Fender silver face and black face

[esandes]

what is the difference other than the look, of course, comparing the same models? there seems to be more "mystique" associated with the silver face.

give me the scoop.

i have a bassman 100 silverface head sitting in storage. i think i'll have to resurrect it. what cabinet would you suggest for it? 2x12" or 4x12". i have a 4x12" marshall cab loaded with greenbacks on layaway. would that be sufficient?

 

[AdmiralB]

Re: Fender silver face and black face

Depends on the model, and what 'vintage' SF you're discussing. Some amps changed a lot at first, then slowly lost some of the changes, then changed again.

Some amps never changed much at all.

There was no Bassman 100 in the BF era. It's a Twin Reverb power section mated to what amounts to a Bandmaster preamp, minus tremolo. It is NOT just a 50W Bassman with two extra power tubes.

IMO it's a fair amp for bass, and a decent amp for guitar if you get your dirt from pedals.

 

[esandes]

Re: Fender silver face and black face

cool. thanks.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Fender silver face and black face

http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/

The Silver face amps were introduced around 1967. The early SF amps are essentially a BF with a new looking plate on the front. Sometime around 1968 or 1969 Fender redesigned the circuits as well and the voice of many SF amps changed dramatically. Of course this information varies quite widely from one amp model to another. For example in 1967 it was feasable to buy a BF Deluxe reverb and a SF Deluxe Reverb. Where A Super Reverb was changed from BF to SF early in 67. SO what I'm saying is you need to be more specific as which model amp you are looking at. I am no expert, but I own a '68 SF SR and a 67 SFDR. Both amps are tone monsters and a SF can be had for a lot less $ than a BF. The only thing I would recommend is to avoid SF amps that have a MV. The MV SF amps sound pretty bad by comparison to a Non Master SF or a BF amp!

The above link will provide you with some histrory and Schematics of most Fender Amps!

 

[Stratman]

Re: Fender silver face and black face

It's the Blackface amps (AB165 circuit), not the Silverface bassman that have the music magic.

 

[AdmiralB]

Re: Fender silver face and black face

The only thing I would recommend is to avoid SF amps that have a MV. The MV SF amps sound pretty bad by comparison to a Non Master SF or a BF amp!

Not true at all. Most of the MV amps are no different that the one immediately previous without the MV. The later ones with the pull-for-boost feature are different, but the standard MV is pretty much out of the circuit on 10.

I do agree that the MV adds nothing to the utility - these don't develop enough gain to overdrive in the preamp, so the master is pretty useless. I usually turn it into a presence control.

 

[AdmiralB]

Re: Fender silver face and black face

It's the Blackface amps (AB165 circuit), not the Silverface bassman that have the music magic.

The AB165 is a sonic turd, IMO. The much rarer AA864 is the killer BF circuit. The early '70s SF Bassmen sound better than the AB165 to my ears.