212Mavguy Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Fender-Bantam-Bass-amplifier-/161918559484?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=c8CclcWz8kwFX3MYRm6853no4xk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc Silverface Bassman combo is what it looks like. This was a boomerang listing that ended, but apparently the first buyer did not follow through, so when it appeared again, the buzzard was waiting to swoop. FWOOOOOOSH! Compared to any Bassman output tranny, this amp's OT is much smaller. The power tranny looks very beefy in comparison. I was rather stunned to see that when it arrived it was sitting in a cab the same size as a blackface Super Reverb! Plugged it in, and was instantly surprised by the niceness of the guitar sound... Vintage BIG Fender, plastic speaker and all. That yammiehooter thang has a huuuuge cone area and pushes a LOOOOT of air. Has more than decent clean headroom when the tone controls are set right, ignoring the dial numbers and letting the ears have their way yields a result that suggests that the speaker was an afterthought, way too bassy at mid dial settings on the bass pot on both channels. I was surprised at the amount of treble that came through, and unless I set the bass knob on either channel at around "3" or lower, the bottom was excessive. I have never heard any Fender amp capable of being more mid scooped than this one from the tone dials...This is a wonderful amp for playing a baritone scale guitar through! The speaker is very, very efficient and likely has more than double the cone area of typical 15's. It gets louder on less watts as a result. The speaker has a ring alnico magnet motor rated at 30 watts, same as the amp's rated output at the speaker jack. I have heard that when this setup is used for bass guitar and played at highest volumes over a long period of time that the speaker cone breaks, the cone is made of styrofoam!!! For guitar, the tone has more than enough top end available in both channels. And at the guitar's higher frequencies, that cone should hold up just fine at LOUD. IMHO this American/Japanese mutant is not a sacred museum piece. Resale value stock will likely dwell in the cellar, period. Like the Super Reverb I have finished, this one will be a long term mod into the blues amp from heaven. Right now it sits as a way more than decent clean pedal platform. Tough to find a better bang for the buck on a vintage Fender amp capable of filling a small to medium venue with the true old school big Fender clean amp tones than this one. When pushed into the dirt, it grinds like a Super Reverb, deep and full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davesultra Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 The Bantam Bass was the first tube amp I ever used. It was an amp that made it's rounds in the local scene, as it seemed everyone I knew owned it at one point. I don't remember anyone actually using it for bass guitar though. This would have been very late '89-'90, when the hair rock genre was still huge, so we ran a Boss Heavy Metal pedal through it. That trapezoidal speaker was really unusual. Great score, I was actually looking for one of these not long ago (more for nostalgic reasons). HNAD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 What an unusual speaker. I'll take your word for it sounding as great as you describe, since you are one of our own 'amp whisperers'. Congratulations on your NAD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsp17 Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Great find and great fun there pal. Well done and enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davesultra Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 IIRC that Yamaha Trapezoidal speaker had a styrofoam cone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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