Grail | '58 Fender 5F6A Bassman Pt 1

[@NinerFourWhiskey]

I own a 1960 5F6A. It came to me in early 1970's black naugahyde and Spanish Colonial brass furniture tacks. But 4 original cone alnico jensens P10Q with matching date codes, all the right transformers and grille cloth and tube chart. The yellow Astron capacitors were already long gone. Recovered it in tweed and fixed everything. Eventually, I had to make a new board for it, as it suffered tweed disease. It absolutely, totally rocks to this day though. Everything sounds amazing through it.

[@fivewattworld]

No reverb! You’re a real man dude!

[@retread1083]

"I got blisters on my fingers!"

[@philipthomas8440]

You win!😂

[@tom-iv6lc]

Where is that reference from...i can hear it in my head...cant remember. Beatles white album? or a movie.....?

[@PsionicAudio]

Ringo at the end of Helter Skelter

[@patriottothecore6215]

Or it’s Money for Nothing - Dire Straits - “maybe get a blister on my finger, maybe get a blister on my thumb……

[@retread1083]

@@PsionicAudio exactly. And Helter Skelter kinda fits with your current malady, yes?

[@macintune]

I’ve been itching to see a 58, it’s a rash of good luck it showed up :)

[@weschilton]

I see what you did there....

[@tom-iv6lc]

That's some vintage poison Oak. The poison Oak from the black panel years was especially dark sounding unlike the Poison oak from the brown or tweed era. Its easy to tell as the Brown and Tweed poison Oak dont have the FENDER logo on their leaves. This one is a true Gem. Must be nice to have a vintage rash. JK- Coffee and cannabis .

[@SirLoinMagroin]

I was one year old, or two, depending on the amps age. Great classic example. Thanks. Looking forward to more.

[@tjminasi1442]

I was only this many fingers old when it was born 🖐🏼

[@Doctor-en8dj]

I've been binge watching your videos. I am a total ignoramus when it comes to technical things, but your descriptions and illustration makes me want to learn. Really amazing and generous content. Thank you! I just wish I could afford some of the cool amps you work on!

[@robertbarnes9745]

Your tool is on the other side of the room?? You go Lyle!!

[@jimdeavenport9952]

My Bother n Law has a 1958 5F6A he got from a friend. It had been modified with the control head removed and placed in a separate cab. The speaker cabinet is original but has a single 15" radio Shack speaker and baffle plate to accomodate in lieu of the original 4 10 Jensens it came with. The tolex is a dartk grey but it has the original Fender Bassman nameplate on it. Who ever did the mod knew what they were doing, obviously an experienced amp tech, because it looks good and well done. We have discussed re-encasing it to its original form but thats in the future. We went thru it checked xfrmrs, circuits and found no issues other than a blown rectefier tube, one incorrect power tube. We replaced all tubes and fired it up and played for the first time in over 20 years. It has some minor itchy scratchy to it but it sounds amazing. We still need to go back thru it again and do some cap replacement. This video and the next one on it will be helpful. I only trust Psionic Audio and two or three others on KZbin regarding vintage amp troubleshooting and repair. I have learned a lot from these guys. I am looking forward to the next installment.

[@MackFlyingV]

Love it! A friend has a '57 that I play through when I travel to Phoenix. I plug in my Topanga Reverb and the tone is amazing!

[@davegenske8973]

Thanks Lyle. Hope that hand heals quickly for you.

[@kenster865]

I have had a mid-90's Bassman RI for quite a long time. It was one of my main gigging amps through the 2000's right up until I basically retired from playing around 2014. I had the opportunity to play through an early 60's original as it had been a stage amp furnished at BB King's Lucille's club in the Universal City Walk, Hollywood, somewhere around 2005ish. I doubt the club remains after all these years. The differences are striking!! The hand-wired version was incredibly more dynamic and responsive to your pick attack. Playing through that original Bassman amp that night remains one of my playing career highlights. The RI wasn't in the same league at all, not even close. Playing through that original Bassman still sends chills down my back just thinking about it. 🙂🙃🙂👍👍

[@dyamariv3628]

Please Please give us a LONG detailed restoration video on this beauty! I'll grab my coffee..

[@Joshua_Stephens]

Second. This idea

[@tjminasi1442]

@@Joshua_StephensThird

[@GetTheLedOut8585]

A grrrrrrrrrail? Glad that Lyle the Enchanter is getting a chance to take care of everything this beautiful Bassman needs, although I hope that you'll soon find a better way to summon fire from your fingertips. Get well soon, man!

[@PsionicAudio]

Naughty naughty Zoot.

[@GetTheLedOut8585]

@@PsionicAudio Brave, brave Concord!

[@IamtheFerryMan]

We love you, blisters and all

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

Got to play through one a long time ago I remember very smooth overdrive and tremendous volume

[@ylelevier]

Man, this amp lucked out the F out. It’s in great hands. Can’t wait to see all the TLC you give it!

