What can I do to an early 70's bandmaster?

[redshark]

Hey guys!! hello from the trainwreck side!!

I have an early 70's bandmaster stock and I know Dumble has modded a few fenders to sound better. I have no knowledge about the Dumble thing and I would like to see if you guys can give me advice or refer me to some documents that describe the mods I can do to make my amp sound better.
Thanks!!

[PaisleyTube]

early/brown Bandmasters (combo, 3x10" ????)
are worth a lot more money than the later blackface and silverface ones

!!!!

most Bandmasters modified by mr. Dumble were blackface ones afaik.

Maybe it's wiser to purchase a chassis/set transformers/etc. and start building your D-clone.

[redshark]

Sorry!! early 70's!!!

It is a silverface!! I know, silly me!!

I just had seen some videos of amps modded by him with something called ultraphonic mod or something that gave the amp that clean lead tone almost like a ODS but in the clean channel with boost and that you can clean with your guitar volume control. Does some mod like that exist?

[PaisleyTube]

ODS and SSS schematics (and a lot of diy/building info) are on this site, ultraphonix not (yet).

have fun and rebuild that amp!

[ic-racer]

This thread documents what I did to a 70s Fender Amp:
https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... win+reverb

I used the amp for a number of tracks on my latest CD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlPjDWY0NXI

I did not come up with my schematic out of the blue (I think there is a pun there), I started here and worked until it sounded how I wanted it to:
http://blueguitar.org/new/articles/blue ... olnorm.pdf
That PDF shows how to add ROCK, JAZZ and PAB and DEEP to a Fender amp. I had enough faceplate space I did all 4.

[ampdoc1]

Gut it!! Keep the chassis and transformers. I've done this twice with 70's Fenders. Once putting in a version of the Express with multiple choices for output power. Tthe other,...a point to point build with an Express pre, Dumble OD, and Dumblator. Both great amps that get used a lot.

[Blindog]

Like ic-racer said, you could gut it and turn it into a D style amp like I did with my early 70's Bassman 10...

https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

I miss this one, had to sell it recently.

If I recall, you're in the ATL area, right? I'd be happy to help ya..

Good luck on whatever you decide to do with it!

Mark

[redshark]

Instead of gutting it I was thinking about certain mods just to get a thicker preamp sound with more sustain and a little bit more touch sensitive. Black and silverfaces are kinda stiff feeling for me and not dynamic.

[Teleguy61]

The various D style preamps are all more touch sensitive than the standard Fender preamp, which is quite stiff, and is frequently used with a boost of some kind to get some give.
A BM style with and adjustable PAB, making the R on the bottom of the bass control adjustable, can add a lot. A high plate with PAB and Mid Boost is pretty flexible gain wise.
And the PI values in D style amps are much more touch sensitive than the standard Fender values.

[Luthierwnc]

Not so sure I'd mod that one. Unless it has already been hack-butchered, chances are good you can off it and get all the parts for something else -- and get the extra headroom for totem-pole caps and the extra chassis depth for a wider board. Plus, Bandmaster OTs were generally under-spec-ed compared to the same size Bassmans. You will lose some of the clean and bottom end with the lighter iron.

I'm not saying don't do it (I'll certainly burn in the lowest pit of amp hackery for my sins) -- just do the math on the parts against the EBay value of your head and consider the options. PT ought to be fine

Cheers, Skip

PS what kind of speakers were you thinking of?

[Teleguy61]

Plus, Bandmaster OTs were generally under-spec-ed compared to the same size Bassmans. You will lose some of the clean and bottom end with the lighter iron.

This has always been the deal breaker for me with Bandmasters, and Pros.
The smaller OT seems to work out better in Vibroluxes, but the Bassman and Twin OTs rule for my money.

[Bear]

This has always been the deal breaker for me with Bandmasters, and Pros.
The smaller OT seems to work out better in Vibroluxes, but the Bassman and Twin OTs rule for my money.

It's curious, that. Lots of people love Vibroluxes. Something about how the pair of tens delivers with the smaller transformer's compression and narrower bandwidth? I used to have a Bandmaster Reverb that I could never really crank at the time, but when I did it pushed the JBL K110s in a closed Fender cab into a pretty sweet grind. (Wish I still had that stuff.)