Fender 75 Combo

I happened across my 75 Combo while talking to the husband of a friend of mine. He was using his as a Bike rest in his garage! ??200 later the get it resoldered and all the valves changed - and it is money well spent. I play Jazz/Funk through to metal and the boosts on the eq pots are superb. I only use the clean channel and run a ME-50 to it for the voicings. My only criticism would be the weight - it is ****ing heavy!

I use a heavily modded Pacifica Strat with SSH config. Changed the pups to Iron Gear, which are inexpensive but considerably better than the original Yams. This combined with the ME-50 gives some cristal clear sounds from the 75 and it is very, very loud. I have yet to wind it up enough for the clean channel to start breaking up and with animals for Bass and Drums, I do need it loud!
To be honest I rarely use the Boss anymore (apart from distortion variants), as the sound quality is rich enough without embelishment.

Haven't had it long enough to know, but heartened by other reviews.

Repair was easy enough by 'Sounds Great' in Manchester. I guess it isn't an overly complex beast

I have been playing for 20 years and this is the best amp I have ever played with. I have used a succession of Peaveys, which were all adequate for the job. I also use a Jackson Dinky and Aria ProII LP and the 75 has made them both come alive. It has made the Peaveys sound very dull and lifeless.

I would most definatley try and replace it if ever it was stolen.

I may have to put casters on it though ;o)

The 3 volumes drove me crazy.( It has Master, volume and lead knobs.) The reverd IS good. It IS very loud. With a distortion pedal you can really **** **** up!!!! The 15" speaker is bullet proof

The only good thing was the reverb clean sound. I recently saw a guy w/ one of these in a bar in san francisco. The tyhing was loud and schrill. None of the fender tone we all love. This unit may have had old tubes or whatever but I gotta say it was not aging gracefully.

It allways turned on

I just sold mine to a guy who had suffered a theft. It is a tube fender combo you can find cheap. I used to add a second 15" speaker cab which seemed to soak up some of the power and made it sound better. try it.
.this is in fact a blackfaced fender amp but it sure is not a superstar like you would think. But it has a normal price and looks very cool. Weighs a ton!

What I do with my 75 combo with the chrome dome 12 inch speaker is run into the clean channel with an older Tube Driver, with the mid boost activated, and the power switched to 15 watts....works great for a blues sound with humbuckers, Fender single coils, and PRS soapbars

The amp can be noisy if you use the footswitch overdrive channel....think some of the caps might be dried up, but it sounds so good most of the time I'm not going to mess with anything.....still has the original tubes, as far as I can tell

has never broken down, I've had it about 12 years....bought it for 75 bucks from a guy who said he wanted to get it out of his basement, since he hadn't played in years....

I've been playing since about 1968, I guess....I have a Pignose and a couple of old solid-state practice amps....and a Micro Cube....and some computer stuff....but nothing has the tube tone of this old black Fender....I think the low power switch and the pull-boost function is what lets you get into the singing tube heaven realm. As other reviewers note, the thing is damned heavy, so I haven't taken it anywhere is years.....but it can't be beat for living room jamming!

I've owned it in the mid eighties for two and half year.
I bought it new. It had a lot of features, an overdrive channel like a boogie Mark 2 B. The sound pots had the capacity to boost it's range. It had a fx way, but you need a special y-adapter cable...bad.

The clean sound was ok, also the overdrive channel, but the first tube was microphonic. So I replaced it with a Groove tube, the first I had ever in my hands. But the power section was a piece of crab, really. every one or two month the main switch failed. This was because the input current rush of the transformer was so high, it burns the main switch. Also the sreen grid resistors were too small. They burned out, so the power tubes start to glow red and failed. So I had to solder new resistors with a higher wattage, really bad.
So I sold the amp. When I bouth the amp I had also the possibility to buy a Marshall 50W Combo with a external 2x12" Box, but I didn't bought it. I bought the Fender 75 Combo. This was a bad decission of me, really. Now that type of Marshall would be now very collectable and high priced, but that's life.

Bad, see above.

I had never delt with Fender.

Sounds ok, durability bad.

