Adventures with the dirty Bassman.

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Put it back together today. Just so I could actually play around with for real. Just chassis out of the cab seems strange.

I don’t think I like the Oxford or Utah or whatever these speakers are in the cab. It’s obnoxiously bright to me through them. My little 1x12 a like a lot better so far.

It’s a bit late to play at volume tonight I’ll try and do a little demo tomorrow before I open it back up for a couple mods.

Edit: the speakers are Oxford 12l6’s and they suck IMO.
 
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I've seen guys turn these into 1x12 combos. But for guitar you can always get an alternative speaker cab which will match the head. I'm partial to a Celestion G12H Creamback and even just a 1x12 cab with one of those could sound amazing. I like open backed cabs made from box-jointed pine. It's a big, open sound which would be perfect with guitar and that amp.

Are you happy with the amp, other than the sound of the stock speakers?
 
HamishR said:
I've seen guys turn these into 1x12 combos. But for guitar you can always get an alternative speaker cab which will match the head. I'm partial to a Celestion G12H Creamback and even just a 1x12 cab with one of those could sound amazing. I like open backed cabs made from box-jointed pine. It's a big, open sound which would be perfect with guitar and that amp.

Are you happy with the amp, other than the sound of the stock speakers?
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I’m pretty happy with it. I have a couple mods in mind that I would like to do. I’m just debating how far down the rabbit hole I want go.

I have to open it back up tomorrow and replace the fuse holder when it arrives. It’s suspect at best.

Leaning towards replacing all signal caps with the Mallory 150’s like you had mentioned. Because I plan on playing around a bit with the tone stacks. Which is where I’m debating a few mods.

For sure I think I will put the negative feedback loop on a switch. Likely on off on. With the bf 820R, none and I may try some different values or leave the 47k as is stock.

I’m debating what to do with the bass channel. Common move is to tweed it. I actually thought about taking it out all together and loom on into putting a tube buffered effects loop in and possible using the extra half a preamp tube as a swig habke
Additional gain stage.

Adding a mid pot to the normal channel.

Other idea which might be completely crazy is using the bad channel tube for an offboard reverb and drilling a couple
Holes for rcas on the back. Not sure logistically how that will work with a transformer but a thought. Likely add a mv. Might as well make it my own. lol.
 
Locrian99 said:
I’m pretty happy with it. I have a couple mods in mind that I would like to do. I’m just debating how far down the rabbit hole I want go.

I have to open it back up tomorrow and replace the fuse holder when it arrives. It’s suspect at best.

Leaning towards replacing all signal caps with the Mallory 150’s like you had mentioned. Because I plan on playing around a bit with the tone stacks. Which is where I’m debating a few mods.

For sure I think I will put the negative feedback loop on a switch. Likely on off on. With the bf 820R, none and I may try some different values or leave the 47k as is stock.

I’m debating what to do with the bass channel. Common move is to tweed it. I actually thought about taking it out all together and loom on into putting a tube buffered effects loop in and possible using the extra half a preamp tube as a swig habke
Additional gain stage.

Adding a mid pot to the normal channel.

Other idea which might be completely crazy is using the bad channel tube for an offboard reverb and drilling a couple
Holes for rcas on the back. Not sure logistically how that will work with a transformer but a thought. Likely add a mv. Might as well make it my own. lol.
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There is nothing bad sounding there! Don't fix what isn't broken! Build another amp from scratch and mod it, modding a vintage Fender reduces it's resale value!!!! I did a LOT of work on my 5F6-A yesterday, but today I spent under the kitchen and bathroom sinks. I literally had to use a dremel with a diamond bit to remove the plastic nuts on the bottom of the bathroom faucet. But I digress.


It's beginning to look like an amp instead of pieces....

IMG_1388.JPEG

All screws and nuts are stainless, the nuts are nylon locking nuts to prevent loosening from vibration. And yes that is a bag of weed to the right. A strain I call 23 Pineapple Road. Very Pineapple-ish with a hint of Nepalese finger-rolled hash.
IMG_1386.JPEG

This is mounted under the dog house now with fish paper under it for insulation.
Power board ready to solder 1024.jpg
 
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RetiredUnit1 said:
There is nothing bad sounding there! Don't fix what isn't broken! Build another amp from scratch and mod it, modding a vintage Fender reduces it's resale value!!!! I did a LOT of work on my 5F6-A yesterday, but today I spent under the kitchen and bathroom sinks. I literally had to use a dremel with a diamond bit to remove the plastic nuts on the bottom of the bathroom faucet. But I digress.


It's beginning to look like an amp instead of pieces....

