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Thread: Smaller Version of Bassman ?

  1. #1
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    Smaller Version of Bassman ?

    OK Guys here is the scoop.
    I am looking for a smaller version of the Bassman.
    I love the sound of the Bassman (the RI LTD version) but I do not need the horsepower. 40 watts and 4 10 inch speakers are just too much for my needs. Heck my DRRI never gets above 3 or 4. So the question is - what are my choices and options?
    Perfect world answer would be:
    1. Combo with 2 speakers and about 20 watts.
    2. Head and Cab
    3. ????
    I have tried a million pedals and so far no real luck so that is an option as well.
    Idea is to have the DRRI for the clean and then add the "Bassman" to the mix when needed for oomph and breakup. I want the just past the edge of breakup - very smooth and almost the saxaphone sound of "harshness", or just have the "Bassman" and do both with that amp.
    I tried the THD Univalve and it was too harsh no matter what I did - sounded like i was adding a Marshall.
    This would be playing out at small venues.

    Thanks in advance

  2. #2
    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: Smaller Version of Bassman ?

    You could just run the amp through a pair of inefficient 10" speakers. A lot of the perceived volume has to do with amount of air being moved by the four speakers.

    I've seen guys run these (and Super Reverbs) through a single 15". Getting a baffle made is pretty direct and a lot less expensive than getting a head/speaker cab setup made.

    Have you tried an attenuator?
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

  3. #3
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    Re: Smaller Version of Bassman ?

    OPPS - I should have said i do not have a Bassman - looking for something with that sound, - and cheaper would be good too!

  4. #4
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
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    Re: Smaller Version of Bassman ?

    What about getting the Boss FBM-1 (Bassman) pedal to play into the DRRI??

    By the way, the Super Reverb through a single 15 probably sounds fantastic but both the tweed Bassman and the SR are meant to run into a 2-ohm load...plus which, according to an amp guru friend of mine, after a certain year, the SFSR baffles were dado'ed in instead of mounted to cleats, so it was a much, much bigger deal to remove and replace the baffle...

    "I'm gonna find myself a girl
    that can show me what laughter means
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    In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."

  5. #5
    Forum Member BGReed2's Avatar
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    Re: Smaller Version of Bassman ?

    I am quite impressed with the '65 Deluxe Reverb reissue amps. Like a Bassman, they have a good amount of headroom and really scream when they are cranked. Very similar. They have a lesser wattage rating, at 22 watts, than the 59 Bassman's 45, so you can push it without blowing out the windows.

    Also, the "Custom" channel in the recent '68 Vibrolux is said to have a Bassman tone stack (I'll let someone else explain that!) and they do sound very Bassman-like. I recently played one and really liked it. I believe they are rated at 35 watts and come with two 10" Celestions.

    Try these fine Fender amps out.

  6. #6
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Smaller Version of Bassman ?

    At this point in the technology/sound curve, a Fractal or POD HD Pro will do all you ask and a hundred things more, and do it at modern performance levels. My classic tube amps are gathering dust and I now get consistent sound night after night.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  7. #7
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    Re: Smaller Version of Bassman ?

    I don't know if she still makes them, but Sara Richter made me what she calls an RS-33. A 33 watt Bassman that sounds stellar with one 12. She also makes an RS-22. Her prices are astonishing if she still is in business. If that fails, the Victoria Silver Sonic is a modded 20 watt Bassman circuit with Vibrato and reverb thrown in. Sounds fantastic at 20 watts.





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