Fender Bassman & Bandmaster – Black & Silverface Retube Kits

Fender Bassman & Bandmaster – Black & Silverface Full Retube Kits. Regardless of your style and application we have you covered!

All of our Bassman & Bandmaster – Black & Silverface full Retube Kits are designed specifically for these amps. Every kit is configured to provide a specific sound/experience. The default power tubes are the JJ 6L6GC’s but you can use the drop down to select the JJ 5881’s or even the JJ 6V6S’s. The JJ 6L6GC’s will maintain the OEM headroom/breakup point for the output stage. 6L6’s are known for their bold cleans, deep bass, crystalline highs, and naturally scooped mids. The JJ 5881’s will drop the amps output power by about 20%. 5881’s have less bass extension, a crunchier mid-range, and bright jangly highs that compress when pushed. The JJ 6V6S’s will drop the output power around 40%. 6V6’s will offer the most crunch while still cleaning up nicely at lower volume settings.

The Standard Retube Kit is as close to OEM as possible. Maintaining the amps stock level of headroom and gain while providing a warm but even handed overall sound. The kit includes one matched quad of JJ 6L6GC’s by default, three Standard ECC83S’s for V1, V2, V3 and one current Balanced JJ ECC81 for the phase inverter in V4, closest to the power tubes.

The Gold Pin Retube Kit uses the JJ ECC83S Gold Pin variants to provide a smoother, creamier, and more singing overall sound. This option is less aggressive and has less “teeth” when driven hard. If you like a classic raunchy gritty overdriven tone, we recommend looking elsewhere… If sweet, open, and more refined is what you’re after this kit will do it. The Kit includes one matched pair of the 6L6GC’s by default, three Standard Gold Pin ECC83S’s for V1, V2, V3 and one current Balanced Gold Pin JJ ECC81 for the phase inverter in V4, closest to the power tubes.

The SRV Retube Kit Stevie liked to use 5751 tubes in the first gain stage to lower the distortion from the front end allowing more power tube distortion to shine through at higher volumes. This kit uses a matched pair of the 6L6GC’s by default, two Standard JJ 5751’s for V1 and V2, one Standard JJ ECC83S to replace the 12AX7 in V3 and one current Balanced JJ ECC81 for V4 closest to the power tubes.

The SRV Gold Pin Retube Kit A little more headroom and a smoother and creamer overdriven sound! This kit uses a matched pair of the 6L6GC’s by default, two Standard Gold Pin JJ 5751’s for V1 and V2, one Standard Gold Pin JJ ECC83S to replace the 12AX7 in V3 and one current Balanced Gold Pin JJ ECC81 for V4 closest to the power tubes.

The ECC803S Option Retube Kit The JJ ECC803S is a long plate 12AX7 variant. These are a little lower in gain than the go-to JJ ECC83S. They have a very fat mid with more top-end which gives them a very vintage tone with lots of chime. This kit contains a matched pair of the 6L6GC’s by default, three Long Plate Standard JJ ECC803S’s to replace the 12AX7’s and one current Balanced JJ ECC81 for V4 closest to the power tubes.

The ECC803S Gold Pin Option Retube Kit A vintage vibe with more chime and a smoother overdriven sound. This kit contains a matched pair of the 6L6GC’s by default, three Long Plate Standard Gold Pin JJ ECC803S’s to replace the 12AX7’s and one current Balanced Gold pin JJ ECC81 for V4 closest to the power tubes.

Bias info by year and model:

1964 thru 1967 Bassman’s Known as “Blackface” AA864 is adjustable bias. AA165 & AB165 are balance.

1968 thru 1971 Bassman’s Known as “Silverface” AB165 is balance. All others are adjustable bias.

1963 thru 1967 Bandmaster’s Known as “Blackface” AB763 is adjustable bias.

1968 thru 1974 Bandmaster’s Known as “Silverface” AB568, AD1269 and AC568 are balance.

The best solution with these amps is to mod the bias to be fully adjustable if you have the balance version. Over the years many techs have been doing this by default. If your amp is adjustable bias all you need to bias the amp is a bias probe and a multimeter or the Eurotubes “Pro One”. You can use the Deluxe Reverb bias video for reference. We typically bias these amps between 36 to 44mA with the JJ 6L6GC’s, or 33 to 40mA for 5881’s and between 23 to 28mA with the JJ 6V6S’s.

If your amp is Balance only, we recommend you stay with the 6L6GC’s or 5881’s. With these amps all you can do is adjust the balance control so the bias matches for both power tubes.