Fender Amps

[Rich R.]

I'm in the market for a bass amp. I really want a SWR RedHead, but I
don't have $1600 for an amp: I'm looking at 2 Fender Models. Rumbler
350 and the Bassman 400. I'm lookg for opinions and or experiences
with either of these amps. Thanks

[Les Cargill]

Maybe they snuck one by me, but Fender hasn't made very impressive bass
amps.

--
Les Cargill

[Grip]

Don't know what this might mean to you but my Brother, bass played in
my band and with a nice collection of rigs, always goes to a Fender
combo, a rumble something or other when he wants to demo a bass in the
store.

[Flasherly]

On Jun 10, 11:14 pm, Les Cargill <lcargil...@comcast.com> wrote:

FENDER BassMan. Love mine, fwiw, Chinese Import, although designed/
produced by one of the guys instrumental to amp sounds after he left
Fender. Facilities in Viva Las Vegas, baby, Bad'a'Boom -- couple of
EL84s in a Yellowjacket, slick THD config to replace the 6L6s -- &
though dunno squat about playing bass, I do play it clean enough for a
6-slinger I'd probably be better back with stock 6L6s. Oh, yeah ---
and not much bass dialed in, either, which it's heavy, heavy on 'cause
I guess it's a bass amp. Now he's got me curious, maybe it would be a
great little conservative 40-watt, small venue bass amp. Did I say
worth, too. . .some people here say they wouldn't give me $75 I once
tentatively advanced;- just teasing, not a problem, nowhere near
(snort. . .be more like $200, if it all that, before I'd let it go:
pristine condition GV40 PIGNOSE).

[jh]

400PS ;-)

[LULU]

==============================

I guess the question that I have is . . . "How are you going to use
the amp?" Studio, live gigs, hobby . . . what? All of us can only
afford the equipment that our budget will allow. That said . . . I'd
go for the SWR Redhead . . . if the decision were mine. If you use
the amp for 5 years . . . that's less than a dollar a day. You get
what you pay for . . . sometimes.

Lulu : )

==============================

[jim]

I once owned a Fender BXR 300C (15 combo) with a 210H extension cab
(2x12 plus horn with L-pad level). I sold it to a friend, and he's even
rented it to gigging bassists, with no complaints. IMHO, it's a decent
low dollar setup.

[jim]

For the uninitiated: http://www.timeelect.com/400-PS-IDX.htm It *IS*
the ultimate Fender bass amp. Definitely ranks up with vintage Ampeg
SVT and Sunn 2000s

[notbob]

On 2012-06-12, jim <inse@ttle> wrote:

> For the uninitiated: http://www.timeelect.com/400-PS-IDX.htm It *IS*
> the ultimate Fender bass amp. Definitely ranks up with vintage Ampeg
> SVT and Sunn 2000s

Jay-sus! I never even heard of such a beast, let alone seen one.
Yeah, I've played Ampegs and Sunns, but this thing.....

Un-beee-lievable!!

nb


--
vi --the heart of evil!
Support labeling GMOs
<http://www.labelgmos.org/>

[Les Cargill]

Yeah, you turn that on, the lights dim in Peoria :)

And yes - I had forgotten about that. For that matter,
if 50 watts is enough ( and it oughtta be ), 50W 2X6L6
Bassman will work, too.

--
Les Cargill

[Jim]

On 6/11/2012 6:46 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2012-06-12, jim<inse@ttle> wrote:
>
>> For the uninitiated: http://www.timeelect.com/400-PS-IDX.htm It *IS*
>> the ultimate Fender bass amp. Definitely ranks up with vintage Ampeg
>> SVT and Sunn 2000s
>
> Jay-sus! I never even heard of such a beast, let alone seen one.
> Yeah, I've played Ampegs and Sunns, but this thing.....
>
> Un-beee-lievable!!
>
> nb
>
>

That amp was built around the GE6550A, and much of Rich's former
"polished turds" discussions stemmed from current production tubes not
living up to their specs, because they wouldn't work right in that amp
(even though specs said that they should). I believe he concluded that
the best current production option was a "winged C" variety, but that
was a couple years back. There are new options out there that I don't
know much about.

