Fender Bandmaster Reverb

Made in 1968. Some parts are from 1967. By now, we know the features.

Extreme amount of bass. Mine is pushing 65 watts as measured by my amp tech. Runs hot. Starts breaking up around 5. I am using a pair of Celestion Heritage 12 - 30 watt speakers which break up nicely. Quite simply te best tone I have ever heard, except for my 1964 Princeton. Bass is so deep and loud this will make my windows rattle at 3 or 4. Clean is pristine up to 5, even with humbuckers, after that, watch out! I had mine blackfaced for $30, only the power grid resistors and a few caps needed changing, along with a few resistors. I have several blackface and silverface amps to compare to. Don't be afraid to have it blackfaced, the improvement is tone will make you drool. It is a bit hissy with the presence switch on.

Had a cap job done last year (after 38 years), that's when I had it blackfaced. I thought the original RCA tubes were bad, so I bought 6 Tung-sol Re-issue preamp tubes and was in for a shock. It sucked the tone right out of the amp and was very noisy and microphonic feedback everywhere! I put the RCAs back in and breathed a sigh of relief. I have expreimented a lot with tubes and have not found any as good as the old RCA tubes. But Sylvania and Phillips are very close, I guess it is just a matter of taste. Groove tubes by Sovtek? Forget it. GE, Sylvania, RCA rock.

Forget it. The new company wishes it could reclaim the past by making stuff like the Princeton recording amp which looks stupid. Mine sounds a lot better anyway, dispite having only 12 watts vs the new Princeton's 20 watts. They must have done something right when Leo was around for this amp to last 38 years without a single repair. Find a good tech.

Been playing 30 years, mostly the last 7. I was a little kid when this was made. I hated the original cabinet, so I had a custom 2x12 combo cab made out of pine. Very nice. Buy one if you love deep lows, shimmering top end, and crystal clear mids, then break-up just when it starts to get loud enough to cut through. This is one of Fender's best kept secrets, they just didn't know it at the time.

This amp is from 1972. It sings when I play the blues. Two non switchable channels. Headphone jack ??? This amp has it all, wonderful reverb and tremolo. 45 very loud watts, it's enough for most occasions.

It has a natural tube distorsion, that I haven't heard from any other amp, but when you roll off the volume on the guitar, it cleans up perfectly. I use Strat and Teles only (I'm a Fender guitaroholic)
It's a little noisy, but it is not a problem. As I mentioned earlier in this rewiew, I play blues, and for that this amp is hard to beat.

The dependability must be good it's 35 years old. No, this one has never broke down for me.

Yes, I have dealt with the company, and that was not so good, It's almost impossible to get in touch with these people, d**n!!

I've been playing Strats and Teles on and off since I was 15, but for the 10 last years I've been playing everyday, I am 50 now. This amp would be very hard to lose, because they are hard to find, especially here in Sweden. There is nothing about this amp i dislike, what do a guitarplayer love about an amp: the sound of course, and thats why I bought it. I'm a really conservative player, and I don't need lots of channels and pedals with this one, only a Ibanez TS-10 and a wha pedal.

This amp is from 1972, and for my style of music it's wonderful. Blues is my style of music. The most of this sweetsounding amp, is allready been written.

This amp has a natural tube distorsion, that my other Fender amps i have owned don't have (Twin reverb, Custom Vibrasonic and others i have tested and played through.

I have been looking inside of it, and some soldering has been done, but this thing is 35 years old and still deliver this sound that only old Fenders have. The amp is dependeble.

Yes, i have dealt with the company about my guitars, and sorry to say, it seems to me they don't care so much of their customers.

I've been playing since I was 15, and I'm 50 now. If this amp would be stolen it would be a very big loss, because they are very hard to find these days, found this one in a small musicshop in a small town here in Sweden.

Two channels. Normal channel has three knobs: Volume, Treble, and Bass. More mids than the effects channel, no reverb or tremolo. Effects channel has four knobs: Volume, Treble, Middle, and Bass. Mids are notched out for that signature Fender "Blackface" sound. Footswitched Reverb and Tremolo. Bright bypass switches for each channel. These bypass the highs past the volume pots, so the Fender "shimmer" remains at low volumes. This is not a boost, the switch's effect disappears when the volume is turned up. Top rating. Nothing better has ever been designed.

