1962 Bassman SURVIVOR!

Just bought this 62..... Yeow! This thing is LOUD and has serious tone!

Looks like there's rough white tolex on the cab's back cover but smooth elsewhere. Hmmm... The roll n tuck comes off this weekend so we'll see what remains underneath. Original Oxfords intact but both in need of reconing. Speakers appear to be mid 62, which would put this amp at late 62 production? Thoughts?

Thanks everyone! Oh yeah, first post!

Best,
Darren

omg leave it the way it is! That looks super awesome!

lol, you serious?

yeah, i love the look of old kustom amps!

Sure the Kustom look is cool but I'm already sick of answering the question "who did that to it?"

I want to lovingly restore this amp as close to original as possible. I'm having the original Oxfords rebuilt with factory cones. If I decide I don't like their tone then I can set them aside and try some Vintage 30's. Either way the amp will be worth more with working original Oxfords

For some reason those speakers are perplexing me..
question, Is this for you to enjoy or to flip for profit? I ask because I'm willing to offer advice if
youre a player and want to share the love of blonde bassmans since I restore them and
build my own custom versions (just starting out with the later)
Vintage amps only fetch top dollar if all parts are in original condition in the original
place of origin, bonus of course if the amp is still actually functional. From a collector perspective.

The grey area is recondition to original specs with original parts included (be they installed or
in boxes). The amp itself without the original output transformer, power transformer, and choke
wont fetch more than than maybe $750-900 in a good economy. A huge part of the sound of this
amp is indeed its iron.

From the players side, if a bassman does not have either an original 4ohm ohm
output transformer or a built to spec replacement fender 63' blonde 6G6-B
output transformer (the only known builder in existence is mercury mags, all others
are generic blackface) it wont sound and perform like a classic blonde bassman.
Also running a bassman with a speaker load that doesnt match impedance will
sound nothing like the tight spanky gritch its suppose to have.

Like I said our economy is hideous...
here is the average selling price of a fender bassman with original parts on ebay for the last few yrs
(complete head and cab)
Month Qty Avg Price
2010-04 1 1,499
2010-03 2 1,113
2010-02 1 1,500
2010-01 1 1,650
2009-12 2 1,125
2009-11 4 1,075
2009-10 2 1,170
2009-09 1 780
2009-08 5 1,296
2009-07 3 1,212
2009-06 1 896
2009-04 2 859


here are some original fender speakers used in the bassman cabs

oxfords "M" series were used in the blonde piggyback rigs


early cabs saw these but they were barely able to handle 20watts each


late 60s and 70s saw limited use of Utah speakers which didnt sound too great


the CTS speakers were great sounding but mainly used in 10" apps for combos


early eminence were quite nice although I dont know how often they were put in
the bassman cabs


once in while but mostly in twins these groovy altec lansing JBL's (i had a pair,eesh)

Great info! I definitely want to bring this back to what it once was and ENJOY it!! I think reconing the original Oxfords makes sense to see what it sounds like. If I don't like it I'll go for some V30's. Took serial # pics, the BP and the transformer too

Got the hideous roll and tuck off of her, now she looks like a nicely aged blonde at a glance. I'll uncover the cab this weekend. The oxblood grillcloth looks intact underneath on the cab...

I think you struck gold brother.. serial number is from 62' transformers all check 62' although you didnt get a
picture of the output transformer. none the less from the photo it looks stock.
Even your caps are stock down to the Astron paper covered cathode bias caps (save for the aftermarket
carbon film resistors replacing the carbon comps).

..money!!

I'll get some more pics tomorrow, what else would you like to see good clear closeups of?

open up the filter cover (doghouse pan) lets see those babies.
also the serial of the OT.

Anyone know where I can find a 550V filter cap?

550v whhooooooooweee, gonna be a fun one. 22uf is okay and a standard.
btw..that amp was built when our walls had 110V now we use 120V.
If youre gonna stay stock that amp should have 20uf 500v sprague caps "if" the output transformer is the
stock 4ohm..

although you may indeed have an earlier 8ohm transformer as some cabs were sportin
a 15 at the oxblood grill season. whats the OT serial code

btw.. if you want to use 22uf 600V in a pinch just to get it rolling use F&T eletrolytics, good price and
quality.
this is one of my main supply companies
www.cedist.com
but wattsaudio.com has great odds n ends

Didn't my last pictures have the OT serial code? 125A13A and 606297?


