Installment 7 - Fender Crunch, Jumbo Shrimp and Other Oxymorons Up to this point, the discussion has been about classic Fender clean tone. I have, however, also pursued a killer Fender crunch tone over the years with fairly limited success. The problem is that Marshall pretty much owns classic tube crunch. And with six Marshall tube heads and three different Marshall 4X12 cabinets at the studio, the bar is raised pretty high for "good crunch". Not to mention what our Bogner

Installment 6 Fender by the Numbers - The '65 Twin Reverb Before we get started on the Twin Reverb, there is one additional vintage reissue combo amp I would like to briefly comment on - The '59 Bassman LTD. This is another rather imposing amp; 45-watts into 4-10" Jensen P10R vintage style speakers. The amp features 3X12AX7 preamp tubes and a 5ARA rectifier tube and is driven by two 6L6 output tubes. It also features tweed style cosmetics. This combo was originally designed

Installment 5 Fender by the Numbers... The '65 Super Reverb Reissue The next amp in the reissue series is the '65 Super Reverb.This is a more imposing amplifier, in both size and sound, than the the smaller reissues. At 45 watts and with 4-10" Jensen P10R vintage style speakers, this amp can generate some serious volume. It is driven by 4 X 12AX7 and 2 X 12AT7 preamp tubes and two 6L6 output tubes, and features a tube driven reverb and tremolo circuit as well as "blackface"

Installment 4 Fender by the Numbers - The '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue The next amp up in the reissue series is the '65 Deluxe Reverb. This amp is slightly larger that the Princeton, featuring more power through a larger speaker. The Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb features 22 watts of output power through a single 12" Jensen C-12K vintage style speaker. The amp is driven by two 6V6 output tubes and also has the tube driven spring reverb and tremolo circuit. This amp also includes "b

Installment 3 Fender by the Numbers - The '65 Princeton Reverb Reissue We'll start this installment with more definitions (yikes!). Over the years, Fender has modified, improved, and in some cases, replaced its all tube amp designs. As a result, some of the classic circuits in use are described by aficionados in terms of the cosmetics of the various amp models that contain these circuits. For example: "Tweed" - These amps reflect the early years of Fender production and

Installment 2 - Sometimes Old is New Again Just for a reference, I would like to start with my definition of "vintage", which is equipment manufactured it the 20-year window from 1952-1972. Some would argue that window could be pushed several years in either direction, but for the purpose of this tale, that's the baseline I'm using. If you've checked, vintage Fender combo amps that both sound and look good are selling for insane amounts of money these days. You have to ke

The sordid story of my trials and tribulations in attempting to put together a reasonable collection of Fender tube amps.