The Bandmaster Reverb is the last bargain left in the classic Fender market today. It is the same as a Super Reverb, in head form with a 4 Ohm output transformer. Once you pull out the supressor caps and reconfigure the PI and bias sections back to BF specs, you have a perfect amp. I followed the Gerald Weber suggestion for hot rodding a Pro-Reverb, and installed a Bassman output transformer, which is about four times the size of the stock tranny. It uses a different mounting pattern, but my chassis was pre-drilled for it, so it is a completely reversable mod. I have an early 1970 model, no trim edge on my grill, but still 40 watts printed on my back panel, and I used a 1970 Bassman tranny. It sounds great, full and sharp at the same time. I A-B'd it with my Deluxe Reverb and it sounds the same, just louder and clearer with extended lows. It has the same great overdrive as the Deluxe, which is saying alot. I play blues-rock and have a variety of Strats and Teles, an LP, a 335, the usual suspects. I have an Explorer with Dirty Fingers that loves this amp, it sends it off into another universe. One more thing: The normal channel through a Marshall 1960A sounded better than a JTM45 Reissue. Not a real one, mind you, just a reissue.

Keep it dry, out of basements and damp warehouses. The tag board will absorb moisture out of the air and become a conductor. Replace all of the caps as soon as one begins to leak. Carry spare sets of pre-tested tubes. It'll still break down, just not as often, and not as completely

Find a tech you believe in. They're out there, and people talk. Nobody does everything. Some guys won't do mods, some guys do 'em without asking you. Find one who suits you, and don't chew his ear off with a bunch of "What do you think of this..." BS.

My fantastic value cost me $500 on Ebay, plus $400 for new caps, the tranny and 4 hours of my tech's time to refurbish, blackface and modify it. (I live in California, prices are high here) All the tubes were good except one. The footswitch had bad ends. One more thing, I wouldn't bother with the matching cabinet. I think the Fender sound depends on open backed cabinets, and Fender was in a stupid size war with Marshall at the time, building these huge, dead wardrobe trunks. Avatar makes a great 2X12 that I use. Funny thing, it's not much bigger than the head.

This amp was made in 1968. 2 channels, Tremolo and Reverb. That's all any manufacturer really offered back then. And that's just dandy because it's all TONE, baby! Plenty of CLEAN power (45 watts of this amp is louder than many 100-watters!. Great for any style where you want clean,roaring tone. I use a Mesa V-Twin preamp for the dirt.
I use it with a couple of different cabinets. One is a 1970 Bandmaster 2x12, but I replaced the original speakers with a pair of Eminence Commonwealths (their JBL D120F clone).Total fidelity. If I want more dirt, I go to a 64 Bandmaster 2x10 (very rare animal, tilt-back legs)loaded with a pair of Eminence Li'l Buddies for blues.

Righteous tone. I did do some work to get there. I bought the head with the smaller cabinet from a dude who lived in a "truckers' compound" (5 double-wides in a circle!)in the Florida sticks.He used it as a jam amp at their barbecues. Cleaned it up, replaced the 2-prong, the filter caps, a couple of 12AX7s, and the power tubes, biased it, and it was ready for the stage!Loud and proud! I have since run across a Dual Showman Reverb made in 1970...even more of the same great tone!

A train couldn't stop this puppy!

Not the Fender we now know and resent...

I bought this amp for $200 (!). Another $200.0 in parts, and I swapped a Tektronix scope to a dude for the labor. Whatta deal!
I own all sorts of amps: Fenders, Marshalls, Supro, Sunn, etc. I love 'em all, but the Bandmaster Reverb is one of the tops!
If this baby was stolen, I'd find the SOB and smash a Peavey over his head!

1967 Bandmaster head w/vibrato channel.

I use a mim Strat,a 77 Ibanez les deluxe, 93 les Studio lite w/m3 electronics "single coil in the middle",81 Hamer special usa and Charvel elec/acoustic. the bandmaster sounds real nice with my CGM
2-12, or Line 6 4-12. Unfortunatly it started making a loud rumble
last week. I'm playing in a country band, I thought they would run in terror when I brought my old jcm 900 to a barn dance.I turned the post all the way up and just cracked the pre and sensitivity. i put the 2-12 on one side and ran half of the line 6 on my side.It kicked cow pattys! I'll keep using the 900 to get enough cash to fix the Fender.

I have 3 fender amps, The Bandmaster,A hot rod Deluxe 1-12,and a Champ. None of them work.The pre-amp section is gone on the Hot rod.
the Champ doesn't work at all, and the Bandmaster is humming like
crazy. On the other hand the 900 has worked great for 3 months,the
valvestate 8080 has had it's butt kicked all over.Missing knobs etc.
and still works, and my best sounding and working amp is an 80's lead 12 little practice Marsh.i do most of my recordings with it.
Fender..your old amps sound good but, either I got all lemons or there's a trend here! i bought the Hot rod new in 98'.I let too many bozos run their pedals through it at an open mike I hosted. Other wise it would probably be fine.

I'm guessing the repair is gonna cost 200.00 or so. The amp is all original.

