![]() Also, the market is down, so research eBay "sold" items (never eBay or Reverb asking prices) to see what they actually *sell* for.Ī lot of my lengthy replies are based on the fact that we all have different experience and expectations. PS - do you have access to a Vintage Guitar Price Guide? If so, be aware that those prices are for maintained full head/cab sets and an amp in unknown condition should have potential service costs factored in. I service far too many newly purchased vintage Fenders that are brought to me because they weren't checked when purchased and soon failed. They have a service life of around 15 years, so a well-maintained SF Bandmaster from the early 70's should be about ready for a third normal service - and I don't think I've *ever* seen that happen. There's no way top visually verify parts are good, but some replacement caps have date codes that can be checked. It might only cost $100-150 if tubes aren't needed, or $50-60 for a bench charge if it turns out it's been well taken care of.īut most vintage amps aren't maintained well - if at all - and a cap can fail with no warning (and the amp sounding fine) possibly costing you a transformer - and hundreds of dollars of vintage value. ![]() This is something you should do before even turning an amp on if it looks unmodified and there's no documentation of recent service (within the last 10-12 years). Not much gain but good, fat clean tones.Īs you don't know what to look for electronically and don't do your own work you should budget at least $250 on top of the amp cost for normal service by a qualified tech - filter & bias capacitor replacement plus possibly some bypass caps possible tube replacement, a bias check/reset and general electronic checkup. Is it worth another $200 to go make the whole thing sound great? True, Bandmasters are the cheapest BF heads.īuild up a rig with amp, cab, speakers, pedals, power supply, cables, guitars, pickups, cases etc. OTOH a tech could re-voice the amp for fuller low mids and less thin shrill sound with a bright bridge pickup.Ĭourse, some players never use the bridge pickup on their Fenders, or they go right to Texas Specials and HBs to fill out the sound. IMO you really need to play this amp with your gear to know if you can use it. ![]() The perfect speakers can help a lot, and the wrong speakers can make a Strat bridge/ Bandmaster sound into torture for all in earshot. I say "kind of anemic" to avoid hurting the feelings of those who like the Bandmaster sound. With vintage wind pickups, a Strat or Tele on the bridge pup sounds thin and kind of anemic straight into a Bandmaster. I'd say your style, your guitars, your ear, your speakers and your pedals will either work with a Bandmaster or they won't. ![]() I'd take a SF Bassman head over a BF Bandmaster head, by a very very large margin.Ī buddy had a BF Tremolux when I had a BF Bandmaster, and his amp sounded much nicer than mine, but a Tlux is hard to find and more expensive, so YMMV.
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