New Fender Bassman tube amp!

Chris P. · May 19, 2011, 10:22:26 AM

Berth discovered it on Bass Player. A picture of a wall of new Fender Bassman heads. My Fender contacts didn't knew anything, but Fender confirmed them on twitter. They'll bring a range of Bassman tube heads and cabs under the name of Super Bassman.

Also some new Fender basses. See Fender thread.

Pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bassplayermag/

jumbodbassman · May 19, 2011, 12:50:22 PM

maybe time for another tube head besides my ampegs...

Pilgrim · May 19, 2011, 05:21:33 PM

I would love to see Fender make more of a dent in the big-watt tube market. They started this movement, I want to see them prominent in it.

the mojo hobo · May 19, 2011, 07:54:44 PM

Are they aiming for a lower power, lower cost, more affordable, more sellable offering?

They already offer a fantastic all tube bass amplifier:

Pilgrim · May 19, 2011, 08:48:40 PM

That's the 300, right? If so, specs say it's 75 pounds. I've seen the 400 from a few years ago and it's at least as heavy.

Seems like a powerful tube head gets heavy very quickly...but it's nice to see Fender playing. I've never seen a 300 head.

That photo linked in the first post shows a real retro look...those are definitely blackface Bassman series clones, down to the grille cloth.

Psycho Bass Guy · May 19, 2011, 11:54:43 PM

The Bassman 300 is a Fender re-badge of the new/"old" (discontinued in 2004 or 2005) Sunn 300T. I had one for two years and sold it. It's the ONLY bass amp of mine I have ever sold. I consider them unreliable, poorly designed, and just outright BAD sounding.

I only bought mine because I got in a huge debacle in the very first days of Talkbass with Rich Briere over a demo of the amp when it was new. I tried five or six of them in stores, all new, and not one functioned properly and one actually caught on fire. He promised to ship a certified functional model to my local Fender dealer, publicly on the forum. A few weeks passed and the amp never turned up with the Fender rep at my dealer's, so I questioned Rich about it. Even though his prior posts were plain for anyone to see, he denied ever having made them and threatened to sue me through Fender for slander for justly calling him a liar. He eventually threw around enough ad money that Talkbass's admins went back and edited our exchange a week after that to make me out as being in the wrong, and Paul Determan, TB's owner at the time, even went so far as to post my full real name and mailing address so I could be served by Rich without my consent.

So when I found a used 300T at local store that ran with no issues, I bought it and used it pretty often at band practice. It never broke down, but it never sounded good to me or the rest of the band. The guy I sold it to ended up loving it though, so to each his own I guess. I like what Fender has done on the tube guitar amp side of things, so maybe they can get one right, but I'm not holding my breath.

the mojo hobo · May 20, 2011, 06:36:12 AM

I have a 300t with the 215 speaker cabinet and absolutely love it. It did quit on me one time; the wiring to the power tube heaters had burned a connection which I fixed myself. Oh, and lately the footswitch quit working, but I tend to not need it. I reaad somewhere that the Bassman 300 has some minor changes to improve reliability.

Funny that you think they are "outright BAD sounding". I don't (and never have) cared for the SVT sound. If you expect the 300t to sound like an SVT you will be disappointed. Good thing we have choices.

I play passive basses, use the 2-15" speakers, and the 300t sounds perfect to me. Good clean deep bass with warmness that can be pushed to growl on demand. The only thing I don't like is it's massive weight. Of course the magic might be created by all that iron.

Dave W · May 20, 2011, 09:21:46 AM

Rich Briere.

When these came out as Sunn amps, he relentlessly shilled for them at the FDP and tried hard to give the impression that they were a revival of the Sunn amps of old. Then after he and Fender parted ways, he seemed bitter about the company. Maybe Fender decided that shills were a dime a dozen.

I've heard of the same experiences with the 300T/300. They're nothing but trouble for some folks and reliable for others. Tone is a matter of taste. I wouldn't trade my Mesa Bass 400+ for either a 300T/300 or an SVT. YMMV.

Dave W · May 20, 2011, 09:29:23 AM

Quote from: Pilgrim on May 19, 2011, 05:21:33 PM
I would love to see Fender make more of a dent in the big-watt tube market. They started this movement, I want to see them prominent in it.

They did? That's a surprise to me. When has Fender ever been a factor in big watt bass heads?

