Fender Bandmaster Reverb

This is 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb ( 45 watts ) built in the 13th week of that year. When I first bought the amp it had no tube charts inside the chassis so I had to get the code numbers from the transformers. From there I found out the amps year. I'm going to have to give this amp a ten for features because my other amp is a Sound City 120 MkIV single channel! Compared to the Sound City this amp has a ton of features and thats a major reason I bought it. Two channels with two inputs per channel, normal channel and vibrato with reverb.

I'm playing post punk, space rock, sooo this amp is being used for cleans and I'm pushing the front end with a Marshall Guvnor Mk1 for medium gain rhythmn. This amp is plenty powerful and plenty loud for 45 watts and I've got it running a Bandmaster 212 cab with 50 watt Sammi's. Everything I could want in an amp, not overun with buttons and features but just the right amount of everything for a guy that likes to plug and play but wants some bits and bobs also.

I nearly bought a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb and spent two hours with it before trying this amp that had been sitting quietly waiting. When I plugged in, straight away it was game over. The warmth of the clean tone on this amp was really stunning, an immediate sound that had all the punch and velvety richness certain vintage Fender amps are known for. I walked out the door with it!

When I got it home I was able to play around with it a bit more and crank it up to around 6-7 where the clean tone doea exactly what I wanted. Basically you get a really throaty clean tone that begins to break up into a very smooth dirty sound thats unbeatable. The clean has that push to it where the ends of the notes have some hair on them ... perfect! Think Dave Gilmour doing Echoes in the Live at Pompeii film!

I'm playing Ovation Breadwinner and Deacon guitars with their special brand of Humbucker and have huge effects board thats too long to get into here. The amp is very quiet, silent infact and that extremely impressive to me for an amp this age. The straight clean tone is typical lush warm Fender, you can easily move into surf, jazz, rockabilly, roots rock, reggae, dub and just about any style of music you want with the cleans this amp produces; truly second to none! This amp is capable of a good variety of tones but is really born for rock!

Overall this amp maintains the cleans up to about 5-6 on the volume but above that begins to break up and thats what I love about it. At lower volumes the cleans are beautiful and rich ... a Twin will clearly maintain the clean headroom allot longer but I found the Vibrosonic and Twin amps a bit sterile compared to the vibe and character of the Bandmaster.

Awesome amp!

I have a great amp tech so it's always going to be fine. 10 for the amp tech!

Never dealt with them ...

Been playing 17 years, have a couple of other amps, lots of guitars and loads of pedals etc. If stolen I would buy another and maybe buy a Bassman also. Compared it to a Vibrosonic Reverb as I said and this won hands down. I love this amp ... game over!

This is a Silverface Fender Bandmaster Reverb TFL 5005D . This amp is all original with the exception of the filter caps and the associated bypass resistors. Luckily, when this amp came in to my hands. it had little or no mileage. (I fixed it up for a good friend who gave it to his son.)
Still had the orignal RCA blackplates, rectifier and preamp tubes. I replaced the leaking filter caps with Sprague Atom types, threw in a set of JJ 6L6 GC tubes along with a fresh 12AT 7 driver and presto... and the amp just came alive. As for the features.... if tone-to-die-for is a feature, this amp gets a 100. Frankly, it's not feature laden, with only reverb and two non-switchable channels, but who cares? It needs nothing else but what it has.

I'm struggling to describe the sound of this head, pushing two Eminence 12" speakers in an open-backed cabinet. To say it sounds fantastic is a real understatement. I would say without hesitation that Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Nokie Edwards, Chet Atkins, Jerry Donohue or any other legendary guitarist would be prompted to make a serious offer for this particular amplifier upon hearing it. Bogner, THC, Dumble, Carr and the rest of the boutique makers have made an industry out of a desire to build their amplifiers around and in search of the tonal characteristics exhibited in this remarkable sound machine. Otherworldly. Utterly sublime. Words have no meaning...it makes grown men weep and angels cry. It is the end of the tone road...there is nothing like it and nothing could improve upon it. But hey, let me tell you how I really feel....

