Gitfiddler Posted December 17, 2016 Posted December 17, 2016 Recalling Slider's hilarious amp cheese threads, I immediately thought of them after scoring this 1978 Fender Silverface amp. It's a Musicmaster Bass amp, that NO bass player would EVER be caught dead using...either at home or a gig. As a bass amp, this is one of the world's worst. But after reading positive review after positive review on the interweb about this little practice amp, I had to check them out for myself. The chassis is exactly the same dimensions as a Fender Champ, but the cab is an elongated/taller box housing a 12" speaker. Power comes from a pair of 6V6 and a single 12AX7. Sounds cool already, right? Specs: http://ampwares.com/amplifiers/fender-silveface-musicmaster-bass/ Here's where the 'cheesy' parts come in. It is a cheap amp, both cost wise and build wise. And it only has a Volume and Tone control. The circuit is extremely basic...almost like a home build...but done for you by Leo and his boys in Fullerton... Yep, cheesy. With a bass plugged in it sounds like total flubby crap. Cheese on a stale cracker bad! But plug in a guitar and this thing comes ALIVE!! Plus the one I scored has been modded to maximize a sweeter tone than stock. The speaker was out of some Fender product, but sounded very mediocre. Since I had a new Emi Patriot Cannibis Rex lying around, I dropped it in. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a difference!!!!! This thing is LOUD and sings so sweetly!!! This amp is so much fun to play through! Enough jabbering, here she is...
schundog Posted December 17, 2016 Posted December 17, 2016 Nice score, Tim! I have seen a few of those from time to time, but never had heard much about them being used with a guitar. Enjoy your new vintage baby.
212Mavguy Posted December 18, 2016 Posted December 18, 2016 Oooohhhhh YEAH! Vintage cheese done well! Good call on the speaker, and those JJ 6v6's put out a bit more wattage and can stand higher plate voltages than many of the old stock ones.
Spectrum13 Posted December 18, 2016 Posted December 18, 2016 You must be running out of room to house all your gear by now.
Gitfiddler Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 Nice score, Tim! I have seen a few of those from time to time, but never had heard much about them being used with a guitar. Enjoy your new vintage baby. Thanks, Brian. I always ignored them since I thought they were just crappy bass amps. Turns out many of them were converted to Vibro Champ monster cab conversions.
Gitfiddler Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 Oooohhhhh YEAH! Vintage cheese done well! Good call on the speaker, and those JJ 6v6's put out a bit more wattage and can stand higher plate voltages than many of the old stock ones. Yep, those JJ's kick butt in this amp. The previous owner did all of the heavy lifting. All new tubes and the following mods: Death Cap removed and replaced with an inline fuse. Hasserl volume/tone control & coupling cap mods. http://hasserl.com/musicmaster_bass
Gitfiddler Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 You must be running out of room to house all your gear by now. Nope. Sell something. Buy something. Keeps Wifey happy. Pssst...There may be a 'sell off' of some Git-Gear in 2017.
111518 Posted December 18, 2016 Posted December 18, 2016 The other guitar player in my high school rock band played through one of those things, with a little SG junior with a P-90. I had much more sophisticated gear, since I was already working in a music store ,,, but he had better rock tone. Just plugged into that little amp, which wasn't even a guitar amp, and pretty much dimed it. Looking back, it was like getting that classic Champ recording sound, but the 12 allowed it to move enough air to work in a band context, as long as absolute "clean" wasn't a requirement. In the right situation those little Musicmasters are everything you need and nothing you don't. It was one of those under-the-radar gear things I had on my list for years, if the right deal emerged, but I never snagged one ...so, congrats on having found a clean, and cleaned-up circuit wise, one. Boutique simplicity and tool-for-the-job design before there was boutique.
Gitfiddler Posted December 19, 2016 Author Posted December 19, 2016 The other guitar player in my high school rock band played through one of those things, with a little SG junior with a P-90. I had much more sophisticated gear, since I was already working in a music store ,,, but he had better rock tone. Just plugged into that little amp, which wasn't even a guitar amp, and pretty much dimed it. Looking back, it was like getting that classic Champ recording sound, but the 12 allowed it to move enough air to work in a band context, as long as absolute "clean" wasn't a requirement. In the right situation those little Musicmasters are everything you need and nothing you don't. It was one of those under-the-radar gear things I had on my list for years, if the right deal emerged, but I never snagged one ...so, congrats on having found a clean, and cleaned-up circuit wise, one. Boutique simplicity and tool-for-the-job design before there was boutique. Excellent synopsis, Larry.
FredZepp Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 Cool post. I dig that amp... I think I'd put a pedal in front of it and rock it out. Good call on the speaker too.
silverbeard Posted December 20, 2016 Posted December 20, 2016 Cool little amp. I used one for harmonica for a while till I got a Princeton. Unusual circuitry too. It uses a transformer instead of a tube for the phase inverter if I remember correctly. I probably shouldn't have sold it! Live and learn I guess.
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