Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
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SirJackdeFuzz
New member
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
Without a doubt, a 5E3 (the real thing)
I have to mention the genuine 1959/1960 4X10 Bassman too
<---- two 5E3's recorded in (((stereo)))
The ENTIRE Le Noise album was recorded with those two amps.
An honorable mention must go to my 1966 Bassman 50W head.
Without a doubt, a 5E3 (the real thing)
I have to mention the genuine 1959/1960 4X10 Bassman too
<---- two 5E3's recorded in (((stereo)))
The ENTIRE Le Noise album was recorded with those two amps.
An honorable mention must go to my 1966 Bassman 50W head.
Boogie Bill
New member
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
I'll list a few that I've had.
Fender Super Champ. Mine had the EV 10" speaker. Killer tone. I liked to run it just wide open, and not use the distortion. This is one I wish I had back. This is the amp that got me back into using tubes after years of using a SS amp.
I owned an original 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb. Everything you hear about the originals is true, good and bad. Mine had a Gold Label Jensen in it. I got this for letting a friend sleep on my sofa for a couple of weeks. I absolutely HATED, HATED, to sell it but in the end I kept the Mesa DC-3. That was a better choice for me. The DR spoiled me, and I really miss it.
1964 Fender Tremolux and matching 210 cab. Smooth blonde tolex, gold grill and a blackface. Beautiful amp. Smaller transformer than the 1965 Band Master I had, 35 watts from two 6L6s and a tube rectifier. Perfect blues club amp--I loved the SAG!!! Perfect jazz amp, too. Wished it would have had reverb. Classic Fender tone, not only at low volume, but stayed sweet when pushed up to 7-8. Definitely a keeper, but I had to let it go, and cried when the buyer took it away.
My Band Master was a great amp too, but it had some minor problems. This was back before there were matched tubes, btw. Like the Tremolux, I missed reverb. Unfortunately, it was stolen out of my car, and lost to me. Took a long time to recover from that loss. I replaced it with a SUNN Solos II 212 combo, a SS Twin killer. That was a good amp and I paid the rent with it for many years; but looking back--it was a mistake in a number of ways.
I used to play at the Musician's Union Hall--they had a big SF Dual Showman Reverb and 215 cab. Glorious sounding amp. Every guitar sounded great with that amp. Far too big, especially these days, but back when I was young did a couple of festivals where the backline was two Dual Showmans daisy-chained together--HEAVEN!
I've also owned a SF Twin Reverb and a Fender 75 head and cab. The 75 was a nice amp, but once I got the Mark III, it sat in the closet until I sold it. The Twin--back in 1991, I answered a classified ad in the paper; the amp was advertised for $275, and a friend and I rushed over to buy it. The guy has it out in his garage, and when he rolled it out--OMG!!! The thing was an absolute wreck. Filthy dirty. Two mismatched speakers, neither original, one a Peavey Scorpion. Four power tubes--each one from a different maker. The grill has a minor tear, couple of missing knobs, the power cord has a chunk of wrapping missing--all no big deal. And the vinyl was in decent shape--except on the top left corner--where the cabinet joint was broken! If I picked it up, the only thing holding it together was the tolex! But, everything worked, and it sounded absolutely fantastic. Just a little bit of extra noise, but it had that great punchy tone Twin Reverbs are famous for. I talked him down to $250 and taking a leap of faith (or in a moment of insanity), I decided to buy it. It was too good to pass up, even it its poor condition. My buddy and I sat in the car for a few minutes doing a little bit of arithmetic. And then we took it over to a local shop and traded the Twin and $75 for a Peavey XR-600C PA head that we needed to start a band and a Peavey reverb pedal, which at the time would have cost me about $800 cash. So a great deal for me; I made a lot of money with that PA head, and I still have it and the pedal. And I can now say that I was the proud owner of a Twin Reverb--for all of 30 minutes!
But to tell the truth, I love just about any vintage Fender tube amp--tweeds, browns, blacks and silvers have all done right by me. I am not a big fan of their newer stuff. And I've stuck with Mesa since I bought my first Mark III back around 1993. These are the amps that define my tone, and I couldn't be happier.
