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Post subject: 60's era Fender Bassman head
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:11 pm
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Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 2:09 pm
Posts: 145
Location: Central Florida
I found a 60's era head for sale at my local Guitar Center for 599. If the head is a old as they say is that a good price? I'm afraid I know nothing about these amps as I have played through mostly Peavey, Tube Works, and Ampeg amps (in that order). The head is in very good shape with virtually no tears or dings in the tolex covering and the internal workings look amazingly clean. I have always been stand offish with older gear. What do you guys think?


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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:23 pm
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Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:47 pm
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Hey gnosticbass, is the old bass head a tube or solid state? And what wattage is it? I believe Fender started producing solid state heads around 1968/69. Sure did want one then, and now. Some say the tube head is a more warm tone. I allways like the solid state heads better.


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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:54 pm
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Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:20 pm
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Location: Austin TX
The early (mid to late 60s) solid state Bassman amps had some reliability problems. The tube amps were (and should remain) rock solid.

I had a tube Bassman during that time. The head screwed into the cabinet. In the early sixties, the cabinets sat horizontally on the floor. Around 1966, they were redesigned so the cabinet would stand vertically. When that occurred, the cabinet was enlarged, because the head hung over the edges of the original cab when it was turned vertically.

I sort of felt that the change to vertical hurt the sound output. IIRC, the cabs were sealed, not ported, and made odd noises at high volume.

The head puts out - what? - maybe 60 watts RMS, so a lot of what you pay for when you buy this is the rarity and the nostalgia.

I sold it for a Kustom 200 with dual JBL 15s (ported) and it sounded like mud with a Gibson EB-3. I wonder what the Kustom would have sounded like with a Jazz Bass. Still wish I had both amps.

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