ELECTRIC TUBE AMPS: OVERVIEW

Fender amplifiers are what started Leo´s business. The first amplifier was a simple tube amp with a small speaker. To this date, there are literally hundreds of different amplifiers, including many tube amps. Throughout the years there have been many variations in the different series of Fender amps. Most amp gurus know what a Blackface is from a Silverface and so on. For eveyone else, here´s a brief overview. The first Fender amps (excluding oddballs) were the wood cabinets, dubbed "woodies," which had a metal bar over the grille. Later on in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the covering was changed to a vinyl and the look of the amps were known as TV front, since they looked like a TV set of that era. Around 1952-53 Tweed amplifiers were introduced, first as wide panels. This meant the top and bottom panels on the amplifiers were wider (than a narrow model in the late 1950s). The late '50s had the look of the narrow panel. Wide panel and narrow panel can be compared and a difference noticed. Tolex is a covering that was introduced around 1959 on some amps and by 1961 was standard on almost all Fenders. A tolex amp featured some of the most extreme changes that Fender has ever done. Amps were now in a tolex covering, had a front mounted control panel, and looked completely different than any Fender amp before. Brownface was the first tolex amp. This meant that the control panel (face) was a brown in color and the actual covering was either a white, cream, or brown. 1964 brought the most popular amps for Fender, the Blackface look. The control panel was then black with black tolex covering, and a silver grille. These were only made for about five years and are the most desirable among collectors. In or around 1968 Silverface was phased in (right after CBS took over, what a coincidence), and this lasted up until 1980. Features on these models had a silver control panel on black tolex and a silver/blue grille. These amps were practically the same as Blackface in schematics, but not nearly as desireable to collectors (In fact we had a tough time finding someone with a Silverface collection!). During the limbo years of the '80s, Blackface was introduced again to try and revive Fender, but to little or no avail. After many other experiments, the '90s brought Blackface in with vigor. Now all Fender amplifiers are Blackface once again. Even you know what a Silverface is from a Blackface now!