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Author
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Topic: Fender Bandmaster
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Archie Cox
Member From: Austin, Texas, USA
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posted 26 November 2000 12:14 AM
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Does anyone play through a Fender Bandmaster?
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Lefty
Member From: Grayson, Ga.
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posted 26 November 2000 10:59 AM
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I have one that I bought new in 1967. I played through it extensivly in the late 60's in a band using a fender solid state reverb, maestro fuzz, and wah wah. It puts out about 45 watts I think and was loud enough in those days. I still have it and it looks almost mint. I had the head repaired and retubed about 4 years ago, and I have EV SRO speakers in it. It has the big cabinet that weighs a ton. I just use it at home now with a 63 reissue tube reverb, and a boss DD5 delay and a little compressor. It sounds great with my G&L ASAT, and has the best tremolo. It is a good recording amp, and probobly one of the most reliable amps ever made.
Lefty |
Jim Mathis
Member From: Missouri, USA
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posted 26 November 2000 07:03 PM
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I have a Bandmaster that I bought in '64. It is a great amp and very reliable, but I don't care for the sound with steel, also no reverb. I gave it to my brother when I got my Nashville 1000. No comparison.I used it for a while with bass, but newer amps are better and lighter. Just my opinion.[This message was edited by Jim Mathis on 26 November 2000 at 07:04 PM.] |
Lefty
Member From: Grayson, Ga.
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posted 27 November 2000 05:53 PM
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I concur with Jim. The Bandmaster is not a steel amp. Not enough clean headroom. But it is a good guitar amp and a classic design. The non-tremolo channel has more gain. The 45 watts are enough with good speakers. Mine originaly came with the Utah speakers, which I blew a few times and had re-done, and then replaced. It works great as a studio or pedal amp. More could be said about solid state vs. tube, but the subject becomes subjective.
Lefty[This message was edited by Lefty on 27 November 2000 at 05:55 PM.] |
B. Greg Jones
Member From: London, KY USA
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posted 27 November 2000 09:34 PM
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I have a 63' or 64' Bandmaster head. I used it along with a 65' Bassman each running a sgl. 15 Evans cabinet in stereo at Renfro Valley a couple of times. With reverb and delay they sounded good to me. Mics on both cabinets, so I didn't have to be real loud but they did hold there own with the rest of the band. I'm a sucker for tube amplification. The Bandmaster is great on guitar in the studio cranked WIDE OPEN!!:cool |
B. Greg Jones
Member From: London, KY USA
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posted 27 November 2000 09:37 PM
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Whoops!!!  |
Gene Jones
Member From: Oklahoma City, OK USA
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posted 02 December 2000 10:49 AM
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I can understand the appreciation of many players for the old tube amps, the tone IS soft and mellow when they are working......but when tube amps are discussed all I can remember is having to remove all the tubes from those old Fenders every Saturday and taking them down to the 7-11 store and running them through the tube-tester before going to the club. Those 6L6 tubes lasted about as long as a 3rd string does now! |
Jim Mathis
Member From: Missouri, USA
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posted 02 December 2000 08:31 PM
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Gene,Really? My 6L6's have always lasted for years. I've used a lot of tube amps and never had a amp go completely out because of a tube and certainly not a 6L6. My experinece has been that tube amps are just as reliable as solid-state. |
Jack Stoner
Sysop From: Inverness, Florida
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posted 03 December 2000 06:47 AM
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Tube replacement is a part of owning a tube amp. It may not be as often as 3rd stings break, but they do have to be replaced. Preamp tubes get noisy, output tubes tend to lose power, etc. |
Lefty
Member From: Grayson, Ga.
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posted 03 December 2000 02:58 PM
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For me re-tubing is the nature of the beast. Still I am a slave to tube tone. At least for guitar, and lap. For pedal steel I like the tone as clean as I can get it. My amp tech retubed and rebiased my bandmaster with Sovtek tubes, and it is loud and clean even at 45 watts. I would not part with it.
Lefty |
kirk allred
Member From: burlington,NC,USA
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posted 03 December 2000 06:59 PM
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lefty you said it! i wouldn't part with my 63 blonde bandmaster or my 62 brownface bassman.there is no substitute for tube tone.these amps with good tubes and properly biased sound incredible!!! |
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