My 75 is one of the first production models, 1980 or 1981. I bough it new in Santa Ana, CA. Prior to the 75 I was using a modified silver-face twin and a Mesa Boogie MKII. Can use it for everything I used those two for. It is very simple two-channel casecaded pre-amp with master volume and with some fiddling you can get the right volume out of "clean" and "sceam" set-ups. Has bass/mid/treble tone controls, each with an active boost switch, which gives some range of control and a serious amount of overdrive capability. The effects loop works with some old gear but I've had trouble using it with more modern stuff. This thing can go blazingly loud: I used to use an external cab (4x12 JBL and/or 2x15 JBL) for outdoors or large venues (withotu miking it up). I really haven't seen a "real" amp that is more versatile. You have to go DSP to get more flexibility.
Never thought about it, but without the foot switch you're screwed - there are no front panel controls for channel switching or reverb. Good news is the FS is simple if you need to build your own.

Classic Fender tube amp clean with a gritty dirty tone that is like a Boogie in a bad mood. Compared to my MKII Boogie, the 75 has more edge: where the boogie gets smooth the Fender has more edge, and where the Mesa wails, the 75 gets plane nasty. I can get similar tones to the Boogie (and most people can't tell by listening when I switched. The "clean" sound is more like my old Twin Reverb. It has the classic fender tone. The Reverb is pure Fender spring. My Twin had been modified with the two preamps cascaded and had a master volume (a popular mod in those days) which made it good for clean to blues-dirty, but I needed the boogie for that classic over-drive, sustain for ever tone. With the 75 I get both in one that is pretty easy to manage. To be fair, this sucker is what I'm used to (had it 25+ years) and every other amp I hear is compared to it, so keep that in mind.

Bought it new. Havne't blown it up once since then. Never left me quiet on stage or in the studio (more than I can say for my old Showman!). Gig'd it all over the place for a couple years until I quit doing that. Would not hesitate to take it OTR and like the compactness. It does weigh a ton! Only ever done routine servicing: clean the pots now and again (maybe twice in 25 years), and changed power tubes. You will wear out power tubes in a tube amp. Haven't changed caps, pots or switches so far. Gotta say "10" because I haven't had to screw with it.

Haven't dealt with Fender in 25 years, so any experience I may have is obsolete. That says something for the Amp, if nothing useful about customer support.

I've been playing dam near foreever, something like 40 years now. I have a Line-6 POD for practice and recording, With the Fender 75 I use a Morley power wah and DoD chorus (both the same vintage as the 75).
If someone stole this amp I'd try to find another, or get another Boogie if I couldn't (after tracking down the varmit...).
Love the tone. Hate lugging it around but it's easier than the old Showman was!
Back in "the day" played whatever there was, haven't shopped around much since then. Probably lots of great stuff out there.
Fender used to make a 1x12" expansion cab for it I wish I had. Used to have one and the 2x12 sound was great for Jazz. Wish I had one.
When I bought it I got a good deal 'cause I had a friend at Fender, I think retail was $500 or $600. In those days a new basic Boogie was about the same as I recall.
If you can lay hands on one, it's a unique sound that is "a lot like" several other amps of it's day but definitely a unique personality.

Made in the early 80's..Great amp! Love it...

Very clean with power!

Super..Never had a problem

No experience here

This is a great amp. Heavy. I put wheels on it. Buy one!

Don't know the year. Haven't learned to adjust it properly. Play 60's & 70's blues rock (Beck, Clapton, Page, Lee, Blackmore) 2 channels. Switches by a pedal. Effect loop.

Enough knobs for me. Use it for recording and rehearsing. Eventually some covergigs...

ALL TUBE

Lead - hard to get a good sound! Please give me some tips fellas! That's the reason for the 6.

Clean - always nice!

Dependable. Trusty.

No opinion.

Good, but would be better if I knew how to get a good lead sound. Reminds me of the VOX AC30 going 110%.

The features of this amp are an ongoing mystery. the push-pull boost and footswitchable channels give it a wide range of sounds. The lead channel howevr will not function with out the footswitch, if you have no footswitch your only using half of this amp, footswitch is a must!

The clean on this amp is very clean, very loud, compraible to the Super Twim with just as much power. To dirty it up is a challenge but it can be done, took me many times to break this beast up, but it will do it. there is a bit of presence noise when dirtyed up at higher volumes, I mostly play Blues so this is not a problem for me.

