Fender Concert Series II Amplifier Rivera era 1982-1987

**osvi** · 05-12-2014, 05:23 AM

The first I was a '83 Fender Concert amplifier. Great amp, great sound with the 175 but also with my flat-top Yamaha acoustics (with K&K Pure Mini).
Two years ago I sold it. Why? not really used it. I regretted it soon after .... Now I bought another Concert (2x10 "), in exceptional condition, also of '83, in 15 days it will be at my house. Wowwwwww!!!!!!!!!

Osvi

**jbucklin** · 05-09-2016, 07:44 AM

I owned one of these back in '84. Didn't know what I had and traded it for a JC120. Young and dumb as I was I didn't even know that Rivera had anything to do with it. Here's me back then playing through it with Eric Tagg, who recorded with, toured with, and sang/wrote songs for Lee Ritenour:

**jbucklin** · 05-09-2016, 07:57 AM

Here's another one to demonstrate the amazing clean tone I got out of it. The guitar was a custom shop 335 (before they even called it the "custom shop").

**D.G.** · 05-09-2016, 06:06 PM

You sound great through that thing! I loathed the one I had. Course, I'm a purely single coil guy and they sound pretty dead with a strat. Maybe they're humbucker amps!

**docdosco** · 05-09-2016, 06:35 PM

Here is a Fender Concert amp, (early 80's) on straight ahead jazz with a touch of reverb. I like the amp.

**Klatu** · 05-09-2016, 07:05 PM

Love the tone and smokey playing. If mine had sounded like that or I played like that, perhaps I wouldn't have gotten rid of it.

**jbucklin** · 05-09-2016, 09:35 PM

I wish my recording was straight-ahead jazz. That was about a year or two before I was converted!

**docdosco** · 05-09-2016, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by Klatu

Love the tone and smokey playing. If mine had sounded like that or I played like that, perhaps I wouldn't have gotten rid of it.

Ha! Thanks Klatu. The woody sound is the guitar, Peerless maple top Jazz City. It has a thuddy tone, but a good thuddy tone. Just for shits and giggles, I'll post a Joe Pass style jazz/blues that was done at the same time through my Fender Concert amp, miked with a Shure 57.... using a Peerless Monarch spruce top. This tone is nice and clear just with a splash of reverb. You can't beat Fender tubes. Or Fender amps in general. I have half a dozen of the damn things....

**jbucklin** · 05-09-2016, 11:42 PM

My conversion happened in '86 when I bought a Miles Davis record---"Workin' and Steamin'", a twofer on vinyl. Next thing you know, I'm trading that 335 for a '59 175. Been hooked ever since.

**docdosco** · 05-10-2016, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by jbucklin

My conversion happened in '86 when I bought a Miles Davis record---"Workin' and Steamin'", a twofer on vinyl. Next thing you know, I'm trading that 335 for a '59 175. Been hooked ever since.

86? Well, you've been a jazzer a good long time. I began noodling at jazz in Canada pre 1976 before I came to Los Angeles. Being a big Lenny Breau fan, I had learned Merle Travis picking and Lenny tunes like Freight Train and The Claw and owned a peg end Flamenco guitar made in Barcelona Spain (no less) that I traded an Gibson SG for. Canadian guitar players I knew of that period seemed to play all styles, although it was fusion jazz that paved my way to 'flypaper city' (the endearing term for LA back then - you can move to LA but you can never ever leave!!!).

In my dotage, I play mostly straight ahead style anymore.....

**JimmyH** · 09-22-2016, 06:52 PM

Nice quality amps , unfortunately its not tube rec. so will never achieve the "rubbery" compressed groovey sound like a real blackface. This may only matter to tone purists however AB-763 Blackface still the best. Owning an up to snuff 66 BFSR with 410 Webbers, a 65 SR, a Bluesbreaker 62 with 212 Greenbacks and a Vibro King (SS Rec) I can tell you for Jazz and Blues Tube/ Valve rectfication such as Super Reverb , Bassman and Deluxe Reverb really surpass Solid State Rec and have impressive touch sensitivity, however all Fender amps such as Concert are increasing in value and are great amps none the less. I used 65 Bassman for 40 years -never serviced.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 09-23-2016, 12:08 AM

I believe those era amps are the *last* point-to-point wired amps, and as such, they carry a cachet.

**woodpecker** · 09-23-2016, 04:37 AM

same 5881 power tube set for 20 years now, original speaker
clean channel sounds fat, never miss the mid control as with deluxe reverbs
good reverb and nice to have a presence control for more cut
and, yes, a little different compared to black-/silverface amps, but still a Fender
no comment on distortion channel, as I don't know how, where or when to use it
reliable, although the wiring inside looks cryptic , just keep tube and plug contacts clean
my pick only if I need it loud, because it's quite heavy - so no more than 4 3/4 (of 5) stars
called 'boutique' nowadays...

