Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Stratcat

New member
I am looking for a couple old Fender Blackface amps, Super Champ, Champ, Princeton Reverb. I am tired of being outbid at the last second on ebay!
Thanks for any info.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Stratcat,
I think you have to be committed to looking locally.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Personally, I think Ebay is the best source. Just bid realistically so you don't get outbid. Everybody knows what those old amps are worth these days... Lew
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

I would look on ebay or even GC. The ones near me sell lots of used vintage Fender amps..............The ones I've seen at GC were between $800 and $1200 depending on the condition.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Stratcat, You can go to GC and they can check their other locations for used gear. If they find what you are looking for they will ship into that store
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Try looking in Vintage Guitar magazine. But you local shop is the best way
IMHO. This way you get to see and play the amp. I would stay outta
GC, There not shy about their price's on vintage gear. :13: Ebay's good
But don't get into bidding wars. Wait untill there's like 30 second left
in the auction and fire off your highest proxy. :D
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Thanks for the info fellows :wink: It seems like finding one these amps in good condition is getting really hard to find. It is a shame that Fender won't reissue the Blackface Champ Amp and Princeton Reverb. :smack:
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Stratcat said:
Thanks for the info fellows :wink: It seems like finding one these amps in good condition is getting really hard to find. It is a shame that Fender won't reissue the Blackface Champ Amp and Princeton Reverb. :smack:
people say that about the tweed Deluxe, and half a dozen other Fender amps

I think the small amps just don't make good business sense for Fender, unfortunately.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

I've got a blackface Champ I'd sell but I won't sell it cheap. It's been gone through by my brother Bruce (http://www.missionamps.com) and is in better than new operating condition. I have the original baffle with the original grill cloth and original 8" cheapie Fender speaker, and that will go right back in if you want it to. But we replaced the original baffle with a new one cut for a Weber P10RT speaker and that amp sounds twice as good as any Champ I've ever heard. Lew
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Lewguitar said:
I've got a blackface Champ I'd sell but I won't sell it cheap. It's been gone through by my brother Bruce (http://www.missionamps.com) and is in better than new operating condition. I have the original baffle with the original grill cloth and original 8" cheapie Fender speaker, and that will go right back in if you want it to. But we replaced the original baffle with a new one cut for a Weber P10RT speaker and that amp sounds twice as good as any Champ I've ever heard. Lew

Sounds good Lew,
How much money are we talking about? :)
George, gwoolf7@yahoo.com
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

The best overall value in old Fenders right now is to look for a Pro Reverb. It's a big old heavy 2x12, but I practically stole mine off ebay. With the exception of the one that Lew had Bruce update, keep in mind that you're going to have to replace the caps on any 40 year old amp you buy. (provided the seller hasn't done it in the last few years). The Pro that I got had to be completely recapped and some of the resistors had to be replaced as well. The caps were bubbling on the ends and a couple of the resistors just fell apart when I pried at them a bit with my probe. SO, that added to the cost. In addition, the speakers were crap and had to be replaced. But for way under $1000, I've got a smokin old Fender that I'm really proud of the work I did on it. (It was a 68, first year silverface that I had to reroute the circuit to get it to the Blackface specs).

I LOVE OLD FENDER AMPS!
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Scott_F said:
The best overall value in old Fenders right now is to look for a Pro Reverb. It's a big old heavy 2x12, but I practically stole mine off ebay.

Yep. Do a search on Ebay for Fender Pro Reverb. I gigged with one for many years. They're like a Vibrolux-Reverb but with two 12's instead of two 10's. Also have a midrange control on the reverb channel. Great amps, as Scott noted. I never understood why they are not more popular. They're basically a 40 watt Twin Reverb.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Lew, do you think there is any chance that Bruce will ever do a blackface reverb kit? I know that some others do, but the only one people really seem to like is that Allen Old Flame.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Scott_F said:
The best overall value in old Fenders right now is to look for a Pro Reverb. It's a big old heavy 2x12, but I practically stole mine off ebay. With the exception of the one that Lew had Bruce update, keep in mind that you're going to have to replace the caps on any 40 year old amp you buy. (provided the seller hasn't done it in the last few years). The Pro that I got had to be completely recapped and some of the resistors had to be replaced as well. The caps were bubbling on the ends and a couple of the resistors just fell apart when I pried at them a bit with my probe. SO, that added to the cost. In addition, the speakers were crap and had to be replaced. But for way under $1000, I've got a smokin old Fender that I'm really proud of the work I did on it. (It was a 68, first year silverface that I had to reroute the circuit to get it to the Blackface specs).

I LOVE OLD FENDER AMPS!

Those are great amps Scott, and I am glad to hear that you got one of those Tone Machines :)
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Lewguitar said:
Personally, I think Ebay is the best source. Just bid realistically so you don't get outbid. Everybody knows what those old amps are worth these days... Lew

They don't make em like they used to Lew.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

I agree that a Pro Reverb is a great amp. I have a 66 and it's great. They don't have the cache that the Super or Vibrolux have at the moment so they seem to go for a bit less than those, relatively speaking. BF Princeton Reverbs are hard to find but if you look you'll find one eventually.

I was at a sort of off-the-roadmap vintage store in Boston a while back and the guy had a ton of cool stuff in every corner of the place. He had quite a few BF Champs, I think.
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Scott_F said:
Lew, do you think there is any chance that Bruce will ever do a blackface reverb kit? I know that some others do, but the only one people really seem to like is that Allen Old Flame.

I don't know. I'm not sure there's enough of a market for them. Or enough profit. You can buy a used Fender reissue with the printed circuit board for cheap and I think Hoffman makes a circuit board you can handwire and then replace the cheapy printed circuit board with. Lew
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Lewguitar said:
I don't know. I'm not sure there's enough of a market for them. Or enough profit. You can buy a used Fender reissue with the printed circuit board for cheap and I think Hoffman makes a circuit board you can handwire and then replace the cheapy printed circuit board with. Lew

You're probably right, but if you use the Hoffman kit, aren't you still having to deal with the current Fender trannies? (or are they actually pretty decent?)
 
Re: Best place to buy old Fender Blackface amps?

Lewguitar said:
Yep. Do a search on Ebay for Fender Pro Reverb. I gigged with one for many years. They're like a Vibrolux-Reverb but with two 12's instead of two 10's. Also have a midrange control on the reverb channel. Great amps, as Scott noted. I never understood why they are not more popular. They're basically a 40 watt Twin Reverb.

Lew....The AA165 circuit and my own 66 BF Pro Reverb didn't have a midrange control at all until I added it,but the Super Reverb did....I've had this Pro Reverb for ions and it's perfect..40 watts with 2 12s...I have Webers in mine...Just a fabulous amp..
 
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