I have only owned this paticular amp for couple years, did have it retubed biased and repaired speaker cobe, this brought this amp back to life with incredible performance, was well worth the money. use it 4 to 6 times a month with great dependability. one thing, this amp is extremely heavy, with electro voice speaker it weights in at close to 80 lbs, not a pleasure to transport but worth the extra effort.

the ony repairs or service I`ve had done was done by my amp Dr. who is very capable check him out unclespot.com for your tube amp needs.

over all I would rate this at a 8+ couple draw backs, the weight, real clean, not that dirty. what I do occasionally is slave my Blued Junior to it and use the Jr. to dirty it up, works real well and adds huge sustain. would replace it if necessary but these are getting hard to find and the price is moving up, if you can find one for less than 500.0, buy it.

My particular Fender 75 was manufactured in 1980 (serial number starts F0). It is a 75 watt dual channel, foot-switchable valve amp running a single 15" Fender Special Design speaker. The amp, as aforementioned, has two channels, "clean" and "lead." There is a bright switch and pull boosts on all three eq's, treble, middle, and bass. There is also a "lead" pot which amounts to a gain knob. There is also a seperate volume for the lead, reverb, and an over-all, master, volume. The amp is also switchable from 30? to 75 watts. Amp also has many other "standard" features: ground bias, line out, standby, etc. The amp is very versatile in terms of its power. It can be rather quiet while retaining responsiveness and really bark if it is called for. Although I wish that Fender had chosen to run 75 watts through four 6L6GCs instead of two.

The Fender 75 has a unique sound. It maintains much of the headroom associated with Fender blackface era amps but offers an attempt to couple that with a dual channel, switchable amplifier. It is considered a Rivera era Fender, being that Paul Rivera was heading much of the R and D for Fender at that time. It is all handwired and is considered to be an attempt to compete with the market offerings of Mesa/Boogie at the time. A good sound can be coaxed from the 75 from a variety of guitars and settings. I say coaxed because I mean it. It takes some time a knob turning to find a good sound. This may be due to the ultralinear design (volume for clean channel runs into lead and lead volume which runs into the master, etc.) but offers for a unique sounding amp. Using a G&L Legacy and employing the clean channel one can get get a decent blues tone with a touch of clip. The power selector switch also adjusts the amout of clip and the headroom and can be used to get a more percussive snappy sound if desired. The reverb is decent, not quality of early reverbs, but acceptable. Reverb is tube driven by 12AT7s. There have been a few complaints about the lead channel on this amp. While it is definately not the best design for a lead channel, it affords some very interesting and rewarding timbres. The pull boosts on the eqs also help. I have found that the Fender 75 sounds quite desirable using a Gibson les paul with the first volume set just below 4, the treble at about 6.5, mid just above 4 (with boost engaged), bass at 5, lead at 7.5, lead master at 8, and the master volume set at desired over all volume. There is a sweet spot using the master at around 5. Using the mid boost seems to really add extra drive and seems to tighten up what would normally be flabby bass from the overly taxed (75 watts) two 6L6GCs. The lead channel sound in this setting is a very woody, gritty but airy kind of tone. I did replace the tubes that were in it when I bought it with Ruby tubes 6L6GC STRs and ECC83s and two Fender 12AT7s for the tube drive. I am very happy with the sounds of Ruby tubes.

I haven't gigged it yet or logged enough hours to give an accurate judgement.

I haven't dealth with Fender for customer support.

It is a unique piece of Fender history. Its tone is worth the purchase because nothing with sound like a Fender 75. It is also neat to note that this was really the first dual channel, foot-switchable amp offered by Fender. Not to mention the noteriety of Paul Rivera's designs and Fender resorting to stamped circuits in 1983.

I think my amp is from 78. All the features are mentioned.

It's great for all Fender type guitars. I almost used it with Jazz guitars (ES-175, ES-335) and it's perfect for that style.
I don't like the distortion sounds. If you want distortion, play a Marshall. Or combine it with a tube screamer type overdrive. But this is a great amp for all kinds of clean sound.

Had some problems with the optio switch. Made it with the local dealer. Changed tubes once in 27 years.

Never contacted.

It's a great amp for a big clean sound. That's what it is. If you are looking for that you are right. It's not an amp for all sounds. Big, fat and warm clean sound. I love it! Perhaps you must be a jazzman to do so.
I'm playing jazz and rock for about 30 years as a non-professional. Had great gigs with that amp. Never let me down.

