Fender Bandmaster Reverb

This head is about 1970. I play blues/rock/folk/funk. This is a vintage amp so features are not modern. No channel switching but an ABY Switch was invented for that, like the one that Morley makes. Effects loops weren't around then either. Use the normal channel as an effects loop. Headphone jack? Why would you want one? Features I wish it had? I will probably have the local amp tech connect the reverb/tremolo on the Normal Channel, I need to decide still. Another mod I'm considering found on the web is the "Vibroclone" which turns it into a super reverb or vibroverb. It would have more power and punch but I don't know if I would need it. I use the bright switches a lot. The verb is Fender great and always on. I like the trem a lot. The breakup is good but I tend to use a Tube Screamer for crunch. I just play at home now so I can't rate it's live applications. Plenty of power here though just ask the neighbors.

I use a Strat clone with a Dimarzio at the bridge, standard in the middle and a Fender Laces Sensor at the neck. I also play the acoustic through it. This amp is perfect for my style of Folk/Blues/Country/Funk Rock. The reverb gets a little noisy and I will take it to the tech to find a cure. I use an 18x22" cab that is 4 ohms. It is loaded with a 15" speaker and a 10" speaker. Sounds wonderful, lows highs. The cabinet I made to easily place or remove the back panel to get an open or closed sound, too cool to change back to the 2x12.

I would never use any amp on a gig without a backup. It's 30 years old and still runing great. What else could you ask for besides a tune-up. No breakdowns yet. Fender vintage amps are built solid. If something does go wrong my tech can easily and inexpensively fix it. If it is a pc board amp what do they do? Chuck it?

This is a vintage amp. You go to a local repairman.

I have played 25 years. I own a Gibson 8 watt tube amp that screams. I own a tele copy. I would buy it again if I could get a similar price. I like it's tone, volume and features. I don't like the big size but it's worth it. I have owned Fender Bassman heads that were awesome but I missed the spring reverb.

The amp is a 1968, it has the chrome trim around the tolex. I bought the amp in 1970 used for 150.00 at Jacks Drum Shop in Boston. I used it through the mid 70's and went to the Marshall stack. In the eighties I bought a Twin and sold the Bandmaster to a friend. Now that I play the blues I traded the Twin back to my friend for the Bandmaster. What a wise choice. The twin was getting heavier every day, and it can't be because I am in my late 40's, No way. The features are just enough. I vibrato is great but you do lose a little volume.

I use a 92 Clapton Strat, 1970 Les Paul Custom, 1993 Gibson ES335. The amp is perfect for the blues. It starts to break up nicely around 4. It does get a little load but you can use a tube screamer. I noticed that the volume kicks in just a notch over 3. As long as the room is grounded properly there is not much noise from the amp. The amp at times sounds better depending on the room, humidity, etc.
I get some really thick sounds from the Gibsons. I am still experimenting with the Strat because of the active electronics on the Clapton Strat. For a while I had it off but now I am trying it with it on 8-9 range. I used to use it when I had the Twin.

This amp never had a problem in 30 years. I even use to let a bass player go through it during the early 70's. It did have a cap job and that is it.

There are many good amp techs out there

I have been playing for 36 years. The amp is great in all aspects.

I just got a silver face TFL 5005D, 1969 - 1972 head unit pumping out 40 watts, serial number A35156. Standard Front pannel with two inputs and bright switch for a dry channel as well as two inputs and a bright switch for a reverb/vibrato channel. Nice condition, with standard road bruises. The silver/blue fabric mesh is in great condition though making it look almost as good as it sounds on stage. Use it primarily for funk and jazz gigs but it's great for slipping back to the retro Velvet Underground meets Dick Dale sounds. Reminds me of the punk I grew up on, unimitatable.

Fender vintage tube amps in general are quite vesatile but there is a boundry to the genres it best represents. I would not advise this amp head for any Grind Heavy Metal. I play a Epiphone Sheraton through it on Jazz gigs, going through the vibrato channel, keeping the Mid level low and the vibrato quite dry. This way it produces the dry channel sound but with room for reverb. For music of a more excitable nature I plug in my Maple neck Tele to unlock the Amps true worth. With pristine distrotion at high levels, and a Vibrato you can spread on your toast you find a sound that bridges the gaps between Chicago Blues, Surf Punk, 2nd Generation Ska and Parliafunkadelicment. If you buy this amp it's because you have already fallen in love with its sound.

