Up for sale, a 1965 Fender Bassman head and matching 2×12 cab loaded with stock Jensen C12N speakers and complete with a host of vintage RCA and Telefunken tubes. This fully serviced vintage Blackface Fender amp is a true AA165 circuit Bassman with a Pre-CBS “Fender Electric Instruments” faceplate and early’65 date codes. For clarity, warmth, and headroom, this Bassman excels at delivering sweet and articulate Fender clean tones. Once you reach about 5 on the volume dial, the circuit starts to overdrive smoothly and compress a bit, for a raw, thick sound that’s perfect for guitar or bass. It’s a simple and pure vintage Fender “piggyback” head and cab setup that provides a perfect platform for effect pedals, and is ready for stage and studio use. Arguably the circuit available for the briefest period of time in the Blackface era, the AA165 circuit designation is seen on many tube charts (Leo Fender was never one to waste anything), but under the hood, the actual AA165 circuit was only seen for a few months in early’65 before transitioning to the AB15 that would be seen through 1968. The circuit retains all of the original transformers which all date to the first weeks of 1965 along with the CTS pots and chassis stamp. All of the original blue molded Ajax caps are present in the preamp and the amp has just been professionally recapped with new filter and bypass caps as necessary to keep the amp operating in tip-top shape. On the inside of the head cabinet, the original tube chart is present with a “OD” date stamp which translates to April of 1965. The amp is fitted with a modern three-prong cable. The tubes consist of a pair of vintage RCA 6L6GC power tubes, along with a trio of RCA 12AX7s and a Telefunken 12AT7 phase inverter tube. The power tubes are properly biased and sound particularly lush and hi-fi, and the Telefunken has a distinct tightness and headroom. The speaker cab is loaded with a pair of original Jensen C12N speakers, and these 12 drivers are arguably the most desirable speakers for the Blackface Bassman. These speakers are detailed, clear, and well balanced, overdriving with very rich and balanced overtones. The frames are very clean, the original gold Jensen labels are present, and both speakers have their original cones. Cosmetically, this is a clean and well cared for Bassman with original smooth black tolex and silver sparkle grillcloth on both the head and speaker cabinet. There are only a few requisite scuffs and nicks on the edges of the enclosures, and this amp would look great in a studio collection. All of the original hardware is present, including the tilt-back chrome legs, nickel corners, handles, sphinx glides (feet), and Fender logos. The faceplate is also quite clean and complete with original witch hat knobs. There’s a bit of light patina on the hardware as well as faint aging of the grillcloth on the head in particular, but that’s about the extent of any wear! This Bassman is clean, complete, and works exactly as intended for delivering powerful Fender cleans and thick overdriven textures. Check out our shop “Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar, ” and please let us know if we can answer any questions! We use double thick boxes, 1″ foam, and industrial 1/2″ bubble wrap to assure that your amp arrives safely. International orders will be declared as merchandise, and the value of merchandise will be declared as the amount paid. We cannot declare anything as a gift or for a lesser value. The item “1965 Fender Bassman Blackface Piggyback Vintage Tube Amp AA165 FEIC, Jensen C12N” is in sale since Friday, December 22, 2017. This item is in the category “Musical Instruments & Gear\Guitars & Basses\Guitar Amplifiers”. The seller is “mmguitarbar” and is located in Seattle, Washington. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Number of Channels: 2
- Impedance (ohms): 4ohm
- Brand: Fender
- Amplifier Type: Stack
- Type: Electric Guitar Amplifier
- Amplifier Technology: Vacuum Tube
- Model: Bassman AA165
- MPN: Does Not Apply
- Suitable For: Performance
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
