Stumbled on a fantastic blackface tone!

[stratpaulguy86]

I know this isn't a revolutionary idea but I think I stumbled across a magic Fender blackface tone equation:

Vintage Fender Pro Reverb - V1 tube + Celestion G12-65s x lots of practice = magic tone.

Pulling V1 out lowers the headroom a tad, the tube rectifier adds the perfect amount of compression, and the Celestion G12-65s remove any unpleasant treble while beefing up the mids and rounding out the low end. I'm losing my mind over how killer this amp sounds setup like this. Id love to hear if anyone else has stumbled across a magic setup of your old Fender amps...thanks!

 

[StratStringSlinger]

Nice. I can imagine how that would sound great. I use G12-65's with my modded Showman. Maybe I'll try pulling v1 to see how that turns out.

 

[stratpaulguy86]

The V1 trick isn't super noticeable at low volumes, but it does have a better grind at about 5-6 on the volume. This is a monster Strat amp!

 

[mad dog]

I'm a believer with that Celestion G12-65. I think it's a big part of why the EC Tremolux sounds so good. Especially with strats and P90 guitars.
MD

 

[Hulakatt]

I had quite a bit of fun tonight testing out an old FD-2 I just got back from Fulltone repair running it through my bf Bassman with a strat. Classic.

 

[lestera34]

From the avatars, I definitely thought Wayne was talking to himself at first.

 

[riffmeister]

I like the G12-65 with my BF Fender inspired amp, too. Tight low end, musical midrange and high end slightly rolled off.

 

[riffmeister]

From the avatars, I definitely thought Wayne was talking to himself at first.

Ha Ha. This was confusing to me for a while, too. Especially during that recent Monster Thread.

 

[traviswalk]

Ooooooooooooo, good idea! Will have to try this in my BF Pro Reverb. I think the Pro is already a terrific amp, but love to hear how it could get better.

 

[Hand of Doom]

Just to be clear, doing this "mod" doesn't mean playing on the normal channel.

 

[thisisajs]

I do this trick as well, sounds awesome! Only difference is that I have V30's instead.

 

[Two Steps]

I leave my v1 in (because the amp gets louder with it out which I didn't want), but I throw a 12ax7 in lieu of the 12ay7 phase inverter? More gain that way...and by gain, I mean Blackface gain...so really just more push.

 

[stratpaulguy86]

Ooooooooooooo, good idea! Will have to try this in my BF Pro Reverb. I think the Pro is already a terrific amp, but love to hear how it could get better.

Todd, you may not like the reduction in headroom by pulling V1. I know you like big, high headroom cleans which you lose a bit of in exchange for some sweet tube breakup at lower volumes. The Celestion G12-65s really work well with the Pro...my other main amp is a Welagen ODR w/ a 2x12 Fulton Webb cab loaded with a pair of G12-65s. With the Jensens in my Pro, the difference in tone was a bit too jarring to my ears. With the G12-65s in the Pro, the transition between the amps was much more natural sounding.