amsdenj Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 I bought this amp when I was a Freshman in college, 1968 I think. Earlier this yer I dug it out of the attic and tried to use my POD HD500X to create a digital pedal board into this amp. It sounded awful and I quickly gave up. There were a few problems in the amp - needed new power tubes, the filter capacitors in the power supply needed to be replaced, and the pots needed cleaning. But the worst problem was the Fender CTS 137 speakers in an old 2x12 Bassman cabinet. These speakers just don't sound good, too much bass, flabby sounding, no articulation and an odd color. I got them out of an old Fender Pro that I replace with Celestion Greenbacks. Well, I had the parts ordered to fix this amp a couple of years ago, thinking it would be a labor of love, and bring it back to life. I did the repairs, and replace the CTS 137 speakers with Celestion G12-65s. Now that old amp was sounding pretty good. So I created a traditional front-of-the-amp pedalboard in Helix including: Fassel Wah Deluxe Comp Compressor Low and High Cut EQ to use a high-pass filter to reduce bass into the gain/drive stages Vermin Dist - for Drive: just the edge of distortion as that Showman is super clean. Vermin Dist cleans up well with Drive about 1.9, Filter at 8.0 and Level at 8.3. Turn it on and the amp just starts to get gritty and cleans up nicely by rolling back the guitar volume control Valve Driver - for Overdrive: gives a bit more control on the bass and treble cut for a somewhat more overdrive sound Compulsive Drive - for Distortion: this is a very smooth, musical distortion. I'm really glad Line 6 included this model Script Mod Phase Ubiquitous Vibe Gray Flanger 60s Bias Trem Chorus - sounds great, even in mono Simple Delay - slap-back 125 milliseconds, no repeats Transistor Tape - for 500 millisecond delay '63 Spring 145 Rotary Looper This setup sounds fantastic and has breathed new live into a old amp that means a lot to me. Helix makes a great pedalboard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrellM5 Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 I love it when people recondition vintage gear and put it back in service. I recently got an incredible deal from a friend who used to play in a band. He sold me a bunch of gear for $500. A couple bass guitars, and ESP guitar, a bass amp and cab, a Randall 1/2 stack, a POD XT Live and some pedals. I'm proficient at setting up guitars so that's no problem but now I'm going to start working on some of the other gear starting with the Randall cabinet. Should be a fun adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmoncebaiz Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 A buddy of mine has an old bassman and he wanted to use Helix for FX. He came up with the idea to put all his traditional FX in front of the amp. Then he mics the amp and sends that back through the mic in on Helix. Then he places some delay and verb after it in the chain, creating a virtual post section for his amp with no FX loop. It also essentially lets him play direct with his favorite amp, and as a bonus he gets to bring his own mic instead of relying on whatever the venue has. My favorite part of Helix hands down is its ability to work with other gear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDaveDaveDave Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 AWESOME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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