JimmyBlood
February 3rd, 2006, 12:34 AM
Hey guys, since there have been a few inquiries about Fender amps lately, I thought I'd toss out some general stuff about the different eras of Fender amps and how they sound. That way if one comes along, you can pick it up!
Tweeds:
These are the 50's Fenders that are covered in tweed fabric. They all have a particular tone that has a very full midrange, not too bright, and not too bassy, and they overdrive like crazy when you crank them up. The dirty sound is swirly and gritty and delicious. They came with Jensen AlNiCo speakers that add to the overdrive as well. These are the amps that inadvertently birthed the Marshall sound. If Fender had stuck with their tweed circuits, all the rockers would be playing these. Some had tremolo, but none had reverb. They stay clean till only about 3 on the dial and just get dirtier the more you turn them up. They're pretty rare. Here's a pic of one (my '57 Fender Vibrolux).
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2166/v13im.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Brownface/Blondes:
These have less overdrive than the tweeds, and are covered in either Blonde Tolex or Brown Tolex and all had brown faceplates. They have a tighter distortion sound, and stay clean longer (till about 4-5 on the vol knob). They don't have as thick a midrange, and have slightly more treble than the tweeds. Some of them had tremolo, but still no reverb. They were made in the early 60s. Pic is from the Ampwares Fender amp field guide.
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/bassman_blonde_6g6_62f.jpg
Blackfaces:
These are the Fenders people generally think of when they think Fender. They have the quintessential clean and bright sound. Throughout the evolution of Fender amps they constantly got brighter, cleaner, and louder. The blackface have a scooped mid sound, and a tight bass and glassy treble sound. They stay clean until about 7 or so on the volume knobs, and the non reverb models stay clean almost to 10. Most had tremolo, and a good many of them had reverb. Made from '64 to '67. This era birthed the Twin Reverb and Deluxe Reverb amps.
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/deluxe_reverb_bf_67f.jpg
Silverfaces:
These came after the blackface and retained a lot of the same circuitry. It takes minimal modification to change them back to blackface. During this era (after CBS bought Fender) there were some silly circuit changes that gave these amps a bad name, but now any good tech can correct these changes. They tended to be similar to the blackface but a little bit brighter, louder, and harsher sounding. The smaller amps didn't get messed with as much, but the largest like the twins got changed pretty quickly. These are still a good value and are very easy to work on, and also very reliable, and once 'blackfaced' inside, they sound the same as the older blackface amps.
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/vibrolux_reverb_sf_f.jpg
Tweeds:
These are the 50's Fenders that are covered in tweed fabric. They all have a particular tone that has a very full midrange, not too bright, and not too bassy, and they overdrive like crazy when you crank them up. The dirty sound is swirly and gritty and delicious. They came with Jensen AlNiCo speakers that add to the overdrive as well. These are the amps that inadvertently birthed the Marshall sound. If Fender had stuck with their tweed circuits, all the rockers would be playing these. Some had tremolo, but none had reverb. They stay clean till only about 3 on the dial and just get dirtier the more you turn them up. They're pretty rare. Here's a pic of one (my '57 Fender Vibrolux).
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2166/v13im.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Brownface/Blondes:
These have less overdrive than the tweeds, and are covered in either Blonde Tolex or Brown Tolex and all had brown faceplates. They have a tighter distortion sound, and stay clean longer (till about 4-5 on the vol knob). They don't have as thick a midrange, and have slightly more treble than the tweeds. Some of them had tremolo, but still no reverb. They were made in the early 60s. Pic is from the Ampwares Fender amp field guide.
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/bassman_blonde_6g6_62f.jpg
Blackfaces:
These are the Fenders people generally think of when they think Fender. They have the quintessential clean and bright sound. Throughout the evolution of Fender amps they constantly got brighter, cleaner, and louder. The blackface have a scooped mid sound, and a tight bass and glassy treble sound. They stay clean until about 7 or so on the volume knobs, and the non reverb models stay clean almost to 10. Most had tremolo, and a good many of them had reverb. Made from '64 to '67. This era birthed the Twin Reverb and Deluxe Reverb amps.
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/deluxe_reverb_bf_67f.jpg
Silverfaces:
These came after the blackface and retained a lot of the same circuitry. It takes minimal modification to change them back to blackface. During this era (after CBS bought Fender) there were some silly circuit changes that gave these amps a bad name, but now any good tech can correct these changes. They tended to be similar to the blackface but a little bit brighter, louder, and harsher sounding. The smaller amps didn't get messed with as much, but the largest like the twins got changed pretty quickly. These are still a good value and are very easy to work on, and also very reliable, and once 'blackfaced' inside, they sound the same as the older blackface amps.
http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/vibrolux_reverb_sf_f.jpg