I read somewhere that this amp doesnt sound the same without the footswitch..that it effects the tone even when not switched. That may be a differentiating factor in different reviews.. it is called a rivera model switch and a replacement can be found at http://www.pharaohamps.com/
Its called a "switcher 2"

You know then all by now.

I wrote a review on here earlier..just got another jazzmaster off ebay and I am interested in my amp again.
So I think i know why there are different reviews...cuz if you have bad tubes or speaker it will work but sound bad. (like any amp) I think this cuz I have heard mine sound bad..but new speaker tubes etc..tune-up and brand new again!

Anyway just wanted to say I just bought ANOTHER 75 combo from ebay with a 12" speaker (other is 15") so now I will have 2 amps to last me the rest of my life and pair them up on stage.

BTW...only paid 400 for mint condition!
I think it is kind of cool that ppl dont know about this amp ...keeps prices down..(remember when jaguars and jazzmasters went cheap?)it is really a great amp .
I pull out all tones and run clean. bright off.
I never want to use another setting after hearing all that tone.


so I thought of a pro reverb or whatever but I really love the sound this amp puts out

Great. Whoever had transformer problems prolly had a lemon.

Just sent 10 buckeroo's in the mail for the schematic and manual.
Thought it would be nice to have.

Just wanted to tell anyone that is considering this amp that I like it so much I have two now!


They made Fender 30,75, and 140.
also the fender "30" (made only 1 year) is not designed the same inside, it would prolly sound different. The 140 is I think but never seen one.

Bought mine new in '81, used it for lead guitar in a hard-working club band for much of the eighties. Would disagree with criticisms of the amplifier technology; I found the cascading-preamp design to be quite versatile, though you had to know it well and fine-tune it carefully to get the best sound. Bought it with an EV speaker; I used a second twelve-inch Cerwin-Vega twelve (metal dustcap replaced with paper) in a compact Thiele cabinet to flesh it out a bit. Best sound over the years was achieved with Mesa 6L6's and Russian 12AX7's found at Radio Shack. Having the right preamp tubes was vital. If I changed one feature, it would be to allow different boost settings (as in Bass & Mid pull-outs) for clean and dirty.

Initially used a Les Paul Custom, then a Telecaster Elite and an '84 US Strat. For rock and roll, dance music, and original rock the sound was mostly fabulous. I generally used only a Boss chorus pedal to enhance it. Power was ample; I set the master on 5 or 6 for most clubs, used the low-power setting in small rooms. Loud and clean was not a problem. Sustain was excellent. Harmonic content on dirty channel is very good. Six-spring reverb is superb. Could use a little more bass crunch, but I suppose a 4x12 cab would help that.

Used it for well over a thousand gigs, and countless rehearsals and jams; dropped it, poured beer on it, banged it with the Les Paul, left it out regularly in a freezing van, used it until the vinyl peeled up at the corners, and the only thing that ever broke was the on/off switch (didn't need no stinking customer service to replace that).

As noted, a non-issue.

Don't play much these days; I use a Champ 110 for low-volume fun in the house. As for the 75, I love the simplicity, the power, the tonal character, the reliability, and the size, but not the weight. I'd agree with some of the other reviewers that it's a pretty unique item; there really isn't anything else quite like it.

all features as previously stated. except one....a bad feature...

it is not at all "mod friendly". you will not make this amp better by adding "orange drops" or "JJ tesla's" or a "mojotone speaker".........it just ain't-a-gonna happen! in order to get a "GREAT AMP" out of this, you would have to scrap all components and rebuild it from the ground up!....starting with the ultralinear transformer. it was just designed wrong!

plenty of headroom. nice fendery reverb....deeeepp! unfortunately, lacking in that "fendery tone magic". it's not horrible, mind you......but it's not a BF deluxe rev either! nor is it a MK II boogie as it was developed to compete with.

it seems like the design should've been right on the money, but this was CBS's last ditch effort to save the fender company, and they got too far off the track. it works, but it doesn't beckon me to play and enjoy it.

i tried singles and hummers, actives and passives, hot pups and wimpy ones.....it just ain't got it.