View attachment 66503

All screws and nuts are stainless, the nuts are nylon locking nuts to prevent loosening from vibration. And yes that is a bag of weed to the left. A strain I call 23 Pineapple Road. Very Pineapple-ish with a hint of Nepalese finger-rolled hash.
View attachment 66504

This is mounted under the dog house now with fish paper under it for insulation.
View attachment 66505
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Heh. I would like to start working in building something from scratch soon. I need something with a real tube reverb :)
 
Locrian99 said:
Heh. I would like to start working in building something from scratch soon. I need something with a real tube reverb :)
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I have a Champ board I've finished and I'm going to be doing that next but after that it's a blackface princeton reverb! This is my unfinished layout for the chassis/faceplace I got from ZackMDHunter on eBay. Same dimensions as Mojo, a lot cheaper.

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Locrian99 said:
@RetiredUnit1

What about the turrets do you prefer vs eyelets. Couple of the eyelets I noticed get a little packed
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Turrets better hands down. You have room to run the wires on top of the board instead of under it because the components don't touch the board. You can still pack three wires in the top of the turret and easily wrap two around the column in the recesses, and then one in between those.

When I got to meet Leo Fender, he espoused to me to become an amp builder and one of the things he mentioned that he liked about Marshall amps more than his were turrets. He said he'd use them too but they're just much machining to make them. Leo made a lot of the parts in his amps.

That said, there's a lot of 3D complexity in laying out a board with turrets in one of Leo's VERY small tweed chassis. After the tweeds he moved to a larger chassis with a different orientation on the tubes and control panel...
 
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Love the glassy sound of a Fender. I can't live without an effects loop if I'm using the amp's voice for overdrive. I use a booster from time to time but rarely an OD pedal. You can look into solid state variants that only require a few jack holes on the back panel as well. I'm not convinced that tube fx loops sound any better (or worse). That said, if I had the undivided attention of the sound guy I'd prefer to run delay and verb at the board, but that's not the case for me.

Given that you've replaced parts already it might be fun to try a tweed channel on the Bass side.

I like how this is shaping up and that cab makes it totally legit, right down to the slightly skanky grill cloth.
 
Have you tried anything to deodorize it? I've heard of wiping the tolex with some white vinegar to get rid of some of the built up crud and nicotine (or whatever else). You could put an open box of baking soda in the cabinet too.
 
Locrian99 said:
My music room/office has a well call it a skanky smell since that can moved in. lol.

It’s not terrible but that thing has the it sat in some dingy oplace for too long smell about it
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This isn't period correct for that amp, but imnsho is a hell of a lot better looking. I got some for the Bassman Ten I'm restoring.

And its WAY less than everyone else due to this being free shipping and everyone else sending it at 'larger than 12" shipping'.

www.ebay.com

36" Speaker Grill Cloth Fabric Silver Turquoise Stripe | eBay

.or add flair to your custom-built project! Although a common or original application is listed, only your imagination can limit its uses. Color: Turquoise/White/Silver; turquoise stripe runs the 36" width of the roll.
www.ebay.com

I attach it to one side with a staple gun, then the other side I staple to a piece of scrap wood. Turn it on it's face, fold the scrap wood towards the center and stretch it while checking bottom alignment.

The scrap wood allows you to stretch the cloth evenly. Put a clamp on each side and then staple. This gets it nice and tight and even!
 
I haven’t done anything to remove the smell so far. It’s part of its story right ? It’s not awful it’s not like one what’s that smell. But it is noticeable
 
I swear that I randomly came across somebody on youtube showing off their replaced Fender grill with some kind of aged grillcloth recently. It wasn't a silverface though, it was a black panel I think.
 
Ah yes the fender grill cloth plate came. Looks a bit too shiny and new, but better than nothing.

Sat there studying a picture counting how many lines etc to put it on just right. Was trying to hold it in place it slipped got some tape, was getting ready to count again and tape it down and was
Double checking. When k notice the original screw holes still in the cloth…. 🤦‍♂️



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I also have a Silverface Bassman 50 (was told it's a '76). I haven't used it in almost 7 years :rolleyes:. was the perfect platform for pedals, and when I was healthy I could plug the "acoustic" side of my Godin into the Bass channel and the electric side with the pedalboard into the normal channel.
it was really loud with my 4x12 and enough with a 2x12.. Long gone are the days of carrying a Head, Cab, pedalboard and a 12Lbs. Guitar to gigs.. I should get it out of storage and take some pics.
I don't see myself doing any mods to the amp but would like to know what would make this circuit better (as in better components and layout than Fender did). or should I try my luck and build an amp myself???
Wishing the Best to all of you!
 
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