Father time has been good to old Fenders. Treat them with respect and they will serve you masterfully. Besides that...nobody makes 'em like they used to. I expect it will be around for my friend's son's grandsons to use, cuz this one ain't leaving the family....

Don't let anyone touch it except me. I'm the only customer support this amp will ever need...period.

Beyond mere words. If God has an amp, He currently has it on loan to my pal's son. Thank you, heavenly father.

This was a 1968 Bandmaster Reverb head that I have modified to a combo with a single EVM 15L. It does not have tons of features a la Mesa Boogie, but I didn't buy it for the features--I'm a tone dog.

This is where this amp stands head and shoulders above so many other makes. I use a Strat with a rosewood fretboard and a couple of mods that I performed: slightly modded Fat 50's p'ups, sheilded body cavity with a star ground to eliminate that 60 cycle hum, and .1 milliFarad caps on the tone pots. I also bypassed the "sand resistors" in the amp, because as I understand it this is the single biggest change from the Blackface to Silverface circuitry.

This is an incredible sounding amp: very shimmery cleans and great growl when overdriven; beautiful reverb as well--classic Fender. I plugged my acoustic (a limited edition Taylor 314-LTD with Koa back and sides) into the "plain Jane" channel and it really gives me a faithful reproduction. I don't relish hauling this big boy all over town, but it's really worth the extra effort!

I've been playing this amp for 3 years now and haven't had a problem. It is old, but it's built very well.

I've only dealt with Fender once (regarding another amp I still own) and they treated me squarely.

This is a great amp--I'm thrilled to have the honor of playing through it. It's unique: there is no other like it in all the world, and I like that, too. If this one died I would definitely resurrect it.

I've been playing twenty-some years. I also have a 1948 Fender Deluxe Tweed in beautiful condition, and various pedals, etc.

I've had the whole thing changed around. More later. 2 channels.

It works fine with humbukers but shines with single coils. I play blues/rock and county/rock. Strat and tele. 335 also. extremely quite since I recently rewired it. I added a 2 4 and 8 ohm switch in the back. Replaced all the tubes. 6l6 s are tung sol. Clean is great. some dirt when placed on 4 ohm setting. I converted the head to a 1 12" cabinet. Eminence 12". Ok now the good stuff. As other people have said this is basically a super reverb with a smaller transformer. I changed the transformer and it is now a super reverb. Both channels now have reverb and tremelo. The bright switch is converted to standards that cezar diaz recommended in a review I recently read in Tone Quest Report. It is now a mid range boost that still provides a slightly brighter tone. With the 8 ohm switch on the amp is very clean. With a little volume about 5 or 6 and digging in it will sound very sonny landreth. I think thats how you spell his name you know the slide player. This amp sounds great with a od808 or a ts9 but by itself it is very shimmery and brite.

Never any major problems. Its good to bring extra tubes. This is a point to point hand wired amp. Just like matchless and bad cat.

Never dealt with them. No reason to. Find a good local tech.

I've been playing 40 years. I would buy more of them. I know where I can get 2. The tech has added 2 8 inch speakers to the head for low volume listening. This is a great amp modded. Not modded it is a 9.5 with good tubes.

I wrote a review when I first purchased this amp. It's a '71. It is a gorgeous, loud, clean amp. An amp shouldn't include features that compromise its sound, and this one doesn't allow a player to make himself sound bad, so it gets a 10. Its versatility lies in the fact that it doesn't step on the tone of the guitar, pedals, cables, fingers, and cabinet that it's amplifying. Plus it's got Tremolo and reverb.

The amp has incredible thickness and sustain. It's harmonically superior to anything else I've toured with, except possibly a '65 blackface Super Reverb I rented for a 17 show stint at the Paris Olympia Theater. It's extremely similar to a blackface Super in design, though it operates at 4 ohms rather than 2. In my original review I wrote that I was planning to combine it with a Matchless Chieftain onstage. The Fender, which is pushing an old closed back Sound City 6-10" cab, so completely blows the doors off the Matchless that the latter now resides at the guitar shop where it's on consignment. The Fender projects better, doesn't muddy up with a distortion in front (DOD 250, Swollen Pickle), and just sounds so full and gorgeous. I've been recording insome great rooms lately, where I've brought both amps, and we always go with the Fender.