not a complete waste.....it's fine if you really don't mind depending on some good pedals.....otherwise no.

it's handwired, so it'll probably go on for quite some time, provided it gets the neccesary maintainence. i used it on 3-4 gigs. no probs.

fender is hard to reach. but there's lots of aftermarket parts available anywhere.

i've been playing 26+ years, and i've had about 2 of everything. i've already sold it, and unless i just needed a reliable workhorse amp, and one was available for cheap, i probably wouldn't seek out another one. i chose it thinking it was an "underdog".....not so...to me, anyway....

i like that it's loud and dependable. nice lonnnnng footswitch cable. and i can appreciate it's handwired construction.

i dislike the shared EQ, the weak reverb on the gain channel, the lack of dynamic difference switching to the 15 watt mode and the overall lack of toneful magic that fender amps are typically known for.

still, if you get a good deal, it might not hurt to try one...i didn't care for it, but YOU might!

bon chance, ma fren!

My amp was made in 1980 - probably. Great all tube guitar amp - really.I played on many guitar amps ( marshal, Kettner, Mesa, Peavey - tube or transistors)and I searched my own tone. This is it. I founded.
Two channnels - clean - superb. Distorted - very cool vintage drive.
Reverb - on tube - beautiful. At last my Fender Strat begin sounding well. My amp has very interesting history. One thing - corection for both channels - unfortunately.

My guitar its Fender AM. Std. Strat. - not worst but not great. I would like to buy tele else but for know )-: it's strat. I play rock -vintage rock - something like Hives, Strokes. Fender 75 got on clean chanel Classic Fender Sound but on distorted canal - it's very oryginal sounding amps. I was made few month ago recordings with my bands - first we use JCM900, JCM 800 - everybody sounds like this. Next - a POD XT - 01011100 - without soul.There is proper word - soul - 75 has soul. I feel it.

I play on this amps every gigs, concerts with my bands from one year-I had no problems.

When I have bought this amp it was in very bad condition. Polish local dealer sucks. They did wan't help me with replacments parts. Bad guys. But Fender Europe really interested this case.

I've been playing 15 years. I'm 29 years old. I worked in music shop six years and there i can play on many diffrent amps and I had my own few amps but this is the best from them. I said this, but i repeat -this is very cool, well sounding, vintage character amp. VERY RARE.
You can't play on it nu metal or something like that - this is mistake - but if you play blues, rock or you want drive different like others - this is it. My budy in band had a Marshall amp - and he very like this amp until i bought this one. Now when we play together - he is very sad and he strted talking about new amp for him ((-:
If my amp were stolen that was be a real tragedy for me. This amp is very rare. I really don't want think about it (-:

1980-81 12' combo model.
The amp has two channels. Either one can be made to sound good.
Getting them to oth sound good is trickier. Usually I set the clean up clean and the distortion to a light grind, then augment both w/ a tube pedal. gives me 4 different sounds.
I have had this sucker since it was new. It came w/ an EV12L Good speaker, very heavy.
I put in a celestion GT65 expecting it to blow. 20 years later it's still good.
This amp runs hot . Give it the best 6L6's you can afford (Mesa/Sylvania STR415)

The reverb is good.
Futz around with preamp tubes till it sounds good. Mine is so quiet you can't heat if it's on.
The pull switch bass/treble boosts are good for a clean sound. The mid boost is for distorted sounds. Use any of these carefully. They interact with the level of the pot and each other. If you don't like it leavce them off and just use the bright switch and don't abuse the tone controls.
Got to put the master above 3-4 to get a good sound. Keep the first gain stage fairly low, don't tryu to overdrive it at low volume. This is a pro amp. Then squeeze up alittle of the distortion gain and use the second master to get the volumes straight.

Just insanely reliable. It broke once because of one faulty solder joint. A good tech fixed it in ten minutes. Still looks good too.

This is a really good amp once you get the hang of it.