Iv'e been in bands since 79 or so.i'm 41 now and just getting all the gear i saw and read about for years. i played bass mostly for bands in the 80's and 90's. I was given best bassist award in upstate ny in 95. I've always relyed on mostly guitar to create originals.I started on guitar after hearing priest,sabbath and kiss
in 76. i'm playing country now for another challenge and I can make money at it.I have originals at http://www.myspace.com/selfunited
I guess I didn't much believe in my own songs or would have played only them.I couldn't write to save my life until 98 or so.mabey still not...Peace Tom

I purchased this amp in 1969 i was fifteen and washing dishes at a local restaurant. i also purchased a Gibson SG(i also still have) at the same time, from Sherman & Clay accross the street from the Bon in Seattle Washington.
Since i am the only owner i know it is all original, no modifications except for a three prong plug.(still have the two prong)

has any an all features any exceptional guitar amplifier should have.

i have a dozen guitars of all types and varieties, Humbuckers, single coils, P-90's, and different makers of these PUPS. You'd really have to play through one of these amps to understand the full rich sounds they produce. quit simply, this amp in my aresenal is the standard to measure against. I have rejected many outstanding amps because the Bandmaster covers them as well if not better than the amp i'm reviewing does.
i have to admit, this amp has been a good friend for some 35 years so i'm sure i'm a little predisposed to think more highly of it. however, use the other reviews to tempter my comments.

35 years and still works great, never let me down at any gigs.

never dealt with Fender.
never used the warranty.

been playing..., GACK, 40 years exactly. I wown many guitars and amps as i have more $ than sense now. Soldano, THD, Mesaboogie, Fenders, Gibson's, Epiphones, Carvin and on and on. If my Band Master were stolen i'd catch them, and murder them twice.
The amp has and does everything i want an amp to do. I don't want all those bells and whistles as i believe it gets in the way of the tone.
i'd like the amp to be a little smaller as in my old age it's not as easily tossed around as i used to be able to do.

this amp i will pass onto my children and grandkids. along with the SG of course.
it's been a good friend.

The 1964 Blackface Bandmaster did NOT have reverb.

Only Silverfaces were Bandmaster Reverb, starting in about 1969.

1964 blackface head and a 1972 2x12 cab with oxfords allll original down to the insulation in the cab.. i disconnected the external spkr on the circuit board and placed the lower rated tremlo tube in the 1st channel,, i also took out the tubes that run the tremlo..why? this puts all the juice in the 1st chanel and adds loads of shimmer to her with out butchering or radically changing anything in the amp. ill probably have the caps checked and the orig 2 prong cord replaced one day ..as for tone.... i run a tele taht screams. pedals include boss compressor sustainer..boss ch1 chorus..boss dd3 delay and on occasions an old ts9 tube screamer...this combo does it all and then some and with out the pedals it still rocks and crones,,breakup around 5 with my tele on 9 low tone setting on tele.amp on tone5 bass4 growls and howls kicks the jams and cleans up at the flick of the pick attack... wouldnt sell her for any price ..nuff said

6yrs playing have a celestian kustum 1-10 ss practice amp ..strat.

This is a silverface Fender Bandmaster Reverb 5005D. It has the metal edging around the grill cloth and is 40 watts. It has two "channels". No channel switching and the main difference between channels is the left channel (number one) does not have reverb or tremelo. It has a volume, treble and bass knob. The right channel, channel 2, has volume, treble, mids, bass, reverb and two "vibrato" (tremelo) knobs. Both channels have two inputs. One input is slightly louder than either. Both channels have a bright switch. I think it is a 68 or 69 year as the transformers have a 68 in their numbers.

On the back are two RCA jacks for a footswitch to control the reverb and vibrato. There is a main speaker jack and an auxiliary jack. I believe the amp is set up for 4 ohm speaker load although it seems to power 8 ohm speakers just fine also. On back there are two toggle switches, one for power and one for standby. There is a fuse and disconnected ground switch. It has a 3 prong cord.

Sounds terrific! Very good reverb, very good vibrato. Classic Fender clean and breaks up at about 6 and above with a Strat plugged in and the Strats volume on 10. Nice breakup too. But mainly I play it clean. Not overly loud, but loud enough. Classic Fender tube amp tone, tone, tone. I bought it because I wanted a Fender head with reverb to play through my Marshall 4x12 when I am not playing my Marshall through it. I now have a Marshall head and a Fender head.

You can jumper channels and I have even jumpered between heads, plugging each head into the stereo inputs of my Marshall cab for doubly loud cleans and a mix between Fender and Marshall sound. My understanding is to get a stereo chorus pedal for stereo, haven't tried that, I hope to.

Reliable so far.

Solid Fender 40 watt tube head with reverb and vibrato. Great tone.