Help! I just gambled $200 on a 66'- early 67' blackface Bassman AB165 head thats been sitting in a barn for 30 yrs.

Pine Apple Slim

Pine Apple Slim

Armchair Expert
It's rusty and dirty and has a janky orange extension cord power cord, lol. No way Im gonna try to power it up myself.
My duo partners brother passed away recently and he was a bass player back in the day. His wife is selling some of his old stuff. I took a chance on this head I think my tech can save it. I generously offered her as much as I felt I could afford to loose on it.
(He also had a 62 Precision but Im not gonna afford that, it's going up on consignment at a reputable vintage shop.)
Wish I could get the matching cabinet for the head but somehow its gotten lost or misplaced. If the head can be saved I can afford a new cab of some type.
Taking it to the tech soon as I clean up the tolex and rusty corners a bit.

Wish me luck!
 
@Pine Apple Slim - I would not fire it up right away as you mentioned and yes have your tech take a look at it. Chances are the caps may be dried out and the amp will require a cap job. He should also clean the pots as well as clear out the dust bunnies if any within the amp. Chances are he will fire it up with a Variac slowly bringing it up to voltage once the other things were completed.
 
Man, I don’t think I would clean much at all on outside. Let the tech clean the guts, and I’d even replace the chord with another piece of orange extension chord. That is one hell of a story.
 
Im just gonna get a bit o dust outta the tolex and hit the rusty corners with some wd40. Nothing extreme. There will be plenty of mojo/patina left believe me. My tech is old school and really good, knows his tube circuits and loves bringing this old vintage stuff back to life. It may cost me but it's gonna be worth it.
 
Turns out it's an early to mid 64'.
The transformers were good!
My techs completely went thru the amp and replaced all the caps and repaired as needed. Put on a grounded 3 prong and installed a bias adjustment pot. He's still chasing a bit of noise when the vol is maxed on the bass channel, but other than that it's good to go. He's using tubes he had laying around and wanted to know if I wanted to go with those or order new ones. I told him to go ahead and order me a fresh set of matched tubes all around and meanwhile keep chasing that last bit of noise.

So I have a matched pair of Tungsol 5881s and some fresh JJ preamp tubes on the way and it looks like I'll be getting the head back soon.
So now I gotta make a decision on a cab and speaker(s). I could build something but I want it to match and not look homemade.
At this point Im thinking a Mojotone 1x12" open back in matching tolex and aged cloth, and a 4ohm 80w Weber Chicago 12" for a reasonably small footprint so I can actually gig the thing. But I do have a Marshall 2x12 cab I could load up with a couple 8ohm speakers for a 4 ohm cab if the head fits on top. It would be more bulky to haul but would prob sound great and would be a cheaper option.
 
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