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Would you like to see a Bassman Jr?
Yes 44%  44%  [ 4 ]
No 56%  56%  [ 5 ]
Total votes : 9
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Post subject: Bassman Jr?
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 4:09 pm
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I've had this on my mind forever what with everyone making smaller tube amps nowadays. Why doesn't Fender make a Bassman Jr amp? Sure Fender already has the Pro Junior, Blues Junior and Champion 600, but I reckon a mini version of their most recognizable amp would sell just as well, if not better. As I play both bass and guitar, it'd be cool if the amp could accommodate both even as a portable 1x10 combo. So what do you think?


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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:33 pm
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Just what every guitarist needs......another metrosexual amp.

Sorry, pal -- I'll pass.

Arjay

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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:41 pm
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Just get a Deluxe 5e3. Can't put a bass through it but who cares? Most people I know today don't run a bass through a Bassman anyway.

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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:52 pm
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63supro wrote:
Just get a Deluxe 5e3. Can't put a bass through it but who cares? Most people I know today don't run a bass through a Bassman anyway.
Yep,the deluxe is the only way to go.No bassman jr for me,I like the original best.


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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:21 pm
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budglo wrote:
63supro wrote:
Just get a Deluxe 5e3. Can't put a bass through it but who cares? Most people I know today don't run a bass through a Bassman anyway.
Yep,the deluxe is the only way to go.No bassman jr for me,I like the original best.


Seriously budglo, we really don't need a Jr of anything. They would probably get a Bassman, shrink it down put cheap speakers in it, mod it and ruin it. In my latest issue of Guitar Player magazine, they reviewed the Super Sonic 22 and gave it a mediocre review too. They couldn't get it past 4 on the volume knob before the tone went south. They recommend it for recording and low volume gigs. :shock: I didn't like the thing either. Seems like they need to stick with what Leo originally designed. As soon as they venture outside the box, something weird happens.

Just make a good, reliable amp and leave it be, and do away with the EL84's, they totally cripple that unique Fender tone. :roll:

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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 8:28 pm
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just when im about to buy me a 1965 blk face bassman?
oh helz no. no jr bassmans. thats like a twin reverb jr.

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 3:23 am
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63supro wrote:
Seriously budglo, we really don't need a Jr of anything. They would probably get a Bassman, shrink it down put cheap speakers in it, mod it and ruin it. In my latest issue of Guitar Player magazine, they reviewed the Super Sonic 22 and gave it a mediocre review too. They couldn't get it past 4 on the volume knob before the tone went south. They recommend it for recording and low volume gigs. :shock: I didn't like the thing either. Seems like they need to stick with what Leo originally designed. As soon as they venture outside the box, something weird happens.

Just make a good, reliable amp and leave it be, and do away with the EL84's, they totally cripple that unique Fender tone. :roll:


The thing is, Leo was all about innovation. Sure smaller amps are nothing new to Fender, but many were done (in my opinion) wrong. The problems with the other current Jr models is that they use the EL84s--not Fender-ish indeed. The Bassman Jr you're conceptualizing seems to based on those Jr models, which is probably why you're all against it. But rather than go that path, I originally planned it as being based it off the original that we all know and love--the difference being its size. I wouldn't mind paying upwards of half the price of a Bassman for a half-scale Bassman. A portable and flexible amp? What's not to like?


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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 5:31 am
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nght5tlkr wrote:
63supro wrote:
Seriously budglo, we really don't need a Jr of anything. They would probably get a Bassman, shrink it down put cheap speakers in it, mod it and ruin it. In my latest issue of Guitar Player magazine, they reviewed the Super Sonic 22 and gave it a mediocre review too. They couldn't get it past 4 on the volume knob before the tone went south. They recommend it for recording and low volume gigs. :shock: I didn't like the thing either. Seems like they need to stick with what Leo originally designed. As soon as they venture outside the box, something weird happens.

Just make a good, reliable amp and leave it be, and do away with the EL84's, they totally cripple that unique Fender tone. :roll:


The thing is, Leo was all about innovation. Sure smaller amps are nothing new to Fender, but many were done (in my opinion) wrong. The problems with the other current Jr models is that they use the EL84s--not Fender-ish indeed. The Bassman Jr you're conceptualizing seems to based on those Jr models, which is probably why you're all against it. But rather than go that path, I originally planned it as being based it off the original that we all know and love--the difference being its size. I wouldn't mind paying upwards of half the price of a Bassman for a half-scale Bassman. A portable and flexible amp? What's not to like?


Once you cut the wattage and change the speaker configuration, the headroom and tone changes. So whats the point? The Blues Jr sounds nothing like the Blues Deluxe or DeVille.
Leo WAS about innovation not making low end disposible stuff for a quick profit. Even the old Champs were great sounding reliable amps. I have a 74 Champ that's wonderful.

Lots of other amp manufacturers are making great sounding, small heads like Vox, Mesa, Egnater, THD etc. There is a certain combination of components to making "The Fender Sound" and the newer amps just don't hit the mark. Bells and whistles weren't part of Leo's sound. Form follows function was what Leo lived by.

What the newer Fender amps are is what CBS tried to do to them only worse. What makes Dr. Z, Carr, Victoria amps and others successful is their tone, not how many bells, whistles and cheesy effects and gain channels you can jam in an amp.

A Bassman amp is a real jewel in the lineup and I'd hate to see it molested. Fender already has the Bassman TV lineup. None of my bass playing friends like them. I don't play much bass and never personally heard one in person. Looks like a lot of power in a small package.

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:35 am
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Interesting discussion, but I don't understand the question. By adding the "Jr." or "mini" description are you asking for a lower powered Bassman or just one in a smaller package?

As been mentioned already, there is a lower powered tweed currently in Fender's stable with the 5E3 tweed Deluxe. Don't play bass through it though. Who plays bass through the Bassman reissue anyways besides in the studio or quiet coffeehouse gigs?

If it's just size you're concerned about, there can't be a smaller packaged tweed Bassman because Fender never made a smaller Bassman. It wouldn't be a reissue. Guitarists are purists for the most part and Fender marketing realizes that not many people will buy a Bassman in a 1x10 format if Leo Fender never made one. Besides, a single 1x10 would be a waste of the Bassman's glorious 40 watts of tube tone. The Blues Deluxe and Supersonic claim to have Bassman type heritage, but it's the blackface version of the Bassman and a poor facsimile at that.

I do however wish Fender would reissue a medium powered tweed amp like the Bandmaster or Super. Otherwise it's build your own or from a boutique amp builder.

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:40 am
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Just buy a Princeton Reverb and be done with it!

Arjay

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 4:23 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
Just buy a Princeton Reverb and be done with it!

Arjay




+1

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