The amp is not super reliable. No Fenders are. I just did 2 weeks in Europe where I was renting Twins; I probably went through 7 amps. In the past, I've had to call ahead to venues while on tour to have a tech waiting at soundcheck back when we were travelling with our own amps. This particular head died at a show a few months back, but it had the good grace and decency to die just as the set was ending. I've since sent it to Louis of Louis Amplifiers, NJ. He costs a fortune, but he claims to have bullet-proofed it. Time will tell....

It's 32 years old. I don't think Fender will cover it.

It killed the Matchless. If you know sound and have played through a good blackface era Super Reverb, then you know it's still the king. This is practically the same amp, at 1/4 the cost, plus since it's wired at 4 ohms, it'll properly mate to most good cabinets.

The '71 silverface Bandmaster I bought is 'magnifique'! Its clear sound is one of the best I 've ever heard. 2 channels: clean and tremolo, a superbe reverb (one of the largest i've ever seen), and ofcourse original tubes! Looking at the amp, is wonderfull, playing on it, undescribable... This baby really makes you playing the guitar much much better. I think it's playable for many genres, we like to play alternative rock, but it is suitable for blues, jazz, reggae.. whatever... i bought it from a guy who even played metal on it. Sometimes, it plays Radio Moscow without even touching a string :-)

I play it with my Leo Fender Legacy, the ideal combination! It sounds warm & sweet, broad & powered. When you put the volume to 12, the overdrive is magnificant! check it out: http://users.pandora.be/trondheimtriggers (music & pics)

never broke a tube, it is solid, and you can depend on it..

no warrenty anymore :-)

if you ever have the luck to buy this amp @ the price i did... don't hesitate!

68 Bandmaster Reverb, All the features are well documented. I am a firm believer in the theory, that you start with a GREAT clean channell and build on it from there.

I play mostly Fenders. Twin Reverb, Deluxe, and a HR DeVille 4x10. This is one of the best clean sounding Fenders I have ever heard. Still has the original RCA Blackplates in it. No mechanical problems what-so-ever! I wish I had a set of JBL's to drop in the cab. I had one of these back in 69-70 when I first started playing out. I always thought it was me and not the amp, because I was so young playing through it at the time. But talk about things going full-circle. I must have played through every sought after amp out there, and have owned most of them. To come back to this amp at this time and still feel this way about the tone.....Really says something for the Bandmaster.

Seriously......This amp is 35 years old and still has the original tubes in it!

Fender is O.K.

The 68 Bandmaster Reverb was the first good amp I owned in 69-70. For me to be playing through another 68 Bandmaster Reverb, 35 years later, says a whole lot about this amp. I really like my BF Twin-Reverb for humbuckers on stage. But this Bandmaster is right there. It just breaks up faster, around 4 with Hums. Super sounding with single-coils. Couldn't ask for a better clean sounding amp.

This is a Silverface Fender Bandmaster Reverb TFL 5005D all tube amp made in 1972.
I use it to play instrumental Surf music and it suits the style.
it is a two channel amp with 4 inputs, no channel switching possibilities, FX loops, or headphone jack. I has been modified by a previous owner with a Master knob, so the amp is more verstaile and easier to overdrive.The reverb is of the large spring type and the tremolo is superb, better then any outboard I ever heard.
It has a rectifier tube instead of a solid state rectifier and two speaker outputs, which I use in a strereo mode on my Marschall 1960 A cabinet. This gives it a real nice sound, exellent for Surf rock.

I use a modified CIJ Fender JAzmaster with Seymour Duncan Antiquity pick ups thru a 1965 Farfissa F/AR Solid State outboard reverb tank and a Digital delay unit (which I hopefully can replace one day with a real or digital tape delay).
This amp is soo clean, it breaks up around 8 or so, but by that time so would my ears...this is not an easy amp to get distorted.
This amp is LOUD, even louder then my Sovtek Mig 100...
I like the sound of this amp a lot, I wanted a clean, yet heave sound and the Bandmaster delivers.

