Fender Bassman Serial Number

Fender Bassman Serial Number Dating
1956 Fender Bassman Serial Numbers
Fender Stratocaster Mij Serial Number E853244
Fender Bassman Cabinet Serial Numbers
Fender Bassman Serial Numbers

There used to be a link on the Fender website for amp dating from the serial numbers. However Superior Music has done a really good summary and here is a link to their website. This will enable you to figure out the year your amp was made.Link Superior Music – Fender Amp, Amplifier Serial Numbers.
Fender Bassman Cranked to 10! (Full Volume)Here I gradually cranked my original Fender Bassman 1964 (A real one, not a fender bassman 59 reissue) to 10 to se.

5891

Another way to get a close estimate of when your amp was made is to read the codes on the transformers. Most post tweed Fenders had trannys manufactured by Schumacher. They used a code like this: 606 – 645 The date is in the last three digits, after the 606 –.

What a lot of people do not know is that the 1964 6G6-B
Bassman with Utah Speakers was actually the most recorded amplifier
used by The Beatles. The amp was first used by Paul McCartney as his
main bass amp from 1965 to mid 1967 (he did use a Vox during this time
but not as much as the Bassman). In 1966 and 1967 John Lennon and
George Harrison shared it (sometimes playing their guitars through the
amp at the same time) and from early 1967 George Harrison took it over
as his main amp. This amp was then used on a few of the early John
Lennon solo albums when George was there and then George used it as
his main solo amp. It even became George’s main amp when they did
Antholody and Real Love/Free As A Bird (you will see it in the
recording sessions). If you look at any Beatles documentary from 1967
you will always see it there (even in the Apple offices at times), it
is all through the Lennon Imagine films and documentaries and also the
Harrison documentaries and it was even on stage during the Concert for
George, as a tribute when George died. So, the 1964 Bassman is
actually the “real” amp used by The Beatles in the latter years and
most creative years, rather than the iconic Vox which dominated their
early years. So, although the Utah speakers were not the best
speakers their sound dominated Beatle recordings from Rubber Soul
(1965) to Abbey Road (1970) so that is not too bad 🙂
1961 Pro Reverb and 1963 Bandmaster. Both have 6G6-B circuit.

1964 Fender Bassman.

THE BEATLES’ GEAR

Fender Bassman Serial Number Dating

October 1965–March 1966

1964 Rickenbacker 325
1961 Fender Stratocaster (studio only)
1964 Gibson J-160E
Vox AC-30 and AC-100 amplifiers

1963 Hofner 500/1 bass
1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass (studio only)
Fender Bassman amplifier

2nd Gretsch Country Gentleman
1961 Fender Stratocaster (studio only)
Gibson ES-345
1962 Gibson J-160E
1965 Rickenbacker 360/12
Vox AC-30 and AC-100 amplifiers

Starr’s 4th Ludwig drumkit with 5th drop T logo drumhead

April 1966–June 1966

1965 Epiphone Casino
Gretsch 6120 (studio only)
1964 Gibson J-160E
Vox AC-30 amplifier
Fender Showman amplifier
Vox 7120 prototype amplifier

1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass (studio only)
1962 Epiphone Casino ES-230TD (studio only)
Fender Bassman amplifier
Vox 4120 prototype amplifier

1961 Fender Stratocaster
1965 Epiphone Casino
1965 Rickenbacker 360/12
1964 Gibson SG Standard
1962 Gibson J-160E
Burns Nu-Sonic bass guitar (studio only)
Vox AC-30 amplifier
Fender Showman amplifier
Vox 7120 prototype amplifier

Starr’s 4th Ludwig drumkit with 5th drop T logo drumhead

More on the bassman:
The Great Bass Amps Of The 60s

By David Hicks | March, 2005

Although the bass guitar was introduced in 1951, bass amplifiers lagged far behind. For a decade, bassists had to make do with guitar (or accordion) amps ill-suited to reproducing low-frequency sounds. Even the early Fender bass amps, including the ’59 Bassman 4×10, had open-back enclosures that produced little more than a muddy approximation of the instrument’s true sound. Finally, in the early 1960s, engineers began to turn their attention to the problem of amplifying this “new” instrument. Let’s take a look at some of the more memorable designs they came up with during that turbulent decade.

