1966 Fender Bandmaster!!

[RedOrangeMorning]

I just got a nice deal on a really great '66 Bandmaster over the weekend.  It sounds wonderful, but, unfortunately, the Marshall cabs I have (two 1922 2x12's) to run it thru both have a blown speaker, so I'm not exactly hearing the amp at its full potential yet.

So, a few questions:

1) What speakers would you suggest as replacements that will sound great with the head and cost around $100 per speaker (or less!)? I'm thinking Celestions (maybe Vintage 30), but I'm not well-versed in this area at all. Also, would it be advisable to only replace the broken speakers, or is it preferrable to have matched pairs in each cabinet? I'd like to keep costs down, and replacing two speakers instead of four will be a big help.

2) Since the head is 4ohms and the cabs are 8 or 16ohms, what do I need to do to get everything working together properly? I suppose the solution will have something to do with wiring the speakers in parallel or in series, but I'm not too sure.

3) I'm going to take the head to my local tech and have him do a complete check inside and have him replace the 2-prong ac plug with a modern 3-prong. Besides that, what are the most immediate things that I should have done to get this thing into reliable gig shape? Caps? Pots? How much might these kinds of things run me?

4) I don't know how old the tubes are (they're certainly not original), so I'll probably have them replaced, too. Any suggestions on type?

Thanks!
Ryan

[mezcalhead]

We've had people going through similar issues here recently, try these threads:

index.php?topic=5058.0

index.php?topic=4910.0

index.php?topic=3913.0

That last one has a great wiring diagram and some helpful links too.

[RedOrangeMorning]

Thanks, Mez! Looks like I've got a little reading to do. 

[myoshi1979]

I just got a nice deal on a really great '66 Bandmaster over the weekend.  It sounds wonderful, but, unfortunately, the Marshall cabs I have (two 1922 2x12's) to run it thru both have a blown speaker, so I'm not exactly hearing the amp at its full potential yet.

So, a few questions:

1) What speakers would you suggest as replacements that will sound great with the head and cost around $100 per speaker (or less!)? I'm thinking Celestions (maybe Vintage 30), but I'm not well-versed in this area at all. Also, would it be advisable to only replace the broken speakers, or is it preferrable to have matched pairs in each cabinet? I'd like to keep costs down, and replacing two speakers instead of four will be a big help.

2) Since the head is 4ohms and the cabs are 8 or 16ohms, what do I need to do to get everything working together properly? I suppose the solution will have something to do with wiring the speakers in parallel or in series, but I'm not too sure.

3) I'm going to take the head to my local tech and have him do a complete check inside and have him replace the 2-prong ac plug with a modern 3-prong. Besides that, what are the most immediate things that I should have done to get this thing into reliable gig shape? Caps? Pots? How much might these kinds of things run me?

4) I don't know how old the tubes are (they're certainly not original), so I'll probably have them replaced, too. Any suggestions on type?

Thanks!
Ryan

With regard to the cabinets...  Speakers are varied...  Read up on all different types and see what others have to say about them.  If your Marshall cab has 16 ohm speakers, if you wire them all in parallel, your total load will be 4 ohms.  Perfect for the bandmaster head.  As for the maintainence needed for the amp, filter caps should probably be replaced if they haven't already been replaced.  Pots should be cleaned.  If you wanna go crazy, you could replace the tone/coupling caps too, but they're more than likely fine.  That's a personal call...  If it sounds good to your ears as it is, leave them original.  I've heard a silver face Princeton really come alive after replacing them.  I like to use Sprague Atoms for filter caps and Orange Drops for tone and coupling caps.  Couldn't estimate the price, as I do that stuff myself so there's no labor charge!    I'm using all Groove Tubes in my 66 Super Reverb (which is very similar to the Bandmaster) and I've had great luck with them.  They sound good and they hold up to the abuse I subject them to (including but not limited to, transporting the amp multiple times a week and running it wide open for several hours in a shot).