#5e7 bandmaster pro

“The only change was a replaced two-prong plug on the end of the original cord.” “Before I acquired it many years ago, the amp was played a lot, and except for the tubes, its electronics were 100 percent original,” James added. For many players, those are great characteristics the Bandmaster doesn’t need the Bassman’s ear-splitting volume levels to roar but still sounds thick, juicy, and mean when it gets there. The original look of the circuit was maintained during repair by mounting new filter caps within the old caps’ brown covers, and its original yellow Astron signal caps remain.Īdd them up, and these changes make for a smaller sound and less overall volume with easier distortion when pushed. split-load or concertina) phase inverter, which is prone to distorting more easily on its own than the long-tailed-pair in the Bassman and high-powered Twin 3) they lacked the Middle control found on the Bassman and high-powered Twin, so their cathode-follower tone stacks behaved a little differently and 4) they had lower DC voltage to the output stage – in the range of 410 for the Bandmaster versus 430 for the 5F6-A Bassman. This one still has the original transformers and original Jensen P10R speakers, which are the perfect choice for this circuit.”Īs for the dissimilarities, there are four particularly notable ways in which the 5E7 Bandmaster and its mid-sized brethren (Pro, Super, low-powered Twin) departed from the mighty Bassman: 1) they were given output transformers that were smaller and thus produced less power, yielded a softer low-end response, and helped the amps to quicker breakup 2) they used the older-style cathodyne (a.k.a. “With 26 to 30 watts versus 40 watts in the Bassman, though, it’s not as loud and breaks up sooner, with a sweet, singing tone unlike any other amp I’ve owned.

“Having owned a ’59 and a couple of ’60 5F6-A tweed Bassman amps, to my ear, this has many of the same tone qualities,” said James. Before detailing some of those, owner Tommie James offered comparative commentary. Commentators have called the 5E7 Bandmaster “a Bassman with three 10s instead of four,” and there are bound to be similarities – given they are both dual-6L6 tweed Fender amps of the same era – but the Bandmaster is different in respects aside from speakers. That trio of Jensen P10R Alnico speakers is somehow beguiling the amp pumps more air than the (admittedly awesome) Super, yet it’s still delightfully light and portable. In any case, why the bods at Fender saw need to replicate the chassis in so many slightly-varied guises is baffling… but we’re glad they did. The original Jensen P10R speakers are a big part of this amp’s appeal – and its superb tone. Some had minor differences like values for negative-feedback resistors to fine-tune headroom or match the NFB loop to the output impedance for optimum speaker damping.

#5e7 bandmaster pro

The 3×10″ 5E7 Bandmaster, 2×10″ 5F4 Super, and 1×15″ 5E5-A Pro were all essentially the same amp, other than speaker complement, output transformer, and occasional minor tweak in components (similar was the 2×12″ 5E8-A “low-powered” Twin of ’55-’58). In ’55, it took up the 3×10/narrow-panel configuration that then evolved to the more-desirable iterations of 1959. The Bandmaster arrived mid ’53 in a short-lived 1×15″ incarnation of Fender’s wide-panel tweed cab. Controls: Volume for Microphone and Instrument channels shared Treble, Bass, and Presence.

And if you’re prepared to altogether collapse in a gelatinous heap, consider that the VG reader who owns this one also owns its successor, the 5G7 “middle-volume” pinkish-brown-Tolex Bandmaster – possibly the rarest of all production Fenders. There’s just something about the 3×10″ 5E7 Bandmaster that drives vintage-Fender nuts gaga. If ever there was an amp to make a fan of tweeds go wobbly in the knees, this is it.