Bill
I'll list a few that I've had.
Fender Super Champ. Mine had the EV 10" speaker. Killer tone. I liked to run it just wide open, and not use the distortion. This is one I wish I had back. This is the amp that got me back into using tubes after years of using a SS amp.
I owned an original 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb. Everything you hear about the originals is true, good and bad. Mine had a Gold Label Jensen in it. I got this for letting a friend sleep on my sofa for a couple of weeks. I absolutely HATED, HATED, to sell it but in the end I kept the Mesa DC-3. That was a better choice for me. The DR spoiled me, and I really miss it.
1964 Fender Tremolux and matching 210 cab. Smooth blonde tolex, gold grill and a blackface. Beautiful amp. Smaller transformer than the 1965 Band Master I had, 35 watts from two 6L6s and a tube rectifier. Perfect blues club amp--I loved the SAG!!! Perfect jazz amp, too. Wished it would have had reverb. Classic Fender tone, not only at low volume, but stayed sweet when pushed up to 7-8. Definitely a keeper, but I had to let it go, and cried when the buyer took it away.
My Band Master was a great amp too, but it had some minor problems. This was back before there were matched tubes, btw. Like the Tremolux, I missed reverb. Unfortunately, it was stolen out of my car, and lost to me. Took a long time to recover from that loss. I replaced it with a SUNN Solos II 212 combo, a SS Twin killer. That was a good amp and I paid the rent with it for many years; but looking back--it was a mistake in a number of ways.
I used to play at the Musician's Union Hall--they had a big SF Dual Showman Reverb and 215 cab. Glorious sounding amp. Every guitar sounded great with that amp. Far too big, especially these days, but back when I was young did a couple of festivals where the backline was two Dual Showmans daisy-chained together--HEAVEN!
I've also owned a SF Twin Reverb and a Fender 75 head and cab. The 75 was a nice amp, but once I got the Mark III, it sat in the closet until I sold it. The Twin--back in 1991, I answered a classified ad in the paper; the amp was advertised for $275, and a friend and I rushed over to buy it. The guy has it out in his garage, and when he rolled it out--OMG!!! The thing was an absolute wreck. Filthy dirty. Two mismatched speakers, neither original, one a Peavey Scorpion. Four power tubes--each one from a different maker. The grill has a minor tear, couple of missing knobs, the power cord has a chunk of wrapping missing--all no big deal. And the vinyl was in decent shape--except on the top left corner--where the cabinet joint was broken! If I picked it up, the only thing holding it together was the tolex! But, everything worked, and it sounded absolutely fantastic. Just a little bit of extra noise, but it had that great punchy tone Twin Reverbs are famous for. I talked him down to $250 and taking a leap of faith (or in a moment of insanity), I decided to buy it. It was too good to pass up, even it its poor condition. My buddy and I sat in the car for a few minutes doing a little bit of arithmetic. And then we took it over to a local shop and traded the Twin and $75 for a Peavey XR-600C PA head that we needed to start a band and a Peavey reverb pedal, which at the time would have cost me about $800 cash. So a great deal for me; I made a lot of money with that PA head, and I still have it and the pedal. And I can now say that I was the proud owner of a Twin Reverb--for all of 30 minutes!
But to tell the truth, I love just about any vintage Fender tube amp--tweeds, browns, blacks and silvers have all done right by me. I am not a big fan of their newer stuff. And I've stuck with Mesa since I bought my first Mark III back around 1993. These are the amps that define my tone, and I couldn't be happier.
Bill
Powdered Toast Man
New member
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
Anything tweed.
Anything tweed.
marcboomer
Bass Player @ Seymour Duncan
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
-to me the Fender Pro Reverb is there best sounding amp. its right at a good power range too. its got a rightious chime but also a smooth jazz clean tone as well.
-New Fender stuff-the 68 custom line sounds more vintage then anything they have done in a wile. The 68 custom Twin with the volume on 4 or above sounds realy good. Its got just the right amount of chime but also smooth tone with both the bassman and twin circuits built into the same amp.
-old Dual Showman heads and Bassman and Bandmaster heads sound good too.
