Thoughts anyone?
Thoughts anyone?
i'd like to know also? i've heard the ri bassman is better for the money difference! any thoughts on this first hand?
chris
aside from appearance, the Vic and the ri Fender are completly different tone wise.
the fender stays sparkly clean until it gets pretty loud and the vic is pure tweed from about 4 on.
I'd like to run both into an ab box and use the ri for clean and the vic for grit.
pedals? this rig don't need no stink'n pedals!
I run a similar rig now. I use a '62 brown Bandmaster for clean and use a gutted and converted (5AF6 circut) ri for the tweed growl.
the converted ri is very close to the vic tone wise but lacks the
better cabinet and attention to detail built into the vic.
You can never have too
much music in your life.
I've heard some say the Vic kills the original bassmans.
That wouldn't surprise me at all. The vic is top of the line IMO.
If I knew then what I know now I'd have bought the vic and still
spent about the same money.
Knowledge always comes with a price
You can never have too
much music in your life.
a friend of mine has a real 59 bassman, and a vic pro and a ton of other vintage fenders, he says nothing but nothing can touch the real 59 bassman!! he's a real well know blues player!!
chris
So what's not to like??? They're built like the oldies, they sound great, and the resale value seems to hold up really well. You can call 'em on the phone or send EMail and hear back from the CEO.
They're not a lot of hype - Mark does a lot of blind A/B testing and a lot of original components were analyzed to find out what makes them tick.
FWIW - IMO the newer ones with Jensen RI speakers sound better than the Mojo versions.
Gazza, your never going to find consensus on Vicky's/Clarks vs. the original tweeds--everyone has his/her own anecdotal story of a clone that smoked an original, or an old tweed deluxe that the clones can't touch, etc. I do think Guitar Player Magazine did a credible job in trying to compare the Vicky low power tweed twin with two originals. They liked the Vicky better, and thought it sounded better. I don't think the Fender bassman r.i. can sound as good as a Vicky or Clark since cabinet resonance is such a large part of why a tweed amp sounds the way it does, and Fender, last I'd heard was not using yellow pine in the Bassman r.i.'s cabinet. I also have come to the conclusion, based on what my ears are hearing, that all the hype surrounding PTP construction and hand-wound and interleaved trannies, is correct--more harmonics and overtones are present, making for a richer, deeper and more complex tone. Its the same thing with original JTM45's, Plexi's and Vox AC30's and Marshall/Korg reissues of those amps. Thats why there is a cottage industry with guys like Dan Butler and Mike Hoffman (who even offers a PTP board for the Fender bassman reissue) modding the reissues to sound more like the originals.
I think as the Victoria ages, it will sound more and more like the vintage fender ones. They do sound really good. The Bandmaster model (3x10) is good too.
The Vicky Bandmaster is easily one of the very best sounding amps I've ever heard.
Thanks Larry, I guess I need to check out the bandmaster.
One thing about the oldies is you take 6 of 'em and they all sound different. They're expensive, risky to gig with, and if you do many are reaching the point where they need major maintenance.
I probably should mention that I don't work for Victoria, but Mark is only 1 'burb away. I do have a Vicky Deluxe 'flooded basement-sale kit' I put together. Mine has a real P12Q and RCA 6L6GTAs and it does sound great :)
Last edited by Teleologist; 12-19-2002 at 04:09 PM.
I own a `90 RI Bassman (early leather handle model) that I bought new. I have changed the speakers to the RI Jensens P10R`s and I run a 5R4 tube rectifier in it which makes it a little more vintage sounding. It sounds really good but it still doesn`t sound the same as my Victoria Bassman. When I put Tung-Sol 5881`s in the Vicky, there was even more of a difference in the midrange between the two. I also own two other Victorias; a Double Deluxe and a Low Power Twin. When I took my Vicky Low Power Twin to my amp tech, to have him check the bias on it, when he was done he plugged into it to check it out and said he hopes his original `58 Bassman sounds as good as my Vicky Low Power Twin when he`s done tweaking it up! It`s hard to imagine that it wouldn`t, if you ask me!!
I think a lot is in the speakers. I own two Victoria's, a Pro with an original 50's Jensen P15N and the Victoria Bassman has the reissue Jensen P10R. The Pro really sounded better than any old real Fender Pro I played so far. Don't get me wrong the old Pro's sound great I love this amp, but the Victoria with NOS tubes and this old Jensen speaker sounded better.
The Vic. Bassman took some time to break in the reissue speakers (I bought it in '99), but it sounds great now. However, the Vic. Pro is my favorite amp.
I had the rare opportunity to A\B a 59 RI with not one, but 2 original 59s, and the victoria clone. To my ear, they all sounded very similar. The RI had a tube rectifier in place of the stock SS. The RI sounded "fresher" and I actually preferred it over both originals. The Vick and RI were so similar, you could never tell them apart without looking. The Vicky did breakup slightly earlier, and the RI had a little more headroom. Thats the only thing I could tell. The 59s both sounded nice, but just less focused and rattier sounding. They did not sound exactly alike either. The three of us who were there all would take the RI or Vicky over the originals.
(I just posted this under the other thread as well)
After reading the many posts.. I have to through a me two into the mix. The botique PTP amps blow away the mass production stuff of today. As it regards tweedy tone.. their are many amps that manufacturers that were not given the honorable mention. Diaz for one.. Cesar Diaz was SRV's amp guy and goes back with SRV to 79 before he was signed. GW (Gee Dubya) Gerald Webber of Kendrick and his line of incredible amps and stuff. Then their is Eric Johnson (of Sweden) Mistique Amps who has built only a handfull of amps but he sure has my attention as I am a proud owner. Some of Carr amps also offer that incredible vintage Bassman like tone. The list goes on and on.. The point being.. Large companies with bean counters who don't play their amps and guitars and whatnot, just don't understand anything except the bottom line. Show me an PTP amp builder that isn't a musician and that will be when pigs fly to the moon.
Besides comparing my Victoria Bassman to my RI Bassman, I`ve had the oppurtunity to compare my Victoria to RI`s other than my own, and in every case the RI Bassman was a little louder, noticeably brighter and the Victoria had a bigger low end with TungSol 5881`s installed. The midrange was also fatter than the RI. I still like how the RI sounds too though. For the money, the RI Bassman is hard to beat even if it doesn`t sound just like an original.
Plug me in!
I've got a Victoria low power twin and a double deluxe. I wish I had all the money I spent looking for the feeling they give me EVERY TIME I PLAY THEM. Yes it's more than just tone that you get with these amps. They FEEL different IN YOUR HANDS!!!!!!They are an extension of YOUR SOUL!!!!! They make you FEEL GOOD!!!!! The only amp I ever had with these qualities was my '62 brown deluxe and I still have it!!!!! These amps make me feel like this. :spin :roll :rofl
DAMN. I wish I could remember where I put them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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