My EV speaker was defective. Fender was annoyed annd said it could not be. I shipped it to them and later got an apologetic phone call.
Seems there was a nail in the voice coil rubbing away the coil and destroting my speaker. That's when I got the celestion, They sent me a new speaker. 20 years old never used still in the box.
One of their better moments actually..

plaed for 41 years . Had all kinds of Fenders. I was really glad to ditch my 68 twin and get this amp.
If it got stole I would just get some other amp, but I'd worry.

ok I figured it out. with out the footswitch - this amp has the lead channel active and acts as if the lead master is on 10!! and it is!
so better make sure u have a footswitch or its useless. if not maybe a tech could switch it inside to play like clean channel.

limited sound - BUT IT'S THE ONLY SOUND I WANT! IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

Like I said, It's great and u read all the reviews - its a great surfy tone. one note: ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE FOOTSWITCH IS PLUGGED IN AND NEVE, I MEAN NEEEVVVVVVEEEEERRRR EVER EVER USE THE LEAD CHANNEL.
It is crappy and takes away from reverb as it shares a tube. The footswitch must be pluuged in to turn off the lead channel. when its not pluggeb in it way too loud and i dont believe it is meant to be used that way. a definate flaw..they should have left out the lead completely.

I think tubes run hot in these amps? works great..minor tuneups.

whats fender gonna do..come to my house and fix it? the amp techs seem to have no problem with it. other than having to request the schematic from fender.

i dont remember the price, cuz i bought it new long time ago, and i did some trade in stuff. Everyone has always complimented my sound. I play a srtat. I was playing a jazzmaster but it got ripped off :(
matter of f avt i had a strat ripped off too...what a world. anyway I play surfy bluesy artsy..anything...sometimes I just pluck a note and let it ring...on this amp I would call that music.

Featurewise, this is a cool amp, set up like a boogie, with shared eq, and separate volume and gain controls for each channel, with a master volume and reverb that are global. Has ground switch, and speaker outs on the back, you must have the footswitch plugged in to get only one channel ata time, very anoying.

Here's my rig, changing daily, fender teles with b-benders, boss vwah, boss od3's(2) maxon pt999 akai phaser maxon chorus, carl martin delayluh, boomerang. I play a mixture of jazz, fusion, and am in a top 40 wedding band playing at least twice a week. I very much wanted to like this amp, and after reviews here on HC, i got one over the net. What a mistake. After about $300 in mods and tube/speaker changes, I sold this thing and bought another boogie. I had some initial problems with the footswitch, and when I took it in, the tech laughed at me. He asked if someone had paid me to takke the amp from them! I should have guessed at that point, that it was a piece, but I thought I'd try some mods. I replaced the power tubes with JJ's, then sylvanias, as well as a great deal of preamp swapping, with 12at7's and ax7's in the various slots. Having the at in the phase inverter slot made the amp sound almost bearable, but I still couldn't get away from the harshness. It sounded like icepicks when turned up, and the gain channel, while always a Fender, could never sound good.

The tech I use told me he fixed these things on a regular basis, said the transformers were shit, and the amp was put together in a hurry so the circuit boards and resistors were cheaply put together. This is suposed to be point to point wiring, but I believe they cheated a bit.

I have been playing music since age 15, and am 23 now. I've gone through all kinds of gear, all the big amps and some more boutique ones as well, and I feel I have a good ear for tone. I know, every reviewer hee says this, but I am also working fulltime in a recording studio, and have a chance to try all types of new gear all the time. I feel that the rivera designed fenders were all cool amps, the concert is a great combo, but this one just fell a little short. I can't stress enough to anyone buying any amp over the net, TRY IT First!!!! You can never tell what it's going to sound like with your gear and your fingers until you're playing it yourself. Hope this review helps.

What amazes me about this web site is the range of different views you get on the same product. Most of the ones on the '75 are accurate, but the critical ones are, I'm afraid, missing the point. This is Fender's best kept secret!
The key, in my experience, to using this amp, is to understand where Fender's excel,and where a Marshall or similar 'crunch' amplifier does a better job. I got my 75 head in 1992, but don't know when it dates from - 80 or 81 I think. I haven't found it to be very versatile, but when you have a sound you really dig, why mess about trying out alternatives? For 11 years I've used it pretty much on the same setting - I use the lead channel with the lead set to 1.5, push/pull on Middle and Treble, the Treble boost set to On. It gives a clean Fender sound - ala Twin etc, but with a bit of crunch - not too much as the lead sound isn't brilliant.

