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Author Topic: A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?  (Read 2002 times)

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Offline Ronald Cartlidge

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A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?
« on: February 15, 2006, 04:50:47 pm »
I am looking for a Sunn or Ampeg bass cab for small gigs and for the home, I guess a single 15 will work but it must be able to handle just 50w and 4ohms.  Any suggestions as I am somewhat new to Sunn and Ampeg vintage stuff.  :)
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Offline EdBass

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A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2006, 05:14:35 pm »
An AlNiCo 15", Altec 421 or a JBL D/K 130 or 140, would seem to be in order, but I don't think I've ever seen a 4 ohm one. Maybe a pair of 8 ohm K110's in parallel in a smallish vented cabinet? I'm not very familiar with Fender amps, but there almost has to be an 8 ohm tap on the output transformer that you could use for a single 15" cab.
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Offline JoeArthur

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A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2006, 06:54:38 pm »
Quote from: EdBass
I'm not very familiar with Fender amps, but there almost has to be an 8 ohm tap on the output transformer that you could use for a single 15" cab.


No.  Fender doesn't (or would that be didn't?) do the flip the impedance switch or use the correct impedance jack thing with output transformer secondary winding switching capability.

Fender has traditionally hoped that the mismatch between speaker load and amplifier output would be within the 100% range that would normally be tolerated.  Their extension speaker output was in parallel with the normal output jack, just as it would be on an SS amp.

With tube amps you can go lower (by at least half)... but I would be concerned about going twice above the nominal rating - 4 ohms in this case to 8.
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Offline EdBass

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A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2006, 07:38:06 pm »
I had an old Bassman in '69 or '70, but those were the days when I didn't think about anything more technical than plugging in and playing. Is there even an 8 ohm tap on the OT that could be wired to the extention speaker jack, and leave the primary jack at 4 ohms?
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Offline JoeArthur

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A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2006, 07:51:12 am »
Highly unlikely if the output transformer is stock as one secondary winding was pretty much the rule.  Scroll down through this link until you get to the 50 watt replacements - the 4 ohm would be the stock replacement, the next one is more of an upgraded model with multiple taps.

Transformers
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Offline Ronald Cartlidge

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A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2006, 04:40:06 pm »
Thanks for the advice! :)
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Offline Isaac

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A good match for a '66 Fender Bassman head (50w, 4 ohms)?
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2006, 10:23:03 am »
I'm curious, Ron. What do you mean by, "must be able to handle just 50w and 4ohms"?
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Isaac
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