1973 Bassman 50-Potential mods?

[infiniteposse]

Hi all-

I'm looking at a 1973 Bassman 50 (AA371 circuit) that's evidently clean as a whistle - closet classic condition. I know this is not the most sought after model, but as I understand it these are also extremely mod-able amps, correct? In 1973, were they still using good tranny's and parts in these? This is not a master volume or push/pull pot model, yes?

I'm curious to know what folks would recommend to get the most out of this kind of amp. I've read about some people doing tweed mods and classic BF circuit mods to some Bassman amps, but I don't know if those work on all models. I guess I like the idea of the 5f6a/jtm45'ish "bass" channel/aa864 normal channel setup I've just read about a little. Is this do-able on this model?

The seller's asking $400 and it's already been recapped by one of my areas better techs, so that expense is out of the way. Sound like an ok deal?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

Lee

[Swarty]

Turn it into a SS rectifier 5F6A/JTM45. Which I guess would make it a Marshall model 1986? Anyway, you have just enough inputs and one extra tube.

[Blue Strat]

Convert the power stage and bias circuit to 864 specs, get rid of any plate load capacitors, and convert the bass channel's tonestack to tweed/Marshall values. Rewire the Deep control as a Mid Boost control.

So many possibilities.

[John Phillips]

Leave it alone and buy a beaten-up/pre-hacked one to do that sort of thing to.

Don't mess up a really clean example, some people actually think they sound great the way they are :).

[infiniteposse]

Well, I unexpectedly found a lovely 67 SFBM on eBay with a BIN for not much more than I was going to pay for the Bassman 50, so I pounced. It's got the AB165 circuit, so it'll need a little more tweeking, but it'll have a better resale if needed and that never hurts...

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Swarty]

FWIW, from a mod standpoint the later amp is a better choice as all the wires are above the circuit board.