FENDER 4x10 BASSMAN VS FENDER BLUES DELUXE

[angusvanfrehley]

G'day guys,

For any amp gurus out there I have a question.

Taking away the reverb and drive channel from a Fender Blues Deluxe, how similar is the Blues Deluxe circuit to that of a Fender 4x10 Bassman?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, I am really getting into amps and curious about the origins of circuits.

D.

[spoonie g]

I was thinking about this the other day. The place I was at had two bassman LTD's (used), one blues deluxe and one hot rod deluxe. I dont know about internal workings, but it seemed the clean wasn't quite as nice (as the bassman) on the blues deluxe and definitely not as nice on the hot rod. The bassman's clean is just so intoxicating I dont know if I could get myself to not buy it.

[Gtowngearhead]

I think the Blues circuits are supposed to be more closely based off of the Bassman circuit than the Hot Rod cousins.. But I couldn't be wrong. Obviously there's a big difference in the fact that the Bassman has 2 channels and 2 inputs per channel, allowing you to bridge the channels and have total control over the amp.

[angusvanfrehley]

Thanks for the input guys.

I had a Blues Deluxe when they were first released around 1993, and I dug it.

I used one at a gig last Friday night, and with my Route 66 pedal it just rocked!!

Am beginning to think it is not only the respective circuits, but that also both Bassmans and Blues Deluxes are fitted with 10'' speakers.

Anyone else out there have info on Bassman and Blues Deluxe circuit similarities?

[jakethesnake]

I thought I read somewhere that the blues was based off of the bassman and the hot rods were based off of the blues.

[Gtowngearhead]

Well the Hot Rod is the Blues, more or less, but it has that extra gain switch. I think they are both based off of the Bassman. There's a bassman in the forum I think for 750 right now...

[candid_x]

Normal channel in DRRI gets closer to a Bassman sound. Through 4x10's, who knows? It doesn't have the grunt with a 12.

[just_one_more]

They are fairly similar up to a point. The bassman has tube gain stage (2 in parallel that can both be driven)-> level control (one for each)-> tube gain stage-> tube cathode follwer driving tone stack-> Phase Inverter->Power tubes. The power supply is tube rectifier in the bassman LTD. This does make a difference, good or bad is a preference. There is some filtering down and padding between stages, but that is the basic topology. Pretty straight forward.
Blues Deluxe tube gain stage-> level control (clean)->tube gain stage-> tone stack (hung of the plate of gain stage 2, a high impedance node compared to the cathode of the bassman) -> drive level-> tube gain stage->master volume->opamp driven effects loop and opamp driven reverb-> phase inverter-> power amp. The power supply is solid state (diodes) which does make a difference, good or bad is up to you.There is filtering and other stuff along the way, but that is the basic topology. You can view the schematics at the fender site.
Some people get freaked out by opamp based effects loops, but to me as long as they are done correctly, what is the difference since pretty much everything you are going to put in the loop is not tube anyhow. I may be wrong as I have not traced it carefully, but it looks as though the effects loop (preamp out, power in) is not even in the path if nothing is connected to the jacks, so besides the reverb, if you are not using the loop, it is a tube path. Not sure if this helps or just adds confusion, but there it is.

[Pietro]

Blues Deluxe has a 12" speaker, doesn't it? Do you mean Blues Deville?

Kickin' amp, but the Bassman eats it for lunch.