I want to go Fender Blackface...Need some help

[herewegoagain]

I think I prefer the Bassman over the Super Reverb (not sure here) because I already have a 2x12 cab with vintage 30's..and am not at all interested in the Deluxe, Princeton or any other sub-40watt variants or reissues of these..I also have a general rule with gear of $1000 +/- a couple of Benjamins

There are two silver face bassman's and one drip edge on my local Craigslist, and they are not moving..any one of these could be had for 600 bucks or less, and even though I have never done a modification on an amp, I can solder and read diagrams OK..Technically I am pretty confident that I could pull off the trick...

Real question is: Should I buy one of the old sliver faces and do the mods, or should I take the Mojotone route and build from a kit ..I have no experience either way...

Or, should I just continue to ride my Hotrods..they never fail to impress, but I'm a little gear bored at the moment

 

[paulyc]

I prefer the Reverb amps but that’s just me.

 

[skullfxr]

My favorite I have at the moment is my blackface bandmaster. That amp just has 'it' that my others don't have. Plan on recapping if it hasn't been done yet. You want NOS/VOS tubes in it. The 5751's that came in them are great. I have a decent stockpile too. The bassman is totally different but its got its own thing. Plan on it needing something done though or paying the premium to get one that has been gone through.

 

[blackba]

If you want to get the traditional fender BF/SF sound with reverb in a head, look for a Fender Bandmaster Reverb or Fender Dual Showman reverb. The Fender Bandmaster Reverb is pretty much a Fender Vibrolux Reverb in a head cab.

The non-reverb amps like the Bandmaster, Princeton NR, and Deluxe NR, tend to stay clean for longer and don't breakup the same as the reverb amps.

As for the bassman, like what was stated above, they are their own animal. Loud, brash, and authoritative. Its not what I think of when I think of a fender SF and BF amp, but they are cool amps in their own right. For the Bassmans, the Blonde bassman heads are the ones to get, but the BF and early SF ones are cool too, after some TLC and some mods.

 

[grooveHT]

You know what they say though, once you go Fender Blackface...

 

[skullfxr]

You know what they say though, once you go Fender Blackface...

You can't go... Oh... Well... Hmmmmm... Silverface!

You have to watch the drip edge mine had '67 transformers and a silver face circuit with a few other variations mixed in. I got it completely untouched prior to me. There was a lot of in-between that time. Pop the chassis if you want to know what you are getting.

 

[herewegoagain]

Great info. Maybe I need to do a little more research.

 

[skullfxr]

Great info. Maybe I need to do a little more research.

That's probably the best thing to do. If you have any questions feel free to send me a PM. I have done a lot of work on mine and have figured out a lot of ins and ours.

 

[JimAnsell]

blackface fenders have been cancelled. blackface is racist.

 

[herewegoagain]

OK, please excuse my ignorance here, and please correct anything I am getting wrong..(you can even insult me if you want)..but here is what I'm coming up with:

1. The Bandmaster and Super Reverb are the exact same circuit..difference is that one is a combo and one is not. (advantage Bandmaster).

2. The blackface and silverface Bandmaster heads are very similar in price as far as I can see, but the post 1968 models have reverb where earlier versions do not...so sans the fact that they actually have reverb, are the Silverface models, after modding, tonally better than an original 1965?...or would I be better off getting the '65 I'm looking at and replacing the groove tubes and whatever else might be in there that doesn't belong

 

[skullfxr]

Unfortunately it's case by case to the degree of originality of the circuit. I would go with a silverface with good vintage tubes and the blue molded caps over a blackface with groove tubes and different caps. Blackfaving the silver face is relatively easy. Down the line a more original BF will always be more valuable than a comparable SF just because of the model and nostalgia.

 

[SpiderWars]

Almost all the Blackface Reverb circuits are basically the same. There are a few adjustments made for wattage and power tube type/number. Often the only difference between models was the power section and transformers. I'm pretty sure the Bandmaster Reverb had a different (smaller) OT than the Super Reverb. A Bandmaster Reverb and a Twin Reverb were essentially the same circuit but the TR is really clean but the BR breaks up quite a bit.

 

[herewegoagain]

Once again, thanks for the input...I'm going to do something, even if it's wrong

 

[311boogieman]

Don't forget about the Tech Corner subforum here. Really smart guys over there that can also help.

 

[herewegoagain]

OK, so here is what I did... '65 bandmaster, nearly all original...Super clean..price was really good too

According to the seller, the output transformer was replaced at some time with one in kind from the same time period, as well as two filter caps...I have no reason to doubt this...It currently has solvtek 588 power tubes with tons of life left in them..I'm feeding this thing into a 2 x 12 cab with Celestion G12 V30's, and it sounds majestic...it might be the quietest amp I have ever owned (55 years old, who would'uv thunk it)..as far as I am concerned, it is absolutely perfect right out of the box, and I'm not changing a thing except for maybe going to a 4 x 10 cab..

Swamptrash, thanks for the Bandmaster suggestion..I never would have gone this route without guidance..but as my board handle suggests, we may have opened up a big expensive can of worms...shortly after I thought I had everything I wanted

 

[skullfxr]

OK, so here is what I did... '65 bandmaster, nearly all original...Super clean..price was really good too

According to the seller, the output transformer was replaced at some time with one in kind from the same time period, as well as two filter caps...I have no reason to doubt this...It currently has solvtek 588 power tubes with tons of life left in them..I'm feeding this thing into a 2 x 12 cab with Celestion G12 V30's, and it sounds majestic...it might be the quietest amp I have ever owned (55 years old, who would'uv thunk it)..as far as I am concerned, it is absolutely perfect right out of the box, and I'm not changing a thing except for maybe going to a 4 x 10 cab..

Swamptrash, thanks for the Bandmaster suggestion..I never would have gone this route without guidance..but as my board handle suggests, we may have opened up a big expensive can of worms...shortly after I thought I had everything I wanted

Congratulations brother! She will serve you well for a very long time. I am glad I was able to help.

Cheers!