Bassman Tonemaster comparison

[jimilee]

Has anyone been able to compare the Bassman 59 RI and the Tonemaster? I want a Bassman but I don’t want the weight of it. does it sound like the RI? Videos are scarce right now.

 

[Bucksears]

I LIKE what I've heard (wattage scaling, reverb, effects loop, bass cut), but that price is steep.
I'm saying that as a TM Deluxe Reverb owner.

Folks like being able to get cranked Bassman tones, though - I'll stick with my pedals for now.

 

[jimilee]

I LIKE what I've heard (wattage scaling, reverb, effects loop, bass cut), but that price is steep.
I'm saying that as a TM Deluxe Reverb owner.

Folks like being able to get cranked Bassman tones, though - I'll stick with my pedals for now.

I have like 6 or 8 tube amps but I don’t have that one. And they’re all heavy except the Princeton.

 

[thomasbe86]

Frenzel have heads for this, plus a few tonal options that are pretty decent, I myself have the Princeton Plexi 964 and it is a dream after owning a princeton for decades.

Super Bassman Bluesbreaker
Mini-Bassman 50
Retro Super Bassman 100

 

[manfesto]

I LIKE what I've heard (wattage scaling, reverb, effects loop, bass cut), but that price is steep.

Depending on where you buy online, you can get it tax free with like a 15-20% coupon (especially now that everyone is doing "Black Friday" sales) and that takes some of the sting out of it.

Just checked, and with their Black Friday coupon, Pitbull Audio's got the TM Bassman for $1199 with no tax if you're not in California.



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I was also a Tone Master Deluxe user for a few years (and I sold it to a band member, so it's still in the family and gets gigged). Used it in a stereo rig with a tube Deluxe Reverb both live and in studio and I never felt it lacking in comparison to its tube sibling - it did the Deluxe Reverb thing perfectly fine and took pedals just like the "real" thing (within the usual sample variation - I've heard and played Deluxes that sound better for whatever reason, and I've heard and played Deluxes that sound worse for whatever reason, so it was a solid average).

Haven't tried the TM Bassman but I'd imagine it does the thing at least as well as its TM Deluxe and TM Twin counterparts.

(One possible caveat -

I'm not a big fan of the IRs that were built in to the Tone Master, so when I did any direct recording, I *much* preferred running the XLR out with no processing and adding something like a York or OwnHammer IR in post.

It doesn't look like the TM Bassman has an option to do no processing on its XLR out, all three settings on the dial have a baked-in IR, so I personally wouldn't find it all that useful for direct recording.

May or may not apply to what you're doing.)