I'm down to 2 or 3 good matching GE's in my stash. I also have a 4 or 6
good Sylvania 6550. But I will need to feed my Sunn 2000s, when I
finally get around to changing out some caps and any other necessary
repairs. I'll be contacting Rich to get his advice on tubes for that
beast. ...hoping that he doesn't suggest that I try to find a NOS
matched quad of RCA's! There's also the phony reissue Genelex KT88, but
I don't know reliability and tone opinions.

[Paul]

Les, there are very very good Fender amps. What do you mean by
impressive?

powerful? detailed? unique?

--
You will find the BEST Guitars and Gear at
http://guitar-centre.biz/ and http://guitar-pro.biz/

[Les Cargill]

Paul wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:14:33 -0500, Les Cargill
> <lcarg...@comcast.com> wrote:
>
>> Rich R. wrote:
>>> I'm in the market for a bass amp. I really want a SWR RedHead, but I
>>> don't have $1600 for an amp: I'm looking at 2 Fender Models. Rumbler
>>> 350 and the Bassman 400. I'm lookg for opinions and or experiences
>>> with either of these amps. Thanks
>>>
>>
>> Maybe they snuck one by me, but Fender hasn't made very impressive bass
>> amps.
>
> Les, there are very very good Fender amps. What do you mean by
> impressive?
>

Coherent, mainly. Speaks well.

> powerful? detailed? unique?
>

I don't really remember. I use an Ampeg B4R and a pair of G&K 15".
They had nothing like that.

So OP, maybe I am behind the times and you shouldn't listen to me:)

> --
> You will find the BEST Guitars and Gear at
> http://guitar-centre.biz/ and http://guitar-pro.biz/
>

--
Les Cargill

[Lost in The Wasteland]

On Sunday, June 10, 2012 8:14:33 PM UTC-7, Les Cargill wrote:

>
> Maybe they snuck one by me, but Fender hasn't made very impressive bass
> amps.
>
>

They just need to go "thump thump" to match the drummers
"bang bang" . I mean we are talking about bass amps.

[jim]

Also helps if they have very simple operation <ducking>.

[jim]

The above was only a joke. The guys posting over at a.g.bass are often
more savvy that the average poster in this forum!

[Flasherly]

On Jun 14, 10:22 pm, jim <inse@ttle> wrote:
> The above was only a joke. The guys posting over at a.g.bass are often
> more savvy that the average poster in this forum!

But are they cheap, too?

http://www.overtureavonline.com/component/virtuemart/mcintosh/mcintosh-mc2kw

[notbob]

On 2012-06-11, Les Cargill <lcarg...@comcast.com> wrote:

> Maybe they snuck one by me, but Fender hasn't made very impressive bass
> amps.

I was never impressed.

I passed on the ubiquitous F. Bassman in favor of a Standell SS 2x12
piggyback. I'd seen too may Bassmans go up in smoke on stage. Never
regretted my choice.

[Lost in the Wasteland]

On Thursday, June 14, 2012 7:22:50 PM UTC-7, jim wrote:

> >
> > Also helps if they have very simple operation <ducking>.
>
> The above was only a joke. The guys posting over at a.g.bass are often
> more savvy that the average poster in this forum!

We got give the bass guys some credit .. they are on usenet groups ..
although it was *likely* setup for them by a failed guitarist ;-) .

[jim]

I could see Bootsie Collins using a couple dozen of those! Didn't The
Dead use McIntosh stuff for their wall of sound?

It's kind of an odd piece of equipment. VERY powerful for audiophile
grade stuff. What's the sense?

I'll have to be satisfied with my Mark Levinson 33H. I had to compare
specs.

