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iamqman « Good back in the day »
Published on 06/29/11 at 14:21Fender has made a heck of a lot of great amps and they have ventured off their beaten path a few times. This is one of those experiments that they decided to go with. It was a good one at the time and that should be commended.
This amp is one of the amps that had a hybrid technology where you have a solid state preamp section and a power tube output section. You have a preamp tube for the phase inverter and then two power tubes.
I believe that Music Man amps did amps like this in the 80's and it was pretty successful. This amp takes the tone of the vintage champ amps from Fender and adds a modern twist of tone shaping and features. These were a step above the technology of that day and were extremely modern for their time.
UTILIZATION
Output 25 Watts
Rectifier Solid State
Preamp Solid State
Phase Inverter 7025 (?)
Power 2 x 6L6GC
Speakers/Load 1 x 12"/8 ohms
Effects Reverb, Channel Switching
Config Combo
Control Panel Black forward facing w/ white labels, controls numbered 1-10
Front Conrol Layout Normal: In, In, Treb, Mid, Bass, Mid Shift Sw - Drive: Vol, Gain, Treb, Bass, Contour - Master Vol, Reverb - Effect Out, Effect In - Line Out - Standby Sw, Power Sw
Rear Conrol Layout Fuse (1A)
Knobs Black round, unnumbered
Cabinet 17 1/2" x 20" x 11" (44.5 x 50.8 x 27.9 cm)
Cab Hardware Black Strap handle, plastic corner protectors, glides
Cab Covering Black Tolex
Grille Black grille cloth
Weight 38 1/2 lbs. (17.5 Kg)
SOUNDS
I like the tone of most American made Fenders and though it is solid state in the preamp and the power amp tubes do cover up the harshness of the solid state tone. The tone is Fender by all means and you can immediately hear that with your first strum of the chords.
I always like Fender amps with a good Fender Stratocaster or a Fender Telecaster. They just go perfect with one another. One thing that bugs me on this amp is the effects loop on the front panel. Any amp that does this like some Peavey's just bug me. Having multiple cables running in the front of the amp plus a mic if you are using it live just looks tacky.
OVERALL OPINION
I'm not sure what the going rate these amps are in the used market. These amps were still made in Southern California which is a plus. These amps were such a departure of what Fender would normally do. It was a hit with some people who weren't Fender fan-boy's because those guys just want the classic style and tone. This would have appealed to the persona searching for something more or just something different to them.
I would recommend this to any one who needs a good practice amp and doesn't want to break the bank to buy it. I suggest trying it out first before buying because the voicing may not be your thing.
This amp is one of the amps that had a hybrid technology where you have a solid state preamp section and a power tube output section. You have a preamp tube for the phase inverter and then two power tubes.
I believe that Music Man amps did amps like this in the 80's and it was pretty successful. This amp takes the tone of the vintage champ amps from Fender and adds a modern twist of tone shaping and features. These were a step above the technology of that day and were extremely modern for their time.
UTILIZATION
Output 25 Watts
Rectifier Solid State
Preamp Solid State
Phase Inverter 7025 (?)
Power 2 x 6L6GC
Speakers/Load 1 x 12"/8 ohms
Effects Reverb, Channel Switching
Config Combo
Control Panel Black forward facing w/ white labels, controls numbered 1-10
Front Conrol Layout Normal: In, In, Treb, Mid, Bass, Mid Shift Sw - Drive: Vol, Gain, Treb, Bass, Contour - Master Vol, Reverb - Effect Out, Effect In - Line Out - Standby Sw, Power Sw
Rear Conrol Layout Fuse (1A)
Knobs Black round, unnumbered
Cabinet 17 1/2" x 20" x 11" (44.5 x 50.8 x 27.9 cm)
Cab Hardware Black Strap handle, plastic corner protectors, glides
Cab Covering Black Tolex
Grille Black grille cloth
Weight 38 1/2 lbs. (17.5 Kg)
SOUNDS
I like the tone of most American made Fenders and though it is solid state in the preamp and the power amp tubes do cover up the harshness of the solid state tone. The tone is Fender by all means and you can immediately hear that with your first strum of the chords.
I always like Fender amps with a good Fender Stratocaster or a Fender Telecaster. They just go perfect with one another. One thing that bugs me on this amp is the effects loop on the front panel. Any amp that does this like some Peavey's just bug me. Having multiple cables running in the front of the amp plus a mic if you are using it live just looks tacky.
OVERALL OPINION
I'm not sure what the going rate these amps are in the used market. These amps were still made in Southern California which is a plus. These amps were such a departure of what Fender would normally do. It was a hit with some people who weren't Fender fan-boy's because those guys just want the classic style and tone. This would have appealed to the persona searching for something more or just something different to them.
I would recommend this to any one who needs a good practice amp and doesn't want to break the bank to buy it. I suggest trying it out first before buying because the voicing may not be your thing.