**Little Jay** · 09-23-2016, 04:48 AM

Originally Posted by JimmyH

Nice quality amps , unfortunately its not tube rec. so will never achieve the "rubbery" compressed groovey sound like a real blackface. This may only matter to tone purists however AB-763 Blackface still the best. Owning an up to snuff 66 BFSR with 410 Webbers, a 65 SR, a Bluesbreaker 62 with 212 Greenbacks and a Vibro King (SS Rec) I can tell you for Jazz and Blues Tube/ Valve rectfication such as Super Reverb , Bassman and Deluxe Reverb really surpass Solid State Rec and have impressive touch sensitivity, however all Fender amps such as Concert are increasing in value and are great amps none the less. I used 65 Bassman for 40 years -never serviced.

What's the definition of a 'real blackface'? The blackface AB763 Twin Reverb didn't have a tube rectifier when it came out in 1964, but that amp (or at least that circuit) is my absolute favorite amp for jazz. Tube rectifiers make you loose some 'directness' and articulartion and react somewhat slower. So for clean jazz tones it's AB763 with a diode rectifier for me. Maybe it's a whole different story when things get dirty, but heck, I even turned my Blues Deluxe amp into AB763 (with some differences) and boy did that amp become a fine jazz amp!

This is all just my opinion of course......

**Bellybuttonlindt** · 03-02-2017, 07:53 PM

I chimed in earlier about the Concert, specifically about the benefit of a cap job and removing oscillation caps directly soldered to the tube sockets on tubes 1,2 and 4 to achieve a Blackface sound. Little Jay chimed in about what is the Blackface sound? Good point. And I had been thinking about other simple mods to get these amps closer to that. The sag from tube rectification seemed to be the answer.

Since then I have experiemented with adding sag to the circuit. The circuit design does not allow the addition of a rectifier tube according to the techs I know. But in researching the area, I discovered that 90% of the effect could be achieved by adding a large (in my case) 20 watt inductance aluminum resister in the main supply which causes sag. The article I read even went so far as to calculate what resistances would be equal to various rectifier tubes. I started down this path when I opened a Fuchs ODS that had a "Sag" switch on the back and noticed Andy Fuchs used a similar resistor to create the sag in the ODS amp. I guess I could say I'm in good campany.The bottom line is that I added a switchable resistor just like the ODS (I guess you could call it a dual rectifier now) into the circuit equal to the resistance of a GZ34 rectifier tube used in Twins and Super Reverbs. I really like how it turned out...getting more of the squishiness of a tube rectified circuit. And its switchable in and out of the circuit. Pretty Cool! With EQ adjustment the OD sometimes sounds tweedy too!

I also mentioned that adding a Ken Fischer Trainwreck Master volume could help tame this 3/4 twin called Concert. Even at 3 this amp is too loud for most small venues. I ran across another article where two engineers developed a modified Trainwreck Master Volume called the LarMar Master Volume (acronym name for the 2 gents that developed it through discussion on line). It is even more transparent than the Trainwreck design particularly at lower volumes...where "blocking" distortion occurs because the power tubes do not see the same electrical values as when the MV is on 10. Their design compensates for that. Not perfect, but another step in the right direction. It only required a new double pot and 2 resistors.

Also, don't under estimate the benefit of putting a little reverb, delay, or chorus through the tube driven FX loop. Rivera's tube driven FX design is truly outstanding! The first time I tried this my son, who sings for his college singing group, whirled around in his chair and proclaimed that sound "beautiful".

After moving my Conert into a head cab, it is now more transportable and the MV allows fairly wide adjustment for different venue sizes. But most important, I really like how my ES335 sounds through this amp. Blackface? I don't know. Beautiful. YES!

My apologies for the "techie" input.

**Gitfiddler** · 08-08-2019, 02:51 PM

Old thread revival due to my latest amp restoration project. The end result is one of the best sounding 80's Concert II's I've ever played through.

**Litterick** · 08-08-2019, 05:46 PM

Well done.

**Gitfiddler** · 08-08-2019, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by Litterick

Well done.

Thanks!

**Spook410** · 08-08-2019, 11:05 PM

Blackface? Don't care.

These are great sounding amps. I do think a nice EV speaker makes a lot of difference. Mine stays put but sees a lot of play time still.

**jads57** · 01-04-2022, 09:42 PM

One for sale at Lavonne Music Savage,Minnesota (952)890-7288

**erikgv** · 02-24-2022, 11:35 AM

If you are looking for a handwired Fender amp that is less bulky than a Twin Reverb, I would choose a Fender Concert.

I use only the single channel for Fender cleans and use pedals for additional gain when needed. I must say I'm not a huge fan of the lead channel.

However, if you compare the fact that you can purchase these for less than a Twin and they weigh slightly less and take up less space, it is a very good option.