6G6-B Bassman clone project

[dubtrub]

I finally got the hard part done. Man, do I hate wood working! Maybe I should say I hate saw dust. It gets all over eeeevrrrything!! At least drilling all the holes, installing hardware and covering with Tolex and grill cloth is easy and relaxing. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be able to install everything in the 'raw' and play it while waiting for the tilt back legs and the head attachment hardware to arrive.

I did get a little break a couple of day's ago as my son Daren bought off Craigslist an old silver Fender Twin with the Tolex coming loose all over as well as the cabinet falling apart. I removed all the Tolex, re-glued the cabinet back together and reinstalled the original Tolex with dings, tears and holes. It really turned out cool looking, like a well worn but 'clean' amp. We didn't take any photo's as we jumped right into as soon as he went and picked it up. It sounds awsome!

[JimPage]

That is stunning! Danny, I should commission you to build me a cabinet for my Tremolux!

--Jim

[MWaldorf]

Great work as always Danny! Beyond that, holy cow your work space is *clean*!

That Twin sounds like a good score too.

[ludobag]

superb

[Mr. Bill]

Dub, did you create the plans for your cabs yourself? They are very accurate looking right down to the 1/4" plywood facing strips on the head insert.

Did you have to change out the angled front top edge of the head cab? I only ask because the dark edge is different from the earlier photo.

[dubtrub]

A couple of years ago I purchased a set of plans off eBay for a Bandmaster. I reduced the width size of both the head and speaker cabinet to the Bassman size. On the speaker cabinet I went with th the 1961 version of 30 inches wide instead of the normal 32. The speakers fit but it's a close fit. I guess that's why Fender changed to the 32" cabinet.

The angle on the faceplate threw me off on the original cut as I cut on the wrong line, so I had to add a strip of wood on the top as well as add some creative angle cut wood on both sides. Like I said, I ain't no wood worker. Now you see why.

[dubtrub]

While waiting for the hardware, I decided to go ahead and assemble what I had in order to play the amp. I still have to rout the bottom of the head for the speaker cabinet handle inset. Next photo's will be the finished product. No need to post photo's of the Tolex process as Mel covered that very well in his Showman cabinet topic.

[MWaldorf]

That looks great Danny. How are you liking the sound? Is there much difference in the tone from this cabinet vs. the Bandmaster bottom?

[dubtrub]

That looks great Danny. How are you liking the sound? Is there much difference in the tone from this cabinet vs. the Bandmaster bottom?

My Bandmaster has the original Oxfords in it. This one has a pair of Utah's that I robbed out of the old cabinet I used to build the box for the Bassman 100. At one time I put the Utah's in my Bandmaster cabinet just for a try and I really like them better than the Oxfords. The two amps sound real similar on certain setting but this new Bassman has a much greater tonal range with the bass instrument channel as well as the presence control and 350k with a 70k tap treble pot in the normal channel. I love the sound of both amps but I believe the new Bassman will become my main gigging amp. As for the two cabinet comparison, the Utahs have a much more robust sound. It actually handles a bass guitar better at a higher volume than the Bassman 100 POS.

[MWaldorf]

I'm glad you're enjoying new amp! I love the presence control on my Showman. It really makes a difference and allows me to keep the sparkle without the ice-pick of turning the treble control too high.

Too bad that Bassman 100 seems to be a real turkey. On the bright side, maybe you should gut it and rewire it as a 4x6L6 version of the 6G6 circuit. Add the harmonic vibrato to that and then you'd have a real killer amp!

Of course, you could simply enjoy playing the heck out of the one you just built.