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the Goddess of Chance brought a Bassman 4x10 reissue into my life this week, an interesting turn of events to say the least.

right now i'm trying to date it, and i'm hoping you guys might have some insights. the "Inspected By" sticker seems to date it to 1996 if i'm reading it right (the coding is kind of scrawled), and it also has the non-connected "ground switch" on the far left of the panel, which i understand was put there for "authenticity" reasons on some of the earlier reissues. but, it also has Jensens and Groove Tubes instead of Eminence speakers and Fender "Special Design" output tubes, which would seem to point to...? i don't know.  i guess the tubes could have been replaced at any point, but if anyone has information on when they went to Jensens to help me date this amp, that would be cool!

a couple of observations: this amp really sings with the Jazzmaster's single coils, and the Big Cat sounds nice through it too. whoever suggested that you really can use this amp for guitar and Bass VI-ish double-duty was right on. it's a chimey, gorgeous sounding amp, with a balanced, full presence.

that said, it is LOUD, way more amp than i need for noodling in the living room, that's for sure! i'm not sure i'll keep it long, as there seems something inherently silly about having an amp you'll never turn up past "2." but it will be fun to fool around with for a while.

in the meantime, i want to spruce it up a bit. is there a good way to clean the tweed?  this one's a wee bit soiled, not terribly so, but not pristine. also, would the amp be tamed a bit by switching out to a tube rectifier? my understanding is, that would lower the output by about 10 watts.

hi DC...hope you decide to keep the Bassman...i've had one for ten years and love it! it's chimey in a full bodied way that meshes well with my AC-30.

mine is a '91 and has Jensens and had Groove Tubes when I bought it used...don't know if they were stock...i replaced those with some NOS Sylvania and it really opened up...same great tone, but more detail. it also has the non-connected ground switch...though i have seen one with an added reverb tank and the switch turned it on/off.

it is loud, even at "2", but actually doesn't get that much louder. i keep mine around 5-6 were it has some nice breakup, but past that it just gets more compressed and distorted, but not louder. it handles echo and reverb really well. a phaser (univibe) can sound thick and gooey through it. it also sounds good with a bit of fuzz, but a modern distortion or high gain overdrive with lots of bass just makes it "farty." i prefer the amp's overdrive and using the volume knob to dial it in.

i tried to brush out the tweed, but that didn't help much and actually the slightly soiled look really turned stunning when i laquered it...the scrapes and discolouration make it look like a vintage relic!

mine has the stock rectifiier as i play loud rock...the blues guys like the tube because it lowers the headroom (breaks up sooner) even further and gives it a bit more "sag" but i don't think the output is lowered much...so you can play it at lower volume and get higher volume tone, but i don't know how much the actual output volume is affected.

dc wrote: a couple of observations: this amp really sings with the Jazzmaster's single coils, and the Big Cat sounds nice through it too. whoever suggested that you really can use this amp for guitar and Bass VI-ish double-duty was right on. it's a chimey, gorgeous sounding amp, with a balanced, full presence.

oh my! I NEED one!

you can always use a power soak on it, so you can turn the volume way up.
I would definitely keep the amp.

A couple months ago I came across a 1976 Bassman 10 and I'm never going to part with it. Balancing overdrive from my preamp and from my pedal, I can get such a wide variety of tones; from washed out tube-meltdown like the Thermals to crisp, tight overdrive like Led Zep. My one complaint is that this amp doesn't have reverb, but I am confidant that there is a good, cheap reverb pedal out there somewhere.
A Marshall amp and the Peavey XXX I played through at a gig got really good distortion, but colored my tone way too much for my taste. This amp is a godsend.
If you are going to change it I would recommend getting a reverb tank to put on top, they are too pricey for me (~$500!) but worth it for genuine reverb if you have the cash. Hope that amp keeps you happy for a while!

cool.. congrats!

I had one a few years back and it was a very nice amp.. a bit bright with the Rickenbacker I had at the time but I think a Jazzmaster would've sounded perfect with it. It ate up effects too which was a big plus for me, I know the singer/guitarist from Bright Channel uses them and gets absolutely huge sounds


I think the tweed looks great with a little dirt and wear 

bassmans are great amps, i love mine, i havent play a reissue one but if its anythign like the original then keep it.

thanks for all the feedback! after a rather awkward mating dance, the Bassman and i have decided we are in fact in love. so i'll be keeping it for sure. it was cool to come home tonight and find these posts, as i've been really busy at work and haven't had a chance to play for ages until this evening, noodling along with an REM concert from 1985.

while the Bassman likes my JM and Ric, it was actually my 335 copy that consummated the romance; it sounds smooth through this amp, man! just awesome. it's a keeper.

I was fortunate enough to get a Silverface Bassman 50 watt amp head that someone picked out of the trash. it didnt work, but all it needed was a fuse and I replaced the filter capacitors just in case. I think it was made in the 70's.
Anyway, I connected it to a 4X12 cheap speaker cab and it sounds great.
Keep the amp. These are great amplifiers and I heard that the Marshall amps were based on the design of the bassmans.

The Big Cat ( am assuming a baritone Jag custom) sounds great, a bass sounds great, any guitar sounds wonderful on both channels.