If that ain't it, where do I need to look?

shrigg wrote:

Didn't my last pictures have the OT serial code? 125A13A and 606297?


If that ain't it, where do I need to look?

Bassman

6G6A.. PT=125P7A OT=125A13A Choke=125C1A 606XXX means Schumacher (its stock perfect 4ohm)

all said.. those caps with the 550v are healthier for this circuit and 600v is great BUT most amp guys
are just using the sprague atoms like the one you have in there. They sound incredible, so youre fine
completely replacing those tired old astrons if you plan to play the amp. (btw if any of those mallory blue
caps that look like hotdogs, are going bad..sozo.com sells their version and they are killer)

You have to understand that seeing you at the service desk of a music store wearing a tie makes me
think you are either a store salesman who took a killer trade and are fishing for info to fix this amp
and maximize your profit.. OR you are the average dude at the music store on his lunch break believing
all the advise from the tech on contract at the store and the tech really only knows blackface fender amps
and youre scared he's gonna "f" up your amp.. which is a LEGIT concern because thats why so many wonderful
blonde amps are screwy.

whats your story brother! If this is about you turning a profit, I want 10% hahha!

Just a workin stiff who hangs out at the local music store. They know better than to give me advice on vintage iron like this, lol

My vision is to restore this amp to near-perfection. Tolex is planned within a few weeks.

I pm'd you, i'd like to chat

shrigg wrote:

Just a workin stiff who hangs out at the local music store. They know better than to give me advice on vintage iron like this, lol

My vision is to restore this amp to near-perfection. Tolex is planned within a few weeks.

I pm'd you, i'd like to chat

you are my buddy!!

Cab now stripped, the oxeblood grill is in great shape. Blonde Tolex remains only on the back cover:

lookin goood!!

btw.. those thumb screws if original have much value, if not for function for collectibility in that
most of those things were hand machines by fender metal workers. I'm learning about
some of these guys techniques in "knurling" the knobs. Marc Rutters who is building my
second custom shop tele has been schooling me on the mechanics of vintage mill work
and he sez that around that time in fender's history they were still employing post world
war II machinists and each one of these guys had a signature style to the way they knurled
the knobs of the telecasters,etc.. I cant confirm that these top screws"thumb screws" of the
cabs were done in house but never the less they are made waaay better than the reissues
I carry.

On my original cab the hardware was rusted pretty bad.. having a few things on hand like
naphtha and a small metal brush along with a dremel and polish wheel is a good thing.
You may have to spray the bolts inside the cab with some loctite thread oil and let it sit
for a day before you try to unbolt the thumb wheel insets. But once they loosen and you
get them off, put all the hardware in a pan of naphtha or WD40 overnight to loosen all the
rust n grunge. It should all brush off well the next day... on the smooth chrome parts use
ONLY 000g stainless steel.
You'll then need your polish wheel to properly clean up and shine the chrome parts. I've found that
if some things are too rusted that you can "fib" it with those metallic silver sharpe pens. It cleans
up the look and adds some sealer protection from further rust..

just my 2 cents

Just a follow up post: The Oxfords are back and installed and sound absolutely wonderful! The amp is PUNCHY, clean and brilliant until 5-7 (depending on pickups). At that point a sweet overdrive starts in and the more that volume knob goes up the more Marshally it becomes!! It just shines in all ways, I'm truly loving it! Some folks have suggested I get another small bottle 5881 as it now has one small one large. But it sounds so good as is I hesitate to change ANYTHING, lol

shrigg wrote:

Just a follow up post: The Oxfords are back and installed and sound absolutely wonderful! The amp is PUNCHY, clean and brilliant until 5-7 (depending on pickups). At that point a sweet overdrive starts in and the more that volume knob goes up the more Marshally it becomes!! It just shines in all ways, I'm truly loving it! Some folks have suggested I get another small bottle 5881 as it now has one small one large. But it sounds so good as is I hesitate to change ANYTHING, lol

good santa.... you are still alive? AND you havent got tubes yet.. c'mon man.

Well truth be told, I'm a bass player so this amp doesn't get played a ton. It just hangs out a looks killer, dresses up the place.

I scored an original 1962 short bottle Tung Sol 5881 to match the original power tube. Totally loving the tone, punchy loud and quiet as a church mouse. I'm completely satisfied! Still haven't got around to tolex because it looks killer in pine!

holy crap he lives!!

Yeah man and so does this killer Bassman!