It's old. It'll go sour at times, just like my Hammond. Currently, I have one original tube in it but I gots connections to get replacments when the time comes. Everything else is the reason why God invented solder. Will probably change the pots knowing crackles and pops don't usually mix with the band.

Every town has a tech who can build these amps up from scratch.

Basically I picked it up at a Thrift Store for $5.00, no joke. The tubes alone, the revrb box alone... I got lucky and finally bought the amp I've always wanted since playing a Fender Twin Reverb in High School. I bought an Ampeg ReverberRocket - reissue, with no type of vibrato scanner. The amp sounded like A Fisher Price version of the great Fenders. Fortunately/Unfortuntely it was stolen/hawked by an ex-rommate for rent money which forced me to further pursue the American Fender dream. I've had the amp a couple of months not a single aspect has given me any doubts. It is every thing I've expected and a jewel of my musical instruments collecton.

This is an early Silverface, probably '69 (some pots are from '66 and the transformers are from '68 and '69). This amp used to be a head that came with a big 2 x 12" cabinet, but mine is built into a home-brew combo box with 2 x 10" (one is a '66 Oxford ceramic, other one is a similar looking noname ceramic).

The amp has channels: the 1st (normal) channel has volume bass and treble and a bright switch. The 2nd (vibrato) channel has got volume, bass, middle, treble, reverb, vibrato speed and vibrato depth and a bright switch. No channel switching. Preamp tubes, vibrato and reverb recovery are 12AX7 (ECC83). Reverb driver and phase inverter are 12AT7 (ECC81). Rectifier tube is a 5U4 (I use GZ34). Power tubes are RCA 6L6 black plates. The Reverb spring (fortunately) is made by Hammond and is butter sweet! It looks like just another Silverface, but if you run into one, BUT IT IMMEDIATELY!! I will tell you why..

This amp is NOT just a Bandmaster with reverb. Actually on the inside it doesn't even look like one. Even the blackface Bandmaster has got a solid state rectifier, but this silverface amp still got a rectifier tube! Where have we seen this before. Exactly! On the inside this amp is more like a SUPER REVERB! The schematics are *very* similar and it's easy to build this BM back to the Super Reverb AB763 specs!! Actually the only difference between my modified Bandmaster Reverb and a blackface Super Reverb is the output transformer (OT). Unfortunately the Bandmaster's got a much smaller OT that's saturated much earlier.

So now you know my Bandmaster inside actually is a blackface Super Reverb. I wired the 6L6 tubes as triodes instead of pentodes to reduce the output power to about 25 Watts. The output transformer and the 2 x 10" speakers can handle this power quite good. When you pump 40 Watts into the small OT, it gets saturated and will start to get muddy and fuzzy. With 25 Watts the saturation problem is acceptable. The clean sound (up to 4) is very bright and full, when you turn op the volume it starts to break up in a beautifull way (my favorite)! From 7 to 10 you get that fantastic SRV sustain and distortion. At high volumes, the tube rectifier has to work so (too) hard that you get a natural tube sustain (tube sag) making these amps unique!Amazing sound, magical! Play one and your sould is sold! My blackfaced Super Reverb is slightly better but this amp defenitely is a good number 2. A Super Reverb sounds "10", that's why I give this amp a 9

Like all Fender amps it's very reliable. Nevertheless it's an old machine that's point-to-point handwired. So if you buy an old Fender amp, have the soldering points checked (redone), check all the resistor values and get some new (Spraque Orange Drop) caps. These things wear out you know! People that know how to handle a soldering iron can do this job themselves easily (watch the high voltages!).

