Dude, Lyle, you are a superb amp tech and a (from what I can tell) a pretty good guitar player. You don't need to lecture the idiots that criticize you for irrelevant details. Your videos are incredibly valuable to anyone who loves vintage amps and tone and all the intangibles in between. Thank you for what you do, but don't let any trolls get to you.
I don't come hear for the playing. But hearing your familiar licks are soothing to me, like hearing a familiar voice! I get what you do, it makes sense that you play the same basic riffs and stuff most of the time. I appreciate that because it gives me a reference of what that particular amp sounds like versus another amp tone. Working with that, I am able to readily discern a good amp tone from a stellar one. Thanks again, I found your explanation of what makes the AB165 Bassman sound unique very interesting.
This material was not around years ago and its was steeped in mystery. Most amp techs could butcher a circuit and charge you full price. It was a terrible time to find competence that I could afford. Even the hyped techs on the area could bust up the simplest solder points and be unapologetic about it. (Always opened the unit to inspect their work) Content makers like Lyle are amazing. I think its bullshit that after 3393 views 302 likes have been collected. I get it, inflation is in, tubes are hard to find, and your dog ran away with your GF and the partially broke down pickup truck you both shared. But that has nothing to do with people showing more gratitude towards the effort made to get this onto the internet.
Why is it that I know Jack Sh*tte about ANYTHING you're talking about but am none the less glued to the vid for the entire time?! I totally dig when you're playing around and getting different tones and sounds from the Amp your working on! Truth be told, I subbed a month or so ago cause you were "noodling" around and the tones where so warm, comforting and soooo Hendrix, I was praying you would start off into Little Wing or Castles made of Sand! I love when you "Noodle" and explain the different textures, creamyness, tones, twangs....... I don't know what it is about the slow Hendrix sound that you do that soothes me so much but Dang, it really does move me deeply!
It's funny, you mention how people complain about what you play. It reminded me of a time I was at the local guitar shop with a buddy. I picked up a guitar to check it out, he immediately held his head in frustration.. I had been driving him , slowly, insane I guess, haha. Every time I picked up a guitar, I played the same lick. Every-single-time, lol. It had gotten to him. Catfish blues will never play in his household again...😂
Keep demoing and testing the amp your way. Other peoples EXPECTATION of what you should do is THEIR problem. You are here to smartly discuss, diagnose, fix and confirm the amp is fixed. THAT’S IT. Thanks for the great channel.
Funny thing is, I now want you to play the licks you do because I can properly use them to compare amps from one video to the next. I can easily spot when an amp sounds good. Keep up the good work!
I like your playing. I feel that your main licks do a great job conveying the response of the amps you're working with. As always, I truly enjoy your content, and appreciate you taking the extra time out of your work day and dealing with the camera headaches to bring us along for the ride✌
Thanks for this video! I just converted a 1968 AC568 Bassman Export to a hybrid AB165/AA864. Here in the Netherlands old Fender amps are very rare (& expensive) so I’m glad I could lay my hands on one. I’m no pro tech but have ten years of experience repairing and building tube guitar amps. I’m learning a lot from experts like you, so thank you for that!
I love these vids Thankyou for sharing all this great information I’m a steward of a few fairly decent hand wired circuit guitar amplifiers I do intend to continue to modify and improve them as is doable and understandable for my fave amp tech , a good friend and wonderful guitar player The purdy amps I think are pretty much ok but I do struggle with the fender 64 hand wired Princeton I currently steward My friend Ron modified the tremelo to make it a bit slower and swampy the way I like it but I’m not 100% on the tone stack Any thoughts or considerations would be much appreciated It’s and old vid so I might need to keep pokin around Thankyou again !
"...but I notice he doesn't going around slamming other players." EXACTLY. Anyone who feels the need to do that should perhaps take a little personal time and look at themselves.
Yeah, fnck the negative comments, they should keep that sh!t to themselves and change the channel of they don’t like it. Ffs, no one (that I have seen) makes better amp repair related videos. With apologies to Brad. 😉😁👍🏽 Don’t change a damn thing.
