Thinking of adding reverb to my Concert

[DaBender]

I have a 1964 Concert that's a decent enough amp, but it sure hasn't gotten my doors beaten down when I've had it up for sale a couple of times. I think it sounds pretty cool with my FRV-1 reverb pedal in front of it, but the general perception seems to be that it's a rather thin sounding, heavy amp. It seems like people are more inclined to buy a Blackface Bandmaster head than a Concert, which kind of baffles me, but it might have something to do with name recognition. At any rate, I lost a speaker in it and brought it in to my tech and was shooting the breeze with him, and he mentioned he could make it into a very different amp by adding a reverb circuit. I was aware that an internal reverb would add some preamp gain, but I had dismissed the idea ages ago. Now I'm not so sure. Another popular mod is to bypass the tremelo circuit (Diaz mod) for yet more gain. I'm not a huge distortion user and I've got smaller amps that I can get to break up a bit, but I have to admit, I'm a little intrigued as to what this thing might sound like if we tinkered with it a bit.
Heck, I might even get a midrange control out of the deal.

[Ringo]

A 1964 Fender Concert is a collectible amp, there is no way I would mod that amp. It will ruin the value of the amp and you may or may NOT like it after the mods.
If you don't like the amp I'm sure you could find someone to buy it or trade you an amp with reverb maybe a Super Reverb for it.

I'd just get a good reverb pedal or a tube style Fender Reverb unit if you HAVE to have reverb with that amp.

A clean 63 Concert just sold on eBay for $1450, which still seems cheap to me for that kind of amp


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1963...item4ab623cc52

[alnicopu]

If YOU think it sounds cool with a reverb pedal in front then more power to ya. You said it yourself, your not much of a distortion guy. I got rid of my blackface princeton and bought a silverface princeton reverb because I was convinced that I just had to have one by all everyone I knwow. HUGE MISTAKE!! But thats just me. Its much easier to add distortion than to try and add clean.

[DaBender]

Originally Posted by Ringo

It will ruin the value of the amp

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1963...item4ab623cc52

Well, I've advertised it on Craigslist as low as $800 without any serious offers, so the "value" doesn't seem all that great. Most of the ebay auctions I've followed never seem to sell. The browns are definitely a different animal, though.

[jebbo]

STOP ! Don't mod it ! Please don't mod it. If you absolutely need tube reverb get a Fender reissue 6G15 reverb unit. You could even build your own. I just finished building a 6G15 clone from Triode Electronics. It was only $235 shipped with the reverb tank. It was a pretty easy build. If you're not handy with a soldering iron, and you don't want a reverb unit, just sell the amp. You could easily sell it, and get a Super Reverb or something along those lines. You could get a silverface SR, and mod that to blackface specs. (That is a reasonable mod.) Somebody would love that Concert the way it is. I wouldn't mod it, just get a reverb unit, or sell it and get an amp with reverb.

[supersam]

Man I wish I had $800 right now!!

[Ringo]

Craigslist is probably not where you are going to sell this amp, if you don't want to deal wtih eBay then maybe youcan find a music store that will sell it on consignment for you , or they might give you $800 for it.

Post it for sale here or over on The Gear Page or Weber amp classifieds, I bet you'll get some hits right away,

The ebay link I posted is a black tolex 63 which should be basically the same amp?

[RubyRae]

Granted the brown Concerts are worth much more, but the blackface are still coveted and IMO becoming more popular. Hold on to the amp, and get yourself a 6G15 Fender Reverb to sit on top and you are in heaven. If you can't afford one, get a hermida and enjoy as well. Adding reverb to non reverb amps is a train wreck, and will kill that value.

Good luck, you have a great amp man.

[Green Lantern]

I wouldn't mod that old amp. If you put it up for auction on eBay, and if it's in good shape, I think you'd be able to get something decent for it.

[muchxs]

I thought you were gonna sell that thing.

Do not butcher that amp. The reason you still own it is the crappy economy. People aren't beatin' a path to your door 'cuz you're a long way from Boston and it's a crappy economy. If you mess with it because you "can't sell it now" I'll bet you can't sell it later.

