Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Any of you guys ever play your Rick basses through a 4x10 Fender Bassman combo? I have a pretty cool Ampeg B200R combo but I'm thinking of running my Rick in stereo with neck pickup going to the Ampeg and the bridge pickup going to a guitar amp. Since the Bassman was originally a bass amp, I'm thinking it might be a good choice. But I don't know... what do you think?

Let us know how it works out!

I have run a Fender Bassman thru a 2x15 cab... good sound (I like the Bassman) - I run a Peavey Delta Bass thru a 4x10 cab and I use it for the bridge pup when doing the ROS - I like the sound. I think the Bassman thru the 4x10 cab would be good. Don't know if this helps or not but please do let us know what happens.

As long as you are running the bridge pickup only you should sound great. You do have the .0047 cap in series with it, right? If not, put one it, you will be better off, unless you only play at low volume levels.

(There is a reason the 410 Bassman was more popular with guitarists than bassists!)

(There is a reason the 410 Bassman was more popular with guitarists than bassists!)
There is a reason they upgraded to the piggyback models too.

Even those were more popular with the guitarists.

I'm not sure about the .0047 cap... Is that the thing that limits bass frequencies? My bass is a 98 v63, and the horseshoe is very loud, way louder than the toaster. I've never modified it.

I like the small form factor and relative light weight of combo amps. My worry is that that horseshoe would blow the amp out, or just cause it to distort like crazy. The Bassman was designed for bass, right, but it's mostly guitarists who use them. Why - other than the fact that they sound good for guitar?

Tom, is your Bassman a separate head or a combo? Is there a difference? How many watts is it?

One of the reasons that the 4x10 Bassman is a better guitar amp is because the low frequencies tend to get flabby and the amp really has no projection when used as a bass rig. Same is pretty much true with the standard Bassman piggy back rig. They sound great at very low volume with the bass but tend to break up way too quick at a gigging level and have a very loose, muddy low end response. That problem doesn't exist when used as a guitar amp and with the wattage between 40 and 50 watts - depending upon model year - it's perfectly suited for guitar.

You can always do what my friend did with his '66 BF Bassman head - swap the power tranny out for a Showman tranny (85 watts), replace the grid resistors and caps, and you're good to go. My friend says that amp will hold it's own now - especially when coupled with a 2x15" cab - in the loudish Roots Rock band he works with.

The 4-10 Bassman has an open back design which limits the low end frequency response, therefore the cap in series with the horseshoe pickup will be an advantage. Being only around 40 watts rms is a limiting factor depending on how loud you want to get but tonally it should sound good, again as long as the .0047 cap is there. If it is not, it can be put in place easily.

Hi Daniel, sorry just saw your question... The Bassman was a friend's I got to hold for almost a year. It was a separate head setup. I think it was about 100W. A really good bass amp at lower volume (as others have noted it looses low end when louder) - a great keyboard or guitar amp because of that I think. I switched it around with my Carvin in different ROS configurations - really liked it on the bridge pickup. I never did try it with a 4x10 setup but would think it would work quite nice there. I really like the Carvin with a 2x15 cab on the neck pickup.

My bass is a 98 v63.

The V63 is mono. Are you going to rewire it to stereo?

Yes, the plan is to rewire the v63 in stereo, but I need to get a good amp for the treble side. From all the great responses I've gotten to this post it seems that the Bassman would provide a good bass sound but for low volume only. When you guys say low volume do you mean that it can't keep up with drums?

My feeling is the Bassman will be fine at all volumes as long as you have the .0047 cap in series with the horseshoe pickup.

My first amp was a Bassman. It's best sound was when it shorted out and created a deep resonant hum at about an Eb...

Seriously, I wish I never had to give it back to my cousin, but I've never felt "wow, I wish I had that sound back" like I have regarding an old Trace Elliot I used to have or the 2x15 Acoustic cab I used to have...