I have a 1961 bassman it’s work fine but can you tell me why the white labels on the caps turned bkack I don’t see anything like this on any of your videos
Lyle, epic, epic sounds from 00:30 - 01:35. Just had to pause watching to say so… 👍 Incidentally, I have heard that the speakers are rated at 2 ohms, is that correct? If so, what would be the advantage of such an unusual ohmage?
I was about to leave a comment about the CBS implementation of NFB. Of course, you talk about it. I’m in agreement about the AB165 pre and AA864 power. Best of both for guitar and bass players. The AB165 is a killer amp for guitar, but you really need to crank it. As always, great job! Do you have any recommendations for a 500 to 1000 watt bass head? I bought a new Ampeg Rocket Bass 210 in June and it’s already taking a crap with very low use.
@@PsionicAudio Thanks! I have a 15” Ampeg cab to get the full power out of the Rb210. I’m very new to bass and I was going off forum reviews. I should have just asked you.
My last bass rig was a SansAmp PSA1 into a QSC Class A/B SS power amp into a Peavey 4x10 bass cab. I imagine it’s all still going strong for someone out there. The Class D power amps now are much lighter and less expensive but implementation varies a lot. The Aguilar seems good. I’m not up on current standalone power amps these days.
@@PsionicAudio I can second the Tone Hammer. I have a Tone Hammer 500 and not only does it sound great, but it has been utterly reliable for over 5 years. The only caveat is that, being class D, it does have a fan. But if you play loud enough you don't really notice it.
I'm not familiar with the circuit, but I am OC enough to open two copies of the video and compare images from a couple minutes apart. You moved one leg of the 100K resistor on the twisted pair to (Ground?)
@@PsionicAudio OK, so it looks like you moved the 100K plate resistor on pin 6 the 'Normal' channel from point A @ 390V to point B @ 320V which put all the plates for "normal" and "bass" on the same source. Yup, I'm OC enough to find the layouts and schematics for the ab165 and the aa864. I don't even work on amps, or play. I just love to solve puzzles.
Hell YEAH...!!!! Another amp that you can inform your client that if they wish to sell... I can make easy monthly payments 😁😎👍 🤣 BITCHIN amp and you've got it sounding beautiful 😃😎👍 One more happy client I predict 😎👍
I’m just a glorified welder and NOT a guitar critic, however I am bananas about classic/vintage amp tone and this channel is PRIME when it comes to that. I’ll likely never repair my own amps either but it’s both fascinating and relaxing to watch you go through these amps (even Blues Juniors) especially when I’m stuck staring at AutoCAD modding some suspension bkt for a ‘68 Scout or adding gussets to a concrete saw chassis (In other words anything but something fun) so screw all the Yngwie and Larry Carlton fans who come here looking for love and all the wrong places! There’s 100 other channels to watch that stuff
You can not judge an amp just for how it chugs or if you are playing 30 notes per second. If it does not sound great strumming and noodling clean, I pass! Distortion is just an ad-on that masks a lot of tonal issues.
Nice video. I am very intrested in the adjustable bias level you installed. What is the resistance of the trimmer in series with the 4K7? In an earlier video this year (Silverface Era Fender Bias) you where using a 10K trimmer in series with an 6,8K resistor. Any particular reason for using other values on this bassman?
Awesome videos.....question; a guy is selling a matched pair of Ruby 6L6GCMSTR tubes for $50 - says he's had them for years in the box and never used them....can these be used in a Hot Rod Deluxe?
Should the bias of the PI be adjusted when using an AT-7 with silver/blackpanels in general,or is it fine to just swap them in place of a 12ax7? Nobody here to actually learn is worried about what you’re playing :-)
It’s safe to swap them, but a 12AX7 will sound terrible in the later SF models with 47K plate resistors. All of the Fender models designed with 12AT7 PIs sound sweeter with, you guessed it, 12AT7s. And thanks.
Lyle. Could you link where you buy your Vishay electrolytics please!? I always use sprague atoms but they are not what they used to be. I need to restock and Id love to give them a spin
Don’t worry about the haters. You’re doing a great job and they’ll be negative, regardless. You just have to focus on two things: 1. Doing great work for your customers. 2. Answering my email so I can become one of them. 😀😅🫣
@@gregpepper6053 yeah that's really good if it's in good working condition. If not it'll probably cost you average price overall to get it working again.
