Small (and ideally cheap) Bassman based amps

thecolourbox

Hi all

Wanted to pillage the amp knowledge of the board once again. Wondered if anybody has any tips for a small amp that is kind of Bassman flavoured? My go to preset on my big cumbersome and inconvenient modelling unit thing is Bassman with a sparkle drive model in front, which I've been using with my own external drive pedals. But it sounds ok in headphones and less than ok in actual volume.

Also if I can get out playing in public this year, I've no way to get it sounding good amplified as the cheap Peavey amp I snaffled is very underwhelming and can't do what I'd need it to.

Thoughts on a postcard. Cheers

For this kind of sound

munckee

american sound pedal from joyo in front of your amp.  £30.

pumkin

The 5F6 formula from Catalinbread is awesome for that sound .... 

thecolourbox

munckee said:

american sound pedal from joyo in front of your amp.  £30.

I thought that too but the only thing that sounds worse to me than the amp, is that pedal in front of it haha

Edit: I'm aware those pedals are well thought of and usually sound good so I'm acutely aware that I'm the problem here, not the pedal

Funkfingers

If your modeller is a pre-amp with effects, what do you use to get stage level audio for monitoring purposes?

Bebopper

Fender Bassbreaker combo?

Funkfingers

Erm, the Fender Bassbreaker series of amplifiers has very little in common with a tweed Bassman.

In the context of this Discussion, I suspect that neither amplifier has much in common with the Digitech GSP1101 “Bassman” amp modelling favoured by the thread starter.

Winny_Pooh

You seem to want big amp sounds in small amps. Tough luck. 

FWIW the Peavey classic 50 is a bassman style circuit but with el84s and 2x12s.

You should buy a hot rod deluxe, rat and MIAB, stop moaning about size and be done with it. 

thecolourbox

Sorry I realise this morning that this thread and the comment on the gsp1101 thread are futile, sorry for wasting people's input

ICBM

Winny_Pooh said:

You should buy a hot rod deluxe, rat and MIAB, stop moaning about size and be done with it. 

Blues Deluxe - much closer than a Hotrod.

If you fit one with a new baffle and 2x10” speakers it’s even closer. I’ve always wondered why they never did that as a stock model...

noisepolluter

ICBM said:

Winny_Pooh said:

You should buy a hot rod deluxe, rat and MIAB, stop moaning about size and be done with it. 

Blues Deluxe - much closer than a Hotrod.

If you fit one with a new baffle and 2x10” speakers it’s even closer. I’ve always wondered why they never did that as a stock model...

Ooh, that sounds really fun. I’d be so tempted to get a second hand one just to do that.

Funkfingers

thecolourbox said:

this thread and the comment on the gsp1101 thread are futile

I disagree on both counts.

Just phrase your question differently and elim-eye-nate the negative.

It helps if you include a fuller description of your signal chain. Each overdrive/distortion pedal is a pre-amplifier of sorts. The Digitech GSP1101 has multiple (modelled) pre-amp stages. If you plug the GSP into the guitar input socket of a guitar amplifier, that adds another pre-amp stage. All of these can (and should) influence the finished sound. 

If you enjoy the Digitech GSP1101, keep it. Just change the way that you amplify it for stage work. 

thecolourbox

Have faith or pandemonium is liable to walk upon the scene

Sorry I think my wording was not entirely representative of what I meant. Train commute typing with cold fingers leads to brevity.

I mean, trying to help me specifically along these lines is futile, as I won't be able to do what I'd like and am not brilliant at compromise. Much better at feeling sorry for myself I'm sure what I'm after is perfectly achievable in other circumstances.

The GSP is adequate enough but not worth investment in building stuff around it - getting it to work would in my world would cost more than the GSP is worth were I to sell it. I don't play on a stage, though occasionally wish I had the chance to (though I'd have to carry it off solo as nobody would work with me haha), so in reality I don't need any form of amplification for those purposes.

I play at home for about 15 minutes at a time before the better half comes home and shouts at me for not having done the dinner. And since I've been recently learning to use a plectrum, I've noted that I can't play at a volume where I can't hear the strings (hence why headphones probably sound better) and as such, will not be able to get what I want from any combination of cheap or expensive gear. The evidence of the last few years bears this out. 

newi123

Blues Deluxe would be perfect, even has tweed finish to make it sound authentic!

The smaller bass breakers are something different, but the bigger Bassbreaker 45 is tweed bassman / jtm 45 - albeit it`s a 2x12 rather than using 10s, and sound really good.. They were knocked out really cheaply for a while so you may get a bargain 2nd hand somewhere.

Funkfingers

thecolourbox said:

Train commute typing with cold fingers leads to brevity. 

On tablets or smartphones, the touch screen should accept a raw sausage as an input device. 

Doing this on a packed commuter railway carriage will ensure that you soon get several seats to yourself.

For maximum shock value, dip one end of the sausage in barbecue sauce. 

thecolourbox

Funkfingers said:

thecolourbox said:

Train commute typing with cold fingers leads to brevity. 

On tablets or smartphones, the touch screen should accept a raw sausage as an input device. 

Doing this on a packed commuter railway carriage will ensure that you soon get several seats to yourself.

For maximum shock value, dip one end of the sausage in barbecue sauce. 

The only thing more gross on the Birmingham trains than raw sausages are the seats themselves.

I find my social animosity and Paddington-esque "hard stare" gets me the standing space I wish for

57Deluxe

Pignose G40V is same circuit albeit with a Master vol... and a 1x10

TheMarlin

I’ve got an Engl Classic Tube 50 2x10. 

It’s two channel: channel 1 is based on the classic Bassman sound. Gets very close to Setzers tone. To get any closer, you need a 63 6G6b!

Channel 2 is Marshall tones (which in itself is Bassman based). It’s starts at overdriving plexi tones, and gets wilder from there. 

Smaller than a HRD, it’s got foot-switchable boost (which you can set differently for each channel), foot-switchable Reverb, and foot-switchable channel. FX loop. 

Sounds great at home practice volumes or trouser flapping stage volume.  

Great all valve amp. Bargain of the century. 

I’m only considering selling mine as I have to pay a very nice man for a Vyse 5E3 that I’ve lusted after for years. 

£375 if you want it, they usually go for £450+, but my one has been gigged a bit, so not mint. 

But perfect working order. 

I don’t understand why people aren’t fighting over these amps! They’re excellent. 

thecolourbox

Thanks Fellas, suspect they are both a bit spendy for my level, so I'm just going to keep going on the minimal stuff possible for now while I evaluate whether to carry on or not. Was a silly thread question from my point of view really

JezWynd

Check out the Laney Cub 10 (not the 12, that’s a different beast). It has a fender tweedy sound and it’s small package would be ideal for the situation you describe. Not spendy either. I’ve had one approx 4 years and it’s handled everything I’ve put through it including bass guitar. Fabulous little boxes.

AndyJP

Mooer  littlemonster BM? 5 watts watts baseman based. Not heard one in person tho.