Re: Victoria '59 Bassman Owners

["Bob Maglinte" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Grbullets2@xxxxxxx=20
  To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx=20
  Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2002 2:39 AM
  Subject: Re: Victoria '59 Bassman Owners


  Can anyone who owns one of these Victoria "bassman" amps tell me what =
kind of speakers come in the amps stock.Are they similar to the blue =
speakers that the bassman RI's have?How does a victoria sound as =
compared to a bassman RI.Are they really worth the big bucks that they =
cost?I have a bassman RI that I'm happy with.I also have a tweed blues =
Jr. with an old jensen alnico5 P12S speaker in it.It gives great =
tone,breaks up fairly easily but I can't get the volume out of it that I =
can with the stock speaker it came with.I love the tone but I need more =
volume!Anyone have any suggestions as to a speaker that will give me =
both.Someone suggested a Jensen P12R or P12Q.Any thoughts on that?Will =
one of these give me the same gritty tone with more volume than the P12S =
?I was also considering customizing the amp to put a 10 inch speaker in =
it.I'd like to hear from any blues Jr owners that have tried different =
speakers.I love the way it so! unds,just want a little more volume which =
I know its capable of delivering.Any suggestions will be appreciated on =
or off line.Thank you.....Dave=20

  Hi Dave,
  I'm an owner of a REAL and unmodified '59 Bassman, and from checking =
them out thoroughly, the Victoria Bassmans are the CLOSEST thing to the =
real deal. To get a Fender RI to get near this, there are tube swaps, =
plus if you want to spend the money, also the transformers, and changing =
from the printed circuit the Fender RI uses to cloth covered point to =
point hand wiring. One thing the Victoria does do like the original that =
you cannot change on thne Fender RI is the fact that the Victoria, just =
like the original, uses a finger jointed cabinet, but the Fender skimps =
on it, and that's a big negative. To make it cheaper for most people to =
buy, Fender cut alot of corners. So, IMHO, Fender's RI doesn't come =
remotely close to a Victoria. What you'd pay for to get the Fender RI to =
sound like the real deal, it's cheaper to get a Victoria. If you want to =
know all the differences between the Fender RI and the real deal, check =
out Gerald Weber's book, "A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar =
Amps," which has a chapter devoted to this and is THE best information =
regarding this. You should be albe to get this at some music shops or at =
http://www.amazon.com or at Kendrick Amps website =
http://www.kendrick-amps.com .

  As far as the Blues Junior (to be honest, the Pro Junior for my money =
sounds better for harp than the Blues Junior), if you want better harp =
tone form a speaker change, I'd go with a Jensen P12R, or get an =
equivalent from Mojotone or Eminence (which is the actual manufacturer =
of the speakers used on the Fender Bassman RI's for a number of years).=20

  Hope this helps.

  Sincerely,
  Barbeque Bob Maglinte
  Boston, MA



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