These amps and their immediate brethren are infamous for an un-utilized triode... Have you ever developed a standardized (and reversible) mod to utilize said possible stage? Oh and BTW, your plunking is always apropos... even interesting, so thanx and keep up the great work
The amp still has its original (Switchcraft) jacks. In this video I misspoke and said “Switchcraft jacks” when I meant “Switchcraft switches” out of habit. But here I just changed the two slider switches.
Sorry, I don’t script these and there are steam of consciousness mistakes as I work. Usually when I say “Switchcraft” the next word is “jack” so… I try to pop up a clarifying graphic on any real goofs.
Dude, Lyle, you are a superb amp tech and a (from what I can tell) a pretty good guitar player. You don't need to lecture the idiots that criticize you for irrelevant details. Your videos are incredibly valuable to anyone who loves vintage amps and tone and all the intangibles in between. Thank you for what you do, but don't let any trolls get to you.
Amen
Barney Miller intro was the first thing I learned to play on bass, 42 years ago :( Another great video, Lyle.
I don't come hear for the playing. But hearing your familiar licks are soothing to me, like hearing a familiar voice! I get what you do, it makes sense that you play the same basic riffs and stuff most of the time. I appreciate that because it gives me a reference of what that particular amp sounds like versus another amp tone. Working with that, I am able to readily discern a good amp tone from a stellar one. Thanks again, I found your explanation of what makes the AB165 Bassman sound unique very interesting.
This material was not around years ago and its was steeped in mystery. Most amp techs could butcher a circuit and charge you full price. It was a terrible time to find competence that I could afford. Even the hyped techs on the area could bust up the simplest solder points and be unapologetic about it. (Always opened the unit to inspect their work) Content makers like Lyle are amazing. I think its bullshit that after 3393 views 302 likes have been collected. I get it, inflation is in, tubes are hard to find, and your dog ran away with your GF and the partially broke down pickup truck you both shared. But that has nothing to do with people showing more gratitude towards the effort made to get this onto the internet.
Goodness I Love the sound of the Bassman. What a wonderful restoration.
Why is it that I know Jack Sh*tte about ANYTHING you're talking about but am none the less glued to the vid for the entire time?! I totally dig when you're playing around and getting different tones and sounds from the Amp your working on! Truth be told, I subbed a month or so ago cause you were "noodling" around and the tones where so warm, comforting and soooo Hendrix, I was praying you would start off into Little Wing or Castles made of Sand! I love when you "Noodle" and explain the different textures, creamyness, tones, twangs.......
I don't know what it is about the slow Hendrix sound that you do that soothes me so much but Dang, it really does move me deeply!
It's funny, you mention how people complain about what you play. It reminded me of a time I was at the local guitar shop with a buddy. I picked up a guitar to check it out, he immediately held his head in frustration.. I had been driving him , slowly, insane I guess, haha. Every time I picked up a guitar, I played the same lick. Every-single-time, lol. It had gotten to him. Catfish blues will never play in his household again...😂
That amp sounds great!
Keep demoing and testing the amp your way. Other peoples EXPECTATION of what you should do is THEIR problem. You are here to smartly discuss, diagnose, fix and confirm the amp is fixed. THAT’S IT. Thanks for the great channel.
Funny thing is, I now want you to play the licks you do because I can properly use them to compare amps from one video to the next. I can easily spot when an amp sounds good. Keep up the good work!
Lol.. yep, you will never please everyone. I like the way you do your videos and the way you demo the amps, mods and fixes that you do.
I like your playing. I feel that your main licks do a great job conveying the response of the amps you're working with. As always, I truly enjoy your content, and appreciate you taking the extra time out of your work day and dealing with the camera headaches to bring us along for the ride✌
Hehe the good old rant about people thinking your channel is spotify. Thanks for the update.
LOL! Loved the Barney Miller bass line!
Thanks for this video! I just converted a 1968 AC568 Bassman Export to a hybrid AB165/AA864. Here in the Netherlands old Fender amps are very rare (& expensive) so I’m glad I could lay my hands on one. I’m no pro tech but have ten years of experience repairing and building tube guitar amps. I’m learning a lot from experts like you, so thank you for that!
