Silverface Fender Musicmaster Amp

[Doug Taylor]

I am getting ready to buy an old Musicmaster amp to use as a practice amp for my bass, and was wondering how this amp would work for the pedal steel? Anyone tried one.

[Mike Schwartzman]

Hi Doug, If that's the Fender Musicmaster Bass amp I had one long ago before I got to playing PSG, so I can't answer as to playing thru it with PSG. But I do remember that it was sort of a great bargain for 6 string electric guitar because it was not as pricey as some of Fender's older SF amps. The early version used 2 EL 84 power tubes and then used 2 6V6 power tubes in the later version. It was sort of a "poor man's" Deluxe. No reverb and no vibrato with a pretty cheap stock speaker, but with point to point wiring. As I recall when you raised the volume it produced a nice overdriven tube tone with guitar. It might stay a bit cleaner with a speaker upgrade, but it's a pretty low wattage amp.

[Doug Taylor]

Thanks Mike, i am buying for a bass practice amp but very interested in trying the steel through it, I will report back once I get it. I have been using this amp to play bass through for the last couple of years at my friends house. I think it works great for that as long as I don’t push it too hard.

[Tony Prior]

Not a bad amp, but a very BASIC 12 watt rated amp. At home for practice or perhaps a rehearsal or very small gig, it will probably be fine. Its got a volume control and a single tone control. Its a very basic audio amp, 1 preamp tube and 2 power tubes, the latest version being 2 x 6V6 which was a very common RCA Red Book design back then.

As long as you are not paying big bucks it would be a fun item to own and use now and then.

Back in electronics school we had to build a 12 watt RCA Red Book amp as a semester project. It had to work to get a passing grade ! All we had to do was wire it correctly and put the Power Supply caps in right, it seemed so difficult back then !

Its a kool amp, just keep your expectations in check !

[Jack Hanson]

I love mine. I pulled the stock Fender Special Design and replaced it with an old Vox Bulldog from the '60s. It's excellent for electric guitar and lap steel. Would never consider using mine for pedal steel or bass if playing with others, but for playing alone or practicing, it would be adequate.

[David Ball]

I love mine too. It's an interesting amp--very unlike the other Fenders in that it uses an interstage transformer for a phase splitter instead of the usual 12ax7 arrangement. It's a pretty common design in hi fi amps, but not as often seen in guitar amps.

The stock speaker is weak. I replaced mine with a new Weber which is much better. The tone control is pretty basic, but can be replaced with a typical Fender type tonestack fairly easily. It's a great amp to experiment with.

There are a couple of guitar players around town who love to record with it--cranked up, it breaks up very nicely and is still not too loud. It's good for lap steel too--I don't think I'd like it for pedal steel though.

Dave

[Doug Taylor]

Thanks for all of the replies, hopefully will pick it up later this week.

[Doug Taylor]

This amp is not the best choice for pedal steel as it breaks up pretty quickly but I think it has a nice tone at lower volume. I have only been playing since July so not doing anything but practicing right now so I believe it will be fine for that.

It is a cool old piece(1978 I think) and I like it a lot for low volume bass gigs. Thanks for all the great replies.

[Dave Mudgett]

I was gonna reply earlier but got distracted. Oh, I see the date, I was just out of the hospital, no wonder.

I've had a few of these over the years, both 2x6BQ5/EL84 and 2x6V6 versions. I personally prefer the 2x6V6 version and that is what I have now. I replaced the tinny original speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30 and it's a great guitar amp now. If you push it, it will still break up but has enough headroom to not turn to mush. That transformer-based phase inverter gives it a different character than a blackface/silverface Princeton or Deluxe, which is nice.

With its totally open-back cabinet, it's pretty weak as a bass or pedal steel amp, but it is OK for really low-volume practice. I think of these more like a tweed Princeton on steroids or perhaps a poor-man's tweed Harvard, and that is a very good thing for the right situation. If you look at the circuit diagram, you will see many similarities to the Harvard. Not a clone by any means, but similar in many ways. These things are great for slide guitar or lap steel. Last time I gigged mine for slide, it was honestly too loud until I turned it around to face the side wall.