[JDO]

the non-verb fenders are my favorite. you can jumper the channels of these. when i had a tremolux i'd use and aby box with a blues driver on the trem channel. this gave me clean... dirty... and a mix of the two. the other thing you can do if you get a 'verb unit is run it between the two channels. shame you don't like it.

i would agree that not being able to sell it has to do with the economy (close to $100.00 for a tank of gas) and possibly location. maine is a big place with a lot of land and not a lot of people. it's also not like other states that are bordered by a few different states.

[DaBender]

It's not that I don't like it, not at all. However, like most folks, my resources aren't infinite, especially at the current time. I have a 1961 Ampeg Reverberocket I've invested a considerable pile of money in, and a Pro Jr. I bought for about the same price as my reverb pedal. I'm the "PA guy" in my band, and I've invested a little over the past year in beefing up my system. To be honest, I can play any club I currently gig in with either of my smaller amps without even putting them through the PA. I usually use the Concert for outdoor gigs, but positioning a smaller amp as a monitor and micing it would obviously get the job done just fine. Yes, I love the tone of the Concert, but I'm pretty fond of the Reverberocket and even the PJ as well. I suspect there are a whole lot of amps I would be fond of.

An alternative seems to be doing a reversible, non-invasive mod such as the Diaz mod that switches the tremelo circuit out for a bit more preamp gain and continuing to use my reverb pedal. Of course, another alternative is to simply repair it and use it as is.

The Diaz mod seems particularly cool, as it can be done so that turning the tremelo intensity to 0 disables the trem and adds the gain, while turning the trem up restores the normal function.

The trem in my Reverberocket is way cooler than the trem in my Concert, but I still hardly ever use it.

[JDRNoPro]

I've seen your ads and thought it was a very nice vintage amp and the asking price was reasonable, but suspect the primary reasons it hasn't sold are: 1) limited market here in Maine and 2) overall market and economy is still depressed.

I agree with what others have said about not modding that amp. You mentioned it sounds thin - I'm not that familiar with the Concert model, but have to wonder what overall electrolytics condition is and whether it needs a cap job, etc. I know that a recent recap made a huge diff. in my SFDR.

[DaBender]

I didn't say I find it thin, I said that's "the general perception". We all have way too much information nowadays, and the skinny is that the reverb equipped amps pick up extra preamp gain in the reverb channel, "fattening" the tone as compared to most of the non-reverb blackface amps. The Bassman head is an exception, I guess it has more preamp gain on tap for some reason. The blackface Concert just seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of vintage Fender amps, I see old reverb tanks going for more than Concerts!

[muchxs]

Here's my difficulty: I can't buy 'em all. I try. I don't have a Concert and I'd love to get your Concert. If it's close to original and the stars align for money I'll make the trip.

It can be converted to reverb but it can't be easily converted. Any hack can punch a hole for an extra tube, gut the thing out and wire in an AB763 reverb board, a reverb transformer... it's a very invasive mod and not reversible. I question your tech's motives for suggesting something like that. I have no problem modding '70s Fenders, the later the better and especially if they're already rudely modded, stripped or incomplete. Concerts are another story. They only made those for a couple years. They were the amp to have in some circles in the early '80s...

[Kennedycaster]

If it were me, I'd sell the pro Jr (or not) & get or build a 6G15 reverb tank. Problem solved. No mods to the concert & after you try a 6G15, you'll never go back to a digital reverb pedal.

Bob

[DaBender]

The FRV-1 uses COSM technology to model the tank. Let me guess, you've never heard it.

[Kennedycaster]

Originally Posted by DaBender

The FRV-1 uses COSM technology to model the tank. Let me guess, you've never heard it.

I own an frv-1 & a 6g15 clone that I built. The frv-1 is a great pedal, but it ain't no reverb tank. It lacks the dynamics & nuances that only a tube driven, spring reverb unit can deliver.

[1955]

It's the economy. Sell it as is for super-cheap if you have to, but don't mess with it imo. Nobody is buying anything unless you're giving it to them practically. Try a Hermida Reverb pedal or something similar if you love the amp. If I were you I'd sell it, and get an amp with reverb and trem.