FENDER
SUPER BASSMAN
PRO AMPLIFIER
BY JORDAN WAGNER
Big tube bass rigs will always be a part of the low-end landscape, even as
advancements in digital and solid-state
technology and performance requirements
make smaller rigs more prevalent. After
helping pioneer bass amplification with the
original Bassman combo Fender ceded the
big bass amp market to other manufacturers
in the late ’60s and ’70s. But with the new
300-watt Super Bassman, the company has
taken an old-school turn back to the heady
days of stadium rock, when bass amps with
gut-churning volume ruled the day.
Ace of Bass
The Super Bassman derives its classic looks
from Fender’s blackface era, right down to
the silver grille cloth, black panel, and witch
hat knobs. The head weighs in around 65
pounds—close to 15 pounds lighter than
the comparable Ampeg SVT Classic—and
is relatively easy to lift with the pair of
spring-loaded side handles.
The signal path starts with a pair of
12AX7 preamp tubes, which are fed to
a 12AX7 driver tube and 12AT7 phase
inverter, and then sent to a sextet of 6550
to hear audio clips of the amp at
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power tubes—generating a whopping 300
watts of vicious, tube power. And the power
tubes are constantly monitored by Fender’s
Automatic Bias system, which guards
against failure and wear. Located on the rear
of the amp, the system’s control panel also
indicates when the tubes are warming up
and when the amp is ready to be taken off
standby. Additionally, it enables adjustment
Push-pull voicing control knobs
Dual-channel design switchable
between vintage and overdrive
