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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Fender Bassman reissue help
Fender Bassman reissue help
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HarveyHarp
660 posts
Apr 06, 2015
10:23 AM
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I just traded a working Blues Jr. which worked really well, That I never use for a Reissue Bassman with a few hopefully small problems. The Bassman flooded during Katrina, and now the bottom two speakers are rotted out. I do not know anything about bassmans, and the plated on the back has the writing worn off, but on the tube chart is says 5F6-A and there is just a scribble next to that that I can not read. On the curcuit board, it says 1990 Fender Musical instruments, I believer. Also on the board it says 11/25/something that I can not read, and then the letters SP5 and I cannot read the last letter.
I disconnected the two bottom speakers and turned it on. It is real raspy, like a blown speaker. I turned it off. So, I know it works, and I think the first thing to do, besides taking off all the ripped and torn cloth is to replace speakers.
So, my questions are, can anyone tell me what I have? Also, what would be a good 10" speakers to replace at least two but probably all 4 speakers. I do not really need it especially for harp, because I have a Super Sonny for that, but sometimes I need an extra big amp at shows and such, so it could be used for that. I would like a lot of bang for the buck.
The answer I expect is to take it to a tech. I know, I know.
Thanks in advance amp Tech types.
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HarveyHarp
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HawkeyeKane
2757 posts
Apr 06, 2015
10:36 AM
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If she was flooded....then yes, ultimately get her to a tech for an inspection and a work over.
If you ran it with two of the speakers disconnected, then you would've had an impedance mismatch. A Bassman expects to see a load of 2 ohms. If you were only running 2 speakers, that would've amounted to a 4 ohm load. So that may have been part of the issue as to how it sounded when you fired it up.
Replacement speaks...I've seen a lot of guys load a pair of Eminence Lil Buddies in the bottom of their Bassman for low end punch. I think the closest available match to the original blue alnicos is the Eminence Legend 1028K alnico.
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Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
Can I go home now...???
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5F6H
1870 posts
Apr 06, 2015
10:37 AM
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What colour is the PCB material, dark green or cream? Do you see any fuses & fuse holders on the PCB (first generation RI)? Do the speaker frames have 4 large cut-outs in the baskets (Eminence) or 3 "hot dog" shaped slots in each of the 4 quadrants (Jensen)?
Other than speaker change, a tube rectifier replacing the SS puck (which many owners did anyway) & a bias adjust pot fitted to the LTD reissues, there weren't any significant circuit changes (secondary fuses were dropped early on, slight revisions to bias filtering (inaudible). They're all good workhorses.
The amp should function just fine with just 2 speakers, if the bias is cool it will sound ratty though. Just because there is no obvious damage to the 2 upper speakers it may not be safe to assume they are good...the paper may still have absorbed a lot of moisture and lost its integrity.
I'd be looking to replace/recone all 4 to be on the safe side. Any visible signs of rust etc. on the chassis?
I like Kendrick blackframes (pricey), or the Eminence 102 35W speakers that replaced the blue 20W speakers originaly fitted to the RIs, I'm sure others will have good suggestions on that score.
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www.myspace.com/markburness
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HarveyHarp
661 posts
Apr 06, 2015
11:03 AM
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@5F6H The Circuit Board is Cream colored. There are not fuses or fuse holders on the PCB, and the speakers have hotdog shaped cutouts. This amp only flooded the two bottom speakers to my knowledge. The amp worked well a couple of years ago. The owner was the guitar player with a band I was in, and he also is a great harp player, and he played harp through it. It sounded great, Then it started acting up, like the speakers were blown, so he put it away to fix. He borrowed my Blues Jr, and used it for a long time. I eventually asked if he wanted to switch, since he did not have the money to fix the bassman, so he took me up on it. The Tolex is all coming off this, so I am going to take it all off, and either replace it, or just refinishe the plywood Cabinet. All the electronics look to be in good shape, though they may not be.
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HarveyHarp
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5F6H
1871 posts
Apr 06, 2015
11:21 AM
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Ok, looks like a mid to late 90's model.
As Tim says above, a trip to a tech would be wise, sure the speakers may have issues, but may be a red herring too? It would be worth getting the tech to do a health check & in particular check the condition of the 1W flameproof resistors at the screen grids (R32 R33) (best to rewire them off the board, or pull the board & replace, rather than tack onto the old resistor legs, as the PCB solder joints can break over time, becoming intermittent), the phase inverter plate resistors (R28 & R29) and the V2 plate resistor (R14).
It might make life easier for the tech if you make sure that the amp has 12AX7 in V1, V2 & V3...or, warn him if any changes in preamp tube, as this will throw off preamp plate voltages.
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www.myspace.com/markburness
Last Edited by 5F6H on Apr 06, 2015 11:28 AM
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HarveyHarp
662 posts
Apr 06, 2015
11:26 AM
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OK thanks. I have a tech in mind. What about Jensen Mod-10 35. They are cheap and seem to get good reviews.
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HarveyHarp
Last Edited by HarveyHarp on Apr 06, 2015 11:26 AM
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walterharp
1613 posts
Apr 06, 2015
5:13 PM
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sonny jr uses 4 webers.. heavy and light in his 4x10... weber is not too expensive. I would be willing to bet that mark burness has some recommendations there too
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arnenym
346 posts
Apr 09, 2015
1:31 PM
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Jensen Mod -35 is a no good speaker.
It's cheap but it's no good to regret the buying when it sound awful.
Eminence 1028K is much better.
Jensen have a new model of P10R with a bigger dust cap. They call it "P10R Fender". They say it sound like a well broken in vintage speaker.
Warehouse speaker make some good 10 inch spakers as well.
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Littoral
1233 posts
Apr 09, 2015
2:19 PM
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Warehouse Veteran 10's and Weber Vintage 10's, I just put 2 of each in my 60 Concert and almost 200 hours of break in time through them (PA direct, mostly thumping rap). The choice felt a little sacrilegious but it wasn't through the amp, just the speakers, so I figure it'll be really grateful for music. I really like the speakers at the house but haven't worked a room with it yet.
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