Bassman with master volume and Tweed/Plexi channel mod

[jaxonmills]

Do any manufacturers make an amp like this, or do you need to buy an older Bassman and have it modified?

Is David Allen still the man to talk to for these mods?

[crazyForce]

I just don't think you could possibly regret picking up an old Bassman. I've been a "Vox man" for the better part of the 21st century. I just picked up a Vox AC30 Heritage. It does everything I expected and is a joy to play. It was supposed to displace the Bassman, as I cannot keep both amps. In the end, I think I will be keeping the Bassman.

[jp1977]

David bray does great bassman/plexi work and can Taylor it to your requests.

[Texsunburst59]

My local amp guru does the David Allen Bassman mod,but goes a bit further and does the master volume mod on the bass side as well. He can also do the external bias mod,and the mod that allows you to use 6V6,6L6,or EL-34 power tubes. If you're interested in getting it done, I can give you the info.

[straightblues]

Get an old Bassman. They are great amps.

[Rusty G.]

Get an old Bassman. They are great amps.

Are you guys talking about silverface bassmam heads or a tweed or blackface bassman?

[soldersucker]

Are you guys talking about silverface bassmam heads or a tweed or blackface bassman?

Tweed i think.
An "old" tweed will set you back several K.
Your best bet may be to get a Reissue or clone and have a decent teck put a MV in. The Lar-Mar is my choice in a 5F6A.

[jaxonmills]

Tweed i think.
An "old" tweed will set you back several K.
Your best bet may be to get a Reissue or clone and have a decent teck put a MV in. The Lar-Mar is my choice in a 5F6A.

Actually I'm wanting to get something like '67 blackface bassman ab165 circuit and have the bass channel modded to something like a tweed/plexi channel (allen mod), and add a master volume as well.

Can the allen mods be easily done to a silverface bassman?

[topbrent]

Can the allen mods be easily done to a silverface bassman?

Yes, the allen mods be easily done to a silverface bassman. Great sounding arrangement. Gives 2 distinct amp sounds in one box.

To clear up what the real "Allen mod" to the bass channel actually is, or more clearly, is not.

- What it is: Allen Bassman mod to the bass channel could be more closely described as a Trainwreck Express'ish variant with 2 values of cathode bypass cap on a switch .68 & 22uf (aka tweed/plexi switch). Normal channel is standard AB763 values.
- What it is not: It is not equipped with a cathode follower type tonestack. Thus, it is not the preamp of the 5F6A/JTM45/Plexi type amps.

[straightblues]

Are you guys talking about silverface bassmam heads or a tweed or blackface bassman?

All of them are really good, but in this case I think he is talking Black Face or Silver Face (most of which are very close to BF). This is a popular mod for the bass channel of that amp, which isn't useful when playing guitar unless it is modified.

[guiltless]

I built one of these myself. I made mine out of a Bassman 135 so I could have full TMB. I kept the 100watt Iron, added a filament tranny so I could switch between a SS Rec and Tube (GZ34 or 2x 5V4). It runs KT66's right now, but with the huge iron, could really run anything. The Bass side is 5F6-a/JTM45 with a hot switch (added gain stage) for JCM800 style gain and a MV. External test points with external bias adjust. Each channel has a bright switch. I also have a push pull pot where the MV used to be with adjustable/disconnectable NFB.

I basically threw every option on it that I could think of :-)

It's actually about to go up for sale. I don't need the Marshall side. And I'm not playing as much as I used to.

[jbt7764]

Classic cat 50 , bassman style , master volume you can switch in or out, reverb, trem or 5 way tone selector which. Gets you to tweed or switch to bas and treb classic fender style.

[Couloirman]

BUMP for more recent opinion. I am picking up an old Bassman head-- who is the man to send it to these days for the MV and tweed/plexi mod?

[guiltless]

Still a phenomenal option! Allen does not do them anymore. He has a guy in Texas who will do the mod. Real nice guy, I forgot his name though.

If you are familiar with the inside of an amp, it's a real easy set of mods to do. I have done one the Allen way and another with a true Plexi preamp with the Cathode Follower. The Bassman 135 that is a few posts up was a lot of fun. The Plexi/JCM800 switch was a blast.

[Pantone 333]

In response to the first question of the post:

http://www.carramps.com/products/impala

[Texsunburst59]

BUMP for more recent opinion. I am picking up an old Bassman head-- who is the man to send it to these days for the MV and tweed/plexi mod?

He's my local amp guru here in Corpus Christi Texas. His Name is Tony, and if you're interested in having it done,you can PM me and I'll give you all his contact info.:)

[stingrey1978]

What up skip!
The mods and bassman that skip is referring to is in the amp that he sold me, it's amazing and I love it, I have a few videos up on my YouTube of it, but kinda back in my younger more foolish years before I really knew what to look for...

Http://www.youtube.com/reyybarra
Videos are labeled McCarty/McCarty hollow body

[HEY!YOU!]

A bassman will never, I say never, sound like a Plexi.
If that's what you want, just buy one.

Keep a Bassman stock and use it for what it is.

I have both.

[guiltless]

This is true. But you can have an input that is voiced similar to one. If it were up to me, I would make the power section and the OT into pure Plexi and do a BF input. Or maybe add a tube and do something Hiwatt based.

[tralfax19645]

Valvetech VAC 50, 5F6-A channel one, channel 2 is a bassman/plexi hybrid with switchable gain boost, you can get reverb, tremelo and effect loop.
Intertaining demo: http://youtu.be/DMmg8wMJXY0