Fender did have the Rumble-Bass tube head in the early 90s. It was from their amp custom shop. Didn't sell well at all.

rahock · May 20, 2011, 09:40:07 AM

Their Studio Bass amp was the best bass amp Fender made. They are about as rare as a purle squirrel but they are real sweet. 200 watt single 15" EVM combo. They weigh a freakin' ton but they are one fine sounding amp

Rick

Bert · May 20, 2011, 05:46:24 PM

I played Bassman's for many years and was allways happy with them. I still have my '63 now, it is one of my practice amps nowadays with a nice warm but clear tube sound. Fender Bassman's seem to have a revival now in Holland. Alan Davey (20 years Hawkwind, now Gunslinger and several projects) still uses 70 watt bassmans and has a ferocious sound with them. etc....

I am highly curious to these new Bassman's. But I am also afraid that they will cost a whole lot more than an old one with an overhaul.

Psycho Bass Guy · May 20, 2011, 11:35:47 PM

Quote from: rahock on May 20, 2011, 09:40:07 AM
Their Studio Bass amp was the best bass amp Fender made. They are about as rare as a purle squirrel but they are real sweet. 200 watt single 15" EVM combo. They weigh a freakin' ton but they are one fine sounding amp

...which is funny because they're just a bass version of the Super Twin, which sounds like ass for guitar to pretty much everyone but Ted Nugent in the 70's. I have played a Studio Bass, and second the motion that they're great bass amps, though.

Pilgrim · May 21, 2011, 09:22:01 AM

Quote from: Dave W on May 20, 2011, 09:29:23 AM
They did? That's a surprise to me. When has Fender ever been a factor in big watt bass heads?

Fender did have the Rumble-Bass tube head in the early 90s. It was from their amp custom shop. Didn't sell well at all.

I muddled two thoughts together - sorry. I meant that Fender really kicked off bass amps in general with its Bassman series. The reference was not meant to imply they have been a big player in high-power amps, but that I would like to see them offer good products in that category.

It's moot to me - I have no plans to deviate from my Genz-Benz Shuttle or ever buy a heavy head again.

Psycho Bass Guy · May 22, 2011, 07:55:07 AM

Quote from: the mojo hobo on May 20, 2011, 06:36:12 AMFunny that you think they are "outright BAD sounding". I don't (and never have) cared for the SVT sound. If you expect the 300t to sound like an SVT you will be disappointed.

I didn't. Although in all fairness, Fender sure marketed it as the "new school" SVT, complete with a design credit to Bill Hughes and multiple references to him having designed the SVT. The cab it sounded the best with was my Marshall 4x15, but even on 8x10's it never seemed to have any real punch. It was either a muffled undefined boom or a tinny annoyance, and I know for a fact it was struggling to put out 200 watts. Biased any hotter, it would shut itself down.

There were lots of weird protection circuits that really didn't do anything but add to the amp's complexity. You mentioned the heater fuses already. There should be no need for those at all. There is no output tube it could have used that draws more heater current than the Svet and Sovtek 6550's it shipped with, so there was no point at all in fusing the heater winding in the PT unless Fender had specced it just barely to tolerance, which given the size of the PT, was a possibility, but they should have known better and certainly had the resources to not make that the case without raising the cost to make the amp more than another $10 per unit.

While I'm certainly a fan of the SVT sound, I also love the huge lows of my Trace VA/VR tube amps, which also have that old school Trace bright bite and my Mesa 400+ is a whole 'nother beast too. I'm pretty much a whore when it comes to tubes and power over 200 watts; that's usually all it takes to get me going. If the 300T could have actually replicated the Sunn sound of the 200 or 2000s, it would have been a much better received amp. Even a vintage Model T sound would have been great. Their new version of that was likewise a turd. OTOH, the 4x10 cabs for that amp are killer, and there was one locally for $150 in mint condition recently that I would have bought if I had the room for it. I didn't like their 2x15, but I'm spoiled by my huge ported 2x15 cab with JBL D140's, which didn't sound good with the 300T either.

Psycho Bass Guy · May 22, 2011, 08:07:55 AM

Quote from: Dave W on May 20, 2011, 09:29:23 AM
Fender did have the Rumble-Bass tube head in the early 90s. It was from their amp custom shop. Didn't sell well at all.

That's because not many shipped because they were incredibly unreliable, and carried a $2500 pricetag, unheard of for an amp in those days. Fender's supposed "Custom Shop" amp sounded awesome when it worked, but they cheaped out on the parts and thermal managment to the point that most of them were junked as unrepairable. Ask anyone who's ever owned a modern Dual Professional and you'll hear the same story. Sadly, the last good "big" tube bass head Fender put out was the 300PS and that was 30 years ago.