Fender Bassman 100 rebuild

[Mark]

Project finished. Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way. Charles Wilson's P.I. advise was great.

Thanks for the compliment Marcus, I appreciate that.

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[Mark]

I'm throwing out the original faceplate, but here are pics of how bad it was.

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[southbound suarez]

awww that panel is not so bad.,,,,, Hha ha ha J.k!

Where do you find a new panel to replace the old one. It is not as if this is a super popular amp model for Fender. It certainly not to be confused with the older BF Bassman line of amps.
I am surprised to see that you sourced a Bassman© "100" style panel.
Please do share your source. It is much easier than to buy a panel than it is to compose a new reproduction panel and try to output it onto a waterslide decal sheet .....

Btw ,,,,, turquoise vinyl tolex is uber cool looking on a silverface ! 2 thumbs up seal of approval !

Brian southbound Suarez

[Mark]

Hi Brian

I bought the replacement front panel from Tube Amp Doctor.

They were selling a stack of Fender replacement faceplates. I can't see any now. Try contacting them, they might be able to help.

https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en/parts- ... lates/?p=2

[southbound suarez]

T.A.D. and orig. Fender faceplate = no luck!
Not that they dont have a selection of generic Blackface style designs.
They mentioned that they carry alot of amp parts but they dont carry everything. They had no suggestions. But it was worth a try. I think that you must have gotten very lucky.
Actually your faceplate is indeed better than the one I have. But I would imagine it has already been discarded, besides international postage would be asking alot besides such a hassle!
Plan B.....
Buff out and burnish the old faceplate to make it all shiny and pretty like new. Reproduce orig. faceplate artwork on desktop and output on the printer as waterslide decal. Apply the waterslide to the shiny buffed faceplate and then hit with clearcoat.

[Mark]

I wrote to T.A.D. and they said you'd have to buy a replacement front panel from Fender. You could try and contact Fender and see what they have to say.

I have chucked my front panel as it looked trashed. I bought my front panel years ago when they were freely available. I dare say Fender was trying to stop forgery and get people to buy their amps, though in many cases the clone amps are much cheaper and very well made. The Brownface Vibroverb is a classic case.

[dorrisant]

Nice build Mark.... now I'm looking for donor chassis to do something similar.

If it weren't to much $$ for shipping, I'd pay to have that faceplate/backplate set. I could use it as a template to try to recreate a new one.

[Mark]

It is a pity about the faceplates as there are amps out there that could use TLC like the Bassman 100.

The reply from Fender was, they don't make them and they don't know if anyone licensed to make them. Fender ruins a good thing.

[southbound suarez]

Finished the Bassman 100 last week.
It sports the relic look very well. This amp certainly is everything "sleeper" !
While nothing very fancy, rather simple circuit and not alot of gain, the beauty is in the simplicity with its clean tone and plenty of headroom.
A great power amp platform for a pedal platform.
This amp makes a big sound.
I think that the owner will be pleased.
This one was brought in as a real basket case.
It was so filthy dirty yucked up, I was literally going to put thru my dishwasher one night when my lady was sleeping. Unfortunately, it just would not fit.
I ended up pressure washing it in the driveway.
The wire dressing in this amp is atrocious, and with all the different gnd points I just knew that it was going to be a noisy amp, but I was pleasantly surprised how quiet this amp was in in its stock config that I didnt have to much rerouting or cleanup.
Just left it as is and mostly bone stock. It is nice and quiet with no buzz or hum, no oscillilation .
So quiet I didnt think it was even on until I turned on my signal generator and got blasted the very first time I fired it up!
The Bassman 100 might not seem like much to write home about but I will confirm it is a sleeper, and is worthy to keep an eye out for them at your pawn shops , flea markets and garage sales. I am sure they can be found for a bargain all beat up, but easily worthy of a little effort and some love.

[Mark]

Good to hear you had success with your Bassman 100. I liked the resonance control on my one. It gives it that SVT like depth.