Fender amp advice please

steven70

Hello,

After some amp advice please.

After 30 odd years of playing through 'gainy' rock type amps, I recently got hold of a what I understand to be a 59 bassman copy(ish) Turned it up a bit, stuck a boost in front of the thing and ...

This has given me the urge to try a 'real' Fender amp, nothing fancy but something that drives a bit and which I can boost if needed.

I have done some research and am still confused by the different 'Bassman' versions out there- which appear to be different amps with the same name. 'Blackface' seems to be popular recommendation , but even that is confusing. 
I don't want to end up with something that is crystal clean and twangy or needs pedals 100%

Can anyone offer any advice as to a reasonable, non bank breaking option. Single channel head, no frills, I have a Rock Crusher so non MV OK, but that's not to rule out modern alternatives (e.g. is Bassbreaker any good a a 'proper' amp?) 

I'll have to raid the piggybank and shift my 87x reissue and some other bits & pieces to help. Probably rules out some of the real vintage stuff.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated. Of course if anyone has anything they want to shift, let me know.

Many thanks!

mistercharlie

There are two main kinds of Fender amp — Tweed, which is dirty, but also very capable of clean warm tones, and Blackface, which get the clean, chimey sound that most people associate with Fender.

From there some of the tweeds are cleaner than others, and the blackfaces have different characters of breakup.

I have lots of experience with Tweed Champs and the Princeton Reverb, and not much else, so others will know way more.

What kind of sound are you after?

steven70

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p90fool

Swap your 1987x for a JTM45? 

equalsql

I built myself a tweed bandmaster 5E7 a few years ago and it is warm and punchy up till about 4-5 on the volume, then it starts to break up above that and is glorious. Listen to Pete Townshend cranking one on Don't Get Fooled Again to hear how it chimes. The amps were definitely designed to bring out the best in single coil guitars.. but they turn into monsters when cranked on humbuckers.

Gassage

Very simply, think of this in terms of finishes and colours;

Tweed- rough and saggy
Blonde/Brownface- slightly rough but neater
Blackface- very sharp and clean
Silverface- more sparkley than black.

Re your Q- Blondeface Bandmaster or Bassman head.

steven70

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57Deluxe

Blondes are still Brownfaces (some even Balckfaces). The xx face referrence colour is determined by the control panel colour - not the amp covering.

mistercharlie

57Deluxe said:

Blondes are still Brownfaces (some even Balckfaces). The xx face referrence colour is determined by the control panel colour - not the amp covering.

Does that make my Tweed Champ a ‘chromeface’j?

steven70

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ICBM

steven70 said:

What's with the impedance on these things- is it always 2 or 4 ohms? Will that knacker the amp if I run into an 8 ohm cab? I can't imagine if would do it any favours...

A Tweed Bassman or Super Reverb is 2-ohm and shouldn't be run at 8 or 16 ohms - but it's not usually an issue since these are combos.

Almost all Fender heads are 4-ohm, and can safely be run at 8 ohms, although you will lose some power and tone. Don't run them at 16 ohms (apart from the very few that are 8-ohm). There are no 2-ohm heads.

Many modern copies have more impedance options - and if you have a 16-ohm cab with two or four speakers you can rewire it to 4 ohms if that's easier.

57Deluxe

mistercharlie said:

57Deluxe said:

Blondes are still Brownfaces (some even Balckfaces). The xx face referrence colour is determined by the control panel colour - not the amp covering.

Does that make my Tweed Champ a ‘chromeface’j?

  ShinyFace!

steven70

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ArchtopDave

steven70 said:

Thank you again for the advice.
Very last question from me...
Can anyone recommend someone UK based who might build a Blondeface Bandmaster or Bassman head copy?
Cheers

Try speaking to Chris, who makes Rift Amps.

sweepy

Definitely talk to Chris @RiftAmps ;

steven70

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rlw

Gassage said:

Very simply, think of this in terms of finishes and colours;

Tweed- rough and saggy
Blonde/Brownface- slightly rough but neater
Blackface- very sharp and clean
Silverface- more sparkley than black.

Re your Q- Blondeface Bandmaster or Bassman head.

For a minute, I thought Gassage was describing women.............

richardhomer

rlw said:

Gassage said:

Very simply, think of this in terms of finishes and colours;

Tweed- rough and saggy
Blonde/Brownface- slightly rough but neater
Blackface- very sharp and clean
Silverface- more sparkley than black.

Re your Q- Blondeface Bandmaster or Bassman head.

For a minute, I thought Gassage was describing women.............

Highly unlikely...