I love these vids
Thankyou for sharing all this great information
I’m a steward of a few fairly decent hand wired circuit guitar amplifiers
I do intend to continue to modify and improve them as is doable and understandable for my fave amp tech , a good friend and wonderful guitar player
The purdy amps I think are pretty much ok but I do struggle with the fender 64 hand wired Princeton I currently steward
My friend Ron modified the tremelo to make it a bit slower and swampy the way I like it but I’m not 100% on the tone stack
Any thoughts or considerations would be much appreciated
It’s and old vid so I might need to keep pokin around
Thankyou again !
"...but I notice he doesn't going around slamming other players." EXACTLY. Anyone who feels the need to do that should perhaps take a little personal time and look at themselves.
Yeah, fnck the negative comments, they should keep that sh!t to themselves and change the channel of they don’t like it. Ffs, no one (that I have seen) makes better amp repair related videos. With apologies to Brad. 😉😁👍🏽 Don’t change a damn thing.
I have a 1961 bassman it’s work fine but can you tell me why the white labels on the caps turned bkack I don’t see anything like this on any of your videos
Nice work my brother.
Don't sweat the BS. Play as you do without excuse or permission.
Oh yes, sweet it became. Did the owner choose to go with some of your options for improvement?
Lyle, epic, epic sounds from 00:30 - 01:35. Just had to pause watching to say so… 👍 Incidentally, I have heard that the speakers are rated at 2 ohms, is that correct? If so, what would be the advantage of such an unusual ohmage?
Thanks Rob. This version is designed for a 4 ohm load but the cab here was 8 ohms (safe mismatch for this amp).
I was about to leave a comment about the CBS implementation of NFB. Of course, you talk about it.
I’m in agreement about the AB165 pre and AA864 power. Best of both for guitar and bass players. The AB165 is a killer amp for guitar, but you really need to crank it.
As always, great job!
Do you have any recommendations for a 500 to 1000 watt bass head? I bought a new Ampeg Rocket Bass 210 in June and it’s already taking a crap with very low use.
Aguilar Tonehammer series is good. Or the good old SansAmp paired with a SS power amp. Either way you’d need a separate cab.
@@PsionicAudio Thanks! I have a 15” Ampeg cab to get the full power out of the Rb210. I’m very new to bass and I was going off forum reviews.
I should have just asked you.
My last bass rig was a SansAmp PSA1 into a QSC Class A/B SS power amp into a Peavey 4x10 bass cab. I imagine it’s all still going strong for someone out there.
The Class D power amps now are much lighter and less expensive but implementation varies a lot. The Aguilar seems good. I’m not up on current standalone power amps these days.
@@PsionicAudio I can second the Tone Hammer. I have a Tone Hammer 500 and not only does it sound great, but it has been utterly reliable for over 5 years. The only caveat is that, being class D, it does have a fan. But if you play loud enough you don't really notice it.
My fav non reverb fenders. Good job and get that thing an sg!
I'm not familiar with the circuit, but I am OC enough to open two copies of the video and compare images from a couple minutes apart. You moved one leg of the 100K resistor on the twisted pair to (Ground?)
Not to ground
@@PsionicAudio OK, so it looks like you moved the 100K plate resistor on pin 6 the 'Normal' channel from point A @ 390V to point B @ 320V which put all the plates for "normal" and "bass" on the same source.
Yup, I'm OC enough to find the layouts and schematics for the ab165 and the aa864. I don't even work on amps, or play. I just love to solve puzzles.
“He didn’t do Phrygian blah blah blah…” 😂😂 thanks Lyle for the chuckle 👍🏻👍🏻
Hell YEAH...!!!!
Another amp that you can inform your client that if they wish to sell...
I can make easy monthly payments 😁😎👍 🤣
BITCHIN amp and you've got it sounding beautiful 😃😎👍
One more happy client I predict 😎👍
I’m just a glorified welder and NOT a guitar critic, however I am bananas about classic/vintage amp tone and this channel is PRIME when it comes to that. I’ll likely never repair my own amps either but it’s both fascinating and relaxing to watch you go through these amps (even Blues Juniors) especially when I’m stuck staring at AutoCAD modding some suspension bkt for a ‘68 Scout or adding gussets to a concrete saw chassis (In other words anything but something fun) so screw all the Yngwie and Larry Carlton fans who come here looking for love and all the wrong places! There’s 100 other channels to watch that stuff
You can not judge an amp just for how it chugs or if you are playing 30 notes per second.
