1958 Fender Bassman Amp

[ndblumer]

Some months ago,I inquired as to where I might find someone qualified to refurbish my old amp. I finally got the old amp back yesterday! I have had this old fender bassman since 1959,and had it in storage for years. To be honest about it, I am finally getting the sound I have searched for in other amps for years. This amp is supurb!! I do have cabinet issues . I would like to find some original material to re-cover the amp. Does anyone know where I might find this material? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Norman

[BillB]

This place is a good resource for old amp parts. I'm sure there are probably others.

http://www.tubesandmore.com/

Hope that helps!
Bill B.

[Norman Blumer]

Thanks Bill, I appreciate this. In talking to a friend about this amp a few minutes ago, he informed me that Fender may have " old stock" tweed available . This would be wonderful! I never really knew what I had missed in good full sound over the years until I plugged back into this amp. I have used Peavey over the years,with reasonable results,but it never compared to the sound of this amp. Wish I had taken better care of it. Thanks again, Norman

[gmoseley]

Norman, this guy's name is Brian Holt, he is in Michigan. He can do it ALL, and is reasonable:

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Musicans-Har ... 4340.l2568

He has the Fender tweed or the tolex,,,,whatever you want. He made me a 15" cabinet covered it in tweed and put my Super Champ XD head into the top and a big 15" Jensen speaker into the bottom, its a killer. It looks like something that rolled out of the Fender factory. . . . superb workmanship.

You might want to consider him.

Gayle Moseley

[Norman Blumer]

Thanks Gayle, in checking the site it appears the Fender oxblood grill cloth matches my amp, as does the Fender tweed cover. I do appreciate your response and information. It looks like these items are exactly what I need !
Norman

[gmoseley]

I agree Norman,,,,that's the exact pairing I used on my custom XD job, its looks super. Plus, I have an old 50's Deluxe and a Princeton amp and they both have the tweed covering w/oxblood grill cloth. I don't think you could go wrong with that combination.

You can talk personally to Brian Holt at (231) 578-2065
His e-mail address is guitarhardware@aol.com

You can tell him what you have in mind and he can give you a price. I hope you find him as satisfactory as I did.
Of course, the biggest problem we have in getting custom work done on guitars and amps is the darn shipping costs back and forth, but there's no way around that, unfortunately.

Hope it works out for you Norman, keep us posted.

Gayle

[GaryL]

Norman, this guy's name is Brian Holt, he is in Michigan. He can do it ALL, and is reasonable:

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Musicans-Har ... 4340.l2568

He has the Fender tweed or the tolex,,,,whatever you want. He made me a 15" cabinet covered it in tweed and put my Super Champ XD head into the top and a big 15" Jensen speaker into the bottom, its a killer. It looks like something that rolled out of the Fender factory. . . . superb workmanship.

You might want to consider him.

Gayle Moseley

Hi Garyle,
How do you like the tone of the champ xd? I have an opportunity to buy one and would like your opinion. I won't be able to try it.
Thanks,
GaryL

[gmoseley]

Hi Gary, I really like this one, but you have to remember I have a big 15" Jensen speaker in it (the same speaker that Fender puts in the '65 re-issue Deluxe EXCEPT its the 15" version rather than the 12" in the Deluxe) I always thought the standard Super Champ XD had a good tone, it comes standard with a 10" speaker that many guys changed out for a higher quality one, the stock speaker is OK but not ideal, you might want to replace it (?) The amp has plenty of balls and can work small to medium jobs, even with its 15 watt RMS rating,,,,,it can get LOUD but the stock speaker is its main drawback. I bought mine with the intention of upgrading it. I ran across this Brian Holt guy and he does that sort of thing and does it well! I went all out with my new cabinet and had him put an extra heavy padded leather handle plus Fender tilt-back legs, in addition to the tweed cover and oxblood grill cloth. It will "carry the mail" !
It reminds me of the '65 Deluxe tone-wise but it gets a little bigger "note" , a little thicker than the '65 Deluxe - - I only wish my ole buddy Paul Yandell were alive to hear this amp,,,,he would love it! I hope I've helped you.

thanks,
Gayle Moseley

[GaryL]

Gayle,
Thanks for your reply. That helped me a lot.
GaryL

[gmoseley]

Gary, one other thing I failed to mention is that the Super Champ XD has good effects, now I know that Fender has upgraded the amp and its now their XD2 version, with more "voices" (which most of us will never use - - we'll play thru the "clean" channel) and the newer model has a "tap delay" feature (I never was very good at getting a "tap delay" set just right anyway). The old model has several standard delay modes, and a "reverb delay", "chorus delay", etc...and they suit me just fine. You can adjust the level on the effects, so that's big plus. For my use, I think the old model, for the price, is about as good as their newer "XD2".....my philosophy being "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".....but they always have to bring out a "new and improved" version to entice you to trade in your old "piece of junk" ! LOL
I think the Super Champ XD is a heck of a fingerstyle amp, quite a bit of good sounding tube power in a small package, especially if you change out the stock speaker, even to a premium 10" speaker - - that's fine.

GM