NAD: Fender Musicmaster Bass - Thoughts?

[lifeson1]

I crawled in at 4 AM from a Village gig last night, got a few hours sleep and then got woken up by my building super who said told me a tenant was looking to unload some guitar amplifiers, so I crawled downstairs to the basement, and ow and behold the guy had an original 70's Musicmaster Bass amp, along with a butchered Peavey Backstage Amp he wanted to unload. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse, $50 for both amps, so now I'm trying to figure out what I can do to maximize the Fender. It's ALL original, tubes, speaker and all. Think the innards may need to be cleaned a bit, but I'd love to get it in condition to be a nice practice amp with my board. . . Thoughts on improvements, mods, or should I just flip it toward a DR or Bassman?

[Lost_Cause]

The MMBA sounds awesome just as it stands. Crank it and stand back. It is a total mini Marshall. Maybe a different speaker but they sound great and for $50? Who needs MODS?

[treeofpain]

Looks like a 1978 model...

[smolder]

MMB is a cool amp. Did you get a 6v6 version? Head over to hasserl.com - he has a couple of cool mods for that amp. With a great speaker (not the stock one) it really kills. I have a brown fender special in mine... but if you want marshall tone, a greenback kills as well.

Edit - the open back in that cab kills any sort of projection for being on stage if you're planning to use it as a guitar amp. I simply made an additional panel, but you could make a bigger one for the bottom portion of the back.

[lifeson1]

Well, I'm not getting any bass through this thing right now, and I think the input jack may need some work, so I'm trying to assess what may be causing it.

[mcneilp]

Mine was super bright upon arrival, no low end. I did both of the hasserl mods (coupling cap and volume/tone mod) and was a lot happier with the amp. Both are very non-invasive and reversible.

[lifeson1]

Originally Posted by mcneilp

Mine was super bright upon arrival, no low end. I did both of the hasserl mods (coupling cap and volume/tone mod) and was a lot happier with the amp. Both are very non-invasive and reversible.

Did you switch out the speaker, as wee?

[mcneilp]

I keep going back and forth from the original (cts square magnet ceramic) and an eminence special design from a hot rod deluxe. I prefer the eminence overall but I do like the lower efficiency and early breakup of the cts. It sounds like it may rip apart at anytime.

[smolder]

I put a brown fender ceramic in mine and it really came alive. This after trying a greenback, a g12h30 ans a celestion gold. It was the right match by far.

[JKjr]

I have a couple,love 'em. To me the best thing about a MMB is the stupid simple circuit. I've never seen another amp that morphs with simple tube and speaker swaps like these will. 5881's and a V30 you're standing in London, Yellow Jackets and EL84 plus Alnico Blue, Liverpool. Or just stock with your favorite Jensen type. Just changing the preamp tube can have a profound effect. It's the amp that's always "out" next to my favorite chair. For the last few months I've been running old coke bottle 6L6's, a GE 12AX7, a ceramic Jensen I snatched out of Silvertone organ, and a Mr Springee reverb. As good a clean as my BFTR at speaking volume on up to a wonderful Fender crunch. I've seen no reason to mod the amp but I'm sure a good tech could make an already very good amp a great one.

[Fab4ever]

I put a Weber Signature in mine and it was MUCH improved over stock. Oh and keep the "tone" control way low... 2 or 3ish for me. Any more and it's too fizzy and bright.

[TheCiscoKid784]

I picked one up yesterday and I'm floored. I replaced one of the generic Mesa tubes with a Tung-Sol (I'd never tried intentionally mismatching tubes, but it works perfectly in this amp giving a nice balance of the strident highs of the Mesa and the warmth of the Tung Sol) and threw a reverb in front of if and I could not stop playing. The tone control is pretty useless...it pretty much stays at about 3.5 for me. I'm going to try out the Hasserl mod tonight and see what I think, however, I've read it sucks some life out of the amp. If that's the case, I'll reverse the mod and keep the tone setting where I have it now. I have some .022 caps in the mail to pump up the bass a little. I actually kind of like the speaker in it right now. It's not the square magnet speaker everyone seems to loathe, but a silver basket with a small round magnet and a blue fender sticker. It's probably not the greatest, but it works. Overall, I'd highly recommend this amp. You might be surprised with how it sounds stock, it really doesn't need a lot of sorcery to make it sound great.

[stellablue]

I had mine modded with the Fender Harvard tone stack. I also installed an Eminence Legend. Paid 60.00 for it a while back. It's a smokin little amp.

[TheCiscoKid784]

What did you think about the Harvard tone mod? Did it change the overall tone of the amp?

[stellablue]

Originally Posted by TheCiscoKid784

What did you think about the Harvard tone mod? Did it change the overall tone of the amp?

No, but it did give me a more usable sweep with the tone knob. I also changed the value on the volume pot, added a fuse, and a standby switch. I didn't do the work myself.