Fender amp tones and alternatives.

Sassafras

For a clean Fendery sound the Carr Rambler is hard to beat.

soma1975

Modulus_Amps said:

soma1975 said:

munckee said:

@soma1975  is currently in the tweed deluxe rabbit hole so might have some insight?

 but on Reverb Morris Amps are offering Chinese made handwired 5E3s for £600. Even figure in 150 for a fancy speaker or tube change and that’s still a bargain.

Great bargain, but from the ones I have seen they don't follow full EU safety regs, some are covered in tweed vinyl, (not the real thing) and most importantly I have in the past binned a box of of Chinese made Deluxe power transformers for failures.

Just buy carefully and make sure the seller will give you some aftersales service and decent warranty.

These ones.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/154357/anyone-bought-one-of-these-morris-amps-tweed-combos-off-reverb#latest

Dominic

markj said:

Gartone Bluesman absolutely superb. If you lived any where near me you’d be welcome to try mine.

Best amp I have ever played.........beats LJ by a long way

Dominic

hywelg said:

In addition to what @Wazmeister said above, the Dr Z EZG is a must try.  I've always regretted selling mine, @bermudianbrit had it off me, but its a gigging amp, and it needs to breathe and I'm no longer in a band so I really couldn't justify keeping it.

It takes pedals better than the Carr Rambler and my Ceriatone OTS.

Totally agree but they really don't start to do the business until they are very loud

Gassage

OK, I feel I need to contribute!

As noted above, big diff in the amps you've listed.

If you want to get something vintage that is a gigable crunch machine and cleans up on vol, go Brownface 6G3 Deluxe- you can get them for sub 2k.

My Vibroverb will absolutely nail crunch-ness, but you won't find one and even if you do, you'll pay close to 5 figures for it.

You're welcome to try my 1956 5E3 anytime you want, but IMO, they're significantly nicer than the RI's.

Always remember the tone/colour rule.

Tweeds are rough and they sag- just like tweed cloth.

Brownfaces are smoother but still have that lovely roughness when pushed.

Blackfaces are like a chalkboard- they are blank but contrast tones well and are very 'legible' (white chalk on the board)

Silverfaces are like Blackfaces but have more sparkle and shine and glassyness

Modern amps that 'do' it-

Well if you want the perfect one, TK Imperial 2 will cover all bases.

Fender Reissues tend not to be what you think, and if you want to gig, 57 Tweed Twin is the kiddie

If you want the Fender badge, the one that'll (surprisingly) get you close to the Tweed Super, is the SF 68 Vibrolux RI.

Otherwise, Rift, LJ, Gartone, Vicky- all great. @RiftAmps 5E3 is a spot on version of an original.

FYI, there's a Victoria 2 x 10 Tweed at Charlie Chandlers for a decent price and I am selling an Fender Custom Shop Eric Clapton Sig Tremolux for a grand that would also get you there.

munckee

Clapton Vibrolux would be worth a try.  You'd never get rid of me though Fuengi if you were running a peacekeeper and your strymons into a custom shop vibrolux!

Gassage

munckee said:

Clapton Vibrolux would be worth a try.  You'd never get rid of me though Fuengi if you were running a peacekeeper and your strymons into a custom shop vibrolux!

Tremolux! (I have one in the classifieds!)

RiftAmps

soma1975 said:

Fuengi said:

If you book onto the @RiftAmps amp building course you can go home with a 5e3 you've build yourself (under the masters tuition) for £1300. 

All booked out for 2019 sadly 

Pretty sure I can find an extra date somewhere, if you're really keen?

soma1975 said:

For me personally I want a 5e3 and I resent the idea of paying crazy prices for such a simple piece of engineering.

5E3s - Easy to build, even easier to f*ck up.

munckee

Gassage said:

munckee said:

Clapton Vibrolux would be worth a try.  You'd never get rid of me though Fuengi if you were running a peacekeeper and your strymons into a custom shop vibrolux!

Tremolux! (I have one in the classifieds!)

Sorry meant tremolux!

Modulus_Amps

@soma1975 said:

Modulus_Amps said:

soma1975 said:

munckee said:

@soma1975  is currently in the tweed deluxe rabbit hole so might have some insight?

 but on Reverb Morris Amps are offering Chinese made handwired 5E3s for £600. Even figure in 150 for a fancy speaker or tube change and that’s still a bargain.

Great bargain, but from the ones I have seen they don't follow full EU safety regs, some are covered in tweed vinyl, (not the real thing) and most importantly I have in the past binned a box of of Chinese made Deluxe power transformers for failures.

Just buy carefully and make sure the seller will give you some aftersales service and decent warranty.

These ones.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/154357/anyone-bought-one-of-these-morris-amps-tweed-combos-off-reverb#latest

Ok, that amp looks fine, It is not a close replica of a tweed deluxe but will get you in the ball park. The tweed is the Chinese version of the material, which is a bit smoother, but close enough I would say and not as bad as the vinyl stuff. Looks like it still needs lacquered.

It has a CE mark on the back so the importer is aware of some safety regs, it does not have all the markings required.

The V30 will sound good and loud, would not be my choice for that amp though.

You can't normally get 20w with 2 x 6V6's. it will most likely put out around 12w, 2 6L6's put out around 18 - 20W in these amps, interesting that they use a 5AR4 and don't use a 12AY7, makes me wonder if there are any other internal changes.

I would consider resale value etc, buying a second hand Rift/LJ/Flynn would be a safer way to try one out and sell on if you don't like it. but if you do go the Morris route go try one out or see if they have a returns policy that is acceptable and defo check out any warranty on transformers.

bermudianbrit

yep. The loudness is indeed the problem I'm having with the eZG lol. Its a beautiful thing but louder than God. hahaha

soma1975

RiftAmps said:

soma1975 said:

Fuengi said:

If you book onto the @RiftAmps amp building course you can go home with a 5e3 you've build yourself (under the masters tuition) for £1300. 

