Pedals For BlackFace Bassman

[MikeEd]

I’m thinking about getting a 67 Blackface Bassman and pairing it with a Fluxtone speaker to attenuate volume. However these amps don’t have any built in effects. I would like to have reverb and vibrato.

I currently have a couple 5 watt amps that I am going to sell to finance the Bassman. I have a Swart Atomic Space Tone Jr head that has a really nice tube driven reverb. And I have a Vintage Magnatone model 410 combo that has a really nice pitch shifting vibrato. I am wondering if there are any reverb and vibrato pedals that can get me close to the sounds of amps?

I don’t have much experience with pedals. But I want to find out if you know of any pedals that would sound good with a Bassman. I want to avoid a high end fizzy sound; I want to maintain the clarity of the amp.

I would probably run level of the effects on the low side, just enough to know that it is there. Are there any pedals that would give me the effects I’m looking for and be somewhat transparent and far as the basic tone of the amp is concerned?

I’ll be playing a Les Paul with 57 Classic pickups.

 

[coltonius]

My main gigging amp is a BF Bassman, and I have settled on the Menatone Fish Factory for my drive tones. The Red Snapper side is open and articulate; it's the OG 'transparent' overdrive, and it can be used as a tone shaping boost up to a light-medium overdrive. Not very much compression at all. The Blue Collar in the updated/vertical FF version is more balanced (less bass heavy) than previous versions I've tried and offers an excellent contrast to the Snapper. They stack beautifully, and there's an order switching toggle for added versatility!

 

[killer blues]

I’m thinking about getting a 67 Blackface Bassman and pairing it with a Fluxtone speaker to attenuate volume. However these amps don’t have any built in effects. I would like to have reverb and vibrato.

I currently have a couple 5 watt amps that I am going to sell to finance the Bassman. I have a Swart Atomic Space Tone Jr head that has a really nice tube driven reverb. And I have a Vintage Magnatone model 410 combo that has a really nice pitch shifting vibrato. I am wondering if there are any reverb and vibrato pedals that can get me close to the sounds of amps?

I don’t have much experience with pedals. But I want to find out if you know of any pedals that would sound good with a Bassman. I want to avoid a high end fizzy sound; I want to maintain the clarity of the amp.

I would probably run level of the effects on the low side, just enough to know that it is there. Are there any pedals that would give me the effects I’m looking for and be somewhat transparent and far as the basic tone of the amp is concerned?

I’ll be playing a Les Paul with 57 Classic pickups.

my main amp forever is a 65 bassman. for a little push i use a durham sexdrive or i goose a pair of tube screamers with it. i would get an add on effects loop installed and run reverbs through that. fizzy sound is usually too much guitar volume or the wrong pot values. if you play humbucker guitars just get a good boost pedal. an lp through a bassman is pure fire.

 

[MikeEd]

I was mainly thinking about reverb and vibrato but we may as well cover drive pedals and chorus.

On the other hand, I wonder how many players just play straight in and forget about the pedals? Do you like your tone with pedals as much as you do without?

 

[Stormin]

I have an early ‘68 Silverface Bassman and it does great with either a Tube Screamer or an OCD in the front. Really, any good OD will work well here.

I haven’t dealt with any vibrato (not my thing), but I really like my Roland Space Echo with it, set for a tight slap back. That unit also does a nice reverb but I think the slap sounds better for what I do.

 

[lamp]

I’ve got a ‘64 Bassman and run a Strymon Flint into it for Reverb/Tremolo and that works really well. For drive it seems to like most thing to be honest. But a Rat type and and SD-1 sound pretty awesome. A DS-1 into a Bluesbreaker into the Bassman also sounds killer.

 

[john l]

Bassmans are and plexis are my favorite amps of all time and their overdrive is what I bought them for so I generally just boost them with mid heavy drives.

 

[Gentlebear]

My main gigging amp is a BF Bassman, and I have settled on the Menatone Fish Factory for my drive tones. The Red Snapper side is open and articulate; it's the OG 'transparent' overdrive, and it can be used as a tone shaping boost up to a light-medium overdrive. Not very much compression at all. The Blue Collar in the updated/vertical FF version is more balanced (less bass heavy) than previous versions I've tried and offers an excellent contrast to the Snapper. They stack beautifully, and there's an order switching toggle for added versatility!

I have both of these pedals; perfect for black face amps.

Not cheap, but highly recommended.

Ha! I just noticed the fish is a “blue collar” fish.

 

[coltranemi2012]

Am I crazy to think that most pedals work with most amps? Then it's just figuring out what flavor/direction you are looking for?

 

[TubeLife]

I would check out the Source Audio True Spring pedal. Awesome spring reverb and Tremolo built in as well. I pair mine with a 72’ Bassman.

 

[coltonius]

Am I crazy to think that most pedals work with most amps? Then it's just figuring out what flavor/direction you are looking for?

I think the "flavor/direction" defines what "works" though.

 

[coltranemi2012]

I think the "flavor/direction" defines what "works" though.

I guess. Maybe I don't get it, but I have multiple amps that use the same pedals and they all "work"?

 

[pulse.]

For more than 4-5 years I pair my 67 Bassman with a Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale for a true spring reverb and analog tremolo. Couldn’t be happier.

 

[jamester]

Strymon Flint, year after year.

Gives me consistent reverb/trem across all my single channel Fenders, including my '64 Bassman...

 

[GA20T]

If I were going to slum it with non amp/unit spring/tube reverb, it'd be the SA True Spring or Surfybear unit.

Trem: SA Vertigo (love mine)

Vibrato: Behringer UV-300, Waza VB-2, TC Shaker mini, Fulltone CS MDV (like and use all of these), or Bigfoot Maggie (want, but more expensive than my Magnatone)

 

[Wyatt Martin]

Always a Boss SD1 when I had my '66 AB165 Bassman.

 

[-Hawk-]

I gig with a 68. I usually have it around 8.5 volume and use a Fryette PS-2.

I use Sun Face and/or a Fulltone Rangemaster if I want something extra, but the amp overdrive is killer on its own. The other standard overdrives work well too.

Nice thing about the PS-2 is I can put reverb and delay in the loop.

 

[YYZ]

I gig with a 68. I usually have it around 8.5 volume and use a Fryette PS-2.

I use Sun Face and/or a Fulltone Rangemaster if I want something extra, but the amp overdrive is killer on its own. The other standard overdrives work well too.

Nice thing about the PS-2 is I can put reverb and delay in the loop.

What cab you using?

 

[gldtp99]

I believe that a BF Bassman takes pedals as well as, or better, than most amps ever made

Both AA864 and AB165 BF Bassman circuits work well with pedals with the AA864 circuit being more of a Clean Pedal Platform and the AB165 adding more natural Crunch/OD (depending on how hard it's pushed)

But most pedals will sound great with either BF Bassman version

I also had a later SF Bassman 50 that was a good sounding amp and took pedals very well

I serviced a SF Bassman 100 for a local studio, for years, and it took everything that almost every player in town could throw at it and just kept on performing for both Guitar and Bass duties

BF/SF Bassman heads and Pedals are a "Win/Win" combination, IME

 

[straightblues]

I would agree, Bassmans take loads of drive pedals well. They are great sounding amps.