Fender AmplifiersBy Mieke Leo Fender began building guitar amps before he started manufacturing guitars. The first of these amps were the K&F models, which were produced between 1945 and 1946. Leo felt that a thinner neck would appeal to jazz musicians, and aid in the transition from upright to electric bass. The body was less symmetrical than the Precision, more like the recently introduced Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars. Leo Fender’s original vision has become an American legend. Fender amps were basically built for a clean sound. The distortion that is created when a tube amp is overdriven was something invented by creative musicians or by chance when musicians tried to get as much volume out of their amps as possible. Fender amps are not as sensitive to power attenuators as Marshalls, because of differences in design in the output section. However, since the tubes are putting out full power into the attenuator, they will wear out quicker than if they were just coasting at a moderate output level. Fender amps of the 50s and 60s are beloved and coveted by guitarists around the world. Thanks to BOSS technology and tone know-how, the new FBM-1 brings the natural, fat, rich, bright tone of the Fender Bassman to a BOSS pedal. Fender amps, especially the vintage ones, sound really sweet clean. Add some crunch to it and I’m sure it’ll be equally sweet! Fender Amps have been responsible for so many classic guitar tones its almost unbelievable! From the Reverb soaked tone of Surf Rock Bands like the Ventures, to the rip roarin lead tones of SRV and his pair of Vibroverbs, Fender amps are responsible for many of tones that have become classic over the passed 50 year. Fender amps made from 1951 to 1967 have a date code in the back. This is stamped with an ink stamp in black ink (or green ink in 1966) on the tube chart. Find out my other guide on Guitar Sale. Posted in: Supporting Instruments | No Comments » |