Fender amp multiple guitar inputs?

[smokedtires]

Having never owned or known someone who has one of the various Fender amps with the multiple guitar inputs, I'm confused as to why they are there. Is the Fenders option for channel changing per say? Is it so more than one guitar player can be plugged into it?

 

I've been kicking around the idea of maybe tackling a point to point kit build so I figured you good people can easily educate me on this. There is a lot f love for the old Fender amps so it may be one of their versions or the 18watt Marshall kit version.

 

School me!

[tulk1]

Kinda depends on the year and the model from what I remember. My Tweeds have Bright and Regular. And it really does make a difference. My old Twin Reverb had Reverb and Non-Reverb. Some of the older tweeds even listed Mic (or gasp!! Accordion) as one input. On the Tweeds the inputs were (are) very interactive. I didn't notice that as much on the Twin. As for two instruments, I recall trying that and not getting a good reaction from the amp. Guess it can be done. But not ideal.

[AP515]

I believe they do have two different impedences (high gain and low gain) but if you plug in a second guitar they are equal. I have the same two inputs on my SS Peavey Bandit as well as my HRD and they do sound different. I actually use the 2nd input (low gain) more because it lets you crank the volume up and get the tubes going more at home volume levels.

[slider313]

There are different resistors on each input. Input #2 would be "padded down" by about -6db. This helps if you have a guitar with hot pickups and are getting too much break-up from input #1.

[H]

It's about time we had another amp build thread - let's go!

[smurph1]

My Bassman has bass and instrument inputs.. A lot of people use these old monsters for guitar, but to my ears a bass is where it's at!! Your Mileage May Vary..

[smokedtires]

Cool, thanks for my new amp knowledge! Sounds like an interesting concept.

 

H- If I pull the trigger, I'll be sure to share

Smurph- I was always curious why Fender would name a "guitar" amp the BASSMAN Read lots of love here on that amp.

Tulk- Good to know on the multi-player option not working so well, guess if I ever get in a band I'll have to tell the other guy this amp isn't big enough for the two of us LOL

AP & Slider- thanks that makes sense to me. Sounds like they made these amps pretty versatile.

[H]

 

H- If I pull the trigger, I'll be sure to share

There is no 'if', there is only 'do'

[yoslate]

The multiple inputs are so that I can plug my guitar into one input of the reverb side of the Deluxe, and bridge the second input of that channel over to the "normal" input on my 5E3, tweak the relative volumes, and have the tone I've dreamed of, sans pedals or gizmos....

[rockabilly69]

The multiple inputs are so that I can plug my guitar into one input of the reverb side of the Deluxe, and bridge the second input of that channel over to the "normal" input on my 5E3, tweak the relative volumes, and have the tone I've dreamed of, sans pedals or gizmos....

what's the secret to breaking the ground loop when doing this Rob? I like doing crazy things like that too:)

[tulk1]

I don't recall there being a ground loop on the tweeds when bridging the two inputs. It does create a good deal of gain, tho'.

[58super]

There are multiple inputs because these amps were designed at a time when PA systems were scarce. The padded inputs were there so the amp would work with different instruments such as a steel guitar, electric piano, bass, microphone or harmonica.

If you had two channels you could plug in two guitars or a guitar and a microphone. Ronnie Hawkins bought a tweed bassman for everyone in the band and used a bassman for the vocals as well.

[58super]

As to the original posters question about building amps, I started with a champ build and learned the construction techniques that could be applied to more complicated builds later on. There is a lot of information out there on the net. Weber speakers and Mission Amps are just two sites. 18watt is one for marshals.

[smurph1]

There are multiple inputs because these amps were designed at a time when PA systems were scarce. The padded inputs were there so the amp would work with different instruments such as a steel guitar, electric piano, bass, microphone or harmonica.

If you had two channels you could plug in two guitars or a guitar and a microphone. Ronnie Hawkins bought a tweed bassman for everyone in the band and used a bassman for the vocals as well.

Yep that's right.. The guy I got my bassman from used it primarily as a PA.. I sort of accidently stumbled on the awesome bass tone when I plugged a friends Carvin active bass into it!! Holy Moly!! Sounds great with an old P-bass too

[MrB]

Alright, I'm again confused (nothing new here).

What's wrong with my thinking regarding the comments by AP515 & slider313 above,

and comments by others in other places about 'tubes working harder'?

 

A preamp tube amplifies by it's gain factor, it's either on or off.

Put a smaller signal in, get a smaller signal out.

Assume input 1 gets me to the loudness level I want with the volume pot at 3, and it hits some

sweet sweet clipping at 4. (condition A)

I then plug into input 2, which sends a smaller signal to the preamp tube, so at setting 3 there

is less loudness, and I don't get clipping at 4. (condition

 

Staying in input 2, I then crank the volume up to (say) 4.5, (condition C) and the signal strength

going into the preamp tube is equal to what it was originally in input 1 at 3 (A) giving me the original

loudness of condition (A), and then I turn up to (say) 5.5 and I get into clipping.

