Little Walter Tribute Show

Tony Smith at Little Walter Tribute in St. Pete.

Tony is playing a crystal mic into a Fender Bassman Reissue amp. Great tone and mastery of the instrument.

Bassman Tweed Rehab

This is a photo of the 1991 Fender Bassman RI amp after two coats of MinWax Polyshades Satin Classic Oak. The 1/2 pint can was plenty for two coats.

I tried cleaning the old tweed up with Resolve but it had little impact on the old stains and discolorations in the tweed. So, I stained over everything. It now has a very nice "Relic" look with a deep golden tone to the tweed. There are still holes worn in the tweed on a couple of corners of the amp but the poly finish will help keep it from fraying.

The project was pretty easy, and took only a couple of hours total. I removed the chassis and handle from the cab, and loosened the baffle so I could move it back a bit. Then I masked off the edges of the grill with regular masking tape and applied the stain to the tweed with a foam brush. After waiting a few hours I applied the 2nd coat of stain. I reassembled the amp the next morning.

When I got the amp the tweed was washed out, yellowish, and looked dirty. Now it looks like it has some serious mojo.