Fender Bassman 50 Bass Head Reviews 
4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsAdirondack Strings, Albany NY.
I was just visiting and saw it.
Later I brought my 1x12 to hear
how it would play [and I liked
it and bought it for $255]. It
has all new tubes and filter
capacitors, so maybe the tone
is not "THE original", but I
just can't get enough of it.
[Too much is not enough here.]
It's not really big [under 2ft wide
under 10in high], and not too heavy,
and sounds real clean, but much more
importantly, it somehow fills the
whole place, at low volume setting,
with an atmospheric bass, like a
scent that fills the room but you
don't smell it, you hear it. I've
used the same 1x12 cabinet with 3
other heads and never experienced
this effect. I've played this same
room for 3 yrs with a few different
rigs and likewise never experienced
this effect. I've only played the
Bassman 50 so far twice, with two
very different basses [MusicMan and
a Godin acoutic] and the effect is
there on both nights.
The other thing I like is that it
has two channels, each with a very
different baseline EQ, and both are
active simultaneously [no channel
selector switch]. This allows me
to fully utilized my dual-system
[or stereo] modified acoustic ax in
the way I've always intended.
It takes 40 minutes for the tubes
to reach that magic condition that
produces the atmospheric infusion
of tone for which I chose this amp.
Also, it is now Ms. Diva's favorite
in combination with my acoustic
stereo bass guitar [where I prefer
to play a different ax every night]
and of course it's always pointless
to argue with a diva.
It's 32 yrs old and the pilot lamp is
burned out. Otherwise A-OK. The back
is open and one can see four small and
two large vacuum tubes plus a single
big transformer and some other stuff.
Has 2 speaker jacks and requires 4 ohm
minimum load. Also has standby switch
to keep the tubes idling at break time
so you can get your tone back reliably,
plus a 3-way ground lift switch.
Has 2 channels called "Normal" & "Bass"
and each channel has two inputs, treble
& bass & volume dials for each. There
is a "bright" switch for the "Normal",
and a "deep" switch for the "Bass", and
these have noticeable effect.
My first tube amp, and yes, now I know
that 50 watts tube-style is worth about
150 to 200 watts solid state. But the
real deal is that atmospheric bass tone
[as described above]. Probably not for
headbangers or children under 27yr old.
Golem rated this unit
on
2004-06-14.
