This 1964 Fender Bassman came to me sounding good. But I knew eventually I’d want a pro to look at it. If for no other reason than to confirm it’s circuit and age. I suspected it was rare.
The amp is indeed from December 1964 and a AA864 circuit. But someone replaced most of the capacitors, resistors, etc and they did a realy bad soldering job. Fortunately Tim at Superfine Ampworks set things right!
Now the normal channel sounds like an amazing Fender clean with all the power and responsiveness you’d want. With a original specs closed back cab and two Webber speakers running at 4 ohms it’s loud and clear. And the bass channel has been modified to the Superfine-tweaked version of the Marshall JMP / JCM800 Master Volume preamp circuit as found on the late 70′ and early 80’s Marshall 2203 / 2204 amps.
Master volume knob in old external speaker jack
Now I have THE ultimate super sleeper! A dream amp and my absolute favorite.
I have just begun to scratch the surface of what it can do. Immediately I dialed in sounds that had me writing and jamming! Just what you want from a magical musical tool. Now to try some effects with it. (Reverb tank, fuzz, boost, etc.) Though I could spend lifetimes without them and be in nirvana. Thanks Tim!
I hope there will be many more posts like this. Over the past several years guitars and amplifiers have become a big part of my life and they bring me a lot of joy.
The main goal of this guitar build was to have a Stratocaster for slide using my favorite neck. I have a real hate love relationship with this guitar shape. I grew up annoyed with their ubiquity thanks to Eric Clapton. Ironic I suppose because his signature neck is supposedly a soft V… You’ll see why in a bit.
Screenshot closeups from Youtube Video of Harrison playing on Lennon Song
I really love George Harrison’s slide solos. They sing with the most beautiful voice. This was my sonic motivation that led me on a deep dive for the known specifications on his Stratocasters. This guitar is inspired by them, not an attempt at a replica. In short his are ‘60s guitars. And mine is more 50’s style, like the neck.
It started with the Fender Ed O’Brien Stratocater I got. I fell in love with how it’s neck feels in my hand. It’s called the Fender EOB, 10/56 “V”. Guess you could call it a soft V shape. For years I thought about buying another. Just didn’t want to dissemble my EOB Stratocaster just to start over. The Fender manual specifications say its profile height is .895” at the first fret and 1” high at the 12th fret. The fret board has a common 9.5” radius. It’s made entirely of maple, both the neck and fretboard, with medium nickel frets, truss rod adjusted at the heel, and old style tuners.
Without realizing it I duplicated the colors from my modified EOB Strat. White body, black pickguard, maple neck, off white knobs, & silver hardware. This is my current favorite guitar color pallet. Is there another famous guitar of this style? Not sure what inspired my color choices.
My S-style partscaster. Based on 1950’s tech and a fat neck.
Here are the main parts and the builders who made them.
The body is by BloomDoom Guitars.It’s swamp ash and has a thin aged blonde white nitrocellulose finish.
The neck is by Fender. (See above.) Apparently it’s not liked by some as they regularly come up for sale. Bonus for me! May need another. Really! I dream of an aluminum neck with this kind of profile.
The loaded pickguard was built by Brandonwound. The pickups are 50’s style and low output. It’s a historically accurate 8 hole guard with a distressed old look. Sounds amazing. All five positions have real character. Yes, I know Fender didn’t use black pickguards on Strats till the ‘70s.
The hardware is from Callaham Guitarsand is made in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA. It’s vintage Strat style that came with a tremolo bridge, jack, neck plate, saddles, strap buttons, etc. I ordered the hardware distressed and it looks great. Didn’t end up using their tuners on this guitar. Maybe the next build. (Thinking about a HSS strat.)
Right now the strap I’m using is a cheap white leather one from Levis. I had no idea it would feel so great.
Major thanks to Alex at Cosmic Sea Guitar Repair for assembling and setting up this guitar. His advice and support over the past few years has been amazing.
Brian C. Russell 