Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

[the guy who invented fire]

Somebody tell me about these amps...Lew, Gary, John...where are you guys?

 

[Bludave]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

I have a very close friend who has a Blonde Tremolux dated to about '61. It is a wonderful Amp. I don't know a lot about the circuit differences, but the guy who serviced it said it is basically a Bassman circuit with a few resistors that are different and a few caps that are different. The primary difference is the tremelo.

A little side note is Clapton used this Amp from time to time. I have seen photos of him playing thru one on the Goodbye Tour with Cream! THis is a great sounding Amp. With single coils it sounds smooth and with decent volume it breaks up beautifully. With HB PUPS it can get real Raw sounding. It is powered with 2 6L6 tubes (40 watts), adn I am uncertain of the preamp configuration. IF they are being offered with the matching bottom they run about 2 to 2500 depending on condition.

 

[Curly]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

I've heard they sound pretty good, but never played one ... they don't seem so common.
My amp tech was always looking for one, but he wanted the elusive blonde 6BQ5 version.

one guy who used to play one is Sid Gillis on Letterman's show

you can get a few specs here:
fender field guide

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Somebody tell me about these amps...Lew, Gary, John...where are you guys?

I have all of the BF Fender schematics.If you give me the model and let me know specifics about what you need to know,I can look and or send you the schematic....If I can get my stupid scanner to work? I can take a digital snap shot of it also though..

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

I've heard they sound pretty good, but never played one ... they don't seem so common.
My amp tech was always looking for one, but he wanted the elusive blonde 6BQ5 version.

one guy who used to play one is Sid Gillis on Letterman's show

you can get a few specs here:
fender field guide

Hello buddy.....Seems I've always heard more about the pre-BF versions of this amp? Most of the blonde era Fender stuff was great though!

I enjoyed the photo of you and Jump together....If I behave the rest of this year,can I get you to bring me some more guitars(down the chimney)for Christmas? LOL..... :baby: :baby: :baby: :laugh2: :laugh2:

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Thanks guys!

I was looking for a blond Fender amp but a Vintage dealer I know here in town has a VERY clean '65 model with the matching , JBL loaded 2x10 cab...he dropped me an e-mail lastnight about it and Im gonna try to gett some time to go take a look (and a listen).

John, as for the model Im not sure of the number all I know is that it is a 1965 Temolux 2x10 piggyback

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Thanks guys!

I was looking for a blond Fender amp but a Vintage dealer I know here in town has a VERY clean '65 model with the matching , JBL loaded 2x10 cab...he dropped me an e-mail lastnight about it and Im gonna try to gett some time to go take a look (and a listen).

John, as for the model Im not sure of the number all I know is that it is a 1965 Temolux 2x10 piggyback

Thanks for the help guys.

Any specifics you need to know as far as the circuit though? Comparing it to another BF model?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

What im looking for is something with Fender cleans but with a good crunch tone as well...How does it compart to say a BF Deluxe?

 

[Bludave]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

What im looking for is something with Fender cleans but with a good crunch tone as well...How does it compart to say a BF Deluxe?

The Deluxe will not have any where near the headroom this amp does. I play thru a 61 Tremolux regularly, and this amp at low volumes is very clean, where a DR is very hard to get it clean. I use a '67 Deluxe more than any other amp so I have a pretty good ear for the differences. The Tremolux has tones that are reminicent of a Bassman or a Super reverb, where a Deluxe as good as they are just lack the necesarry headroom to play loud and clean.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Thanks Dave!

that might be what I need...Im gonna use some kind of attenuator to help control the volume but I want something that still has a good clean tone but with the attenuator I can still make crunch as well.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

The Deluxe will not have any where near the headroom this amp does. I play thru a 61 Tremolux regularly, and this amp at low volumes is very clean, where a DR is very hard to get it clean. I use a '67 Deluxe more than any other amp so I have a pretty good ear for the differences. The Tremolux has tones that are reminicent of a Bassman or a Super reverb, where a Deluxe as good as they are just lack the necesarry headroom to play loud and clean.

