Looking for Fender amp for recording. Head only version.

[James Lugo]

What's a good Fender amp in a head only version? Something nice and versatile, good cleans but breaks up nice when driven.

 

[smolder]

Are you looking for the classic blackface or silverface fender tone with scooped miss?

 

[James Lugo]

I think so. Not harsh.

 

[Nelson89]

I think so.

I think he meant that as an A or B style question..."Blackface" or "Silverface"

 

[smolder]

Your options are a bit limited in heads... the bandmaster, bassman, and showman are about the only options. I would guess that if Leo had made the deluxe in a head cab they'd be selling for four grand these days. That said... you might be lucky enough to com across a super reverb, deluxe or vibrolux that someone has converted to a head.

So much of the fender sparkle is due to the speaker configuration (super reverb for example). I think you can get really optimal fender (for recording) out of a princeton or princeton reverb, but those are head size combo cabs.

 

[Kelly]

Late sixties drip edge bandmaster or bassman. Fairly cheap, sounds like a fender, easy to mod.

 

[FFTT]

Head cabs are easy to come by, all you need is a good chassis.

This can save you a bunch of money too, because you can find a Black Face
combo with major cosmetic issues and save considerably on the purchase price.

The most versatile amps as far as circuitry,
are a Twin Reverb, Super Reverb, Vibrolux Reverb and Pro Reverb.
The only thing you have to consider is the output impedance
of the original circuit, unless you want to change the transformer to
variable output.

 

[Mattbedrock]

You need a Tremolux. The perfect BFF recording amp.

35 watts of Fender goodness.

 

[chervokas]

If you're looking for classic BF cleans in an amp that also breaks up at a reasonable volume for recording, you might need something with lower output than any of the BF amps that were made in head/cab configurations.

You might want a Princeton Reverb or a Deluxe Reverb or even a Vibro Champ or a Champ -- all of which you can use to drive a larger cab if you want, or, if you need to, rehouse in a head cab. I think the BF Fender piggyback amps -- the Tremolux, Bandmaster, Bassman or Showman -- might be too much amp and too clean until very loud for your purposes, though among those the Tremolux might best suit your description.

Personally, I prefer the BF amps for clean but for distortion or edge of distortion tones I'd go for a difference amp all together -- a small tweed amp or clone of a tweed amp I can crank: a tweed champ with a larger speaker, or a tweed deluxe.

It might be too much amp, and it's a combo not a head, and you probably would have to buy a clone since originals are hard to come by, but maybe the most versatile Fender amp for clean and dirty, in my experience, is the brownface Vibroverb.

 

[Bikedude]

New Fender Machete now available in Head Version.

 

[jacksonburn]

AB165 Silverface Bassman. Cheaper when compared to some of the other Bassman models, has nice cleans, and sweet crunch when cranked. Also can be modded to AA864 specs or the hybrid AA864/AB165 specs if so desired.

 

[James Lugo]

Whatcha think?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/3299831541.html

 

[FFTT]

Try to get close up detail of the control panel to look for scratches or faults.
A clear detailed chassis photo would be desirable to see the refurbishing work.

Price wise, not bad at all.

 

[James Lugo]

Try to get close up detail of the control panel to look for scratches or faults.
A clear detailed chassis photo would be desirable to see the refurbishing work.

Price wise, not bad at all.

Do you know if it will work well with 8 or 16 ohm cabs?

 

[chervokas]

Looks like the Bandmaster Reverb was an 8 ohm output impedance amp

http://ampwares.com/amplifiers/fender-bandmaster-reverb/

 

[FFTT]

Most of my working experience was with a VR & SR .

I just re read the ad and it does say 4 Ohm output.

You can go up one notch to 8 Ohms with reasonable safety.

Or....... save the original transformer and have it replaced with a multi-tap
switchable output transformer.

 

[James Lugo]

Thanks chervokas.

 

[ScioBro]

Whatcha think?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/3299831541.html

perfect!

get a Bandmaster Reverb breaks up nicely compared to Bandmaster due to tube rectifier (most do, some don't, you can change them) and extra gain stage of reverb circuit. Right-sized wattage....needs 4 ohm spkr load

 

[ScioBro]

Bandmaster and Bandmaster Reverb are 4 Ohm output
but will work fine with 8 Ohm spkr load

 

[FFTT]

If you have a pair of 8 Ohm speakers in a 2X12 currently wired series for 16 Ohms, just convert the wiring to parallel for 4 Ohms.