Fender Bassman 500 review

[jwindham]

Hey folks,

I recently spent some in-store testing with the new Fender Bassman 500. My first impression once unboxed was- wow this thing is LIGHT. Even in the headcase, it can literally be tossed in the air!

I was able to try this amp with a Fender Bassman 115 neo, and the 610 neo. First off, this head is not lacking in volume. Its a very stout 500 watts. Thru the 8ohm 115 neo it was warm, round with a bit of high mid cut. This should be plenty loud for most players for practice, and gigs. Both channels offer a lot of versatility, but the vintage channel just has a warm, sit in the mix tone. It does not quite have the extra depth/saturation of power tubes, but it does give quite a bit of clean headroom- more than I remember with the 100t I played. Running at full power thru the 610 neo, the 500 was even more stout, girthy, and cutting thru the midrange. The 610 neo has a lot more attack thru the midrange, while still keeping a pretty warm tone. In a dense loud rock situation with Marshall stacks, this may be the preffered cab. That said, the 115 neo has a very 'classic', fuller tonality, but can still crank. I also liked the slightly beefier bottom, more full spectrum, rounder top end of the 115. I preferred the tweeter off on both cabs- and felt the amp could dial in a bright enough tone for most folks run that way. I was using a passive precision, but i'd imagine it would pair well with a variety of basses. Overall, its a fairly impressive amp from my short experience...However, I would Love to give the Superbassman a proper spin. The extra warmth, & depth of a well designed all tube amp can be quite special, as we know.

Ive been trying some different amps the last few months from Ampeg, Ashdown, Fender etc. Next on my list is the orange ob1-500. My experience with the Bassman 500 is limited to in-store only, and I would have liked to explore more of the features and options. That said, it seems to be really well-designed, and would make a nice lightweight, powerful amp. For those already in love with your all-tubers, it may not replace the 'feel' of those amps. But, I could see it being a very solid backup, or lead amp when the extra weight could be a bit much. I'm also curious how it would compare to the rumble 500, as they share the same poweramp.

Edited April 8, 2015 by jwindham

[geofio]

my experience with the orange OB1 500
https://www.facebook.com/geofio/videos/10206635492181512/?pnref=story

[afterimage]

Looks nice too

[Lee Love]

Hi there. I know this is ancient thread but thought I’d give it a go. 

Picked one of these up used a few weeks ago n rehearsed last night with it against two loud guitarists n a kit. Using with matching 8 ohm fender 410 neo 
Simply found I couldn’t get enough volume out of it and the peak light was on continually - is there some weird trick I’m missing? The OD channel (although great) was playing havoc with my Ric pickups too. 
made the lightweight swap from my terror bass (which has miles n miles of spare volume) but think I’ll have to head back (?!?) 
 

[MacDaddy]

[Lee Love]

?!? Obv it’s about a the issue I have with a fender bassman 500 😜 but you can have a picture of you like?! 

[MacDaddy]

1 hour ago, Lee Love said:

?!? Obv it’s about a the issue I have with a fender bassman 500 😜 but you can have a picture of you like?! 

it is though isn't it 😍