Hmmm, I got it a few days now, I did a band rehearsal on it and it was great. Next will be a gig, but I don't think this amp will give me trouble. (but I'll take my Sovtek as backup anyway, just in case...)
This amp is in exellent condition and always taken good care off, tubes were recently replaced by the previous owner.

Well, given the fact this amp is more then thirty years old, I guess custumer support is not an option. But a good amp tech is.

I play for 12 years now and this is my 3rd guitar amp I got.
I still have my Sovtek Mig 100, my two Marshall cabinets, one 1960 A JCM 4x12" cabinet and one Vintage Marshall 4x10" cabinet.
I also once had a Laney Solid State linebacker amp but this was not a good amp at all, glad I sold it.
Well, it is a powerfull as the Sovtek Mig 100, but the sound is better, nicer and less raw. Also the Clean channels are a real improvement over the Low and High gain channels of the Sovtek Mig 100. I love both amps, the fender suits the Surf style better, but the Sovtek shreds so nice. So I keep 'em both.

2 channel, vibrato, reverb, tube rectifier

This amp was purchased to complement a Matchless Chieftain onstage. It will be mated to a Sound City 6-10" enclosure. The band is a 3 piece- the guitar needs to sound big and beautiful. Though the Chieftain is a wonderful amp, it has absolutely zero bass presence. The Fender has a tight bass sound, balanced mids, and a very zingy high end. The two together should sound up front and huge without being too loud (I guess the idea of loudness is a relative term- I'll be pushing air without cutting people's heads off). I'll use the reverb from the Fender- it kills the Matchless'. The guitar is a very Gretch-like custom from NYC Guitars. In front of the amps are a BOSS Harmonist(used once in a while for +1 octave), SIBI Echodrive (the blue one), The Throb, an old DOD 250 overdrive (the grey one, and a Swollen Pickle.

I don't know yet, but having toured for years with Fenders, I know they break down touring, but everyone everywhere seems to know how to fix them.

This is an old amp. NA.

I tried this versus some old plexi Marshalls, a couple of JCM 800's in various states of modification, various silverface Bassman heads(all sorts of wattage), some other Fender heads (I can't remember which) and this just totally blew the others away.

This is a late 1969 BMR. You know the drill regarding features.
I can't 'wish it had this or that' -- the old Fenders are what they are. Bought it with an unusual, but original cabinet that measures 20x31 housing two 12's -- an Oxford and a CTS. While both speakers are early 60's I suspect that neither was packaged with the head when it was first shipped.
I use this for "southern metal", R&B, blues, and rarely for jazz. I intend to 'vibroclone' this one.

I use this with an LP, an ES-175 and a strat, so the guitar dictates the style, not the amp.
The amp overdrives well and does not break up strongly -- I've tested it with a 4x10 box also and get similar behavior though very different tone.
This particular amp is not noisy at all although it does need a full cap job. I believe some of the limited range of tone is attibutable to the need for a complete overhaul. I find the brite switches work, but don't add alot of sparkle. I don't use the clean channel, but expect to swap the pre-amp tube out for a lower gain model and use this channel more with effects pedals while reserve the vibrato channel for straight-up playing and overdrive.
These amps aren't tone monsters in terms of diversity, but are part of that vintage sound.

No problems, 34 years and still has original RCA tubes in it. All features work, though vibrato is a bit underwhelming compared to other Fenders I've had. AGain, some fresh tubes should heal some of that.

Who has ever really gotten Fender service in the past couple of decades? They don't even offer to respond to e-mail!

After fingerpicking acoustics only from '76 to about 2001 I decided pull my electrics out of the attic and give youth another shot. I'd never stopped playing the blues, but playing hard R&R and country twanging is fun.
The BMR is great for all of this because it has a mid control that the competing fender tube amps don't and it had adequate power (at 40-45 watts) for just about everything. There also isn't quite the vintage madness with these as they are all silverface so you can get them for a decent price. [Only Princeton Reverbs seem to generate as much interest in mods -- and the BMRs cost 25-40% less for more than triple the 'amp' if you measure by power, speakers, channels and tone range! Last, there's a universe of ideas out there dealing with mods to BMRs, the Vibroclone being just one. This is just a very malleable amp.