[@Joshua_Stephens]

Favorite Guitar Amp. Hands down.

[@JamesOrcutt]

At my age blisters are the least of my freakout haha enjoy the knowledge you drop. cheers blister boy

[@johnburns5783]

Already sounds great. I’m sure you’ll make it sound fantastic Lyle 👍

[@sgt.grinch3299]

What a time capsule. Thanks for sharing this video.

[@ditchgator1]

😃👍👍👍 My favorite...!!!👍👍❤ Holding my breath for when we observe your excellent work and the reveal of its sonic goodness 😉👍👍 😎✌👍❤🖖

[@David-gx9lh]

A trigger warning for us OCD Brothers about all those mismatched caps would be much appreciated 😀

[@tjminasi1442]

Caution: cap color strobing may affect certain people with visual sensitivities! How’s that?

[@oldasrocks9121]

Love the 2 ivory chickenheads. Oxfords? I've got a few of the button magnet Rola alnicos legend claims were in the very first 4x10s, real screamers with more bass than those magnets would lead you to believe. Hard to believe they're 70 years old.

[@tjminasi1442]

Script or no script, what you describe is pretty clear in context. No problem to understand.

[@tomk1tl39]

GM Lyle . . . great way to start off a Monday morning with one of your vids 👍 😎 . . .

[@mead1353]

I kind of like the colourful inside. I feel it ads some unique character to the unit. Part of it's history.

[@IL2TXGunslinger]

Oh Lyle - what a beauty this is! Wondering if the transformer will turn out to be from a Blackface Super. Great series

[@PsionicAudio]

Thanks. It appears to be completely original to the amp.

[@FenderFixer]

45249 is a model number, not a date code. This model was only used in the tweed Bassman and the brownface Concert, as far as I know.

[@PsionicAudio]

Yeah, I found that. Dating stuff is in the description as I did it after filming this. No other number/code on the OT, but December 58 on the tube chart, 58 on the PT.

[@upload2352]

@@PsionicAudio Can't seem to open the description under YT's "improved" layout, but wanted to mention one of the speakers had "59" on the end - did Fender date speakers on the rim like that?

[@Tonetwisters]

Yeh, I'd say this and a '63-'64 AC-30 really ARE the holy grail of amps.

[@analogblues9606]

Sounds amazing!!!!!! Tone baby!!!!!

[@wolfgangkrauss7270]

Hi can you recommend Mallory 150 capacitors for vintage Tweed and Blackface Fenders? Or what is your choice if the old yellow or Blue are leaky? Greetings

[@MrStevehunter33]

My dream amp

[@larryadams1873]

I’m SUPER allergic to that demon weed. Soldier on sir

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Very good sound though. Like the descreet RCA speaker outputs, 1 for each P10r , makes it a lot quicker to deal with speaker changes etc better than complicated series/parallel headache wiring. Are they all 8 ohm outputs? Great vid as always. This amp sound is perfecto!

[@MB-st7be]

What wattage bulb do you use in the limiter for an amp of this size?

[@sonnysilversmith2156]

Lyle, I have a June ‘93 59 Bassman Tweed reissue, it has a ss rectifier and I’m really curious to how it would sound if it were a tube rectifier, is it an easy change? any advice? Love your new series.❤️🔥🤙🏾

[@cigarettesmokingman9471]

Wow, there is 4 individual speaker outs!? Thats nuts. Never knew they did that, or maybe it isn't original.

[@PsionicAudio]

Original

[@DrRussPhd]

Gorgeous amp, put a Strat thru it when finished, please.

[@garyeggleton1142]

If the presence pot builds up dc on it and you have to turn it fully clockwise and counter clockwise to get the noise off, is there a fix for that? I have a build that copied a 5F6A for the most part, and I have to do that occasionally

[@PsionicAudio]

The DC on that version of the presence circuit is normal.

[@MattXScott]

Great video!

[@swaffy101]

I thought that was the best sounding amp you have ever had in there.

[@1176hambone]

Please, please, please let us hear diverse demos of the amp being played!

[@Renshen1957]

I’ve worked on a 57 and a 58 Bassman, both the real deal, the latter was an OT replacement.

[@pdxbmw77]

I’m surprised you are wearing an automatic watch near the speaker magnets. That’s an easy way to have the main spring get magnetized.

[@Flycam01]

How about a comparison between 5F6A and the Super Reverb? You seem to be in a great position to do that at the moment.

[@Cookiedust-h5o]

The blister thing reminds me of Cheech & Chong--"Whatever you do, don't look at his neck, man"! Thanks.

[@MK-1010]

Gotta love watching a real pro diagnosing an old classic like that! I think I actually feel a little smarter... Hope the poison ivy is all healed up.

[@Satchmoeddie]

We'll set Lyle up with little dolly tracks and two liquid damped gyroscopically stabilized camera booms for his Sony cameras. I think Leitz made a lot of the Sony lenses. Leitz was once a part of Leica.

[@johnbriggs3916]

The other way around: Leitz was the company and the camera (now the camera company) was LEItz CAmera -- or Leica.