-to me the Fender Pro Reverb is there best sounding amp. its right at a good power range too. its got a rightious chime but also a smooth jazz clean tone as well.
-New Fender stuff-the 68 custom line sounds more vintage then anything they have done in a wile. The 68 custom Twin with the volume on 4 or above sounds realy good. Its got just the right amount of chime but also smooth tone with both the bassman and twin circuits built into the same amp.
-old Dual Showman heads and Bassman and Bandmaster heads sound good too.
CapoFirstFret
New member
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
Any blackface spec Super Reverb. There's magic in those narrow cabs loaded with 4 10" speakers.
Any blackface spec Super Reverb. There's magic in those narrow cabs loaded with 4 10" speakers.
That90'sGuy
DyzaBoyzologist
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
That's kinda where I'm leaning right now. I've got a '69 Super Reverb and a '71 Vibrolux Reverb, but there's a sweetness that I really like with the Vibrolux. It gets pushed a little bit harder, there's no midrange knob, there's less speakers and the 10'' speakers have a nice upper mid punch that I prefer to Fender amps with 12'' speakers like the Pro Reverb. If I'm playing in a small club the Vibrolux is the perfect fit. If I'm playing in a loud band, the Super Reverb will be a better fit.
That's kinda where I'm leaning right now. I've got a '69 Super Reverb and a '71 Vibrolux Reverb, but there's a sweetness that I really like with the Vibrolux. It gets pushed a little bit harder, there's no midrange knob, there's less speakers and the 10'' speakers have a nice upper mid punch that I prefer to Fender amps with 12'' speakers like the Pro Reverb. If I'm playing in a small club the Vibrolux is the perfect fit. If I'm playing in a loud band, the Super Reverb will be a better fit.
Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
Not to hijack the thread but...really? What speakers are you using with it? Is it modded?
I have one that is a 67 or 68. It's a very clean sounding amp for sure; I find it a little cold. But to each his own!
I have a couple of silver face bandmaster reverb amps and they sound great. My uncle had a vibrolux (I think, it's been 20 years since I played on it) and it sounded fantastic.
Not to hijack the thread but...really? What speakers are you using with it? Is it modded?
I have one that is a 67 or 68. It's a very clean sounding amp for sure; I find it a little cold. But to each his own!
I have a couple of silver face bandmaster reverb amps and they sound great. My uncle had a vibrolux (I think, it's been 20 years since I played on it) and it sounded fantastic.
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LReese
Sausage Gravy
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
I've actually been using my Vibrolux Reverb in the normal channel and using an H9 for reverb. That is before I got my Triaxis setup going.
Its heresy I know, but the H9 algos are really, really nice.
I like the Princeton just as well - its a tad more in your face sounding (its a PTP converted reissue) but its got that blackface goodness.
I've actually been using my Vibrolux Reverb in the normal channel and using an H9 for reverb. That is before I got my Triaxis setup going.
Its heresy I know, but the H9 algos are really, really nice.
I like the Princeton just as well - its a tad more in your face sounding (its a PTP converted reissue) but its got that blackface goodness.
ItsaBass
New member
Re: Favorite Vintage Fender Amp?
For me, it's a tossup between the black-faced Princeton Reverb and the black-faced Deluxe Reverb. The main differences are headroom, and the difference between a 10 and a 12. Tonally they're equally as good to me. But the Deluxe is the near-perfect live amp for most venues. The Princeton doesn't cut it as well live in a rock band. It's a very convenient amp for bedroom or studio use, and for quieter live shows. My approach would be to get both, and to use the Princeton whenever possible, because it's smaller and lighter. When the Princeton didn't cut it volume/headroom-wise, I'd go to the Deluxe.
For me, it's a tossup between the black-faced Princeton Reverb and the black-faced Deluxe Reverb. The main differences are headroom, and the difference between a 10 and a 12. Tonally they're equally as good to me. But the Deluxe is the near-perfect live amp for most venues. The Princeton doesn't cut it as well live in a rock band. It's a very convenient amp for bedroom or studio use, and for quieter live shows. My approach would be to get both, and to use the Princeton whenever possible, because it's smaller and lighter. When the Princeton didn't cut it volume/headroom-wise, I'd go to the Deluxe.
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