Rod Deluxe on 3 seems like it was twice as loud as the bassman on 3 go figer eh once the bassman gets to 6 - 7 it gets louder than the HRDx, but on 4 it was no louder than the HRDx on 2 and a half ?, I would be able to get the bassman on 5 4 easy in my garage, and 4 is a nice tone like. I set out to find a sf dr, but now I have tried this bassman I am wanting it more, it sounder great, it's my kind of tone like, nice and clean with plenty of balls, I can not be-leave it is 100 watts. Anyone got a bassman, what do U think of them ? I think it is a good sounding amp and it's not like a HRDx were U either love or hate it ?

 

[mrkmas]

Few things come to mind. The value of the volume pot can change the responsiveness of the knob. This is why some amps get super loud at 2 and from 2-5 you feel like its not getting any louder.
It can depend on what version of the HRDx you are using as they came out with version 3 in the past year or 2. The prior version was well known for having a crazy volume pot that would get loud super fast (as mentioned above) and then not get much louder. To put it simply, the volume increase was not a steady increase. The version 3 HRDx's made some changes to this and they do not suffer from this nearly as bad. If you were using a "prior to version 3" HRDx, I would expect the culrpit is actually the HRDx throwing you off by the crazy volume pot.

The Bassman may have had more efficient speakers and had a higher db rating which is why it could get louder.

 

[blackba]

In addition to what mrkmas posted. There are numerous versions of the Fender Bassman. The Bassman100 was a later model, that came out in the late 70's and is Silverface. Most bassman heads are 50Watts.

One thing that can also affect the volume of the bassman is if you plug it into a 4ohm or 8ohm cab. The Bassman will not be as loud with an 8ohm cab.

 

[mixohoytian]

I had the bassman 100 from the late 70s
I had the same experience, all the way up sounded killer and it was not as loud as a 100 watt marshall all the way up

the bassman 100 sounded killer
cleans were great
distortion was way cool, vintage rock n roll tone, I had the bass channel modded to jtm-45 specs and it had BALLS

 

[Dezzy_UK]

Few things come to mind. The value of the volume pot can change the responsiveness of the knob. This is why some amps get super loud at 2 and from 2-5 you feel like its not getting any louder.
It can depend on what version of the HRDx you are using as they came out with version 3 in the past year or 2. The prior version was well known for having a crazy volume pot that would get loud super fast (as mentioned above) and then not get much louder. To put it simply, the volume increase was not a steady increase. The version 3 HRDx's made some changes to this and they do not suffer from this nearly as bad. If you were using a "prior to version 3" HRDx, I would expect the culrpit is actually the HRDx throwing you off by the crazy volume pot.

The Bassman may have had more efficient speakers and had a higher db rating which is why it could get louder.

I had the newest HRDx3, they say they sorted a lot of things out on it, yer right, the overdrive was unbearable, U could not use it at all man, I have bought a £130 pedal due to that, the clean channel was nice thou, the volumes pot was way to touch, it jumped up with the slightest touch and once past 3 it was as if it was not getting any louder, the 6l6 tubes were making a rattling noise on a 2 week old amp, had to buy retainers, it was problem after problem, it's gone now thanks god. The bassman volume goes up at a nice slow even pace, gradual up until U hit 6 then it starts getting loud, and that's what I like, think the bassman is my kind of amp, it made me feel good playing it, so that tells me to stop looking and start buying, which I am doing, getting it dropped off tomorow off my mate, the price I am paying, their is no other amp that sounds as good for that price that is PTP, for me anyway

 

[Dezzy_UK]

In addition to what mrkmas posted. There are numerous versions of the Fender Bassman. The Bassman100 was a later model, that came out in the late 70's and is Silverface. Most bassman heads are 50Watts.

One thing that can also affect the volume of the bassman is if you plug it into a 4ohm or 8ohm cab. The Bassman will not be as loud with an 8ohm cab.

will it effect the tone if I plug it into an 8ohm cabinet, or will it sound the same ? my solid state cab had a switch on the back that switched from 4 to 8 ohm, it was 100 watts, now U mention it I flicked it a couple of times and notice it was less loud on 8, can not remember if the tone was effected

 

[Dezzy_UK]

I had the bassman 100 from the late 70s
I had the same experience, all the way up sounded killer and it was not as loud as a 100 watt marshall all the way up

the bassman 100 sounded killer
cleans were great
distortion was way cool, vintage rock n roll tone, I had the bass channel modded to jtm-45 specs and it had BALLS

It does sound killer like, it made me really want to play it like, also it made me think for the money as they go cheaper than a sf dr u can not beat it, against a sf dr which would cost me £500 more, I don't think their is a comparable, I know which amp I would rather play, the cab has 4 speakers rahter than one, so you are getting a much fuller sound, it's creaming material.

 

[mrkmas]

In addition to what mrkmas posted. There are numerous versions of the Fender Bassman. The Bassman100 was a later model, that came out in the late 70's and is Silverface. Most bassman heads are 50Watts.

One thing that can also affect the volume of the bassman is if you plug it into a 4ohm or 8ohm cab. The Bassman will not be as loud with an 8ohm cab.

will it effect the tone if I plug it into an 8ohm cabinet, or will it sound the same ? my solid state cab had a switch on the back that switched from 4 to 8 ohm, it was 100 watts, now U mention it I flicked it a couple of times and notice it was less loud on 8, can not remember if the tone was effected

As far as i know, you can lose volume having the cabinet and amp incorrectly matched ohm wise, and you can also damage the amplifier itself by doing that. Personally I would not risk it unless the amp was made to handle 4ohm and 8ohm.

 

[mrkmas]

The important thing to always remember is cabinet/speaker impedance and head speaker output should match at all times. Solid state heads you can get away with it as they are more tolerant (and cheaper), but you can seriously mess up a tube head if you incorrectly hook it up.
I would never have an amp set for 8ohm and the cabinet set for 4ohm just because I liked the change in tone or the decrease in volume.

Think of Ohms as blood type, they gotta match

 

[blackba]

The important thing to always remember is cabinet/speaker impedance and head speaker output should match at all times. Solid state heads you can get away with it as they are more tolerant (and cheaper), but you can seriously mess up a tube head if you incorrectly hook it up.
I would never have an amp set for 8ohm and the cabinet set for 4ohm just because I liked the change in tone or the decrease in volume.

Think of Ohms as blood type, they gotta match

On Vintage Fender amps such as a Bassman 100, its generally accepted that they can tolerate a 100% impedance missmatch either way. It is better to match the impedance. However, a Bassman head with a 4ohm output can generally operate at 2, 4, or 8ohms without an issue. Fender does put an extension speaker jack on their BF and SF amps, so they are planning for you to run it at 4ohms or 2ohms in the case of the Bassman. There are replacement output transformers for Bassman heads that have multiple taps on the transformers.

I will say that I thought my '67 Bassman sounded the best with a 4ohm load and I try to match impedance as much as possible.