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Who makes a true 35w blackface fender reverb amp clone in a 1x12 form factor or head? I've tried allen, fargen, morgan and several others which have "improved" upon the fender sound but TBH, none of them have an authentic fender sound. I have a fargen and morgan and love them both but yesterday, I stopped at guitar center and briefly played through a twin reissue and it just blew the morgan and fargen away in terms of pure, fender goodness. I don't want to deal with PC board amps so I won't buy a reissue fender but who is making a REAL fender amp clone? The ones that I know about are vintage sound, headstrong, victoria. Most of the others like carr, tone king, fargen, allen, heritage made "improvements" that take away from the fender sound and I really just like the fender sound.
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06-19-2019 07:46 AM
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Not sure but I know that people buy current Fender reissues and send them to Alessandro http://alessandro-products.com to have the pcb replaced with ptp. He probably has the knowledge of what to do/not do. Just a guess that he might be worth talking to. That or buying a vintage SF and paying a tech to wire it as you wish.
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Try to find an old MusicMan HD amp in a store. Leo improved on those old blackfaces. I've had a couple that had been modded by Andy Fuchs (great donor chassis for his ODS mod). Older Music Man...
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Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ
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True replicas would be these, I guess
Tube-Tone Amplifiers
Or these, althoug he makes a jazz custom I believe he'll do right by specs
Vintage Sound Amps
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No reverb, but 35 watts, 1x12 and authentic Fender tone.
Store - Austin Vintage Guitars
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Vintage fender?
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I retired after 39 years servicing electronic equipment CNC, computers, Audio, video and any other gismo that came into the shop. I have serviced ALL types of circuitry Point to Point, Printed circuit including multi layer, wire wrap. I would take a printed circuit board over any of the others.
If anyone can hear any difference at all they are a better man than I. Electrons don't care what they travel through wire, or copper foil. They don't like bad solder joints.
Throwing money away on a point to point conversion is just that. Do they have some knobs that go up to 11 to sell you.
This is my opinion and is worth every penny you paid for it.
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I’m quite certain that Michael Clark could do what you’re looking for.
Clark Amplification Home
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Originally Posted by jzucker
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Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ
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Well Jack, you have traveled from Digital to Boutique and here you are pining for....the real thing!
Ain't nothing like the real thing Baby!
IMO, the reissue Fender Blackface amps (and I have owned a couple) do not sound like the real thing either. Those old components (transformers, caps etc.) combined with the old wood of those cabinets and the old speakers have a different sound than today's PCB reissues with their Italian made Jensen speakers and green wood ply cabinets.
I fully agree that vintage Musicman and today's "improved" boutique amps do not nail it either.
My advice: Find a great example of a vintage Blackface Pro. Have it serviced by a great amp tech and either live with the two 12's or get a head cabinet for it and match it with a great one 12 cabinet.
Anything else you do will leave you on the road searching for that holy amp grail. Remember, ain't nothing like the real thing baby!
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Originally Posted by BBGuitar
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George Alessandro rips out the PCB and replaces it with a board with "period correct" discrete components and hard cloth-covered wires, keeping the factory pots and Schumacher transformers. GA wrote to me and said that the modern Schumachers are great and that boutique irons are not necessary.
You could send George Alessandro a Vibrolux Reissue.
Michael Clark makes great replica amps but expect to pay upwards of $2795 for it.
Other than Tube Tone, I have read good things about Firebelly Amps. FireBelly Guitar Tube Amplifiers
For my mates in Australia, Achilles Amps.
Shoulda hung on to your Gries 35, Jack...
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Victory V40 seems to get good reviews in online forums:
Victory V40 Deluxe Review | Premier Guitar
I don't know if Victory classifies as a boutique manufacturer at this point. I've never owned a boutique amp but I've heard in interviews people like Joe Bonamassa and Scott Henderson complain about boutique amps generally not sounding satisfactory. I'm sure there are exceptions. Boutique amps have high build quality but that doesn't mean they are designed well. At least some of them seem be be build by technically proficient dudes who like to build stuff in their garages but aren't musicians and don't have good musical ears.
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Originally Posted by Tal_175
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Originally Posted by jzucker
Victory Amps | V40 | The Duchess
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Originally Posted by Tal_175
Looks like victory "improves" upon fender though. I think I should just get a dual showman reverb or find a super reverb that I can put into a head cab
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Once you have gone down the path seeking something really great, it's hard to settle for less. Figure the OP is going to find it hard to get away from extra pounds and extra maintenance. Though in the end the result will no doubt be satisfying and I look forward to what the final choice might be. Not something that will address the OP's question, but I was willing to settle for less than great in favor or weight reduction. I ended up with a Roland Blues Cube Artist. A current rendition from a big company with lots of resources designing an amp that is supposed to respond as if it had tubes. There are a few annoying things.. the price.. their tone capsule costs extra and is necessary if you want more blackface than bassman tone.. but overall it's an impressive effort. For those looking for a 35 pound 80W amp that is at least reminiscent of your tube amp, it's worth trying out.
Last edited by Spook410; 06-19-2019 at 11:35 PM.
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Let's try to keep on facts and figures.
What is important for quality and type of sound in a tube amp ?
- Transformers (that will make most of the weight of a good tube amp)
- Tubes
- Speakers
- Cabinet
and wiring display, to keep hum and noise as low as possible
What is important for a gigging musician in an amp ?
- Reliability and maintainability
Hence avoid PCB mounted jacks, tube sockets and so on.
Cloth covered wires ? BS !
Vintage caps ? BS !
VOS resistors ? BS !
Vintage Fender schematics and lay-outs are available everywhere on the interweb.
If you are handy and if you have time available, DIY !
If not, go to an amp tech or a good electrical engineer to have him build you the exact amp you want
As for myself, I started with a Tweed Champ clone that I built and that is now my practice amp.
and I'm in the process of building a 5E8 clone for gigging (long time project as time is not available enough !)
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I know this isn’t what you were asking for but Mark Baier at Victoria Amps knows what he’s talking about: A Bit Of Insight From Mark Baier, the Mind Behind Victoria Amplifier | Vintage Guitar(R) magazine
I’ve got both the Victoriette (1x12”) and the Victorilux (2x12”) and can’t recommend them highly enough :-)
Here’s a clip of a much better player than I ammaking some sweet sounds with the 1x12” Victoriette, you owe it to yourself to take a look at one...
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Here in the UK, Rift Amps offer their PR35 model. It's a hand-wired, 35 watt, 1x12" Princeton Reverb. You can have it with blackface, brown face or tweed preamps.
PR6, PR18, PR35 | Rift Amps | Brackley | Rift Amplification
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Why not get a Twin, ditch the cab and get a head cabinet?
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a dual showman reverb is a twin in a head cab. I'm looking at several dual showmans. Also, possibly a super reverb or vibrolux reverb. I just hate all the issues you need to address when you buy a 40-50 year old amp.
I had a pro reverb that I put into a head and literally spent a year trying to debug it. I was getting intermittent cutting out. I replaced the filter caps and all other electrolytic caps and then tried to find the intermittent components using a tone generator and wooden chopsticks. Couldn't find it. Took it to two different techs. They couldn't find it. I eventually pulled all the components out and cleaned out the middle layer between the two wax coated fiber boards. There was a ton of loose solder between them. Apparently some solder pieces would move around during travel and intermittently be touching and shorting two other components. Once I rebuilt the whole board it was fine. BUT THAT WAS A FULL YEAR WORTH OF DEBUGGING!
A nice blond and Mickey Rooney on drums
Today, 07:38 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos