59' Fender Bassman

[beasleybodyshop]

Something ive been thinking about lately,

What song of the early to mid 60s do you think of when you think of the 5F6a? Ive been looking for some good reference tones to listen to.

[Phil_S]

Lots on utube. "Tweed Bassman" or "59 Bassman" will make you happy.
Watch this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU2uNjxvBcs

[beasleybodyshop]

That does sound pretty sweet, Thanks Phil.

What I meant was some classic recordings that used one. I always hear about the bassman being the "classic sound" yadda yadda. I want to look for some specific recordings that it was known they were used on.

[stevlech]

Buddy Guy - Sweet Little Angel or Man of Many Words

[Phil_S]

Nah, those classic recordings, the tone is in the fingers of the player.

Here's a guy "doing Hendrix" with a tweed bassman (OK, not the best imitation, but gives the idea) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PaiDuiLzas We all know Jimi used Marshall amps and that the early Marshalls were derivative of the Bassman.

[vibratoking]

Nah, those classic recordings, the tone is in the fingers of the player.

We hear that all the time. It's so true that this whole forum should be shut down as it's based on worthless, trivial nonsense that has no merit when it comes to tone. A 59 Bassman and a Polytone mini brute sound identical in the hands of the right player. Is there a guy that is that bad or good?

Anyway, I was gonna hold up Buddy Guy as a classic purveyor of bassman tone, except he did it with so much more than a bassman...Victoria comes to mind. So does Marshall. Buddy has that classic bluesy strat tone except when he doesn't. Then it's something else. Clapton has used a bassman a lot, I don't tend to like it when he does. Maybe that's the OP's point?

[Ken Moon]

It IS a bit hard to find a video that's representative of an amp's "true tone".

Keith Urban playing a Bassman doesn't sound much like Eric Clapton on the same amp, but there are definitely signature Bassman characteristics you can hear in both player's sounds.

So I'd just listen to as many clips as I could, and soon you'll get a good idea what the amp is like.

I tried a tweed Bassman at our local GC (in their "high-end stuff room"), and it was not as clean as I expected, especially compared to the Twin Reverb. I'd say the cleans are more like the Deluxe Reverb, but more "out front", as far as having sort of a sharp click when picking and being more sensitive to fingering precision (or lack of in my case).

And when you turn up a Bassman, it can get very gritty, moreso with certain guitars and pickups, not even similar at all to a JTM45 to my ears, and nothing like the smoothness of a cranked Deluxe.

The best way for the average guy to know if he likes a Bassman is to try one at a GC or other music store, and don't be afraid to turn it up

[Colossal]

I think I might have posted about this before, but back when I lived in CA, there was a cat named Randy Rich (and the Ravens) who had a '51 Tele and a Tweed 4x10 Bassman. I used to go see him play down in the basement of a restaurant. He played the blues and man, he had tone in his fingers and the room sounded killer. That Bassman sang.

[Reeltarded]

Those things ultra fizz if you rip the knob off. EAR SPIKE

[Zippy]

Anyway, I was gonna hold up Buddy Guy as a classic purveyor of bassman tone, except he did it with so much more than a bassman...Victoria comes to mind. So does Marshall. Buddy has that classic bluesy strat tone except when he doesn't. Then it's something else. Clapton has used a bassman a lot, I don't tend to like it when he does. Maybe that's the OP's point?

I was thinking Buddy Guy, too. I don't get what you're saying about Victoria - Buddy has been playing a LOT longer than Victoria has been around.

[vibratoking]

Anyway, I was gonna hold up Buddy Guy as a classic purveyor of bassman tone, except he did it with so much more than a bassman...Victoria comes to mind. So does Marshall. Buddy has that classic bluesy strat tone except when he doesn't. Then it's something else. Clapton has used a bassman a lot, I don't tend to like it when he does. Maybe that's the OP's point?

I was thinking Buddy Guy, too. I don't get what you're saying about Victoria - Buddy has been playing a LOT longer than Victoria has been around.

Just saying that you can't blindly accept that every recording by Buddy is through a bassman. I hear many similar tones from him where the amp is not a bassman.

And yes, a bassman can spike your ear hard. Kinda why I prefer the 5E3.

[Zippy]

Just saying that you can't blindly accept that every recording by Buddy is through a bassman. I hear many similar tones from him where the amp is not a bassman.

Gotcha. Yepper.

FWIW, he's been toying with a lot of different pickups too - including some of the various "noiseless" ones. I still love to hear him play, tho'. I was in his bar in Chicago (Legends), when he dropped in to play with his brother, who was just out of the hospital following heart surgery. Yeow!

[Buschman]

I have 5f6a Bassman. There are a lot of ways to use one. They can be extremely bright or very mushy and muddy. They are also too loud for me to gig with anymore. Most people are going to use pedals with them unless you are a blues purist playing at Antone's in Austin where volume is allowed!
The amp can be cranked all the way up with the tone down to tame some volume and get some blues grind. The channels can be jumpered for more drive. You can use 12ax7 instead of stock 12ay7 for more gain and punch. I like the 12ay7 the best. It's hard to know a recording but a lot of old records used them.

[Phil_S]

Nah, those classic recordings, the tone is in the fingers of the player.

We hear that all the time. It's so true that this whole forum should be shut down...

Oh no! I love this forum. I can see where you can understand it that way, but it wasn't what I meant. 20/20 hindsight shows I chose my words poorly.