Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Gary,
I didn't mention the JBLs because they obviously weren't in this amp. I didn't realized that the Utahs had labels on them that early on.

My bad.

Scott,
I went to put a down payment on the head a couple of days ago. Before he took any money, he is going to plug it in and play it this week to see if there is any "bugs" in it. Of course, it's a bit dusty since it's been sitting there a while. So far from what I noticed, the back panel is missing, there is a master volume knob placed in one of the input holes of the Normal channel, and it has the original power chord and three prong grounded plug. I was told it worked fine about three years ago when he got it, but who knows. I haven't heard back from him yet. I sure hope nothing happened to either him, it, and/or his shop (which is formerly his attached garage to his house!). I've already found someone on Ebay who makes replica rear panels for vintage Fender heads....or I just might try the musician's flea market that happens locally here every six months or so for a nice used original one. BUT that's if I end up buying it. I sure hope it's fine. I need a buddy for my Bassman 2x15 cabinet.

Jeff, no problem - I figured that bit of trivia would be the kind of thing that only an original owner who opened the back of the cabinet would know. (I had it open to 'repair' the speakers.)

Robert, there are also a couple of websites that offer repro back panels. BTW, have you received the mute pads yet? (I didn't get them sent until last week, sorry.)

Gary,

I posted about the mute pads under Rickenbackers Wanted section.

Thanks!

Got it! You're welcome!

Gary,
I guess I'm just unfortunate in that all four of my blackface Fenders have had the not so great Oxfords. I guess I'll have to stop shopping for blackface amps (lol)

Robert,
If that amp hasn't been fired up in three years or so I'd expect some noises from oxidized tube pins and sockets at the least. If it honestly worked fine three years ago there isn't too much high dollar stuff that could go wrong with it from sitting, barring any rodent homemakers.

Good luck.

From what I've seen, there isn't any rodent nests or signs of it. I did see a couple small cobwebs though.

Those might come in handy when playing "Eight Legs A Week" ...

Those eight legs will be gone since the web was right above the power tubes. Once they heat up.....

If that Bassman is a AB165 circuit ..I would recomend you stay far away from it...
The AB165 circuit is radically different and sounds like poopy... It does not closely resemble the Bassman circuit at all... Normally the AB165 sells for dirt cheap because nobody wants it and you can't give it away...
If you don't mind a non-original amp...then sure you can change the circuit back to a normal Bassman circuit...Heck if you live near me i would do it for a 6-pack and a couple shots of Tequilla.. Most repair shops would consider this major surgery and charge an arm and a leg...
Hopefully you don't have this circuit..
One thing I do to Bassmans for use with bass.. I install KT88 tubes and change a few caps and resistor values to give the amp some more headroom and thump...

Chris

Chris: Can you describe the AB165 circuit and how it can be altered to approximate the "normal" bassman circuit?

Your thoughts would be appreciated on how to improve it, should it be an fairly easy fix.
Part of the answer may be here. Is this what you had in mind?

Here's another discussion on the AB165 circuit. Personally, if you can read schematics and can use a soldering iron, I see no reason to be scared of *any* BF or SF amp. With more and more people out there willing to mod their own amps, prices for Silverfaces are going up...

Thanks Scott. An excellent point. I appreciate the link.

Most likely I will have the AB165 circuit. Plus, as I already mentioned, it has been modded to have a master volume.

I've already found someone in my area to fix it up. I'll see if he can change it to the "normal" circuit.

If the price is good I surely wouldn't stay away from the AB165 circuit, especially if you can play through the thing first and you're happy with it. John Fogarty made some pretty good sounding music through those funky solid-state Kustoms and I don't hear too many rave reviews about those
Even though the AB165 gets knocked by a lot of people there are still quite a few folks who like it and it's already been mentioned that it can be modded relatively easy to get to the rarer and (usually) more desirable AB964 ciruit.