About two years ago I bought a Fender Musicmaster Bass amp. It's perhaps the world's most pathetic attempt at a bass practice amp, but, well-tweaked, it's pretty cool for guitar.
I had thought mine was from the first production year, 1974, cuz it had EL84s, as Fender switched that amp to 6V6s about a year later. My bud at work got me some nice vintage EL84s, so I just went to pop 'em in, and they wouldn't fit! What?? I never took that close a look at the tubes/sockets before. They're 7 pin minis, and the tubes are 6005. Huh?
Does anyone know about Fender's use of these tubes? I've never seen a schematic with them on it.
Calling all Fender historians
Moderators: pompeiisneaks, Colossal
Calling all Fender historians
Rich Gordon
www.myspace.com/bigboyamplifiers
"The takers get the honey, the givers get the blues." --Robin Trower
www.myspace.com/bigboyamplifiers
"The takers get the honey, the givers get the blues." --Robin Trower
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philmanatee
- Posts: 245
- Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 5:29 am
Re: Calling all Fender historians
The plus side is the 6005/6AQ5 is a great sounding tube and NOS can be had for a fraction of the cost of most other power tubes. Phil
Re: Calling all Fender historians
Ah, so...the 6005 is like the 6AQ5. Never worked with those wee beasties before. Like a less powerful EL84/6BQ5.
muchas gracias
muchas gracias
Rich Gordon
www.myspace.com/bigboyamplifiers
"The takers get the honey, the givers get the blues." --Robin Trower
www.myspace.com/bigboyamplifiers
"The takers get the honey, the givers get the blues." --Robin Trower
Re: Calling all Fender historians
the bottle is like a smaller el84, but in terms of electical specs, biasing, etc. they are like a 6v6. i've built several amps over the yr's using them and they sound great. and like stated above they can be had for very cheap compared to most nos power tubes. rh
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CaseyJones
- Posts: 856
- Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:29 pm
Re: Calling all Fender historians
Even with 6AQ5s a Musicmaster Bass is a POS. With some tweaking it can be a poor man's Princeton but get rid of that stupid interstage transformer ASAP!
The stock power transfomer will quickly show it limitations. I expect Fender used an interstage transformer instead of a phase splitter because the power supply is right up against the redline as it is.
The stock power transfomer will quickly show it limitations. I expect Fender used an interstage transformer instead of a phase splitter because the power supply is right up against the redline as it is.