Small Fender Recommends?

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soundchaser59

Reluctant Commander
What is the smallest all tube, 2-channel, 1x12 Fender amp? I dont wanna blast the house down, small watts is fine, but I want foot switchable channels (clean and lead?) and 12 inch Fender tone without going solid state. New or used, doesn't matter to me as long as it's affordable. Thanks!
 
Don't have an answer. I'm just bumping this so it stays at the top--I want to hear some answers too.

I'll piggy back and modify your question a bit too: what about a one-channel amp? Something just clean, but small enough to crank and get the natural Fender break up?
 
soundchaser59 said:
What is the smallest all tube, 2-channel, 1x12 Fender amp? I dont wanna blast the house down, small watts is fine, but I want foot switchable channels (clean and lead?) and 12 inch Fender tone without going solid state. New or used, doesn't matter to me as long as it's affordable. Thanks!
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I'm pretty sure that would be the Deluxe/Deluxe Reverb. Two 6V6s, 22 watts. Lovely amps. You'd have to do channel switching with an external box, though.
 
I recently got a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight. If you can overcome your prejudice against solid state, it's a terrific sounding amp and has the features you want.

I'm speaking as one who has never owned a solid state previously, except for bass heads. I have owned and played through a '63 Sears Silvertone Twin Twelve (my first guitar amp, and I still have it), a '63 Ampeg B15N, an '83 Carvin oak X amp with the Torres Tone Kit, several '60s Fender Super Reverbs, and an early '70s Music Man HD-130 Reverb with a 212 cabinet.

The JM kills. I was able to compare it head to head with a friend's '67 Super Reverb, and the only feature that the Super came out ahead on was the reverb. The Jazzmaster was quieter, has channel switching (which the Super lacks), several digital effects (not my thing) and the Super outweighs the JM 65 lb to 25.6.

The head fits into a gigbag along with the supplied three button footswitch (channel switching, an FX on/off for each channel) and all the necessary cables. The feet on the head fit into four depressions in the speaker box that hold it in place with magnets, so you can put it on a tilt back stand. Very well thought out.

So far I'm mostly used my '70 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe through the clean channel, but last weekend I plugged my '95 Epi Sheraton with Seymour Duncans into the drive channel and was as amazed by the sound of that as I was the LP previously. My buddy then plugged his '69 Gibson ES-340 into it and pretty soon we were wondering why we had been lugging all those heavy tube amps around over the years (the answer, of course, is that very few SS amps sound as good as this one).

I'm a believer. After 34 years of tube amp goodness (and heaviness) I've got my last amp.

You can insist on a tube amp, but it'll be your loss. If you can find one of these, check it out.
 
Hey SC why two channels? That is what overdrive pedals are for. Anyway, Silverface PRINCETON REVERB the best of the best sir.

Why even ask, you have owned or used almost every amp out there.
 
lpdeluxe said:
Actually I've looked at those and at the Blues Jr, and I think I might spring for Junior for a harp amp. Currently I'm using a modified Pignose G40V, and it just doesn't sound like a Fender.:(
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Which Junior might you spring for--the Pro Junior or the Blues Junior?
 
And why are there so many models--pro, blues, princeton, reverb, vibro, on and on...how different are they?
 
WhiteStrat said:
I'll piggy back and modify your question a bit too: what about a one-channel amp? Something just clean, but small enough to crank and get the natural Fender break up?
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Good one with me, too, if the amp takes pedals ok. I have a respectable assortment of pedals to work with now, something I did not have until a few months ago.
 
Double said:
Hey SC why two channels? That is what overdrive pedals are for. Anyway, Silverface PRINCETON REVERB the best of the best sir.

Why even ask, you have owned or used almost every amp out there.
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I can work with my pedal collection if the amp is right. I'm just not convinced that Fender has no place in my basement! No matter what I've had or traded in the past (the Red Knob Twin was cool, but not right for me), I still cannot shake this gut feeling that a Fender amp some where some how should have a place in my line up of guitar tools!

I started guitar when I was 14 with a Supro and a 1964 Fender Champ. I still have the Champ but my brother possesses it and it's a little underqualified for what I'm doing now 30-some years later. I think I got bit when I played a real vintage Super Champ a couple three years ago, but all the Fenders I've tried since then haven't sounded quite as inspiring as the SC did. But the guy refuses to sell the SC, wont budge! Offered him $550 cash for it once, and he walked away, and the thing isn't even in usable condition any more. He doesn't play at all, but he wont sell. If he would sell it to me, this thread never would have been posted by me.

I also walked away from a mint condition Princeton silverface last year at Music Go Round, and now wish that I woulda grabbed it. So, anyway, I'm still haunted by this question, and still willing to search for a 1x12 carry-it-in-one-hand Fender with great sound. I saw the JazzMaster specs earlier today, and wondered what it can do, but nobody around here has one that I can test drive. Does it need a special hi-fi speaker cab? Or does it work well with an ordinary alnico guitar speaker?
 
Guitarer said:
Vibro Champ. 5 watts.
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Tried tons of 5 watters, just cant sit well with that sound. It just isn't quite enough to give me the punch I'm after. The only one that came close was the Tiny Terror, but that is way more $$$$$ than I have right now.
 
Super Champ or others of the 1980s Fender II line (Princeton II, Deluxe II and Concert II). All typically less than $600. There was a Twin II as well, but that's bigger (and louder) than what you want.
 
Fender Concert from the early 80's . These amps all came from the Rivera design board. They dont sound bad at all............
 
Riffmaster said:
Looks like the Blues Deluxe may fit the bill. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Blues-Deluxe-Reissue-40W-1x12-Combo-Amp?sku=483718
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I can second that, i have one from the early nineties and it is a great amp, that i find keeps geting better the more i mess around with it. Not super quiet though (see my comments on the attenuator below).

I usually put a compressor pedal in front and not much else; it has some great fender-signature shmmery highs, to the point that i don't use the lead channel that much (russian big muff pi pedal instead) since the clean channel sounds so damn good to me.

push it through a celestion vintage 30, and jsut got a second speaker, so i am going to build a 2 x 12 cab for it *drool*

latest addition is an attenuator. I picked one up off ebay from some guy who builds them himself for about $130, and it really helps to crank it up about 3/4 volume or more. Nothing compares to the real-deal tone of a nice tube amp playing through real speakers at volume, but for 90% of the time when i can't play that loud, it really helps.

Good luck!
Daav
 
soundchaser59 said:
Tried tons of 5 watters, just cant sit well with that sound. It just isn't quite enough to give me the punch I'm after. The only one that came close was the Tiny Terror, but that is way more $$$$$ than I have right now.
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Super Champ. 15 watts.
 
WhiteStrat said:
And why are there so many models--pro, blues, princeton, reverb, vibro, on and on...how different are they?
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Damfino. I'm a big fan of Fender (except their guitars): I like Fender guitar amps, and my last 4 basses have all been Fenders.

The problem in the small town I live in, is finding examples to try out. I check out the Harmony Central User Reviews a lot, but even so, the local dealer (who moves a lot of Peavy gear) had to order the Jazzmaster for me. Fortunately, it lived up to the reviews. The downside is having to order certain things (like the JM and the Classic '50s P I was gigging with full time); the upside is that he likes to wheel and deal, so we do a lot of horse trading.

The Jazzmaster Ultralight head and speaker cab go for $1070 US: I actually paid out $250 in cash plus trade ins.
 
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