The Black Keys Fan Lounge Forum

Hey so I just bought an awesome 1972 Fender Musicmaster Bass amp. 'Cept I'll be playing a guitar through it. It seems to be in real good shape, and has the original RCA tubes and Fender/CTS speaker. It uses two 6AQ5A tubes and one 12AX7. 12 watts RMS and a 12-inch speaker. I bought it off Craigslist from a guy in Colorado so I have to wait for FedEx to bring it to me, but here are some pics he sent me...

Front

Rear

Here's a "before" shot that he took when he first bought the amp...

And here's an "after" shot showing the repairs (all electrolytic caps have been replaced, and C1 was removed and jumpered)

And here is the original paperwork the amp came with! (owners manual, schematic, etc)

Oh and I guess if we want to make this Black Keys related...

I was told by a very reliable source that the majority of the guitar parts of Hacienda's latest album were recorded in Dan's studio with one of these Musicmaster amps.

looks cool as mirbsta!! haha i like the vintage looking styling too!

dual plug ins aye? they work at the same time? not one cuts out when the other is in?

i know this goldentone of my dad's new wife is the same style so i can stompbox at through the bass input and lapslide through the guitar input.

very cool.

http://www.facebook.com/rosskeegan
http://soundcloud.com/keegan-ross-1 - Check me out

it looks like the volume might be on off push pull style or off is all the way down and then turn up, turn on.

thats sounds cool. I'd like an amp like that. Turn up, Turn On.

My neighbor is a cocksucker actually. He lives beneath me, fittingly. He can suck a fart out of my ass. He bangs on his ceiling when he wants me to shut up. He has never had the balls to come up and knock on my door - maybe we could work out a schedule of some sort? But no, he'd rather hide like a little bitch and bang on his ceiling with broom handles.

I won't really be able to play this amp very much at the moment. But I'm sick of not having a proper tube amp. I had a 1965 Ampeg Gemini 1 that was the bee's knees but I sold it last December to pay bills and buy xmas gifts. That Ampeg was 22 watts, and far too loud for apartment jamming so I felt bad never using it and since I got almost $600 for it, it was a good move. Didn't want to have $600 sitting in my room that could never be used. I don't feel so bad about having a $300 amp (this Musicmaster) sitting around waiting to be used. I'm sure I'll crank it up every now and then, and when I move into a new place I'll try to be sure and find a place where I can get loud.

Or I can use an attenuator or whatever but I probably won't. Just one possible option.

I'm going to order a pair of NOS 6AQ5A's today so I can have a backup pair, just in case.

What do you guys think about NOS 12AX7's? I've always laughed at guys who pay crazy $$$$ for NOS tubes when not needed. The 6AQ5A's I'm buying are $15 a piece for the best ones, or $5 for the regular ones... that's nothing, plus they don't make new ones as far as I know - kind of an oddball tube. But the NOS 12AX7's can go for hundreds each on the high end, and start around $20-$25.

i'd love to get something like this one day

http://www.grouseguitars.com.au/goldentone59combo.htm

not necessarily this model but a goldentone for sure. they are brilliant!

Yes the Musicmaster has one 12AX7 and two 6AQ5A's.

I used to buy tubes exclusively from Bob at Eurotubes. He only sells JJ tubes. I might hit him up for a 12AX7, but for the 6AQ5A's I've got a great source here in Chicago. They have tons of NOS tubes. Sorry, I'm not sharing anymore than that. PM me if you are looking for NOS tubes and live in Chicago. I just don't want to post it on the web for all to see because then, next thing I know, tubes are disappearing and hard to come by (aka- more expensive $$$$$)

A friend of mine uses one of these for his upright bass in a trio in which he plays with two guys who play acoustic guitars.Cool amp,not that loud I believe.