Hey all -
I have a 1965 Bandmaster with matching 2x12 closed back cab that has the original Oxfords in it. I'm looking to replace the speakers just to keep the originals from getting blown. What are your recommendations for a replacement speaker? I was thinking if going with the G12c/s if I were to go American.
Now let me throw something else at you. I currently have a HIWATT DR-504 that I am looking to use with the same cab. I know Fanes are supposed to be the only thing that sounds good with these amps. The closest I have gotten is a Reeves cab with Vintage Purples and it was just kinda meh, so I sold it. So I am thinking of experimenting with different speakers in my Bandmaster cab and using it for both amps. I was thinking of trying ET-65s, 55hz Reapers, 1 ET-65 1 Reaper 55hz, or 1 ET-65 1 Veteran 30. The HIWATT sounds terrible through the stock Oxfords which makes me think it won't sound good through an American voiced speaker.
Is it even possible to roll one cab that will sound good with both if these amps or is it a pipe dream? As a musical reference I play mainly classic rock, blues/blues rock, jazz, and some clean indie style stuff. Led Zeppelin style gain would be about the most I would ever use.
Thanks for your insight!
First, check out this blog, where I did a bunch of shootouts with a vintage Fane that rocks my world:
http://wgs4.com/bassman-speaker-shootouts-short-n-sweet
Also ... I too have a blackface Bandmaster (1967) ... a new acquisition ... my initial take is that they have a lot of nice blackface charm, but with the diodes rather than a tube rectifier, they are a bit more stiff and strident than ... say my 67 Vibrolux. I think where that's concerned the G12C or C/S would be a good choice.
Vaughn thanks for the reply and the link to the Fane shootout! Both the ET-65 and the Reaper sound really sweet.
Now you have you have perked my interest regarding your 1965 Blackface Bassman, it sounded like a sweeeeet amp. Since you have a Bandmaster the same as mine, how would you compare the two? It seems that the Bassman may be a little warmer and sweeter sounding. There isn't nearly the difference in channels on the Bandmaster as there is on the Bassman. Where do you have the volume at on your drive channel (Bassman) to get that amount of gain? I'm guessing you prefer the Bassman over the Bandmaster. :) I really like the idea of having a "drive" and clean channel on a vintage Fender.
Thanks for the info!
I haven't had the Bandmaster long enough to decide how well I really like it! So far, yea, I'm diggin' on the Bassman more. They should be almost the exact same amp, only with the addition of the tremolo on the Bandmaster. Boy can 40+ years of component value drift change an amps tone, though!
The 1st (bass) channel on the BF Bassman amps was indeed voiced more like a Marshall ... with a lot more midrange and less top. A lot of folks have their "bass" chanel fully "Marshallized" by a tech ... mine actually is stock, I'm assuming a LOT of component drift has caused the bass channel to sound as Marshall-esque as it does. I've talked about having it "blueprinted" to find out just what the component values actually are ... and I need to ... otherwise I'll never get it back to the way it is if something fully takes a dump on me and I need to start replacing resistors and caps.
A good amp tech should easily be able to re-voice one channel on a bandmaster to sound like a Marshall ... shoot, the Bandmaster is practically the same as one of Jim's first 45's (a Bassman clone).
After looking at the schematics it looks like the converting a channel on the Bandmaster to a Bassman would be a little more of a mod than I would want. I like to keep my vintage amps as stock as possible, but I am definitely adding a Fender Bassman head to my GAS list :). Vaughn thanks again for the info and the links to the speaker comparrisons, they really helped me make a decision on what would be best for me. I decided to go with two ET-65s, I should be getting them on Tuesday. Thanks again!