Old BASSMAN 135 CAB (& HEAD)

[JottoSW1]

Friend has one of these - sounds lovely through my Ashdown CTM 30 at low volume. Very 70's sounding.

I gather they're not great and have helped to move it (a few) metres so weighty.

What would happen if speakers were pulled then replaced for any later sale; then modern drivers ( I like the laVoce neos in my Laney Cabs) installed.

Haven't had a chance to look into this company's specs for 12" drivers.

Ideally would like to incorporate speakers into 2  X 12 cabs later.

RE THE BASSMAN 135 Head ?

Any recommendations for a North London + N suburban  Amp Tech to give this a check clean / safety check.

My friend is holding these for his deceased housemates family 

At some point to be sold but a clean and check needed. Amp was permanently switched on In a practice room for ages (good or bad or myth)

Scruffy but sound - sometimes characterised as mojo.

 

 

 

[MOSCOWBASS]

I had a Bassman 135 in the 80's, I remember the 2x15 cab being relativly light, the amp was heavy and unevenly balanced to carry....due to transformer.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

If it's one of these cabs pass on it:

https://reverb.com/item/387356-79-fender-bassman-135-and-4x12-cab-near-mint

It was quite horrid. The inverted pyramid baffle made the cabinet interior volume too small, the drivers were guitar drivers, and the joints between the baffle sections were prone to failure.

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

If it's one of these cabs pass on it:

https://reverb.com/item/387356-79-fender-bassman-135-and-4x12-cab-near-mint

It was quite horrid. The inverted pyramid baffle made the cabinet interior volume too small, the drivers were guitar drivers, and the joints between the baffle sections were prone to failure.

Yep, I read in Glen Matlocks (Sex Pistols bassist) book that he had one of these and the on stage sound dispersal was pretty bad. 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The angling in of the drivers is actually better than forward firing as far as midrange and high frequency dispersion is concerned, but the more or less halving of the cabinet rear chamber volume killed the low end, such as it was with those drivers.

[Dan Dare]

10 hours ago, MOSCOWBASS said:

I had a Bassman 135 in the 80's, I remember the 2x15 cab being relativly light, the amp was heavy and unevenly balanced to carry....due to transformer.

Same as. One of the drivers packed up, so I replaced both with Peavey Black Widows. Sounded pretty nice after that. Replaced the head with the inevitable Trace Ellioitt a few years later.

[BassmanPaul]

For me the Fender Bassman was the worst amplifier I ever owned. The speaker cabinet sounded nice at low volume but getting it to gig volume was horrible. The first Fender amp I ever liked was the Rumble series.

[casapete]

A long time ago I had a blackface Bassman 135 with matching 2x15 cab, possibly early 80's era Fender.  Although it sounded quite sweet at moderate volumes, using it at gig levels was another matter. Reached it's max headroom fairly early, after which it just didn't hack it, becoming rather grungey & distorted but not in a good way. Didn't keep it long, despite it looking great!

[JottoSW1]

9 hours ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

If it's one of these cabs pass on it:

https://reverb.com/item/387356-79-fender-bassman-135-and-4x12-cab-near-mint

It was quite horrid. The inverted pyramid baffle made the cabinet interior volume too small, the drivers were guitar drivers, and the joints between the baffle sections were prone to failure.

Not mine, will be disposed of with Amp ideally 

[VTypeV4]

The larger 2x15 isn't a bad box - mine is the late 70's / early-eighties and is a vented enclosure which I've fitted with JBL 140s. The tuning appears to be about 50hz and the larger box volume is about right for the JBL drivers.. I've never used the 4x12 but it really doesn't seem a well thought out design..

I love the head and have used it both live and for recording sessions. They're not massively loud and won't keep up in a loud band (unless you have crazy efficient speakers) but do have their own character and do the 'oldskool' thing very well indeed.

IMG_20210321_151035 by VTypeV4, on Flickr

[JottoSW1]

On 04/06/2021 at 15:21, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

The angling in of the drivers is actually better than forward firing as far as midrange and high frequency dispersion is concerned, but the more or less halving of the cabinet rear chamber volume killed the low end, such as it was with those drivers.

Good to hear from you - as I suspected cab doesn't sound great turned up.

Will be demoing/listening to amp head thru an aging Ashdown 4 X 10. Will the Bassman 135 be okay at 8ohms, or will I need to add a cab?under no circumstances will anyone be running it flat out.

Might be sampling some sound files via Positive Grid.

JdeV

@Bill Fitzmaurice

Have you come across laVoce drivers etc. 

Would be interested for your opinions on their neo bass drivers. Maybe also their enclosure plans.

I am using the 10's & 15"s in various Laney Nexus Cabs and like them a lot. The Cabs have gone totally under the radar but are v v good. Don't seem to be in Stock anymore (in UK). Checked in with Laney re availability

Light well made and sound nice. Testimonials including @la bam

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by JottoSW1
Rogue unfinished postings amended

[JottoSW1]

@Bill Fitzmaurice

Has anyone latterly built an equivalent baffle configuration with 4x12s

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I'm not aware of any. Crossfiring can work well with guitar, where the cab interior size doesn't need to be large, but not with bass. The speaker jacks are an unusual arrangement. The main speaker out connects to a 4 ohm tap on the transformer. When both jacks are used they're in series, connected to an 8 ohm tap. When the extension jack only is used it connects to the 8 ohm tap, so with a single 8 ohm cab it should be plugged into the extension jack. I can't say why they did this, the circuit is almost identical to the Twin Reverb and Dual Showman, which ran parallel jacks with a 4 ohm tap and were just fine with a pair of 4 ohm cabs. I chalk it up to being another of the oddities of CBS era Fenders. I've never used LaVoce, although they look OK. Their cab designs are all PA, and are nothing out of the ordinary.

[JottoSW1]

Many thanks, will therefore plug Ashdown into requisite socket.

Re: Cab - foolery.

So a composite or very carefully constructed lightweight enclosure would of necessity be boat sized.?😃 Would it be feasible to do a ported 4x12" cab in this configuration?  I guess this would make it a bit more compact.

Edited June 6, 2021 by JottoSW1

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I wouldn't do a 4x12 at all. In 1977 they used four twelves because they had to. There's no need for four twelves with modern drivers. A 2x12 is sufficient for all but the very largest venues, and for those a pair of 2x12 vertically stacked will work far better than a 4x12. For that matter a well designed 1x12 is sufficient for the average club venue. That's what I use.