of the bias in the range of a cool 23 mA to
a warm 33 mA, which changes the amp’s
overall response and tonality.
The amp’s seemingly endless amount
of controls contrasts with its streamlined,
classic style. But Fender designed the Super
Bassman with the intent of covering as much
tonal ground as possible, so they packed two
footswitchable channels in the circuit with
unique and dedicated voicings. The first
channel uses Fender’s classic, passive tone
stack for warmer vintage tones, and utilizes
a simple three-band EQ and volume control to shape the sound. Both the bass and
treble knobs pull out to expand the low- and
high-frequency ranges, respectively. Gritty-to-highly overdriven tones are handled by the
amp’s second channel, which has a modern,
active tone stack, quicker attack and more
vigorous tonality than its counterpart. This
channel has a similar layout as the first, but
also additional controls for preamp gain,
wet/dry blending, and midrange frequency
adjustment—which is super handy when you
want your overdriven tone to cut through
Classic Fender
blackface styling
the mix. And because the tone stack is active,
the EQ controls are designed to have huge
sweeping capabilities, with 15 dB of cut or
boost for the bass and treble controls, and 18
dBs of adjustment for the mid control. Once
a player adjusts the balance between the two
channels using their respective volume controls, the master volume knob handles the
final output level and even has a clever mute
function when pulled out.
The back panel of the amp is home to a
balanced XLR out with a dedicated output-level control and switches for setting either
the preamp-affected or direct signal to the
output. There is also a switch that will completely mute the main and secondary speaker
jacks and run the signal entirely to the XLR
output. This also allows the head to be run
without requiring a cabinet for recording the
pre-amp section. Single jacks for power amp
output, preamp input, tuner out, and the
included footswitch round out the remainder of features on the rear of the amp.
The Super Bassman is a seriously powerful amp, so Fender crafted several brand-new cabinets to compliment its sound. The
Bassman Pro cabs are loaded with Fender
Special Design Eminence speakers backed
with neodymium magnets, which lighten
the load considerably while still providing
a healthy amount of power. Along with a
compression driver horn for added top end,
Fender went with a lightweight plywood
material to construct the new vintage-looking
cabs, and included two 1/4" and one speak-ON jack—all wired for 8 Ω. For our review,
Fender shipped us a 500-watt Bassman Pro
410, outfitted with a set of removable casters
and spring-loaded handles to better transport
its svelte 55 pounds. Other models in the
Bassman Pro cabinet series include 1x15,
6x10, and 8x10 configurations.
One Bassman to Rule Them All
The amount of low-end power and pants-flapping sound that Fender’s 300-watt behemoth throws out is impressive. It’s an amp
that you probably don’t need to consider if
most of your gigs take place at the local coffee
house. Yet with all the clean headroom that’s
available, the inherent detail of an instrument
is allowed to shine through in ways that most
amps out there aren’t capable of producing—
making the Super Bassman more than just a
ear-bludgeoning stack of doom.
With a 2008 Fender American Jazz
Bass, the amp’s vintage-voiced first channel
REVIEW > FENDER
emitted the classic Fender Twin-type cleanliness and sparkle, but with a solid low-end
foundation and plenty of volume on tap.
The characteristically smooth top-end
and juicy lows of the Jazz Bass translated
superbly, with an almost hi-fi quality
that revealed the slightest details of both
my fingers and pick plucking the strings.
After a while, I wanted a slightly warmer,
more rounded tone for some smooth Jack
Bruce-esque rock work. Adjusting the
bias to a hotter setting, speeding up the
attack, and applying a little more gumption in the midrange got me there. Since
the highs took a slight dive in volume, the
cab’s onboard horn adjustment made it a
snap to retain some presence and deliver
a nice, tasty cut to the tone. And when I
transitioned from jazzier, freeform playing
to slap-happy funk, the amp responded in
kind by tightening the lows and mids with
my more forceful playing style.
One of the amp’s best traits is how dead
quiet it is, even at relatively high volumes. In
fact, my first time hearing the amp was while
making a few notes for this review. Not realizing the standby switch was not engaged, I
quickly found out after accidentally hitting a
very loud, low E on the Jazz. I thought this
was pretty impressive, especially considering
the fan on the amp’s back panel for keeping
the tubes cool. These fans can often add a
slight whine to the sound’s background with
a lot of amps that use them. Not so here.
The amp’s overdrive channel is a force to
be reckoned with, and it has a really meaty
vibe without being buzzy. The brawny muscular nature was perfect for overdriven modern
rock, and the channel’s blend control provided
an easy route to dialing in a crisp overlay of
dry punch. In addition, the dual midrange
controls for level and frequency help you tune
the amp for a given musical style more readily—lower settings working especially well for
speed metal, and higher ones more appropriate for hard and raunchy rock.
Most impressive was how well the pre-amp overdrive worked with the amp’s copious amounts of clean headroom, which is
something that’s hard to come by in amps
with this much power. In many instances,
having a ton of preamp distortion running
against a lot of volume can sound tinny and
thin, making the highs annoyingly piercing. This is not the case with the Super
Bassman’s overdrive, which kept a full,
robust body with plenty of detail.
