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Post subject: '59 Bassman as a Bass AMP?!?
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:51 pm
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Why doesn't Fender have the '59 Bassman on the bass amp section of the website? I thought this was originally a bass amp.

Does anyone use a Bassman as their bass amp? It's all tube and I think it should sound pretty good.

Anybody?


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Post subject: Re: '59 Bassman as a Bass AMP?!?
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:10 pm
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jimbr wrote:
Why doesn't Fender have the '59 Bassman on the bass amp section of the website? I thought this was originally a bass amp.

Does anyone use a Bassman as their bass amp? It's all tube and I think it should sound pretty good.

Anybody?


Back in the late 60s, I used it for both guitar and bass. This amp was excellent for either.

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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:53 pm
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If I had a '59 Bassman, I'd use it for bass, as well as for guitar. When Fender originally introduced it, it was intended as amplification for their also new Precision Bass...hence the name Bassman.

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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:56 am
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Only a guess, but thought is, Fender has the bass amp world covered and if a "vintage" style bassman or lady wants to play a 58 Bassman, they are hip to the fact that it might be in the guitar section of the store or book and pro-ceed accordingly.


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Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:28 pm
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Really dumb question. Can you use the current reissue Bassman amp for bass guitar or is it more of a guitar amp now?


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Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:31 pm
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A new Bassman could still be used as a bass amp, the same as an old/vintage Bassman could.

Matt

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Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:35 pm
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Thats good to know I'll have to keep that in mind as an option.


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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:35 am
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The 59 Bassman RI is a great guitar amp and a great harp amp. Some people actually do use them for bass. They are not very powerful compared to modern bass amps, they cost a fortune to buy, are costly to maintain when you have to retube them and they weigh a ton...but oh yeah...you CAN play a bass through one. And they look really cool. The new TV Bassman amps are really more of a modern and much louder amp. But if you want all tube tone in a bass combo then the '59 RI is your amp. I think if you want all tube tone you are better off with the Bassman 300 and a good modern cab. But some people just want that all tube '59 Bassman. Whatever trips your trigger.


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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:29 pm
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gnosticbass wrote:
Really dumb question. Can you use the current reissue Bassman amp for bass guitar or is it more of a guitar amp now?
That's actually a great question IMHO. I guess it all depends upon whether the speakers allow a lot of cone travel or not. I'd love to use a '59 Bassman as a bass amp but it would have to be miked and run through the PA for all but the smallest of jobs. My current bass amp is roughly 10x the power of a '59 Bassman and that's not all that much in the way of headroom.


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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:23 pm
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I just thought of something. Ask yourself, as I did, when is the last time you saw anyone of note using one of these as a bass amp?


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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:08 am
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1959? :)

Just kidding there but at the time it came out a bass amp in that power range would easily do the trick. Even the Beatles were using 30 watt Vox amps until the screaming girls in the audiences forced them to go back to Vox for something bigger. The rule of thumb that I've heard is that a bass amp needs 4 x the power of the gutiar amps in your band. IOW, if you are playing in a band where a stock vintage Princeton would do the trick a '59 Bassman would probably be enough. The band I'm currently playing with does a fair amount of Instrumental Rock and I use a Twin for playing lead. When I use a Bass VI I pkug it into a 375 watt bass amp and that's about perfect.


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