Fender Bassman 135 black/silver frame

[basolas]

Hi basschat mates.
Got any ideas on this bassman 135 design? Both the head and cab have F0... serials so they are 1980. It seems that not so many were produced with this design (black and silver frame). The speaker is an Oxford 15''.
I believe that those might be the very early blackface but because the silver cloth was a trademark for fender amps, they changed them again. But again I'm not sure.
Any info?

Edited February 27, 2018 by basolas

[ivansc]

Andy Metcalfe (Soft Boys, Squeeze and others) bought a brand new Bassman 135 and that weird 4X12 Cab with the  inward-facing pyramid shaped baffle board in 1977.  As far as I know it was one of the first 135 heads and it had the lighter grey tolex than shown in your photo.  FWIW that cabinet rattled like a bugger. Spent hours sorting it out with screwdrivers hammers and glue and  I dont remember it having that silver piping.  Certainly not blackface unless Fender did a reissue of the Blackfaces. Otherwise they were long gone before the 135. Like 15 years long gone at least. I`ll see if Andy remembers, but I doubt it.

Edited January 26, 2018 by ivansc

[VTypeV4]

I'm not sure about my cab but my amp is an '81 - possibly the first year of the Black Face style 135..

Matching 135 grill by VTypeV4, on Flickr

Most of the silver face versions I've seen have the silver grille cloth but I've seen a few black grille ones too although not with the ali trim. They probably went through a transitional stage around that time? Sorry I can't be more definitive..

[basolas]

Thanks guys. Yeah probably a transitional stage.

 

[ivansc]

VTypeV4: Yours is PRETTY!

[VTypeV4]

1 hour ago, ivansc said:

VTypeV4: Yours is PRETTY!

Thanks! I still have the original knobs but I thought the black / white / silver colour combination was a winner. It's heavy but sounds fantastic.