Dreamy All-Tube Tone: Fender’s ‘59 Bassman Cary Apr 17th

ALL TUBE, ALL THE TIME

Talk about a classic guitar amplifier – Fender’s ‘59 Bassman LTD, while not an exact replica of its earlier siblings, is still in itself a true monster of pure tube tone.

Ironically, the Bassman, which was first introduced as an amp for Fender’s literally revolutionary new P-Bass, turned out to be one rockin’ guitar amp, and is today considered by many to be one of the all-time great amplifiers.

This is the amp we’re talking about when we talk about that “tube tone.” In fact, the Fender Bassman was the initial inspiration for Jim Marshall, whose “Marshall” amplifiers went on to become a legend of their own.

You can pump a Bassman with just about any stomp-box or DSP around and it will sound incredible, but where the Bassman really shines (IMHO) is with your guitar plugged straight into the top, volume knobs cranked, humbuckers pushed to the limit. This is where you’ll hear the difference between a modern solid-state amp, and an overdriven tube amp.

This is why tube purists like myself are in love with our amplifiers – the natural clipping and compression that occurs when you really push a Fender Bassman (or one of its ilk) over the top makes for buttery-smooth leads, and big, fat chord tones that are perfect for Jump Blues, Swing, Country, R&B and even old-school Jazz… any form of music where the natural tone of the equipment is appreciated.

The Fender Bassman may be one for the history books, but through the ‘59 Bassman reissue its still alive and well today…

Fender® ‘59 Bassman Specs: Two channels (Normal and Bright) – two inputs per channel – 50-watts into two Ohms – four 10-inch 8 Ohm Jensen P10R Speakers – chrome control panel – 22.37“ H x 23.5” W x 10.5“ D – 53 lbs.

This entry was published Monday, April 17th, 2006 at 1:32 pm. Feel free to leave a comment, or better yet, trackback from your own blog/website.
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