Rectifying a past stupidity....NAD

[bolero]

sweet!!

[H]

Sounds like your retirement was well planned, Rob I hope I have as much fun in mine!

[yoslate]

Well, there have been difficult challenges, Howard. Just after I began my retirement, I had to see to putting my Mom in a nursing home. Just after we settled her, it was time to do the same with my father. Then we had to consolidate their holdings and household. Some heavy lifting...literal and figurative. Now, I find myself supporting my wife in the same enterprise, with her mother. This while she's still working. Can't imagine how people accomplish this while still working. But I am lucky. The apprenticeship now pays, and is fascinating every day I go in; I've learned so much from Tom. Leaving the band was a good move. Great experience, but the act had reached its "sell by" date The new musical project could be good, and, Brian, we have a studio recording project in the works. And I have semi-finished recordings of my own in the can, which I've begun to think about finishing, having mastered, and releasing as a gift set of coasters, for my friends....

[fxdx99]

Huh... I missed this thread somehow. Lotsa stuff in here! Congrats on the new amp - nice to circle back to a known voice.

 

Knew you'd had some success on the new band, Rob, but didn't realize that you'd left your 'old' one. Sounds like it was on fair terms as you're playing with that drummer. Hope so, anyway. A man of your talents and 'hang' personality wouldn't be without a gig for long. Looking forward to seeing some more vids of the fresh venture.

[rjsanders]

couple-few thoughts on the Bassman, cuz one of them's my all-time personal fave & i notice some confusion above. the Bassman's been around almost as long as i have - i think this year is its 60th anniversary - and it's been thru many many changes.

 

i've owned or played a few over the years. for me the pinnacle was the famous "'59" tweed combo, which used the 5F6-A circuit from about '58 to the end of the run in '60. tweed combo w/4x10 spkr config combo. speakers in one i played were Jensen AlNiCos. that was the basis for the first Marshall amps ("JTM 45", "bluesbreaker", etc.). it's also the basis for the PaulC Heritage Colonial, which emulates the tweed Bassman, the JTM45, the Plexi and Plexi Superbass.

 

a friend was a player and popular tech around here and had a '55 (same config, but 5D6 or 5E6 cirucuit - i forget which circuit his gigging amp used). he had an extensive amp collection (Fender, Marshall, Ampeg, Magnatone, Gibson, even Silvertone). he maintained this was the acme pinnacle tip-of-the-top of guitar amp tone. hey, it's all about taste and personal prefs.

 

Rory Gallagher's favorite was his '54, which was a wide panel 1x15 tweed and different circuit. he also used a '58.

 

i've never played the immediate successors to the tweed era combos, but have heard much goodness and raves about the "blonde" and brown tolex piggybacks w/closed-back speaker cabs. these were from about '61-'64 and used a new circuit with a 1x12 or 2x12 cab. a very different sound from the tweed-era combos. speakers used were ceramics. no more AlNiCos for a long time.

 

around '64 the black tolex ("blackface") piggyback came out and the circuit changed again, 3 times, & power tubes from 5881s to 6L6s. Leo sold the company to CBS in early '65 and for a long time the "pre-CBS" amps and guitars were preferred by players. our first new amps at home were a '67 Bandmaster and a '67 Bassman (AB165 circuit). some players rave about this model. i liked the Bandmaster better for guitar. friends tell me the AA165 and another prior circuit revision of the first blackface Bassman are great for guitar. regardless, the AB165 has been very popular for all kinds of applications.

 

the CBS era amps marked a move to continual cost-cutting measures in parts and cab construction. they're good amps (the early ones, anyway), but the sound never grabbed me quite like the tweeds. of course, they're legendary now, esp. Twins, Supers, Showmans, which were the most popular amps in the SF Bay Area in the mid-late '60's. by this time i was a confirmed Beano freak. you cannot get the Beano tone with any of these (well...maybe with an EQ pedal & a boost). i didn't get why until years later, but that's one heckuva digression...

 

then came the silverfaces. i used one as bass player with our college jazz ensemble. AB165 circuit & 2x12 cab. it couldn't keep up with the 20-piece horn band, IMHO, but the director liked it, so there ya go. that pretty much ended my involvement with Fender amps 'til Paul Riveras came out in '82.

 

the "'59 Reissue" Bassman that started appearing in the '90's were and are pretty impressive and i almost bought one, but balked when i found tube sockets were mounted to a PCB. good sound, though. i've heard that the LTD version has chassis-mounted tube sockets, but haven't confirmed.

[yoslate]

Good "Cliff's Notes" on the Bassman series, rj. Bunch of different circuits under that moniker! And yeah, the 5F6-A tweeds are simply amazing, but at 10x$ what I have in the BF head, I'll have to settle...and will, gladly. Thanks for the post.

[rjsanders]

the old tweed combo and the BF head are two completely different animals. if the BF does it for you, that's the way to go. unless you get a spkr cab just like the BF piggyback, you'll be personalizing your sound. that's half the adventure. alnico, ceramic, or neodymium or a mix. open back or closed. 4x10 or 2x12 or 3x10 or 1x15 or whatever. big fun! enjoy!

[yoslate]

...you'll be personalizing your sound. that's half the adventure. big fun! enjoy!

 

I am! It is! I will! Thanks....