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Is anybody here into collecting and or playing vintage Fender amps?

Many of you already know I still have my 65 Bandmaster that I purchased new in Stuttgart Germany as well as my little silver face VibroChamp. My main studio amp is a Weber 5E3 kit which is a copy of a '57 tweed Deluxe, and although I no longer play gigs, when I was playing with a blues band I was using a '63 reissue Vibroverb. But, I have to say I love vintage Fender amps as much as I do vintage Fender and Mosrite guitars. I have restored and sold several vinatge amps over the last few years, but wish I had the room to keep them all. I probably have have every book ever written about Fender amps. I know they aren't mentioned very often here on the forum but I have to admit, I am pretty much addicted to them.

I would like to add an original Mosrite amp to my collection but I haven't found one for a price I could afford, plus I don't have the room for the larger size amps.

I'm lucky enough to be gigging with vintage Fender gear. Below is the Meshugga Beach Party backline. From left to right, a '67 Twin Reverb as a head w/2x15" cabinet (used for keyboards), a '63 Showman with a 1x15" tone ring cabinet (guitar), a '67 Dual Showman with a 1x15" tone ring cabinet (guitar) and a '70s Bassman 100 with a 4 x 12" bottom (bass). In the bottom you see a Kendrick Reverb, which was filling in for a '65 Fender Reverb. Not visible is my '63 Fender Reverb.

For smaller shows, Karen uses a 90s Vibroverb for keys, Treyf uses a small solid state combo Bassman with a 15" for bass, and Shecky and I both plug into the Showman for guitar.



I've also got a '66 Ampeg Gemini II, which is a great amp, but I usually leave it at home since it runs out of headroom pretty quickly. Also, a few weeks ago I got lucky enough to score an early 80s Randall 500W solid state bass amp w/2/x15" bottom that someone was throwing out. All it needed was a new power cord and it was up and running.

Being a fan of clean tones, I'm happy playing large amps at low volumes, though I would like to try recording with a VibroChamp or the like at some point to see if comes out sounding loud or just overdriven.

I don't have any pic's but I have in the house right now a:
1966 Princeton Reverb
1966 Deluxe Reverb
1968 Bassmen with 2x15" cab (drip edge moldings)
1972 Twin Reverb
2007 65 Twin Reverb Custom 15

My wife plays through a 2003 Fender Stage 160.
I also have an old tweed Peavey twin of some sort but I have never looked into just what it is. LOL
Jim

Haole Jim wrote:For whatever reason, 'could not get into the vintage Fender amps thing. Yup, 'read a bunch on them, have a couple old catalogues, marvel at those who have them. If they do sound better than moderns, these ears are not of sufficient quality to discern the difference when this picker plays them. Therefore...
...

It really isn't the sound that is so much of an attraction, they are a part of history and that is what everything modern is compared to. Virtually every solid state or digital device out there is trying to emulate the 'real deal'.

My 1956 Tremolux and '66 cabinet. The tweed has seen better days, but it sounds awesome. I don't normally take it out of the house.

I have a silverface late 60's Super Reverb, have had lots of vintage Super Reverbs and for a long time they were all I played, right now my main stage amp is a Headstrong clone of a late 50's 3X10 Bandmaster combo, hotrodded with a late 60's Super Reverb output transformer.

I've never really been a fan of Fender anything. Having said that I do have a '59 Bassman (Real Deal), 66 Super Reverb, and Early '68 Twin Reverb (AB763 & Black vertical lines etc... ) in the studio.
The twin is my main gigging amp, and it is currently loaded with a JBL E-130 15" (2 tubes pulled).
Waiting to be replaced with a Standel or clone thereof...

Right now in my living room I have a 1963 white Fender Bassman and a 1966 Kustom K200 in Cascade sparkle. I just love the looks of these things. I also love my wonderful wife for humoring me with all of the amps that I have collected over the years.

Currently I also have a 1957 tweed Champ, a 1965 Deluxe (no reverb), a 1967 Super Reverb, a 1967 solid state Deluxe Reverb, and a highly modified 1968 Princeton Reverb.

Vintage Fender amps are hard to beat in my opinion. They're well-built, reliable, have a good power to size ratio, and have THE sound. Not to knock the modern reissues, but they differ in many significant ways from the originals they're designed to reproduce.

As far as vintage goes, I currently have a 1965 super reverb and a 1961 reverb unit that I love. I also have a reissue '63 Vibroverb, '63 reverb unit and '65 Princeton. My "oddball" amp is a 1967 Ampeg Gemini II. It's an awesome amp but, as Mel mentioned in regards to his '66, they don't have much headroom, especially considering their size (and weight!).