All booked out for 2019 sadly 

Pretty sure I can find an extra date somewhere, if you're really keen?

I have a potential 5E3 purchase coming up very shortly but I'd still love to do it at some point, funds permitting. 

soma1975

Modulus_Amps said:

@soma1975 said:

Modulus_Amps said:

soma1975 said:

munckee said:

@soma1975  is currently in the tweed deluxe rabbit hole so might have some insight?

 but on Reverb Morris Amps are offering Chinese made handwired 5E3s for £600. Even figure in 150 for a fancy speaker or tube change and that’s still a bargain.

Great bargain, but from the ones I have seen they don't follow full EU safety regs, some are covered in tweed vinyl, (not the real thing) and most importantly I have in the past binned a box of of Chinese made Deluxe power transformers for failures.

Just buy carefully and make sure the seller will give you some aftersales service and decent warranty.

These ones.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/154357/anyone-bought-one-of-these-morris-amps-tweed-combos-off-reverb#latest

Ok, that amp looks fine, It is not a close replica of a tweed deluxe but will get you in the ball park. The tweed is the Chinese version of the material, which is a bit smoother, but close enough I would say and not as bad as the vinyl stuff. Looks like it still needs lacquered.

It has a CE mark on the back so the importer is aware of some safety regs, it does not have all the markings required.

The V30 will sound good and loud, would not be my choice for that amp though.

You can't normally get 20w with 2 x 6V6's. it will most likely put out around 12w, 2 6L6's put out around 18 - 20W in these amps, interesting that they use a 5AR4 and don't use a 12AY7, makes me wonder if there are any other internal changes.

I would consider resale value etc, buying a second hand Rift/LJ/Flynn would be a safer way to try one out and sell on if you don't like it. but if you do go the Morris route go try one out or see if they have a returns policy that is acceptable and defo check out any warranty on transformers.

Thanks for the insight. 

Fuengi

Gassage said:

Always remember the tone/colour rule.

Tweeds are rough and they sag- just like tweed cloth.

Brownfaces are smoother but still have that lovely roughness when pushed.

Blackfaces are like a chalkboard- they are blank but contrast tones well and are very 'legible' (white chalk on the board)

Silverfaces are like Blackfaces but have more sparkle and shine and glassyness

Modern amps that 'do' it-

Well if you want the perfect one, TK Imperial 2 will cover all bases.

Fender Reissues tend not to be what you think, and if you want to gig, 57 Tweed Twin is the kiddie

If you want the Fender badge, the one that'll (surprisingly) get you close to the Tweed Super, is the SF 68 Vibrolux RI.

Thanks for this @Gassage it's a useful guide.

What exactly do you mean whan you say "Fender Reissues tend not to be what you think"?

arayadis

Check out Fender Super-Sonic 22! But first check channel switching poping sound and if is there any issue with reverb.

Fuengi

Popped into PMT Portsmouth this morning to see what they had in stock.

Surprised to see a 65 Fender Deluxe Reverb RI as the website said they didn't have one! The set me up in the sound room where they also had a 68 Custom Silverface Twin Ri, so played the two side by side. 

The 65 DRRi had a lovely rhythm tone, all the tones sounded good, vibrato and reverb were nice but the reverb wasn't consistent across the strings for some reason. It didn't 'wow' me but sounded like it should. Would I spend £1400 on a new one, not a chance. 

The 68 Silverface Twin Ri did have an audible hiss but was really responsive. I quite liked the bright setting and preferred the tone in general but it's far too big.

Would like to try the 68 Silverface Custom Reverb to see if it did a similar thing to the Twin in a smaller form. 

The 12" speaker makes a huge difference, whatever I get will be either 12" or 2x 10". 

Jimbro66

From what you have just said @Fuengi I recommend you take up @Gassage's suggestion and try a Silverface 68 Vibrolux Reissue. With two quite differently voiced channels it could be right up your street. Although it's a 2x10 it is the size and weight of a 65 DRRI.

Gassage

@Fuengi

Re "not what you think'- I mean they're not as close to original tones as they'd have you believe.

So as an e.g.- the BF DRRI is always a little more brittle and hard sounding than an orig.

The 68 RI series is actually an improvement on the originals in functionality as the two channels are much better syncronised. I know it's an extreme example, but the 63 Vibroverb RI sounds little like an original (loads of reasons why, SS Rect and shit spealers in the RI being the main ones).

I really would check out the 68 RI Vibrolux but DON'T get the Custom Vibrolix Tuxedo one from a few years back- horrendous things.

If you can stretch for 1600 ish- TK Imperial II all the way.

Th4fonz

Maybe check out the morgan js 12 I enjoyed playing through it.

I have a short clip in my NGD thread.  Or the morgan PR 12.

AllthegearNoidea

I am fortunate to have owned a lot of Fender based amps. 

I have owned all amps amps listed below. 

I currently own an original 1969 Princeton. By far the best amp I’ve ever owned. 

I have recently sold a handwired 64 deluxe reverb. Brilliant amp. Bright at first and it didn’t like overdrive pedals in my opinion

Closest to these two for vintage tones is the Headstrong Lil King S. sold this to a friend to facilitate another deal. Brilliant amp for classic vintage Fender tone. Closer than Carr Sportsman or Rambler to my ears. Would not hesitate to by another Headstrong and I cannot understand why the only EU deealer is in Belgium. The Lil King is also excellent. 

68 Princeton was very dark and sounded nothing like my 69

65 Princeton reissue was great and I wouldn’t hesitate to own one again

68 Deluxe. Very noisy. 

All subjective i know.