The cheaper student models ( Champ, Harvard, Princeton) remained tweed-covered until later in the decade. There were only six amplifiers covered in tolex originally, the Professional Series: Bandmaster, Concert, Pro, Super, Twin (production halted Feb-May 1960, resumed as the blonde Twin) and Vibrasonic. The tolex on the earliest versions in this era was pinkish brown and rough textured. The shift from tweed to Tolex occurred in limited production in 1960. The brown panel amps originally featured a dark maroon or "oxblood" grillcloth, which was changed to "wheat" in 1962-63. The name 'brown panel' stems from the brown-colored control panels, common to both the brown- and cream/blonde- Tolex-covered amps. The Brown Panel series was introduced in 1959. Fender later constructed them with "narrow panel", in which all the panels have more or less the same width.īrown Panel (Brown and Blonde) Blonde twin, 1963 In 1955 they shifted to the "wide panel" design, a more conventional design where the top and bottom panels are wider than the side. Fender generally stopped using the twill covering in 1960, though the Harvard was still covered in twill until 1963, and the Champ until 1964.Īt the beginning of the "tweed" era, Fender constructed many of its cabinets in "TV front" style, amps which bore a strong resemblance to TVs of the time. The amps made during this period were a considerable leap forward for Fender, and they are often praised for their sound and their circuitry. This is incorrectly called tweed because of its feel and appearance (actual tweed is a rough woolen fabric). This phase saw the company drape their amplifiers in a cloth covering, which consists of varnished cotton twill. In 1948 Fender entered a new phase of amplifier construction dubbed 'the tweed phase'. The production of these amps ceased in 1948, however, the names of the amps became enduring ones for Fender. It was the largest of the trio featuring Jensen 15” field-coil speaker and 6 tubes delivering 25 watts of power. The rarest of all the original 'woodie' series was the Professional. It was the most popular amp of this era, with most amps surviving from this era today being Deluxes. The Deluxe was a larger amp with a Jensen 10” field-coil speaker and five tubes in a 14-watt design. This amp had no controls as it was designed for the guitar to solely control the volume and was simply turned on by plugging/unplugging into the wall plug. The Princeton was a small six watt amp with an 8" Jensen field-coil speaker. These amps were the Princeton, the Deluxe and the Professional. They were constructed out of spare hardwood held by the Fender company at the time and were hence given the name 'woodie' later on by collectors. The first amplifiers made in-house by the Fender Electric Instrument Company were a significant step up in size and function to the small, nameless amps that preceded them, however, they didn't have technological advancements such as circuit boards in their designs. They are all very rare today and few have survived. They were made in three sizes, 1×8" (one 8-inch speaker), 1×10", and 1×15". The amplifiers were housed in a steel case and most were finished in a "gray crinkle" finish that was baked in the Kauffman family oven. The first " Fender" amplifiers were manufactured by Leo Fender and Doc Kauffman, doing business as the K&F Manufacturing Corporation. Fender frequently updated the internal circuitry of its amps, and changed their appearance throughout its history.Įarly amplifiers: K&F, Woodie and Tweed Fender branded vacuum tube The early K&F and Fender amplifiers relied upon vacuum tube circuitry, with solid-state models appearing in the late 1960s. Fender amplifiers would become favorite of many famous guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, also known in these cases for playing Fender guitars.įender amps have come in many configurations and styles. Later, Fender began building its own line of electric guitars. The first guitar amplifiers attributed to Leo Fender were manufactured by the K&F Manufacturing Corporation (K&F) between 19. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)įender amp "tailed" logo Fender amp "tailless" logoįender amplifiers are a series of electric instrument amplifiers produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. JSTOR ( November 2018) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.
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