ok, i still believe the Fender bassman circuits are the best sounding (with notable exceptions). the 300Pro (actually a bit closer to a Dynaco mk34 preamp circuit) but still a viable choice. Fender just changed the name plate on the Sunn 300T and is marketing it (they bought the Sunn company) but the power is just what a guy needs with today's guitards going for power. the bass signals require a lot of power vs guitards signals or you get lost trying to keep up with them not to mention a hard hitting miked drummer can bury you also. you will need about 3 times the power of a guitard to stay with him (or her) due to low frequency/power need.
"I don't know when Leo decided the Bassman was really a guitar amp...Wyatt" ... they really didn't have "bass" toned speakers then much less tuned cabs and i think guitards really were the ones liking the early bassman tweed series then it caught on! prolly the same reason that latter bass players started liking the Showman's/Twins for bass. it worked with the higher power in sealed cabs. tweeds/tweed preamps/tweed amps in general suck for playing bass!
for classic rock, country just about anything at small/medium venues and providing your guitard isn't driving a lot of watts (30 or less) you can get by with 50 hard driving watts (miked sometimes) or 100 watts. i use an insanely old dual cell Fender Bassman speaker cab with two 12" G12t-75 Celestions in it, a Bassman 10-50 watts and am happy with the old 60's sounds i get but my Epiphone EBO bass is highly modified with a 60's Gibson "Mudbucker", Grover tuners and a Gibson Thunderbird tail piece to help with string harmonics transfering to the body all soon to be transfered to an all Mahogany bodied custom Les Paul Junior (think 59 Gibson EBO) build. (pardon my straight vs Gibson curved) Fender finger rest. it's simply more economical to chop a cheap Epi than it is to start off making changes on a vintage Gibby or having a custom build without any idea of what a player wants in tone.
as is:
those are just my qualifications and i do play bass and this is just my opinion FWIW.
however:
i am wanting a bigger amp for larger gigs because miking is not the same as
stage presence. the present considerations are:
1) Don's BFA as in other blogs here at DIYTube
http://www.diytube.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2868
http://www.diytube.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1436
2) Dan Torres 200 Bass power amp which is a kit and would need a separate preamp or one added
3) A Fender AB763 (Twin, Showman) tone circuit (essentially a bassman circuit on the normal side) on a 160-200 watt power circuit with an old NOS Fender OPT which i recently got and am planning on running with 4 or 6 tubes for more headroom so i can keep the tone clean (read
POWER) for reasons mentioned above and the fact that i really like making double bass tones electrically (why i play flat wounds on that old Mudbucker and send Fender Precisions running back to momma and ask if they can come back as a banjo!!!...i do plan on making a Sadowsky Killer based on a Precision though!
think about what kind of music you play, if you want a clean sound or a guitar through a bassman circuit for an overdriven sound (vs finger technique tonal changes). if you are going to be miked or not.
i would lean towards the 864 or a Bassman 10 preamp circuit. no disrespect to Don but i like the "Fender" amp sound and a lot of it has to do with the preamp circuit.
speakers are a totally different subject!!!
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