Tweet
You want frustration? I’ve got your frustration right here!
Last February, I picked up a Bassman 135 for a good price $300-something, I don’t remember exact price. Previous owner played it with 4 mis-matched output tubes, at least one of which was completely dead. It didn’t look like it had ever had any kind of service.
Mr. Steve "Nevetslab", having just relocated to my neighborhood, was recommended by several on this forum and I brought my amp to him with pretty much an open order – “make it right, keep me informed, but use your best judgment on what needs to be done”.
A couple of weeks later I received a fully serviced and great sounding amp with a couple of minor upgrades (technical upgrades – bias adjustment, etc. – no attempt to change sound of amp). The service cost doubled my original investment, but the amp was now ‘like new’ and should last the rest of my life. (or not…..)
I was between serious gigs, so I dragged the amp to some basement / garage jams, but no real rehearsals or shows. Then my apartment building burned down!.... The good news is that the best gear was elsewhere (early 60s Precisions, 65 Ampeg portaflex, etc.) but a reissue Longhorn, an Aguilar TH500 and an Aguilar DB112 cab, along with the Bassman , were in the building.
Dano reissue with fake tweed case escaped any damage; the plastic gig bag showed major soot and minor melting on outside and was tossed. But the Longhorn was like new – a tiny bit of soot got through the gig bags zipper, but wiped right off the luxurious formica finish.
TH500 amp was in a computer bag at bottom of closet –once again, bag was ruined, but amp showed zero signs of any impact.
DB112 cab and Bassman not so lucky. Both were sitting on floor, uncovered. Due to more serious things to deal with after fire, both of these went straight to storage. Pulled the cab last month and was pleasantly surprised at how easy clean up went. Took everything apart except did not remove speaker from baffle board. Cab escaped any fire, heat or water damage, but soot / smoke was extensive. But most seemed to travel by gravity (top down) not by wind, so little blew in sideways. The cloth grill stopped 90% of the soot from reaching speaker cone and surrounding baffle. Tolex is now clean to touch, but is permanently a few shades darker than the matching cabinet that I had at a storage space. Black metal hardware is like new; chrome hardware looks good until compared to other cab which is much brighter / shinier. Didn’t want to test with amp until cleanup was complete and I had the other matching cab at home for comparison. Amp test later this week. I’m betting that cab works fine.
Brought Bassman home from storage two days ago. It appears to have taken harder hit than bass cab. In addition to the full service that Steve had performed, I had spent several hours gluing down loose tolex flaps, cleaning everything that could be cleaned, etc. It looked almost as nice as it sounded. But now the soot is thick enough that it comes off in chunks on some parts of amp. The tolex is destroyed – not sure if from corrosive components of soot / smoke or ??? (I always wondered about guys that stripped the tolex off of their Fender heads and went for the hardwood look – I may be forced to join them; Can anyone comment on the process of stripping Fender tolex?)
My plan – dis-assemble everything short of removing chassis from cabinet (unless you really know what you are doing, removing the chassis almost always results in a badly bent front control panel. I’ll leave that step to the professionals) As each piece comes off, it gets cleaned, bagged, labelled and stored away. When I’ve removed every knob, tube, piece of hardware, etc., I will then attempt to clean the cabinet / chassis as best I can. At that point, I will return the amp to Mr. Steve to complete the job. I’m hoping that when he pulls the chassis, that the insides are mostly clean and he can concentrate on powering up the amp and testing to see whether the amp is worth saving or if I should just put my money towards another amp? 135s aren’t as common as they once were and like all other pre-1980 Fenders, the prices are only going in one direction. I’m willing to put in the work and the costs to save this amp but the numbers have to make sense.
I’ll post updates as progress occurs. Photos: first - as recieved from prior owner with mismatched / dead tubes; second - after full service; third - current condition
Last February, I picked up a Bassman 135 for a good price $300-something, I don’t remember exact price. Previous owner played it with 4 mis-matched output tubes, at least one of which was completely dead. It didn’t look like it had ever had any kind of service.
Mr. Steve "Nevetslab", having just relocated to my neighborhood, was recommended by several on this forum and I brought my amp to him with pretty much an open order – “make it right, keep me informed, but use your best judgment on what needs to be done”.
A couple of weeks later I received a fully serviced and great sounding amp with a couple of minor upgrades (technical upgrades – bias adjustment, etc. – no attempt to change sound of amp). The service cost doubled my original investment, but the amp was now ‘like new’ and should last the rest of my life. (or not…..)
I was between serious gigs, so I dragged the amp to some basement / garage jams, but no real rehearsals or shows. Then my apartment building burned down!.... The good news is that the best gear was elsewhere (early 60s Precisions, 65 Ampeg portaflex, etc.) but a reissue Longhorn, an Aguilar TH500 and an Aguilar DB112 cab, along with the Bassman , were in the building.
Dano reissue with fake tweed case escaped any damage; the plastic gig bag showed major soot and minor melting on outside and was tossed. But the Longhorn was like new – a tiny bit of soot got through the gig bags zipper, but wiped right off the luxurious formica finish.
TH500 amp was in a computer bag at bottom of closet –once again, bag was ruined, but amp showed zero signs of any impact.
DB112 cab and Bassman not so lucky. Both were sitting on floor, uncovered. Due to more serious things to deal with after fire, both of these went straight to storage. Pulled the cab last month and was pleasantly surprised at how easy clean up went. Took everything apart except did not remove speaker from baffle board. Cab escaped any fire, heat or water damage, but soot / smoke was extensive. But most seemed to travel by gravity (top down) not by wind, so little blew in sideways. The cloth grill stopped 90% of the soot from reaching speaker cone and surrounding baffle. Tolex is now clean to touch, but is permanently a few shades darker than the matching cabinet that I had at a storage space. Black metal hardware is like new; chrome hardware looks good until compared to other cab which is much brighter / shinier. Didn’t want to test with amp until cleanup was complete and I had the other matching cab at home for comparison. Amp test later this week. I’m betting that cab works fine.
Brought Bassman home from storage two days ago. It appears to have taken harder hit than bass cab. In addition to the full service that Steve had performed, I had spent several hours gluing down loose tolex flaps, cleaning everything that could be cleaned, etc. It looked almost as nice as it sounded. But now the soot is thick enough that it comes off in chunks on some parts of amp. The tolex is destroyed – not sure if from corrosive components of soot / smoke or ??? (I always wondered about guys that stripped the tolex off of their Fender heads and went for the hardwood look – I may be forced to join them; Can anyone comment on the process of stripping Fender tolex?)
My plan – dis-assemble everything short of removing chassis from cabinet (unless you really know what you are doing, removing the chassis almost always results in a badly bent front control panel. I’ll leave that step to the professionals) As each piece comes off, it gets cleaned, bagged, labelled and stored away. When I’ve removed every knob, tube, piece of hardware, etc., I will then attempt to clean the cabinet / chassis as best I can. At that point, I will return the amp to Mr. Steve to complete the job. I’m hoping that when he pulls the chassis, that the insides are mostly clean and he can concentrate on powering up the amp and testing to see whether the amp is worth saving or if I should just put my money towards another amp? 135s aren’t as common as they once were and like all other pre-1980 Fenders, the prices are only going in one direction. I’m willing to put in the work and the costs to save this amp but the numbers have to make sense.
I’ll post updates as progress occurs. Photos: first - as recieved from prior owner with mismatched / dead tubes; second - after full service; third - current condition
Comment