 

Why aren't conditions (A) and © sonically equal?

[MrB]

Huh?

 

Don't ask me what happened, but that smiley face was supposed to be a 'B',

and the @ was supposed to be a 'C'.

I can't even run a computer and you expect me to understand amplifiers? `,:-)

 

Mr B

[slider313]

what's the secret to breaking the ground loop when doing this Rob? I like doing crazy things like that too:)

If you're going to run two amps, and you have a ground loop problem, you can use a 3-2 adapter on the amp that has a ground switch and just flip the switch.

[DetroitBlues]

Lots of comments on this thread..,,

 

First, the Bassman was designed for basses. As their needs for higher wattage/louder/low end demands increased, their old low wattage Bassmans were discarded until some guitarists experimented with them and discovered amazing tones

 

Second, the dual inputs for low it high gain is for the pickups not pushing the preamp tubes into clipping mode(distortion/overdrive) and allow the increased output on the power tubes for the sweet spot of tube tones. That's why we love tube amps because when the power section is bring pushed, the amp sounds fantastic.

 

Lastly- the first amps were true grab and go amps for a band to use a multitude of instruments that were common back in the day. Vocals, guitar, harp, accordion, etc...

 

How's that?

[212Mavguy]

My Super reverbs have a total of four inputs, two on the normal channel and two on the reverb/vib channel. At the local open mics I have used the rev/vib channel for myself and let other musicians plug in another guitar or harmonica through the normal channel inputs at the same time. Allowed two instruments to be simultaneously through the same amp. Less stage footprint than two separate amps and sounds great! Had a buddy over a week or so ago and had him plug his electric/acoustic guitar into my '81 ultra linear circuit 70w Super Reverb with the four orange frame JBL's. It sounded really, really good! Lots of clean headroom on this master volume amp. But it is really, really heavy.

 

The '68 blackline silver face, (blackface circuit) was bought secondhand in non operable shape, had it redone with a few slight mods. The reverb was put into both channels, new vibrato opto bug was installed for less ticking, Russian mil spec PIO caps in the rev/vib channel and PI, and the two channels were left in the stock out of phase with each other setup. I looked at what it would cost to have the four CTS 10's reconed, and bought a 1/15 baffle instead and stuck a JBL G135 I already have into it. This caused a large impedance mismatch between the 8 ohm speaker and the stock 2 ohm output tranny. As a result, the output is more compressed and slightly less loud at similar volume settings, more and earlier breakup on the hotter inputs. It's now a great Vibroverb-ish blues amp with a mid control on the rev/vib channel that the Vibroverb lacks. Also committed a vintage Fender collector's mortal sin and drilled holes in the chassis, stuck in some bias test jacks coming out the back faceplate…they hardly are noticeable. Am going to put in a new output tranny for proper impedance matching from Classic Tone, I have an Altec 15 inch 16 ohm 418b lying around that sounds fantastic for cleans especially. Gonna have a war of the 15 inch speakers and which one sounds best will stay in it with proper impedance matching restored. Have some ancient Tung Sol 6ar6's lying around so put them in a pair of socket adapters and run them in it with a 5r4 tater masher rec tube. I like their sound better then their also ancient 5881's. Won't sell the 4/10 baffle or the stock output tranny, though.

[Guest HRB853370]

The multiple inputs are so that I can plug my guitar into one input of the reverb side of the Deluxe, and bridge the second input of that channel over to the "normal" input on my 5E3, tweak the relative volumes, and have the tone I've dreamed of, sans pedals or gizmos....

That's what I'm talkin bout!

[H]

... This caused a large impedance mismatch between the 8 ohm speaker and the stock 2 ohm output tranny. As a result, the output is more compressed and slightly less loud at similar volume settings, more and earlier breakup on the hotter inputs. It's now a great Vibroverb-ish blues amp with a mid control on the . Am going to put in a new output tranny for proper impedance matching from Classic Tone, I have an Altec 15 inch 16 ohm 418b lying around that sounds fantastic for cleans especially. Gonna have a war of the 15 inch speakers and which one sounds best will stay in it with proper impedance matching restored.

I put a Marshall impedance selector in the IEC hole on my VR and wired the multi-tap ClassicTone OT through it. Any one of 4, 8 or 16 ohm on tap. Lets me put my pair of 8ohm speakers into series or parallel, or play through either singly. A versatile mod and I think I might have invented this particular variant

 

[212Mavguy]

Niiiice!

[Hfan]

Just got my first Tweed, need to learn about the various tricks on those inputs.

[H]

Just got my first Tweed, need to learn about the various tricks on those inputs.

I've just PM'd you with some info, Pete

[Hfan]

I've just PM'd you with some info, Pete

Thanks much Howard.