Don't go to Fender with your old Fender amp, just visit your local tube amp guru or do the mods and repairs yourself! It's easy and fun! All info you need (schematics, layouts) are available on the internet e.g. check The Fender Amp Field Guide: http://www.ampwares.com/ffg

I Can be short about this (but I'm not)! My Bandmaster Reverb is exactly like a blackface Super Reverb except for the output trafo, making it the second best amp in the world! There is no Koch or Mesa Boogie or other expensive retro tube amp that can even stand in the shadow of this old magic Fender amps. If you find one, BUY IT! It's the poor man's Super Reverb!

Note on dating: The only schematic I could find was the AA1069 (Amp version A, October 1969). I don't think there ever was a blackface version of the Bandmaster Reverb so I don't understand people claiming their amp is a '68 or early '69 model. Anyone has more background on this? Anyway, the AA1069 defenitely is NOT a blackface schematic so immediately get rid of the big earth resistors + caps on the power tubes, rewire to blackface "level" bias (bias at 35 mA), change some resistors on the circuit board, apply the vibrato mod (cut white wire on intensity pot), remove channel 1 tube and vibrato tube and enjoy the blackface sound!

The guy I bought mine off of told me it was a '68, but after reading up on the Bandmaster series, I think it may be early 70's. (At least it's older than me!) Mine has the silver control plate as others have described in more detail. It's got all the basic features you need, and the vibrato and reverb kick! I agree with others in that channel switching would be nice, but I think I've solved that problem with an A-B switch.

I play an early '70's Fender Mustang with this amp. The clean sound is absolutely incredible! I would describe it as warm and bell-like. It just rings so wonderfully. I don't get enough chances to play it wide open, but the overdriven sound is also very warm. I'm looking into an overdrive pedal to add some more gain. I was playing the amp through a 1x12 cab with a JBL D120F, now I'm finishing up a homemade 2x12 with Celestion V12-60's. I haven't had much trouble with noise with this amp.

I've had mine for 6 years with no major problems. The connections to the reverb spring crapped out but they work fine now that I replaced the cables. I did once get a nasty shock through my guitar when playing an outdoor gig, but this hasn't happened again since I changed the polarity switch setting.

I've never contacted Fender. I wish they had some tech info for their vintage amps on their web site.

I've been playing for about 12 years, and this was my first real amp. I didn't know too much when I bought it, but I've never regretted the purchase. I don't picture myself parting with it any time in the near future, even if I get myself another amp. I don't think I could afford another amp with comperable tone. If it was stolen, I'd probably take the opportunity to invest in a Twin, since I've always wanted one, but if I had the money, I'd buy another one (hopefully with the original 2x12 cab).

<li>Made in 1968
<li>Versitle Blues, Rock, Surf, Country styles are covered well.
<li>Two Channels, no Channel Switching, Effects loops, or Headphone.
<li>Wish it had Channel Switching, but it's not a problem.
<li>I use it for Recording, small Clubs, light jams. Plenty of Power.
<li>This is a great head and is the perfect size for stage.

<li>I use a Fender Strat with EMG pickups and Gibson Les Paul with P-90 Pickups.
<li>I play both kinds of music... ROCK and ROLL.
<li>Can be noisy with 60 cycle hum until you switch polarity switch.
<li>The tone stack is responsive and can produce many different sounds.
<li>Both channels will break up nicely about mid range.
<li>When it distorts, it's musical with a singing sustain.

<li>I can depend on this amp and have no worries about using it alone.
<li>It has never broken down completely... replaced tubes and set bias and it woke up and sang sweeter than ever.

<li>Fender doesn't have an interest in these amps. Use a Qualified Amp Tech.

<li>I've been playing for 35 years. I own a 65' Twin RI, 83' Concert, and the Bandmaster Reverb installed as a 2X10"(Weber-California) combo.
<li>I would buy all I could find for what I paid... even more.
<li>I like it's tone and responsiveness. I can't hate anything about this amp.
<li>It doesn't compair with any new amp. Nothing has quite the same vibe. It's not THE VERY BEST amp ever built, but I havn't found a Production Amp that could match it.
<li>I'd like a "line out", but I always mic on stage... so no biggie.
<li>This is the perfect Wattage amp for me on stage. My sound man likes it a LOT BETTER than my Twin Reverb.

