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Post subject: best amp
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:06 pm
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Rock Star
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based on opinion, what is the top 5 best vintage fender guitar amps?

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63supro
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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:37 am
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Rock Star
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Wow, pretty open-ended question. Well, the Fenders I use the most have been 1948 Champion 800, BF Princeton Reverb, BF Super Reverb, BF Twin Reverb, BF Deluxe Reverb, SF Vibro-Champ. Been using that 1962 Pro Amp quite a bit lately.

I've redone a couple and built a couple DIY tweed Deluxe (5E3). I don't presently own one. But this has to considered one of the more desirable, too.

I've owned or played on plenty of woodies, tweeds, brownies/blondies, BF, & SF amps. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Really, a lot depends on the particular amp itself. And not model or year.

Really, I can't think of too many "dog" tube Fenders. Not until you hit the various solid-state era Fenders. And not all solid-state Fenders are bad. I like tubes, but that's just me...


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:07 am
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Roadie
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Well....I have a 1965 Super Reverb that sounds incredible. Also have 1974 DR and a 1968 Blackline Princeton Reverb. To me the bigger Fender BF and early SF kick $@!.


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:32 am
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Rock Star
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see i dont know all those BF and SF mean. i havent caught on to the abbreviations
around here yet. i dont think i know a dang one of them yet lol.
yes this is an open end question. im not looking for the rarest amps.
im looking for the amps that can still be had w/o selling the farm to do so.
i mean sure the 1964 vibroverb is a choice but can it be had by the average guy at the moment, um....... no. i'll even accept reissues in this list too.
im in great hopes the older cats like arjay,rebel,supro63, zzdoc, and the likes pitch in on this topic too. im pretty sure they are probably tired of questions like this but its important to me to know their opinions too. :D

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."


Last edited by way cool jr on Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:37 am
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Rock Star
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im thinking that the champ and a good bassman might fit the list, as well as a vibrolux
might be in there somewhere too. hell i dont know, thats why im asking.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:05 am
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waycool,for the best buys at present...you can look for early Silver Face (SF) 1967-68 or '69 amps that are classics like the Deluxe Reverb,Princeton Reverb,Vibrolux Reverb,Super Reverb,Pro Reverb or similar....they are not as pricey as the earlier amps,but folks are catching on to that.
The early SF amps are very similar to Black Face (BF) and can have a few component changes (referred to as blackfacing) to get pretty much the same amps as the more costly Black Face amps.
CBS took over in Jan.'65,but it was a few years before they screwed up the amps...a good tech can take a SF amp and get you the sought after vintage BF sound.


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:09 am
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Roadie
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way cool jr wrote:
see i dont know all those BF and SF mean. i havent caught on to the abbreviations
around here yet. i dont think i know a dang one of them yet lol.
yes this is an open end question. im not looking for the rareest amps.
im looking for the amps that can still be had w/o selling the farm to do so.
i mean sure the 1964 vibroverb is a choice but can it be had by the average guy at the moment, um....... no. i'll even accept reissues in this list too.
im in great hopes the older cats like arjay,rebel,supro63, zzdoc, and the likes pitch in on this topic too. im pretty sure they are probably tired of questions like this but its important to me to know their opinions too. :D


look on the net Bro....mucho inof out there on the BF and SF. Blackface and Silverface. See the link below...to get started
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Amplifiers


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:42 am
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Rock Star
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Rebelsoul wrote:
waycool,for the best buys at present...you can look for early Silver Face (SF) 1967-68 or '69 amps that are classics like the Deluxe Reverb,Princeton Reverb,Vibrolux Reverb,Super Reverb,Pro Reverb or similar....they are not as pricey as the earlier amps,but folks are catching on to that.
The early SF amps are very similar to Black Face (BF) and can have a few component changes (referred to as blackfacing) to get pretty much the same amps as the more costly Black Face amps.
CBS took over in Jan.'65,but it was a few years before they screwed up the amps...a good tech can take a SF amp and get you the sought after vintage BF sound.



rebel my main man, thank you for your insight. i can always count on you.
ok so are any of the current reissues any good? are they lacking anything the originals might have had? yeah im sure theres a bit of a different feel about them but......... :?

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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:47 am
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Rock Star
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mxvin wrote:
look on the net Bro....mucho inof out there on the BF and SF. Blackface and Silverface. See the link below...to get started
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Amplifiers




thank you for the link, reading it now.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:57 am
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Rock Star
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ok rebel,

they call the 1959 vibrolux a 5F11. are all vibrolux's 5F11's? what does that mean by the way?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:04 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:29 pm
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Way Cool -

You might enjoy this website also -

The Fender Field Guide tells you all the specs on nearly every vintage Fender Tube Amp. I damn near live on that site :lol:

And of course, just reading what the real guru's here at this forum write provides a good education....... if you can get past the amp porn that some them post. :lol:


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:20 am
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Rock Star
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ive seen this site but havent explored it yet.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:03 am
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Rock Icon
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Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:03 am
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Location: NL Canada
I have a '69 Silver Face Bassman with a '68 driprail cab with 2-15" speakers and it is a screaming guitar amp that just begs to have blues and classic rock played through it. It also sounds fabulous through my Marshall 1960 cab or my old Leslie 16.You can pick up Bassman amps from that era still at a fairly low price.I got mine about 8 years ago for a steal-$200 and a couple of years later paid only $250 for the cab.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:22 am
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Rock Star
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slinger,

the 65 bassman is on my list to get. i passed one up for like $6-$700 back over last summer. i about throw up now when i think about it. the guy had like 6 of them and all very nice shape. solid 7.5 on the scales. ole cedar down in fl has got me wanting one so bad lol. i'll get one this yr. ive heard their blues tone and love it.
do they get a hard rock sound too slinger?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."


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Post subject: Re: best amp
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:31 am
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Rock Star
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Location: Tennessee
way cool jr wrote:
ok rebel,

they call the 1959 vibrolux a 5F11. are all vibrolux's 5F11's? what does that mean by the way?

That's the model number and it designates the circuit,the letters and numbers are a code that describes the amp,and changes made in what month and year...at least that's the way it starts off...Fender vintage amps had a tube chart that gave the model name,and then a stamp on the chart told what month and year it was made.
Welcome to the confusion,because tube charts were pasted into amps that were not the same circuit because of Fender using leftover charts from previous models....in other words it can be a mess trying to figure out what you have inside the amp while the outside has a name......I know...too much gibberish.
Then you have guys like Arjay who can look inside at the components of an AB763 Deluxe Reverb and know if it's the real deal. :)
I'm not that good on some of the amps.


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