Fender Bassman

As the mid-’60s neared, a phenomenon called the “British Invasion” occurred. Suddenly, everybody was learning to play guitar, bass, or drums, and combos were forming in every town across the nation. While many of the English groups were using strange gear made by Vox, most music stores in the U.S. featured amps manufactured in California by Fender. At this time, Leo and company had some 15 years of amp-building experience under their belts, and they were building what proved to be perhaps the most durable—and desirable—amplifiers ever made. In 1964, if you were serious about your music, your amp of choice was a “blackface” Fender Bassman (so called because of the black paint on its front panel).

This amp featured the relatively new (at the time) piggyback design, with separate amp head and speaker bottom, which provided flexibility as well as an illusion of size. (While some of the Fender piggyback amps had tilt-back legs and fasteners to attach the head, no self-respecting rock player of the era set his speaker bottom on its side!) The Bassman’s all-tube amplifier design included dual channels, one marked BASS and the other NORMAL—implying, one assumes, that playing bass was somehow abnormal. Each channel had volume, treble, and bass controls, as well as individual voicing and preamp designs for optimum sound with bass or guitar/microphone. And, as the popularity of electric music continued to expand, the 50-watt power section and pair of heavy-duty 12″ speakers set the standard for bass. The tone was pretty good—all of a sudden, you could hear the bass guitar, without a lot of buzz or distortion. At the time, it was the ultimate in bass gear.

Modstock Proband Day August 8

2:00 The Wet Bandidos 2:45 M!ddleroad 3:30 True South 4:15 Gravel and Grace 5:00 Gary Gervase and Kickstart Blues 5:45 The Patty Castillo Davis Group 6:30 Sindria 7:15 Sticks and Stones 8:00 Triple D 8:45 Whiskey Skulls

Fender Bassman Amp

Bill Black with Bassman and Elvis in Tampa, FL - Aug. 5, 1956
Photo © Bob Moreland courtesy Ger Rijff's The Cool King

Fender Bassman onstage in Tampa, FL - Aug. 5, 1956
Photo courtesy web (credit unknown)

Early on the band was dependent (hopeful) on the venue providing a PA system with one microphone for vocals and one for Bill's bass. If not he was required to play as loud as possible. As the crowds grew larger (and louder) and with the addition of DJ on drums that was naturally not sufficient. Early in 1956, reputedly May 24, a Fender Bassman Amplifier was obtained by the O.K. Houck Piano Co in Memphis for Bill for $355.50. At some point he also got an Ampeg microphone to amplify his bass.

1956 Fender Bassman Serial Numbers

Fender Stratocaster Mij Serial Number E853244

Fender Bassman Cabinet Serial Numbers

A page from Elvis Presley's 1956 payroll and expense fund for November and December show an entry on November 29th of $355.51 to OK Houck's for a Bassman for Bill. The serial number associated with it of BM00816 puts it in the range of a 5E6 or 5E6-A from 1956. Note though that this is just specifies when the amp was paid for. H may have in fact had it sometime prior, as is evidenced by photos from August of that year though one is pictured onstage as early as April 20, 1956 in Fort Worth.

Fender Bassman on stage with the band in Kansas City, MO - May 24, 1956
Kansas City Star Photo courtesy Ger Rijff's Faces and Stages

Fender Bassman Serial Numbers

Bill would be pictured with a bassman on most dates at least from May 24th in Kansas City through his final performances with the band in Hawaii in 1957, except for the first tour that year in the the Northeast and Canada.

The narrow panel Fender Bassman amplifier was manufactured from 1955 to 1960. The 5E-6A model was made from 55-57 (most likely Bill's). For controls it had a Ground Switch, Fuse (3A), Power Switch, Standby Switch, Pilot Lamp, Presence, Bass, Treble, Volume, Volume, Normal In and Bright In. It was equipped with 4 x 10'/2 ohms (8 ohms each in parallel)' Jensen P10R or Jensen P10Q speakers, 2 x 12AY7 and ½ 12AX7 preamp, 2 x 6L6G power tubes, 2 x 5U4GA rectifier, a ½ 12AX7 (split-load) phase inverter and produced 40-50 Watts output watts in a narrow panel, closed back w/ 2 ports, 23' x 22½' x 10½' (58.4 x 57.2 x 26.7 cm) solid pine cabinet. It weighed 47 lbs.

page added June 2003
updated March 2013