CBS improves Fender amps - a fifty-year retrospective

[Fiesta Red]

“Bipolar Junction” is where my sister-in-law lives.

I like a lot of solid state amps. Not the early Fender ones, but my 72-ish Gibson G-20 is pretty dang awesome and I love the old Kustom sound and looks. My daughter’s Rumble 150 is fabulous for both bass and guitar.

 

[tele_savales]

For some reason my dad bought a Super Showman brand new back then. He was playing out then so I guess he thought it would be the ultimate stage amp. I don't think he really took it out too much (awkwardly big and heavy), so he still had it when he passed a few years ago. Last I knew it was still sitting in his basement (stepmom and one sister are working on the house). Here's a bad pic from a long time ago:

View attachment 1071386

8-10's in the cabinet! When my brother and I were pulling stuff out of the music room last time we were there I noticed in the bottom of the speaker cabinet that the original covers for both pieces are still wrapped in plastic! I found the owner's manual and put it in there with the covers. I don't really know what to do with it. I remember it being a pretty sterile amp. Maybe best as a PA or something. I don't have the room for it and don't want it. Same with my brother.

I should call Fender and see if they want it back!

Maybe Fender's answer to the SVT?

 

[Chiogtr4x]

For some reason my dad bought a Super Showman brand new back then. He was playing out then so I guess he thought it would be the ultimate stage amp. I don't think he really took it out too much (awkwardly big and heavy), so he still had it when he passed a few years ago. Last I knew it was still sitting in his basement (stepmom and one sister are working on the house). Here's a bad pic from a long time ago:

View attachment 1071386

8-10's in the cabinet! When my brother and I were pulling stuff out of the music room last time we were there I noticed in the bottom of the speaker cabinet that the original covers for both pieces are still wrapped in plastic! I found the owner's manual and put it in there with the covers. I don't really know what to do with it. I remember it being a pretty sterile amp. Maybe best as a PA or something. I don't have the room for it and don't want it. Same with my brother.

I should call Fender and see if they want it back!

Seriously, ( maybe?) that could go into a Fender Amp Museum!
I like it!

 

[Patton]

Seriously, ( maybe?) that could go into a Fender Amp Museum!
I like it!

That's exactly what I thought! They can come get it. I'm not shipping that beast.

 

[SoK66]

"Solid State, the sound of the future!"
View attachment 1071319

When I took over managing the guitar dept in a music store late '60s my predecessor haad taken one of those things to kep our Fender rep happy. An utter POS, but I do remember one guy using it to heat burritos. I've never understood why a SS amp would generate a lot of heat. When I left them in '72 it was still there, salesproof no matter what price I put on it.

 

[Lynxtrap]

Go back and listen to Robben Ford on the very first Yellowjackets album. I have read that Robben used a Yamaha G100 212II (with 2 x 12" EVM-12Ls) IIFC. -- totally solid state and totally awesome.

I have the G100 112. It sounds great. But I'm still not surprised he moved on to tube amps.

 

[tubedude]

Maybe Fender's answer to the SVT?

Fenders answer to the SVT was the PS400. It made the Ampeg sound like a Champ.
Here's one with the 3 18" folded horns. Good tubes got you ~500 Watts!

 

[tubedude]

For some reason my dad bought a Super Showman brand new back then. He was playing out then so I guess he thought it would be the ultimate stage amp. I don't think he really took it out too much (awkwardly big and heavy), so he still had it when he passed a few years ago. Last I knew it was still sitting in his basement (stepmom and one sister are working on the house). Here's a bad pic from a long time ago:

View attachment 1071386

8-10's in the cabinet! When my brother and I were pulling stuff out of the music room last time we were there I noticed in the bottom of the speaker cabinet that the original covers for both pieces are still wrapped in plastic! I found the owner's manual and put it in there with the covers. I don't really know what to do with it. I remember it being a pretty sterile amp. Maybe best as a PA or something. I don't have the room for it and don't want it. Same with my brother.

I should call Fender and see if they want it back!

Sell the speakers.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Fenders answer to the SVT was the PS400. It made the Ampeg sound like a Champ.
Here's one with the 3 18" folded horns. Good tubes got you ~500 Watts!
View attachment 1071999

https://reverb.com/news/the-most-powerful-tube-amp-of-all-time-behind-the-fender-400-ps

 

[Fiesta Red]

"This is the Zodiac Speaking...."

If the Zodiac Killer was more like those amps, he would have been caught—too heavy to escape and would have burned up while running anyway.

 

[Bob Womack]

For some reason my dad bought a Super Showman brand new back then. He was playing out then so I guess he thought it would be the ultimate stage amp. I don't think he really took it out too much (awkwardly big and heavy), so he still had it when he passed a few years ago. Last I knew it was still sitting in his basement (stepmom and one sister are working on the house). Here's a bad pic from a long time ago:

View attachment 1071386

8-10's in the cabinet! When my brother and I were pulling stuff out of the music room last time we were there I noticed in the bottom of the speaker cabinet that the original covers for both pieces are still wrapped in plastic! I found the owner's manual and put it in there with the covers. I don't really know what to do with it. I remember it being a pretty sterile amp. Maybe best as a PA or something. I don't have the room for it and don't want it. Same with my brother.

I should call Fender and see if they want it back!

This may have been the one Jan Akkermann used.

Bob

 

[Bob Womack]

https://reverb.com/news/the-most-powerful-tube-amp-of-all-time-behind-the-fender-400-ps

Here's a fifties band I played with in the '70s. Look behind my left shoulder - that's a 400-PS. The bassists, Gary, played a Rick through it. He ran the neck p/u through the PS and three boxes with 18" woofers. He ran the bridge p/u through an SVT and a 4x10" box. It took young guys to move his rig.

I still have the guitar and I'd fit into those jeans again.

Bob

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Here's a fifties band I played with in the '70s. Look behind my left shoulder - that's a 400-PS. The bassists, Gary, played a Rick through it. He ran the neck p/u through the PS and three boxes with 18" woofers. He ran the bridge p/u through an SVT and a 4x10" box. It took young guys to move his rig.

I still have the guitar and I'd fit into those jeans again.

Bob

Dayam! Do you still have your hearing after that avalanche of woof?

This reminds me of a friend's Chevy Chevette. A flimsy car to begin with, he packed it full of thumping woofers. At a STOP sign, with some awful bass-crazy "music" playing, the front fender, which had been increasingly vibrating in time, popped right off.

 

[Bob Womack]

Dayam! Do you still have your hearing after that avalanche of woof?

This reminds me of a friend's Chevy Chevette. A flimsy car to begin with, he packed it full of thumping woofers. At a STOP sign, with some awful bass-crazy "music" playing, the front fender, which had been increasingly vibrating in time, popped right off.
Believe it or not, even with that bass amp monolith, my friend was a tasteful, moderate player!

Bob

 

[middy]

Dayam! Do you still have your hearing after that avalanche of woof?

This reminds me of a friend's Chevy Chevette. A flimsy car to begin with, he packed it full of thumping woofers. At a STOP sign, with some awful bass-crazy "music" playing, the front fender, which had been increasingly vibrating in time, popped right off.

Whoa! 70s flashback