I get a damping factor of >800 at 20Hz (with output impedance <.05 ohm),
The Mac gets 100.
Mac has better S/N, but that's at rated output. So actual noise at
idle? Both inaudible.

McIntosh gives a 2000W output rating. Nothing more. No impedance,
nuttin.

I run mine as a center channel amp for home theater, so it's only rated
for 150W into 8 ohms. But Stereophile got 265W into 8 ohms on their
bench before clipping, and noted that since the line voltage dropped to
114.5, they'd expect 300W with a 30A dedicated circuit.

It's rated for 1600W into one ohm. Stereophile could not verify,
because they didn't have a big enough dummy load! But they measured
900W clean into 2 ohms (instead of the published 600W). That pulled the
line down to 112.5V. Stereophile said: "the fractional decibel drop in
dBW each time the load is halved
suggests that this amplifier behaves as an almost perfect voltage
source."

This beast pulls 540W AT IDLE! I don't run it in standby mode, because
that's 210W, 'round the clock. I have a remote controlled power box
between it and the wall. A keychain type remote button provides power
to the line cord. You then have to hit the amp power once to energize
the power supply, wait 15 seconds or so, then hit it again. When you do
that, you hear a series of a bunch of relay click from the amp itself.

It's a great toy, but I certainly didn't pay 5 figures. I got it in a
"once in a lifetime" killer gear trade. I can only dream about having 6
more for my 7.2 setup.

If interested: http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/115/index.html
and http://www.marklevinson.com/Products/Details/31

[Les Cargill]

There's got to be a limit to the current capacity somewhere... don't
short it...

> This beast pulls 540W AT IDLE! I don't run it in standby mode, because
> that's 210W, 'round the clock. I have a remote controlled power box
> between it and the wall. A keychain type remote button provides power
> to the line cord. You then have to hit the amp power once to energize
> the power supply, wait 15 seconds or so, then hit it again. When you do
> that, you hear a series of a bunch of relay click from the amp itself.
>

What's it doing - filling some supercaps? Spinning up a flywheel?

> It's a great toy, but I certainly didn't pay 5 figures. I got it in a
> "once in a lifetime" killer gear trade. I can only dream about having 6
> more for my 7.2 setup.
>
> If interested: http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/115/index.html
> and http://www.marklevinson.com/Products/Details/31
>

--
Les Cargill

[NM5K]

On 6/16/2012 12:32 PM, Les Cargill wrote:

>
>> This beast pulls 540W AT IDLE! I don't run it in standby mode, because
>> that's 210W, 'round the clock. I have a remote controlled power box
>> between it and the wall. A keychain type remote button provides power
>> to the line cord. You then have to hit the amp power once to energize
>> the power supply, wait 15 seconds or so, then hit it again. When you do
>> that, you hear a series of a bunch of relay click from the amp itself.
>>
>
> What's it doing - filling some supercaps? Spinning up a flywheel?

Likely some form of step start to reduce the initial inrush
current. Those are fairly common on many large RF amps.

[Les Cargill]

It's unusual for audio.
That thing must have one whale of a lot of current reserve.

This being said, I have an Ampeg B4R that really needs 20 amp service,
and it takes a while to spin up. I've had it decline to come up on 15
amp service before.

--
Les Cargill

[jim]

I was thinking "why buy a welder?"

>
>> This beast pulls 540W AT IDLE! I don't run it in standby mode, because
>> that's 210W, 'round the clock. I have a remote controlled power box
>> between it and the wall. A keychain type remote button provides power
>> to the line cord. You then have to hit the amp power once to energize
>> the power supply, wait 15 seconds or so, then hit it again. When you do
>> that, you hear a series of a bunch of relay click from the amp itself.
>>
>
> What's it doing - filling some supercaps? Spinning up a flywheel?

This thing first rectifies the line source to DC, filters that, then
reconstructs 120V AC from the DC that it just filtered. It's its own
power station.

Yeah, it's nuts.