If it does not sound great strumming and noodling clean, I pass! Distortion is just an ad-on that masks a lot of tonal issues.
I really dig the sound of this amp, especially the overdrive... you're really making me want one.
And OMG that laugh at the end! hahaha!
14:39: "I can see you, your brown skin shining in the Sun, you got the top pulled down and radio on baby..."
Cheers 🍻
Barney Miller!!
There was some Bob Marley in there too. "Lively Up Yourself", I believe....
Also, "I'll Take You There".
Thanks for taking the time to really punch up the maniacal laugh. Almost spit my dinner out.
Nice video. I am very intrested in the adjustable bias level you installed. What is the resistance of the trimmer in series with the 4K7? In an earlier video this year (Silverface Era Fender Bias) you where using a 10K trimmer in series with an 6,8K resistor. Any particular reason for using other values on this bassman?
10K trimmer. I choose the series resistor depending on the range I want the bias to have. The SF Bassman had different voltages than this ‘66.
Sounds bitchin! Well done as per usual.
What value is the trim pot that you used for the bias level modification?
Awesome videos.....question; a guy is selling a matched pair of Ruby 6L6GCMSTR tubes for $50 - says he's had them for years in the box and never used them....can these be used in a Hot Rod Deluxe?
Yes if they’re good
Very nice. Any recommendations for circuit diagram tools? I’ve seen some used on your channel. Thanks!
Thanks. KiCAD.
Should the bias of the PI be adjusted when using an AT-7 with silver/blackpanels in general,or is it fine to just swap them in place of a 12ax7? Nobody here to actually learn is worried about what you’re playing :-)
It’s safe to swap them, but a 12AX7 will sound terrible in the later SF models with 47K plate resistors. All of the Fender models designed with 12AT7 PIs sound sweeter with, you guessed it, 12AT7s.
And thanks.
Ummm you are RUclips's best!!!
Sounds good to me. The bottom end is outrageous.
Lyle. Could you link where you buy your Vishay electrolytics please!? I always use sprague atoms but they are not what they used to be. I need to restock and Id love to give them a spin
Mouser. I use 63Vs.
Hard to beat a gd bassman .
Don’t worry about the haters. You’re doing a great job and they’ll be negative, regardless.
You just have to focus on two things:
1. Doing great work for your customers.
2. Answering my email so I can become one of them. 😀😅🫣
I've been considering adding a Bassman to my amp collection. They are pretty reasonably priced. This video isn't helping my addiction lol
Is $500 reasonably priced? See a mid 70s baseman 100 in my local Craig’s List with new tubes.
@@gregpepper6053 yeah that's really good if it's in good working condition. If not it'll probably cost you average price overall to get it working again.
Awesome, Lyle.
These amps and their immediate brethren are infamous for an un-utilized triode...
Have you ever developed a standardized (and reversible) mod to utilize said possible stage?
Oh and BTW, your plunking is always apropos... even interesting, so
thanx and keep up the great work
Well good god it doesn’t need more gain. I don’t think BF Fenders should be radically altered.
@@PsionicAudio I'm slowly coming 'round to your way of thimkin' although 'tis a low bedroom volume 4am scenario t'which I reference...
wow!
Any news on the Excalibur?
Yes, soon. Stay tuned. We will have momentum again shortly.
I have a feeling they are gonna be hard to get when he releases them haha
do you always change to switchcraft jacks as you mentioned? is that for better grounding?
The amp still has its original (Switchcraft) jacks. In this video I misspoke and said “Switchcraft jacks” when I meant “Switchcraft switches” out of habit.
But here I just changed the two slider switches.
@@PsionicAudio i love your site and learn a hell of a lot but i get confused when you do. thanks,
Sorry, I don’t script these and there are steam of consciousness mistakes as I work. Usually when I say “Switchcraft” the next word is “jack” so…
I try to pop up a clarifying graphic on any real goofs.
Lyle, you don’t need to defend your EXEMPLARY methods, it’s beneath you.
Results speak for themselves….
You ever work on a Dumble?
Yeah, one real one. A good number of clones good and bad.
@@PsionicAudio cool. Thanks 🎛