• Registered: 2006-06-30
  • Posts: 2,835

Topic: 1968 or late 67 fender bassman

I just acquired a vintage and in excellent condition late67 or 68 Fender silverface bassman....man what the heck have I been missing all of these years. It cranks does anyone outthere have one ? I'm really curious now on even earlier Fender "unmodded" amps prior to 1968....This one is stamped many times on the chassis 68 and has the original mint trimmed rail on the grill cloth too...the tolex cleaned up well & the faceplate is minty too!
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Currently I have an extra 60's loaded Fender Logo Cabinet with a  Orange JBL 15-(it actually looks like Fender made these as Extension Cabinets) which is just in love now with this amp....50 Watts of joy....: )
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Someone told me that these early Bassmans were copied sort of by Marshall in the 60's for their original amp-
is that true???l

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually.........
  • From: Manchester, UK
  • Registered: 2008-04-07
  • Posts: 136

Re: 1968 or late 67 fender bassman

Yes - the first Marshalls were copies of the Tweed series(50s) 4x10 Bassman. After a while though Marshall moved away from the 5881/6L6 power tubes and moved to KT66. Also, while the circuits were clones, component sourcing along with the Head/Closed back cab approach of the Marshall against the open back combo of the Bassman supposedly made them sound quite different.

Info from Aspen Pittman's The Tube Amp Book.


Pete

  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 1,168

Re: 1968 or late 67 fender bassman

I have about 12 pre 1965 Fender heads and cabinets..  They are so great..  Use them  dont  store them.  They break down with long periods of storage and rock when used..  A under valued vintage item indeed.
Joe Bonamassa

  • From: Detroit
  • Registered: 2006-06-02
  • Posts: 5,807

Re: 1968 or late 67 fender bassman

I had a 2x12 bassman cabinet. It was spraypainted black and had a silverface. I took zipstrip to the cab and learned it was blonde underneath.

I ended up trading it in for my 79 gibson explorer back in the 90's!

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool
  • Registered: 2006-06-30
  • Posts: 2,835

Re: 1968 or late 67 fender bassman

Joe Bonamassa wrote:

I have about 12 pre 1965 Fender heads and cabinets..  They are so great..  Use them  dont  store them.  They break down with long periods of storage and rock when used..  A under valued vintage item indeed.
Joe Bonamassa

Thx Joe for the response..I'm now on the hunt for more pre-1968 Fender amps.....: )
Don

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually.........
  • Registered: 2007-03-23
  • Posts: 10

Re: 1968 or late 67 fender bassman

Yeah I acually have a '67 Bassman, '67 Twin Reverb, and a '72 Super Reverb.  They are all great amps.  The bassman can really rip some rock though.