The Fender Super Amps: A Short History

Comments · 309

• DI

  @dirtramper212 · 11 months ago

  I’ve jokingly described my dad as never owning anything fancy and I still drive his last vehicle (mint condition 1992 Chevy work truck).  But sitting here watching this brings back so many good memories of what he taught me to play guitar with… a red custom 335 with a Bigsby plugged into a Super Reverb.  So it turns out that my dad had actually had that fancy Cadillac taste where it really counted.

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• GB

  @gb1978gb · 11 months ago

  Got my brothers 65 Super Reverb here in the living room. Bought new in 65 when he was 15 and I was 7. He played a 54 or 55 Strat through it that he bought used in 64. Sold the Strat in 67 and bought a Tele which he still has. I recapped the SR, replaced a couple of noisy plate resistors and power tubes several years ago. It’s a beast not only sonically but it will break an old man’s back hauling it around. All the gear from the 50s, 60s that people would die for today was just gear back then. Nobody dreamed any of it would be so sought after like it is today.

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• FR

  @FRANKBOOTH777 · 11 months ago

  I bought my first "Real" amp in 2001..It was the 65 reissue. I knew NOTHING about Fender amps, I just went to my local GC and tried them all side by side for hours and the Super Reverb just had a special sound to it that I couldn't describe...I went home with it that day. The weight didn't bother me as I was 21 and had been gigging for a couple years with a metal band and we all used full stacks..I still have the Super 24 years later.

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• CA

  @Cajundaddydave · 11 months ago (edited)

  Nice history lesson on the Fender Super series.  Definitely one of the great amps that oozed Fender mojo when great players like BB King, Robben Ford, or SRV plugged in.  I bought a 1964 Super Reverb used in 1969 with paper route money.  I still have it and recently had a local tube amp tech run through it and clean up some noise from failing original caps and worn out tubes.  She now sounds as good as new and cranked up can still tear the walls down.  Best amp I ever played through to capture the tone in my head.  Plus 1 on the recommendation to add casters.

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• DE

  @dennyaudio · 11 months ago

  Thanks for this awesome video Keith.<br>I got into guitar amps before I really started playing guitar.<br>I found a really beat up 1964 Super Reverb in a pawn shop in Charleston S. Carolina when I was in the Navy, so I bought it, intending to restore/repair it.<br>I got it sounding good again and got a guitar.<br>I went on to repairing amps, ,)I was an :authorized Fender repair technician), and have several amps to this day<br><br>I have a 1964 Fender black face Twin that I rented out to BB King when I did sound (monitors) for him.<br>He used to ask me to sell it to him after every show, saying, &quot;Man, that&apos;s the best sounding Twin I ever heard&quot;,<br>I don&apos;t play out anymore due to health reasons and I would sure like to see someone get this Twin who knows what great clean tones this amp is famous for.<br>Thanks again for making your 5 Watt World videos Keith.<br>Great info!

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• SH

  @shanewalton8888 · 11 months ago

  The universe tells Kieth to make a Super amp video. &nbsp;The only thing the universe has ever told me was that I shouldn&apos;t have eaten that cheese bagel for breakfast.

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• JI

  @jimonaldo3108 · 11 months ago

  I have to say this. I&apos;m a beginner guitarist and mostly play DI into an audio interface, but a family friend has a Fender Blues deluxe and when you hear the air move from one of those things, its no wonder people become addicted to playing guitar.

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• ST

  @StephenGangi · 2 months ago

  The black face Super Reverb was one of the best amps ever built. &nbsp;Period. &nbsp;An honest 50 Watts, 4 GOOD 10 inch speakers, and a sparkle and warmth to it that can&apos;t be matched.

• LO

  @lookbovine · 11 months ago

  Steve Cropper’s move from Harvard to Super Reverb was HUGE. It’s a struggle for me to figure out what on his ‘69 solo album is fuzz through Super or cranked Harvard though.

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• MO

  @moparbryan · 11 months ago

  I think at least a cursory mention of the Rivera era super champ would have been in order. Clearly not in the same vein as the vintage era amps but very cool and collectible in their own right.

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• TO

  @Tonetwisters · 3 months ago (edited)

  My very first amplifier was a 1964 Super Reverb I bought brand new, on time, as a 17-year-old ... Still got it. Been &quot;repaired&quot; several times over its life; but a couple years ago, I had a good tech replace all the acquired &quot;junk&quot; with SoZo blues. Had to have the choke replaced a few weeks afterward. I have found that when you replace old parts with new, something down the line is going to get more juice than it is accustomed to having, and will fail. The choke worked sometimes and not, others. But man ... when that old choke was working, it was harmonically richer than any amp I ever played through. The amp still sounds like a bundle of dynamite when you get to turn the thing up a ways. <br>Also got to rent BB King a brand new Super Reverb in the early &apos;70s. Went to the concert at FSU. That silverface sounded outstanding with the King running through it!! I am blessed to own a &apos;62 Bandmaster with the harmonic wiggle. It sounds real sweet. I am also blessed to own an ETHOS &apos;60s Harmonic wiggler, and it is quite incredible. The Dual Professional re-entered the line in the &apos;90s I think, as one of their handwired lines and maybe 100 watts, IIRC. And yessir. Amplifiers are AT LEAST half of the guitar sound. Very cool of you to do these detailed histories, Mr. Keith! (And that outro music was glorious!)

• JA

  @jackprice7828 · 11 months ago

  This was a really interesting video. &nbsp;My dad had one of the original Fenders which he played in bars in the early 50&apos;s. &nbsp;When I saw those old circuit boards with discrete components it brought back so many memories of my early days as an electronic tech working on tube equipment. &nbsp;Nothing can digitally replicate that tone.

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