As above - I use it pretty clean, but this is a VERY powerful 75 Watt amplifier. I use a 4x12 cab with 4x H and H 65 watt speakers [ Celestion 30 H's to follow soon], and a 1x12 100w Celestion loaded cab. The sound cuts through excellently - giving an excellent SRV blues sound. With a TS 808 and a Strat with Texas Specials you get a powerful,nicely overdriven sound. The amp works well with effects [ not using the effects loop tho]

Never use a back up [ but hey I am not that rich]. It's reliable - had to have the transformer replaced 2 years ago, and have re-valved every two years. It's sturdy, and very heavy to carry!

I think the repairer had to send off for the correct part through Arbiter UK when the Transformer was repaired, and it took a while.

I was looking for a Fender Twin Reverb when I bought this Head. A decent [ original ] 1970's twin was fetching 500 quid at the time. This was #185 and, compared to a Bassman, or Princeton or similar Head, it had far more versatility. It does have a limited sound, but the way you get it - by experimenting with it's various controls, means you can keep the same sound, and don't need to adjust for different venues. I know that with a twin, for example, smaller venues mean reduced volume, and a compromise in sound.
It's an 80's amp, so don't expect the versatility of a Soldano, or a brilliant lead channel.

I got the amp about 2 months ago. From the tranny numbers puts it around 1980.All tubed point to point wired on a breadboard.No pc board crap.It has boost pulls on the treble, mid and bass.The mid boost seems to work best for me.The clean channel is superb as is the reverb.It take some playing with to figure this amp out though.

Im actually a bass player.But got this to mess with,and for friends to come by and jam.I use my american strat plus with this amp and it just plain screams!It has a decent tube breakup but it's better to run through some pedals.If you want monster distortion,this amp isnt for you.Buy a soldono or marshall.But like i said clean,clean,clean fender sound!

I havent gigged with this amp yet. But I've changed tubes.It had amer. gt's in the power section.And a wide varitiy of pre-amp tubes all have been replaced with vintage.rca's,mullard,seimens.

I've talked to the company several times over the years when they were in fullerton,Ca. They were great!

I've been playing for 28 years.I've owned marshall's,peavey,fender's,and ampeg.Get one of these while you can!These were only made for 3 years and alot of people and even tech's dont know about these Ed Jahns designed fenders.These were designed by Jahns to compete with the mesa mark II.And what a great job he did!I would find another in a heartbeat.Before they become a rareity.

- pull outs are useless
- lead channel distortion isn't great except for a crunch sound. I use the lead for a rythm channel (set at about 2) and use a boss overdrive for lead.
- It has more than enough power epecially when I run it through my Marshall 4 by 12 Cabinet

I use this amp with a american tele with lace sensors and a godin sd with hot rails.It works great for most 70's and 80's rock music. I don't think it would make a great heavy metal guitar though.The bass eq seems a little too much as it'll crap out pass 3 or 4. This amp has a very unique sound through a marshall cabinet. Very dirty,yet smooth.

This amp is old style inside. No PC boards. I had to replace the photo electric L.E.D 's ( the ones for channel switching), a set of tubes, and the original speaker was replaced. I got this amp for nothing and did the repairs myself. Good quality transformers, caps, pots etc. Mine needed a little tlc, but I have ran it for 5 years since with no problems. I'm sure it will out last any of the new plc crap that is made now

I've done the repairs my self (I do it for a living). I also live in Canada. Support isn't as good as peavey, but pretty good none the less.I've been able to get all the parts, but some of them take a long time. I've even put peavey parts in this thing (photo electric switches)

I've played for 15 years. I've used marshall, peavey and other fender amps. I don't know what it is about this amp. I guess what I like about it is that there is nothing like it. No one has my sound other than other 75 owners and how many of them play through a 4 12 cabinet? I would really love to buy a head and have this one as a spare. I honestly think in the next ten years this amp will be a real collectors item. Please e-mail me if you also use this amp through a 4 12 cabinet,have the original 4 10 cabinet for this amp or have the 75 head

According to information I have gathered it appears I have a 1980 model amp. I purchased her about 10 years ago while playing in a classic rock band. It has all the power I can ask for and I enjoy its clean warm sound, along with a sharper more crunchy lead side. I recently replaced the original power tubes that came with the amp when I bought it (Mesa Engineering) with JJ's. I liked the old tubes much better but am told I may still need to have the amp adjusted for the new tubes. I hoping the adjustment will bring back the rich warm tone again, otherwise I'll be looking for another set of Mesas.

