Preposterous new cab day (vintage Fender content)

[ossyrocks]

I blame Martin (@The fasting showman) for this. He sent me a message yesterday about an old Fender Bassman cab which was for sale on Facebook about an hours drive from me.

 

I didn't know I wanted one of these cabs, and to be honest, I'm still not sure! But it was so cheap that it didn't make any sense not to go and buy it. So here it is. I am still in shock as to how big, heavy and awkward it is, the pics on Facebook didn't give a clue to scale, and I certainly needed help getting it in the back of my car from the house. Now it's home, I'm trying to figure out how to convince my wife that it's a good idea to keep it, when I don't have anywhere really to actually keep it!

 

The speaker is a reconed JBL D140F apparently, but I'll check that out in due course. Anyway, feel free to roast my stupidity at today's purchase. Though it does look quite nice with my Bassman 50 on it I must say.

 

Rob

 

[Lozz196]

Does look great. I had a similar setup back in the 80s.

[walshy]

Not helping my Bassman gas at all this post 🤣

[Reggaebass]

It matches really well, very nice 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Mmm. Fender Bassman which I can’t move or a Barefaced which I already have 😎.

I’m happy you’re pleased with it Rob. Good luck with Mrs.Ossy.

[The fasting showman]

I've always been a bad influence!

[PaulThePlug]

Looks fine where it is...

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Judging by the vintage if loaded with JBL it's probably an E140. If you don't see a 10cm diameter aluminum dome it's not JBL. 

[andytoad]

Looking F.A.B @ossyrocks keep up the good work i'd say!

[Beedster]

7 hours ago, ossyrocks said:

I blame Martin (@The fasting showman) for this. He sent me a message yesterday about an old Fender Bassman cab which was for sale on Facebook about an hours drive from me.

 

I didn't know I wanted one of these cabs, and to be honest, I'm still not sure! But it was so cheap that it didn't make any sense not to go and buy it. So here it is. I am still in shock as to how big, heavy and awkward it is, the pics on Facebook didn't give a clue to scale, and I certainly needed help getting it in the back of my car from the house. Now it's home, I'm trying to figure out how to convince my wife that it's a good idea to keep it, when I don't have anywhere really to actually keep it!

 

The speaker is a reconed JBL D140F apparently, but I'll check that out in due course. Anyway, feel free to roast my stupidity at today's purchase. Though it does look quite nice with my Bassman 50 on it I must say.

 

Rob

 

 

Proper Basschat behaviour 👍

[ossyrocks]

1 hour ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

Judging by the vintage if loaded with JBL it's probably an E140. If you don't see a 10cm diameter aluminum dome it's not JBL. 

Well, I've pulled it to check. D140F with the orange frame. Reconed, but with paper dust cap.

 

I've fired it up tonight, and it's got a proper old school vibe going on with a P bass with flats.

 

My wife is not convinced however.

 

Rob

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Since the dome is paper it was probably re-coned with a 2226 kit. Not ideal, but it still works. As to the wife, a man should have as many amps as his wife does shoes. 

Edited Thursday at 19:19 by Bill Fitzmaurice

[The fasting showman]

35 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

 

 

My wife is not convinced however.

 

Rob

Probably best you don't tell Mrs Rob that you took advice from a bloke with this in his living room corner.

[ossyrocks]

On 23/10/2025 at 20:07, ossyrocks said:

Well, I've pulled it to check. D140F with the orange frame. Reconed, but with paper dust cap.

 

I've fired it up tonight, and it's got a proper old school vibe going on with a P bass with flats.

 

My wife is not convinced however.

 

Rob

 

I'm going to try to hang onto this cab and see if I can use it occasionally. It would also be interesting to take into the studio next year when we're planning to do some recording.

 

Please have a look at the speaker frame. This speaker mounts into the cab from the front, so I would have thought it would have had some kind of gasket around the rear edge of the frame. There's certainly remnants of all kinds of gunk around the rear edge now. I was wondering if it would benefit from a gentle cleaning up and applying a new gasket before refitting into the cab? Please share any thoughts you may have, and also if you know a source for a suitable gasket.

 

I'm also thinking about casters. It appears to have had some before, but they would need to be really heavy duty, and perhaps secured with T-nuts inside rather than just woodscrews.

 

Rob

[Dan Dare]

Brings back memories of the time when I had Bassman 1x15 and 2x15 cabs and the 135 head. Great sound, but heavy and bulky. I ditched the stock rubbish drivers in favour of Black Widows.

 

I added castors to the 1x15 (the 2x15 had them already - neat removeable ones that had a shaft that plugged into sleeves mounted in the bottom of the cab). I used bolts and nyloc nuts to secure them and never had any issues.

 

You can get self-adhesive foam speaker mounting gasket tape on eBay. Just buy the length you need. Some of the hi-fi DIY firms sell it, too (I know Falcon Acoustics does - I've bought it from them).

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

3 hours ago, ossyrocks said:

Please have a look at the speaker frame. This speaker mounts into the cab from the front, so I would have thought it would have had some kind of gasket around the rear edge of the frame. 

When the D140F was introduced front mounting was rarely use, so they didn't come with a gasket. IMO that driver pre-dates the cab, so it probably wasn't a factory installation. The fact that it was reconed adds to that opinion. In any event yes, you should clean it up and use a new gasket or 2mm neoprene gasket tape.