HELP TAMING DOWN A BRIGHT AMP

[BLUELOU]

HI THERE
I OWN A LATE 60s FENDER BASSMAN AB 165 50 WATT HEAD SILVER FACE AMP
THIS AMP IS SO BRIGHT SOUNDING IT DRIVES ME NUTS I RE TUBED IT AND ALL BUT IT JUST GOTS TONS OF BRIGHTNESSTO IT
I KNO IT SOUNDS CORNY BUT I WAS WONDERING IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE THAT WARMED UP ONE OF THESE AMPS ?NEVERMIND THE USELESS BRIGHT SWITCH THAT THING MAKES ITS BRIGHTNESS MORE IRRITABLE THE NORMAL CHANNEL IS VERY BRIGHT
I PLAY OUT OF THE BASS CHANNEL

[BLUELOU]

DOES ANYONE HAVE A IDEA ON HOW TO WARM UP MY SILVERFACE BASSMAN 50 WATT AMPLIFIER HEAD AB 165 CIRCUIT ?
THIS DARN AMP IS SO BRIGHT I ONLY PLAY OUT OF THE BASS CHANNEL I AM LOOKING FOR A SERIOUS GAIN MOD IF POSSIBLE
I RE TUBED THE THING I EVEN CHANGED THE CAPACITORS (PREAMP) ONES ONCE

IT ALWAYS SOUNDED TOO BRIGHT FOR ME
ITS GREAT SUPER BRIGHT CLEAN COUNTRY PIKIN AMP I ALSO WANT TO ADD A EFFECTS LOOP TO IT
IT PROBABLY COSTS MORE THAN THE AMPS WORTH FOR ME TO MOD THIS AMP HUH?
I DONT KNO
THIS AMPLIFIER IS NO WHERE AS PLEASENT AS MY OTHER 2 BLACKFACED BASSMAN HEADS THEY ARE SO WARM AND POWERFUL AND PLEASENT TO PLAY OUT OF I ALWAYS USE THEM LIVE
I JUST WANT TO EXPERIMENT ON THIS AMP AND KNO WHY FENDER MADE THIS MONSTER AMP SO BRIGHT SOUNDING
ITS ALWAYS BEEN VERY PIERCING BRIGHT AS A AMP IS CONCERNED EVERSINCE MY DADA BOUGHT IT NEW IN 68 OR 69 I FORGET

[bighollow]

Well---maybe you have the wrong amp. Sell it and get an amp with an effects loop and more front-end gain.

But-If you want to keep the amp, there are a numebr of easy and cheap ways to warm it up and get a lil more gain out of it...change the treble cap to 200 pf, .02/.02 tone stack, disconnect the NFB resistor, change the fixed mid resistor to around 10K or more, change the input resistor from 68K to 56 K or less, you get the idea...

If you don't get the idea, sell the amp and get what you want. As they say, you can't make a Porsche out of a Rambler...

[brianf]

Lou; Please use lower case letters. It hurts my eyes to read your posts

brianf

[BLUELOU]

naa all ui was hopin for is makin somethin nice sounding lmao

them 10w 400 10% phuge power resistors can i mess around with them possiibly remove them etc
stupid stuff i kno
i just mess around
reply back
tghank you
lou
tell me exactly where thwese resiistors are you are talkin bout and as for the effects loop i will install one
lmao
shed some advice i kno it aint no porsche but i owned it fir so long i always think about it and how to modify this piece of noisy crap lmao maybe exactly explain where how these resistors youre talkin bout are located
thank you lou

reply back to my porschhe wannabe

[bighollow]

get the schematic or the layout for the particular Bassman circuit you have...look on the tube chart for the circuit designation (AA 371?). This is available on the Fender Field Guide web site. That's a good start. Check the Weber VST board for posts concerning common mods to SF Bassman circuits...

P.S.----DO NOT WORK ON THIS AMP UNLESS YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH HOW TO DRAIN THE CAPS----IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING, TAKE IT TO AN AMP TECH. NO JOKE.

[BLUELOU]

hi bro i dont have a way of printing the aschematic out i am very experienced in my electrical stuff
can i ask you a favor ?
please print it out for me and i will send you the money for the stamps or what ever you want i cant get my printer to work right
honestly
my name is
jude guardino
3275 dothan ave
springhill fl 34609
thank you
god bless
i would really appreciate it thank you for all you done already

[BLUELOU]

Originally posted by bighollow
Well---maybe you have the wrong amp. Sell it and get an amp with an effects loop and more front-end gain.

But-If you want to keep the amp, there are a numebr of easy and cheap ways to warm it up and get a lil more gain out of it...change the treble cap to 200 pf, .02/.02 tone stack, disconnect the NFB resistor, change the fixed mid resistor to around 10K or more, change the input resistor from 68K to 56 K or less, you get the idea...

If you don't get the idea, sell the amp and get what you want. As they say, you can't make a Porsche out of a Rambler...

hi man could you send me e e-mail schematic of this mod you replyd to me i like the idea
thank you
lou
guitarnoise2002@hotmail.com

i dont want to make this amp a porsche i got it in1970 i like it its my first amp head i used it thousands of times i just dont like the high end so basically while i was replacing the volume pots i maybe thought about how to tighten it up warm it up i tried many types of matched / mixed tubes
my uncle now deceased used to own a tv repair shop i wish he was alive
but i aquired many great tubes from him power and some pre amp ones old and nos ones i still got many in the original boxes

could you draw it out or send me a schematic of this mod you told me about to my web address please ?
i really would appreciate it
lou

[VELATONES]

Get the schematic and layout diagrams here... http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/ (you're welcome)

***********************
A few simple mods to try...
***********************

(1) To tame the treble, try changing the slope resistor in the tonestack from 100k to 68k - this will give you more lower mids and give the amp a slightly darker tone (try values ranging from 33k upto 100k and notice the difference in tone)

(2) Upping the 6k8 'mid' resistor at the bottom of the tonestack to anything between 10k and 68k will give you more gain (68k will give a *big* kick in gain)

(3) Lastly, increase the feedback resistor's value from 47k to 100k.

I would do these one-by-one to hear the effect they have on your tone. All three at once will change your amp quite a bit with significantly more gain.