Looking for a blackface style head

Howdy and welcome!
The real thing (BF and SF) heads are still pretty common, around here anyway.
I see Showman, Dual Showman, Dual Showman Reverbs, Bassman, Tremolux, and Bandmasters all over CL.
I see em’ as cheap as $500.
I never see them over $1000.
Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing.
They are all incredibly dependable amps, when serviced properly.
Good luck!

 

Check out David Allen's amps. I'm pretty sure that he offers every amp that he makes as a head or cab, at least the larger amps. I have an Allen Encore 2x10 combo and love it.

 

Allen or the real thing, lots of choices.

Prosonic and Supersonic used too.

Fender made a DRRI head too, right?

 

Welcome, Forum2003. You don’t say what power you want or what other aspects might be important...Reverb, trem, effects loop, etc.....

 

Two Rock gets very close, too. I use a Studio Pro 35 (discontinued since I got it last year and replaced with the Studio Signature) and it's very Fender-ish.

- D

 

I would definitely take a Two Rock for a spin. It sounds like they're right in line with the feature set you're looking for. My Studio Pro doesn't have power scaling, but a few amps in their line have that feature. Their reverb circuit is also really nice, with both send and return controls.

I'm a bit of a blasphemer, because I use a Mooer GE 300 into the FX return of the amp. But the FX loops on these amps have their own master volume control, so I can dial back any harshness coming off the Mooer. Used in that way, the amp is a dead solid source of tube power.

- D

 

-If you want reverb get a SF Bandmaster Reverb Head. Basically a Super Reverb head. ~$600-650
-If you dont need Reverb or Tremelo get a Bassman head. Frankly I like the later Bassman 50 SF AB371 version the best for fairly loud playing. ~$400-500

 

Between 1964 and 1980,

Fender never made a Princeton head.

Fender never made a Deluxe or a Deluxe Reverb head.

The Red Headed Stepchild of all Fender amps has got to to be the non- reverb Bandmaster. It was roughly the Concert chassis in '64. Concerts are scarce. Bandmasters are super common and therefore reasonably priced. I suggest a late '67- early '68 "drip edge". I believe Fender made more SF non- reverb Bandmasters in late '67 and '68 than any other amp.

John Mayer likes 'em. Trey Anastasio likes 'em. H.A. Dumble liked to modify them.

If I had to choose between a usually more expensive and usually more beat up Bassman head and a SF Bandmaster it's Bandmaster for me every time.

If the "small" output transformer bothers you upgrade it and send the old one to me. I can put it to good use.

The difference between a Super Reverb and a Bandmaster Reverb of the same year is the Bandmaster Reverb has a substantially smaller output transformer.

Same as the Pro Reverb.


Can't imagine why Tremolux heads are so costly.


On the big end we get into Twin variants, the Showman, the Dual Showman, the Dual Showman Reverb, and for bass the Super Bassman, the Bassman 100 and the Bassman 135.


I always though the Bassman 10 should have been a head.

 

Vintage Fender amps need to be put into proper working order. That done, ime they are more reliable than newer production Fenders. people who do NOT have a vintage Fender put into proper working order are those who incur frequent ‘maintenance’ requirements, ime. They also do not have amps that sound as they should...and could.
Your Requirement for an effects loop sort of eliminates vintage Fenders unless you found a Fender 75 type of amp and put it into a head cab. The power variability could be addressed best through a good attenuator. The really good attenuators also do re-amping.
You did not address the power aspect except that you would like variable power?????

 

There really isn't any such thing as a lemon in a vintage Fender amp. Not unless it's broken, beat, bent and has bullet holes in it.

It is possible to overpay for something that's been neglected, rode hard and put up wet.

I can see a few paths towards what you want. They both go in the same general direction. They both start at roughly the same place.

Frist thing is to become familiar with a particular amp. Especially become familiar with its selling price range.

I'd take the low road. I'd buy an amp that has issues. I'd buy it below the low end of the price range for similar amps. After all it needs service. Parts. Tubes. Capacitors.

I'd try to find one that has been messed with already. That way I wouldn't feel the slightest bit guilty about drilling a few extra holes for your FX loop.

The other way (the high road) would be to track down something relatively pristine.

If we're talking about Bandmasters there is a relatively narrow range between primo and junk, perhaps a $200 difference.

"Primo" doesn't necessarily mean much and it certainly doesn't mean much to me. There are a lot of so- called "primo" amps out there that have 50 year old filter caps. There are a lot of amps that have supposedly been looked at. I don't care who looked at it until -I- look at it.


The next watering hole on the trail is @Wally down in Texas. If you go the used amp route send it over to Wally's Amp Spa for a facial and a massage.

 

SF Bandmaster Reverb with upgrade transformer is my suggestion. They are a real sleeper of an amp if you must have onboard reverb.

If the reverb isn't mandatory, then a Blackface Bassman or Showman would make sense.

 

I don't quite understand your "need" - nor most of the responses.

You basically covered a HUGE range of possible applications without any detail. Sinc tube amps generally sound best when run near the top of their headroom with your guitar controls backed off around 15% (so you have some guitar control to get a little more clean volume for leads, and slide into mild saturation as well - without pedals.) it takes multiple amps to optimize your tone in various venues.

POWER does not equal output OR headroom. The specific design of the amp and speaker sensitivity are far more critical. Example - a good vintage AC30 Top Boost is nearly as loud and has almost the headroom of a Twin Reverb. So forget buying based on wattage. It will foul you up. You have to go deeper into the type of amp and the speaker types, count, and cabinet type.

A Twin might work outdoors or in a huge auditorium, but would be "too much amp" and sound weak and thin in a small club. I haven't seen one (or anything with similar output) used in about 15 years except big Bogners, Soldanos, Mesas etc in metal situations and by touring pros in large venues.

A Super is a good medium/large club amp, but on the edge of too much output and dispersion for the average size club gig. And many clubs nowadays have sound systems , mic the amps, and use SPL meters to read and regulate the volume level. You do NOT want to own a good tube amp - and then have to run it at minimal volume and try to (unsuccessfully) rely on pedals to try to "save" your tone!

A Deluxe is great in most situations and if mic'd works anywhere except tiny clubs, where Champ or other low-output amp works best.

So it boils down to this:

1. What size/types of venues do you play? Ceiling heights, room shapes (which makes a huge difference - 4 parallel hard walls lowers your output need, usually )raised stage or floor, crowd size, listeners or bar-type atmosphere, are amps mic'd? etc etc - as much detail as possible really helps us help you.

2. What style(s) of music do you play? How large/loud is the band? Does the drummer have good control or is he hammer-fisted? What gear is in use by the OTHER players? You don't want to bury them - or get buried. Do you need to play clean and/or distorted leads?

3. And don't forget, you'll always ned to have a backup amp with you - preferably something with slightly higher output just in case you misjudged.

Honestly, I don't see how any recommendation could hve been made based on your OP except for ?mu favorite amp os" type posts - because nobody...unless they know you personally - had any idea what you were playing or where.

And finally - were you actually trying to say you need all THREE levels of output? If so, details are even more important.

I hope that makes some sense.