My Surprising Journey with Vintage Fender Amps

The Fender Super Reverb

In my 20s, I was all about maximum punch and output. I always went for efficient loudspeakers with a strong attack and a bassy punch. I still regret selling an almost-mint, transitional 1968 Super Reverb loaded with CTS alnico speakers in the late ’90s. It wasn't until 20 long years later that I started to appreciate these speakers after coming across similar amps.

My original amp, which first belonged to my brother, had a beautiful contrast between the brown, naturally aged grille cloth and the silver-sparkling aluminum frame around the speaker baffle. The CTS alnicos with the blue square magnet are famous for their low efficiency and vocal tone, with a dominant upper midrange and great touch sensitivity. They are perfect for that clean, touch-sensitive Mark Knopfler tone. These speakers, found in black-panel Supers and early silver-panels up to around 1970, are definitely worth trying out.

The Trouble with the Bassman

Next up is my complicated relationship with the black-panel Bassman. I had read a lot about it and knew it had a great reputation among both bass and guitar players. I first tried a 1964 Bassman, which was deafeningly loud. I found it almost impossible to dial in a warm tone. I thought the massive 2×12" enclosed cabinet with a pair of punchy Oxford 12T6 speakers was too much for a regular electric guitar. The attack was brutal from the diode-rectified 50-watt power amp with large power and output transformers. I also realized I’m dependent on reverb, which the Bassman lacked.

There wasn’t much I liked about the black-panel Bassman until I came across another model, an AB165, also from late 1964. I inspected the schematics and learned that the AA864 and AB165 circuits were different. The AB165’s “normal” channel uses an extra 12AX7 preamp tube, where both triode gain stages boost the signal. In the AA864, only the “bass” channel uses this preamp tube. This means the AB165 is capable of serious preamp distortion, but only if pushed hard, which still made it too loud.