But it has a buttload of capacitors. I found this from a guy selling
replacement filter caps:
http://d1xw7fnq30zy05.cloudfront.net/uploads/image/image/396124/scaled_004.JPG

Here's the larger ones, with the solid buss connections:
http://d1xw7fnq30zy05.cloudfront.net/uploads/image/image/396126/scaled_33H-_Tower.jpg

Believe it or not, it's easier on my line than my Luxman R-117
(currently demoted to dual mono subwoofer amp status). It honestly does
dim lights for a second when it energizes. It's always done it, not a
matter of bad caps. I think my fluke with hold minimum voltages, I
ought to test the line when it powers up.

[Les Cargill]

I swear. A welder with 0.0001% THD, boyee!

>>
>>> This beast pulls 540W AT IDLE! I don't run it in standby mode, because
>>> that's 210W, 'round the clock. I have a remote controlled power box
>>> between it and the wall. A keychain type remote button provides power
>>> to the line cord. You then have to hit the amp power once to energize
>>> the power supply, wait 15 seconds or so, then hit it again. When you do
>>> that, you hear a series of a bunch of relay click from the amp itself.
>>>
>>
>> What's it doing - filling some supercaps? Spinning up a flywheel?
>
>
> This thing first rectifies the line source to DC, filters that, then
> reconstructs 120V AC from the DC that it just filtered. It's its own
> power station.
>
> Yeah, it's nuts.
>

Fercryinoutloud. That's kind of awesome, in a way. I can actually see
doing that, although doing it with a power conditioner probably
makes more economic sense.

> But it has a buttload of capacitors. I found this from a guy selling
> replacement filter caps:
> http://d1xw7fnq30zy05.cloudfront.net/uploads/image/image/396124/scaled_004.JPG
>
>
> Here's the larger ones, with the solid buss connections:
> http://d1xw7fnq30zy05.cloudfront.net/uploads/image/image/396126/scaled_33H-_Tower.jpg
>
>
> Believe it or not, it's easier on my line than my Luxman R-117
> (currently demoted to dual mono subwoofer amp status). It honestly does
> dim lights for a second when it energizes.

heh! So does my Ampeg B4R.

> It's always done it, not a
> matter of bad caps. I think my fluke with hold minimum voltages, I
> ought to test the line when it powers up.
>
>
>
>
>>
>>> It's a great toy, but I certainly didn't pay 5 figures. I got it in a
>>> "once in a lifetime" killer gear trade. I can only dream about having 6
>>> more for my 7.2 setup.
>>>
>>> If interested: http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/115/index.html
>>> and http://www.marklevinson.com/Products/Details/31
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Les Cargill
>

--
Les Cargill

[jtees4]

On 12 Jun 2012 01:46:18 GMT, notbob <not...@nothome.com> wrote:

>On 2012-06-12, jim <inse@ttle> wrote:
>
>> For the uninitiated: http://www.timeelect.com/400-PS-IDX.htm It *IS*
>> the ultimate Fender bass amp. Definitely ranks up with vintage Ampeg
>> SVT and Sunn 2000s
>
>Jay-sus! I never even heard of such a beast, let alone seen one.
>Yeah, I've played Ampegs and Sunns, but this thing.....
>
>Un-beee-lievable!!
>
>nb

Damn.....more than double my Marshall Major!!! Scary....and I blew out
the lights with my Marshall many many times, once at a large outdoor
show.
********************

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=789610

[jh]

I had the pleasure to refurbish two of those amps.

I have to say: more than impressive - in any possible aspect.

These amps were the absolute zenith in the development of musical
instrument amps.

Before that, i was more than partial with Rich Koerners rants for these
amps.

I'm cured

regards


Jochen

[Rich R.]

I finally decided on the 400 Bassman. I always had good luck with them in the past, starting with a Bassman 10 and eventually buying a '62 with 2X12. The 400 has a nice eq for both Bass and Treble and volume control for the eq as well. all in all its a nice amp
Thanks for all the replies