[Doug Taylor]

Thanks Dave, I have not plugged my Tele into yet, but I think it will be real sweet for that. I bought this amp from a guy I play bass with doing 60s rock stuff. I have been using it at his house for a couple of years, I personally like it for bass at least when I have my SansAmp in front of it.

[Chris Walke]

Recorded a couple tracks with a MusicMaster on my pal's album The Stars That Hang Above. We played a lot of mix & match with the gear, so I'm only certain that I used the MM on "Twisted Heart" (8th track). I think I used it for lap steel on a different track, but can't remember which.

It's a funky little amp, with that big open back. Takes dirt pedals well, if you're into that sound. Not particularly loud, of course. To me it's like the bass version of the Fender Pro Jr.

http://davesills.com/music/

[Mark Perrodin]

here's mine. owned since new. changed a couple component
values to make it guitar specific. added a vintage 15" rola
and a rear baffle. sounds really nice and the more efficient
speaker gives it more headroom. takes pedals well too. great
amp to practice steel with. have used it on a couple bar gigs.
enough amp to keep up with what we were doing.

[Jim Sliff]

Every one I encounter needs new filter capacitors - they have a service like of only 15-20 years and most owners do not know they need to be changed at that interval. The amp may sound fine with original capps but can blow at any moment with zero warning - and take out the power transformer (I've replaced a bunch of them - and it lowers the value of the amp)

Every one purchased used should go straight ot a tech unless the seller has documentation of proper service. And you often have to TELL the tech to change them, as many will only do work to make an amp "playable" to avoid sticker shock.

With fresh caps and a new speaker (the original is junk for ANY instrument) these are great amps - the 6V6 version is known as the "poor man's tweed Deluxe when loaded with a good alnico speaker (NOT a so-called reissue Jensen, which are not close to the originals); but for bass you need a high-wattage (stiffer) ceramic magnet speaker.

NOTE TO Mike Schwartzman and Dave Mudgett:the other version uses 6AQ5 power tubes - NOT EL84's (6BQ5's)! Many buyers make the mistake of thinking they can use their existing EL84 tubes as replacemts, but they won't even fit - it's a smaller, 7-pin socket.

However, they SOUND very close to the 6V6 version - and NOS 6AQ5 tubes are usually very cheap compared to NOS 6V6's and EL84/6BQ5's! This version can often be found cheaper because owners think the tubes are obsolete. But usually the original power tubes are still in great shape and will still last for decades! I have rarely had to replace them.

[Dave Mudgett]

NOTE TO Mike Schwartzman and Dave Mudgett:the other version uses 6AQ5 power tubes - NOT EL84's (6BQ5's)!

Absolutely - I know that, that was a typo; I'm so used to typing 6BQ5, it just slid off my fingers.

Both versions sound good, but I've had several of each over the years and I found the 6AQ5 version broke up earlier. Good for some things. I agree that good NOS 6AQ5 tubes can be found very inexpensively. They must have made tons and tons of them and then designs moved to the 6BQ5. 6AQ5's are the same power tubes as in the Crestline-era (ca. 1962) Gibson GA-5T Skylark. Another largely overlooked and thus relatively inexpensive but cool little amp that comes to life with a decent speaker to replace the tinny little thing they came with.

I also totally agree on making sure the electrolytic capacitors are in good shape - this goes for any older tube amp. If you witness one blowing its top with the chassis out of the box, you will never take them for granted again!

[Matthew Lutton]

I love these amps, and yes they’ll work great for lap steel. However the original circuit is a bit weak and you can find tweaks online that turn them into monster amps (10-12 watts). I prefer the 6aq5 tubed version, for some reason, I’ve never had a 6v6 one that I loved as much. But I still have my first one and it rocks!

[Brooks Montgomery]

I love these amps, and yes they’ll work great for lap steel. However the original circuit is a bit weak and you can find tweaks online that turn them into monster amps (10-12 watts). I prefer the 6aq5 tubed version, for some reason, I’ve never had a 6v6 one that I loved as much. But I still have my first one and it rocks!

I have one too. Great blues harp and guitar amp.

[Doug Taylor]

2019 when I made the post about getting this amp! I still have it and use it quite a bit. Great guitar amp and decent practice amp for both bass and pedal steel.