by abstamaria » 25 Jun 2012, 04:41
I picked up a Fender Bassman TV15 amp the past Friday from the local Fender dealer, who had a freshly arrived one, still in a box (I thought Fender had discontinued the TV series). It is quite large and heavy - 64 lbs. Although it has pop-in casters, it would be difficult to lift and fit it into the trunk of a car. By the way, it came with a red tag that recommended removing the casters when playing to improve the sound and avoid rattles.
This our bassist Anna's amp, and we plan to use the TV15 only in the studio and the occasional show. It looks very vintage and would look great on stage. I tried it Saturday, and my impression is that it sounds more defined that the Ampeg Anna referred to above, which has a lovely, very vintage tone and is my standard. However, the Fender will not sound out of place, I think, in an early Shadows piece, as it also has a "vintage" tone to it; the 15" speaker helps. That was not the case with a new model Bassman I had some years ago, which had a very modern, punchy bass sound that I didn't like and couldn't compensate for with the tone controls.
I used a fairly new Precision Bass with the TV15 and noted that pushing the button on the PBass's volume knob has a more pronounced effect on tone than on the Ampeg. It would be great for a quick tone shift for "36-24-26." I should do a back-to-back comparison, though, as memory isn't a very reliable standard.
The TV15 has the old-style passive tone controls, where, according to what I gathered from the Internet, treble and bass are boost only and middle reduce only. A flat setting,, is 0-10-0 (treble, middle, bass). The owner's manual just says "these are tone controls" and is no help at all.
I played the TV15 (which is rated at 350W) with the volume knob about midway, expecting to be drowned by the bass in my small garage studio. But the sound was still quite clean and not oppressive at all. However, one of our staff who was some 30 meters away, working behind a low set of garages, later came to me and said it was surprising how very clearly he could hear me. It wasn't like that with the Ampeg (100W). That is a credit perhaps to the newly applied acoustic treatment in the garage/studio and also the power of the TV15. Or maybe it was a quieter day than usual, with the wind blowing in the right direction.
I think the all-tube Ampeg still has the sweeter and more refined sound. But I am not a bass player, so I am eager to have the band and Anna try the Fender out. I will request her to post a report when she does.
Best,
Andy
Last edited by
abstamaria on 23 Sep 2012, 10:32, edited 1 time in total.