Mainly I play rythym guitar. I use a special edition Tele with humbucker pickups. I can get just about any sound you can ask for from a Les Paul to a traditional Tele. This amp is not what I would try and compete with a Marshall for pure distortion, but in my opinion it wasn't built for that use anyway. If your looking for a superior Blues, Jazz, Country, or Classic Rock sound you couldn't find anything better.

I have owned this amp for nearly ten years and just had to replace the power tubes because one of them got loose aroung the base and I was afraid it might come loose. This has been a tremendous piece of equipment. I have played hundreds of gigs with it without one single failure.

Haven't had to even talk to a repairman until I replaced the tubes. Then I was just to find out if the tubes were as good as what they were telling me. That is still to be determined.

I'm 51 years old and have been playing since I was 9 years old. I have 6 other guitars that I play. Currently I use this amp for solo gigs. I play a Ultra Classic Ovation thru it along with vocals. I have a Sansui mike that has the perfect impedence that matches the guitar and allows the combo. I also use a 12" monitor speaker thru the external speaker hookup for a more versatile sound. My only complaint about this amp as with everyone else "IT WEIGHTS A TON". I agree with most guys about this amp, it is Fenders most under rated amp ever. Unfortunately, I am looking at selling this amp very soon and will miss it. I need to buy a powered mixer for my gigs and something has to go. Interested give me a jingle rcarmickle@earthlink.net

i'm an happy owner of a couple of, circa '79. They are cosmetically & functionally completely different amps.
The one is a 15" square cabinet - the other is a 12" rectangular cabinet. Same controls layout. BEWARE - THEY ARE HEAVYWEIGTH !!!

I play everything and i love loudness. These amps have a lot of head room (15" especially) wich i love, but the 12" have the crunch and the "sustain for a days".
I think they are electronically very different.

Never looked at the 12" for a fit - everytime ok. IT MUST BE UNTOUCHED !!!!!!!
I've changed in the 15" the 15" koud speaker with a EV 12" and deeply veried the tubes line for a more aggressive soud -> everything OK.

I NEVER HAD PROBLEMS

If you want an excellent (but overwheigt) workorse, the 75 is the one!!!

I think the amp is built around 1980. It's completely black. About ten years ago I'd had another Fender Lead 75, that had a silver grille. I traded my Blues deluxe in on this one, because of the shrill, too sharp tones I got while using my stratocaster (the whole band complained about it). The 75 sounds much smoother and a bit darker. It's not particularly versatile I think, but so am I. It has one channel and a lead device, push/pull controls and a reverb. I use the amp mainly for playing live, along with a Blues Junior, which besides is pretty loud too. My style is Stones, Zeppelin, Jayhawks, surf, seventies bluesrock, Sheryl Crow, etc. The main problem with this amp is that it's bloody heavy! I think the speaker is an Emincence (sporting a blue Fender-label, but Fender doesn't make speakers).

Is use this amp with an very old jv-Squier strat and a fernandes telecaster (with Seymour Duncans). The strat sounds best with this amp, while the tele goes best with the Blues Junior. Clean and a bit overdriven it sounds very well, with a lot of depth. On low power it seems to sound a little warmer. Lead sounds either a bit raspy and thin or complete bollocks. Bright sounds sometimes a bit shrill, depending on the pickups. Clean becomes much better with the lead master and lead control at zero, since I discovered that 'clean' on this amp is affected by the lead control. The reverb is superb.

I had the tubes changed some months ago. Shortly after I purchased this amp it made sounds like soft 'pops' and crackles (but I've heard Twins that produced sounds like gnooms were running form one side tot the other within). Last year I played in a tent at a small festival in typical Dutch weather circumstances. At some moment before the gig I discovered that my amp was standing excactly where the rain came flooding in, but the amp sounded fine and worked effortless.

Never dealt with the people from Fender, although I understand that they're not very helpful.

I've been playing for almost seventeen years. Twelve years with the old Squier strat and a wide variety of amps (not always my own), like Musicman, Marshall and Fender. I've always liked the clean sound and the reverb of Fender amps, but if another company offers something better I would be interested. Even with an early sixties blackface or tweed model, guitarplayers are always searching for something else.