On 2004-02-02, Jesse Skene rated this Fender Bassman a 4...(7765)
Purchase: Aquired at Pearson/Mcfadyen music for about $260, new, as a practice amp.
Pros: When I first turned this amp on, I was surprised by the power of the output. Despite its low wattage, the amp puts out quite a loud sound, and the preamp is capable of driving a much larger speaker than the one it's built on to. The preamp also has a nice slew of features, especially considering the low wattage. In addition to the standard features(Volume, instrument in, Bass/Mid/Treble control) it has a second input for a preamped instrument, an audio line in for a CD player or whatever else you elect to hook up to it, mute switch, mid booster, and separate volume control for the audio line in. In addition to the controls, it has an effects loop, tuner out, line out, and external cabinet out. Very nice.
Cons: The sound quality is overall good, but it gets pretty noisy as it's cranked up, and loses some of its tone quality as well. It also could have been packaged with a slightly larger speaker, which I suspect would do wonders for the problems it has at high volumes as well. But, overall, a good unit, especially considering the small size and low wattage.
Quality: This amp has served very well, excluding a period of about 2 weeks where it fed back, the sound quality broke up, and generally failed to function at all. A guitarist and drummer executed a savage beating upon it following the interruption of a good rehearsal, and that solved the problem. I guess some component had come loose and they kicked it back into place. I'm not quite sure what this says about the quality of the amp, but I've decided to forget about it, since I never had a problem again.
Review Summary: Overall, a very good amp, which overcomes low wattage, small size, and a pretty low price tag to deliver a slew of useful features and a surprisingly large sound. For gigs it needs an extension cab or a PA, but it can hold its own in any practice, even with pretty loud drums.