[@richardpierce7819]

I sent you an e-mail a couple of days ago with some questions I had about having you repair my 65 DRRI and my Marshall DSL 100 ( 2023 yr issue not the jcm 2000) I never recieved an answer. Did you recieve it.?

[@Joshua_Stephens]

What is the ohms resistance of the 15 inch speaker for this amp?

[@PsionicAudio]

Well, as this amp has four 8 ohm 10 inch speakers, I cannot say.

[@Joshua_Stephens]

😊

[@Joshua_Stephens]

After rewatching the video. It's obvious that it's the standard 4x10. Not sure what I saw making me think it only had 1 speaker.

[@MichaelSmith-rn1qw]

Are the 4 RCA jacks for the speakers original? I assume so. Less than optimal. I have even changed the RCA jack on my lowly Vibro Champ to a 1/4", because I often used different speaker cabinets with the amp, but I assume you are going to keep the '58 Bassman original.

[@Gym123-hifi]

Those are original, but they work fine. There's no reason to worry about RCA jacks unless they're stressed too much by pulling the wires to the side. Mine is an early '58 and the jacks are all in excellent condition, as are most of the other amps from this era- the insulator in these jacks is ceramic, not phenolic. Since the plugs are accessible from behind, using a different cabinet is easy enough.

[@michaelm708]

How often should caps be replaced?

[@PsionicAudio]

They’re expected to give 15 years or so of regular use. The caps in there now are from ‘88, 36 years ago.

[@tonyshoe3131]

if the amp doesn't have a name yet.. call it itchy & scratchy.

[@goodandbadtimes]

It's only 9:15 am here. Until I tuned in, a crappola day thus far. This video has turned that around. Feeling a whole lot better. Hell of a good manicure by the way. Did the Missus insist? Good on her.

[@gerardlabelle9626]

You need a Zero-gravity room for chassis removal/installation.

[@richfiryn]

It's too late I was already disturbed!!! LOL

[@wallpapermusique]

I hope the power is not "just" off.....but unplugged. 🙂

[@PsionicAudio]

Yeah, I clarified a moment later. Unplugged.

[@seanlane8385]

The way to remove and put the chassis back in is to place it upside down on a padded workbench. You let just enough hang over the edge to get the screws out one at a time. Left side hangs over, then the right side. Everything comes out easy and when you put it back in you can easily line everything up and just secure it down. Sometimes you'll need to squat down on the ground to get enough leverage with the screwdriver, but it's the cleanest and safest way I've found to pull or install a tweed chassis. Cheers...

[@cvdevol]

I hope you got an ocean of calamine lotion. 😂

[@goodun2974]

"Ooh hoo, ain't it good for you/that good old-fashioned medicated goo....." Traffic

[@Think_Up]

Psionic... you should find the closest experience to this amp for a low watt amp and make it. My dream amp would be cranked 5F6A tones at so called bedroom volumes.

[@PsionicAudio]

It won’t do the thing at very low volumes.

[@Think_Up]

@@PsionicAudio That's probably why I keep wandering the desert of tone, endlessly searching without finding. :) Thanks for the reply and great videos. Good luck with the poison ivy.

[@MikeM-Colorado]

⁠@@Think_UpLyle is obviously correct, but you do say “closest experience”. Rob Robinette has a design on his website for a 1-watt 5F6A. I haven’t built it, but it looks like it would work well. I’ll get to it someday!

[@madelineredesky6533]

If the rash gets worse get a prednisone shot (doctors care of course); greatly appreciate your videos, Lyle.

[@alecalfaras5936]

😊

[@TwangThang57]

FWIW, I've found the best treatment for my poison ivy/oak/sumac,.....to be fresh goo from an aloe vera plant.

[@Renshen1957]

So long as the blisters aren’t herpes, not a problem.

[@curtisprice9806]

GOLDEN WARMTH, PUNCH, AND CLARITY....PERFECT FOUNDATION FOR EFFECTS AND GUITARS TO CREATE LIMITLESS SOUNDS! ❤❤❤

[@goodun2974]

Lyle, you should reserve display of your contact dermatitis for videos that involve a *blistering* critique of someone else's bad design or poor repair work! 😁

[@gregboboski9904]

ABC [ Algorithm boost comment ] Nice!

[@kaseysimons128]

generic comment

[@JackFlaps]

gloves

[@RobotYawn]

Seems to be a simple beast. Why don't they make them how they used to?

[@PsionicAudio]

MBAs.

[@MrStevehunter33]

@@PsionicAudio "MBAs" love it. They're (one of) the curses of modern life

[@honkytonkinson9787]

My hands and arms look worse than yours on the regular just from playing with my dog. I think anyone sensitive enough to be triggered by what I saw doesn’t really want to watch a video about a bassman

[@PsionicAudio]

I didn’t give you a 4K closeup.

[@honkytonkinson9787]

@@PsionicAudio lol thank you for what you do!