Downsizing a bit

[Steaming Richard]

I have had Fender 135 Bassman Silver face with 2X15 cab for many years. Thinking for smaller gigs of coupling the old Amp up to a Fender Rumble 4 x10 cab. Please can anyone advise if this is a feasible idea? Or maybe i should go for a combo and be done with it ! ?Many thanks

Edited December 29, 2019 by Steaming Richard

[Lozz196]

The Rumble cabs sound nice, and have a nice vintage look so should pair nicely with  your amp. They’re light too, and pretty decently priced so it looks to me like a winning idea.

[Steaming Richard]

3 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

The Rumble cabs sound nice, and have a nice vintage look so should pair nicely with  your amp. They’re light too, and pretty decently priced so it looks to me like a winning idea.

Thank you Lozz, like yourself i thought it would look ok. But as the cab is 1000w (500w continuous) and the old amp only 135 i wondered if it would shift enough air? Don't k now much about this ! Thanks for your reply.

[Dan Dare]

That Bassman 135 should make plenty of noise with the 4x10. Older wattage ratings were very conservative. I had the same rig as you back in the 1980s. The old 2x15 was a bit of a beast to lug around (my trusty Volvo estate came in handy). One of the speakers went pop and I replaced them with Peavey Black Widows, which made a big improvement to the sound.

[Lozz196]

Agreed, it should be fine. On Monday I used an Ampeg V4B (100 watt valve amp) into an Ashdown 600 watt 410, plenty of volume on a pretty big stage, with gain on 3, master volume on 5. 

[Chienmortbb]

2 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

That Bassman 135 should make plenty of noise with the 4x10. Older wattage ratings were very conservative. I had the same rig as you back in the 1980s. The old 2x15 was a bit of a beast to lug around (my trusty Volvo estate came in handy). One of the speakers went pop and I replaced them with Peavey Black Widows, which made a big improvement to the sound.

Actually older US made amps were rated in a different way and often only gave half the power quoted compared to a UK made one. Never trust the power rating, just the sound.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[pete.young]

Not used the Rumble 410, but I have used the Bassman Neo 4x10 which I thought was an extremely good sounding and well-made cab.

[Dan Dare]

9 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Actually older US made amps were rated in a different way and often only gave half the power quoted compared to a UK made one. Never trust the power rating, just the sound.

As the Bassman 135 used four 6L6 power tubes, I think it would produce rather more than 65 or so watts. Have you ever used one? It's a pokey amp, trust me.

[Chienmortbb]

On 01/01/2020 at 20:47, Dan Dare said:

As the Bassman 135 used four 6L6 power tubes, I think it would produce rather more than 65 or so watts. Have you ever used one? It's a pokey amp, trust me.

I quite agree it should be capable of 100+ watts but my point still stands. In the 60s, certainly many US manufacturers used PEAK ratings rather than RMS.

[Dan Dare]

12 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

I quite agree it should be capable of 100+ watts but my point still stands. In the 60s, certainly many US manufacturers used PEAK ratings rather than RMS.

So the Bassman 135 ain't over-rated then...

Edited January 7, 2020 by Dan Dare