Sounds so good with my Gibson Les Paul Custom. Tight bass, with bright high end makes this a great amp across the board except maybe new metal, but what would you be doing buying this amp if your into new metal. Sold my JCM 2000 for this and dont regret it at all. Never thought I would buy a fender, but it turned out to be just what I was looking for. I play Led Zeppelin, stevie, ac/dc ect and this amp with a few pedal will do it all. The sound is great a lower volumes vs my JCM(beast). My recommendation is leave the big heads for the guys gigging, but for the bedroom level this is so much better.

Okay. This amp is amazing! The Clean tones are very good BUT the amp starts to break up at about volume 5 which is too soon for me since I don't always have the option to Mic it. But on the bright side this amp takes pedals very well therefore making it very versatile. It sounds great with any strat you can really shape your tone to your liking and the dynamic response it better than most. If you are a "blues purist" I would defintley tell you to buy it. I'm selling it now but it has served me well for 3 years.

I have a 1990 RI which I bought secondhand for reference. The only functional differences are that the older RI's apparently have more desirable speakers and don't have a bias adjustment pot. I however added the bias adjustment pot myself ($2 part and 5 minutes time, highly recommended if you know what you are doing and plan on changing the tubes). The sound is great and clean, I switched out all the tubes with JJs, which sound much for full and open and than the included tubes. I find myself primarily on the bright channel, and I rarely will turn the volume past 3. It is that loud. If you want distortion at reasonable volumes, you are looking at the wrong amp. If you want lots of clean, with a little drive, this is for you. I use pedals for distortion (specifically EH Metal Muff and a BYOC Mouse), and it sounds fine. Also this amp sounds fantastic for guitar, but it is absolutely the perfect combination with my Schecter Hellcat VI (like a Fender Bass VI)...which obviously requires a lot more low-end than a conventional guitar... For the money though...the amp is very simple...you get a great amp no doubt, but it is not the cheapest by any stretch of the imagination. I can see why people would be disappointed by its lack of gizmos at this price, for sure, or even serious afterthoughts like why are all the knobs and labels upside-down from how you'd logically use them still..."seriously...and the choice of stock tubes is not ideal. The presence knob is also pretty useless, this amp is plenty bright with the presence turned all the way down, I often times have to cut the treble quite a bit and even then...its still a very bright amp (for guitar or bass VI). The normal channel I think is too dull however...so its kind of counter-intuitive to the amps I have been using in the past.

The Fender 59' Bassman Reissue is tops. It is the cleanest sounding amp on the market that I, or anyone I personally know, has ever heard. A more pure tone will not be found apart from one of these. I have a Gibson Les Paul Standard 60's neck with the burstbuckers and it sounds fantastic. Smooth, sweet and pure. I have heard a friend gig with my amp playing with an electric acoustic and I was blown away that I was hearing my amp because it sounded great from the audience.

Negatives are a lack of any options. No reverb or tremolo which would be nice to have on even a simple amp but that is what you give up for that little extra clean tone. One of the downsides that I did not foresee was its volume, being 4 12 inch Jensens this thing puts out way more volume than I would have ever thought. I rarely go past volume 4 even playing on stage. The downside to this is you cant crank it to get that little bit of natural tube overdrive(not without going deaf anyway). IF you are looking for the purest cleanest tone out there this is it! If you want more bells and whistles and some natural grit this is not for you.

I switched out a Bogner Alchemist (really a Line 6 with a Bogner nameplate) for this and have never looked back. The absence of effects, even reverb, is easily rectified. The stage coverage and tonal capacities of this monster are amazing. I play a lot of comping/rhythm as well as effects and lead, and the Bassman covers it all with power and great beauty. I use a basic reverb pedal, a crybaby, and a Digitech Expression Factory in front of it and the potential for sonic greatness is endless.

Also: this thing is POWERFUL. Still haven't pushed it past 4. And the clean tones--wow. I can't say enough.

I've played a lot of different amps, and I have to say that under 3 grand, there is nothing that can come near this thing.