Dave....Is the Tremolux also a 6V6 rectifier tube amp? I can look at my schematics,but haven't yet.Next time I go to the $hitter,I'll have a look. :dance:

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

There were a small handfull of Tremolux amps with 6BQ5 (EL-84's) but most of them were 6L6 amps.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

There were a small handfull of Tremolux amps with 6BQ5 (EL-84's) but most of them were 6L6 amps.

Oh 6L6.....Yep headroom!

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

I have a '63 blonde/BF transitional Tremolux with the original 2 x 10 cab. This is basically the piggyback brother of the Vibrolux. My Tremolux is about the fattest sounding BF amp that I've heard, even with the stock speakers. It runs 2 6L6's and has a tube rectifier, so it puts out about 30-35 watts and compresses/sags very nicely. It has a pretty typical BF clean tone, although it seems a bit fatter and darker than other BF amps (I actually use the bright switch from time to time). When you crank this amp up past 5 it overdrives smoothly and beautifully for some great crunch. I suppose it may sound dry to some people without reverb on board, but the tremolo is very deep and musical. Plus, since it has no reverb circuit, you can daisy chain the two channels for some extra beef -- and you can run effects in the daisy chain between channels, so you can mix wet and dry channels for some very smooth and cool tones (especially nice with a reverb or echo pedal, but also cool with an OD pedal)! It has a lot of bottom with the closed back cab, and it is light, compact, and easy to transport in two pieces.

Make sure it's in good health, as I played a '65 BF Tremolux at a GC that sounded awful, which I chalk up to poor condition. As usual, try before you buy, but you may be in for a wonderful surprise. I think these are incredibly good amps in a great package -- a true hidden gem in the vintage Fender line.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Make sure it's in good health, as I played a '65 BF Tremolux at a GC that sounded awful, which I chalk up to poor condition. As usual, try before you buy, but you may be in for a wonderful surprise. I think these are incredibly good amps in a great package -- a true hidden gem in the vintage Fender line.

YUP ! I had a chance to buy a Tremolux Head & Cab for $300 (ten years ago)
It sounded aweful ! But in retrospect all it needed was filter caps. :smack:
At the time I thought it was stupid to buy a amp in slight disrepair. Now when
I see the going rate on these amps I can image how stupid I was/am. :butkick:

 

[Bludave]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Dave....Is the Tremolux also a 6V6 rectifier tube amp? I can look at my schematics,but haven't yet.Next time I go to the $hitter,I'll have a look. :dance:

I'm not sure John, but I was told by my Tech that it is essentially the same circuit as a bassman except for a few resisitors and caps and the tremolo. I will check my buddies on Saturday and let you know!

 

[Bludave]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

A very underrated Amp. I play thru one all the time and you really don't miss the reverb. A good sounding amp has a tendency to sound awsome without reverb. In some cases the reverb gets in the way of all the tone!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

What im looking for is something with Fender cleans but with a good crunch tone as well...How does it compart to say a BF Deluxe?

Regarding the blackface and silverface amps: if they don't have reverb they are not as ballsy sounding. I pretty much only like the ones with reverb because even if the reverb is on zero, the "reverb Recovery circuit" in a blackface amp adds some balls to the tone.

So: I've never been crazy about the non-reverb BF Deluxe, Bandmaster, Tremolux, etc.

But I love the Deluxe Reverb, Vibrolux Reverb Pro Reverb, Super Reverb, etc.

If you're looking for a ballsy tone, replace the tone stack in a Deluxe Reverb or similar amp. Remove the .1 and .047 caps and replace them with a pair of .02 caps.

And add some midrange by increasing the size of the midrange tone pot or the midrange tone cap if the amp has no midrange control.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Im with ya Lew...I had a Princeton w/o Reverb and it was a cool amp but it had no guts compared to my Princeton Reverb. The tone cap tweaks and the bigger midrange pot are all tweaks that I have made in my Twin on the Norm channel.

The lack of Reverb is one of the things that I was thinking about in the Tremolux head...

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Tremolux head (Blackface)

Im with ya Lew...I had a Princeton w/o Reverb and it was a cool amp but it had no guts compared to my Princeton Reverb. The tone cap tweaks and the bigger midrange pot are all tweaks that I have made in my Twin on the Norm channel.

The lack of Reverb is one of the things that I was thinking about in the Tremolux head...

Do you have reverb on the normal channel? It's an easy mod and will make that channel ballsier...