Mine is a '68. Normal channel has volume, treble, middle, and bass, as well as a bright switch. The other channel has the same, plus reverb and tremolo speed & intensity controls. There's no master volume. It's 40 watts. Your basic Fender two-channel, reverb preamp going through 2 6L6's. It came with a 2 x 12 cabinet that is way too big - it could probably hold 4 12's. The same dimensions as Fender's old 2 x 15 cab. It looks cool. The amp gets fairly loud, but now I use my 100-watt Twin more.

I've played punk rock, blues, and surf on this baby, with everything from a Les Paul to a Moserite. The clean sound is deep, clear, and sweet on both channels. The best part is the reverb - the deepest, lushest, most sustained reverb I've ever heard on an amp. I've done a couple of mods to the vibrato channel to get some overdrive, but originally that channel started breaking up at around 7 1/2 and had ok crunch at 10. When you overdrive the amp, it's a tight, hard-edged, yet smooth crunch. The Sex Pistols sound.

The amazing thing about this amp is it produces tons of harmonic overtones. They make for a very sweet clean sound, and beautiful feedback in overdrive.

The weakness of this amp is that the treble never gets really piercing, like I like it. The treble practically disappears if you push the amp too hard with a pedal or a high-gain mod. With more treble response and volume, I'd give it a ten, because every other aspect of the sound is perfect.

Well, this is an old amp, so stuff gets worn out or broken. The leads inside the tremolo tank have broken off at least three times. When I drive the amp hard, it makes a horrible racket if the preamp tube for the channel that I'm using isn't perfect. Lots of rumbling microphonics, squeals, and a.m. radio signals. A new preamp tube always fixes it, but I seem to go through a lot of them. The power tubes, on the other hand, have held up fine for years. They're nice RCA N.O.S.. Also, the wiring and soldering inside don't look as rugged as my mid-70's twin.

N/A - never tried talking to Fender, but any amp tech worth his salt can work on a silverface with his eyes closed.

I used to want another one just like it, to play through them both side-by-side. Now I've hooked on my Twin. I'd still pick up another Bandmaster with matching cab, if the price was as good as I paid for this one.

This is a 1976 silverface Bandmaster Reverb. I bought it from the guy who bought it new. It came with owner's manual and covers. 45 watts with two 12's in Cabinet don't know what kind. There are 2 channels with 2 inputs each. Vibrato channel and regular, vibrato is controlled by a footswitch. Bright switches for each channel. It has a master volume contol on the far right side that can also be pulled out for distortion. Tubs are one 5u4gb, two 6l6gb, two 12at7, three 7025, one 7at7a no need to replace them.

I play a Fender Strat and a Fender acoustic and it sounds great. I use some fuzz and wah wah all with no trouble. ( I LOVE THIS AMP ) I play hard and soft rock at home and gig with a few other guys ( THEY LOVE THIS AMP ) I have a small Fender Princeton 112 plus ( NICE AMP TOO )that I have not used senice I got this amp

I have had the amp for 5 mounths and played the S#@T out of it with no problems. I still bring the 112 but have not nad to use it.

No need so far

Although I have been playing for 30 years I am not a pro just a old rocker. But I no a good amp when I hear one and this a nice sounding amp. From the slow acoustic Pind Floyd to the loud fast Van Halen the Fender Bandmaster Reverb rocks

This amp has tremolo and reverb, but when playing through the vibrato channel, you lose some volume. Reverb is ok, but i think that it could be a little richer

I play a Fender Tele 62' reissue and an old Univox hi-flyer. I play mostly alternative, but some songs are very clean and quiet. It fita well for this style. It gets noisy if you use the tremolo with a high volume setting, or if you have the pre-volume up too high(pertaining to the models made in the late 70's to 1980)There is not much distortion on this amp, but the cleans are completely amazing.

This amp needed a little cleaning when i bought it, but after i cleaned the pots and reverb connections, it has been fine.It crapped out on me once when i tried to change my prevolume setting, but again, it was due to a dirty pot.

I have been playing this for about ten months. I recently recorded a CD with it and have played numerous gigs with it. I love the cleans, but i wish that i could switch between channels. Again, the cleans are unbelievable, and i haven't heard better cleans in amps that cost 5 times this amp. A looked at other Fender tube heads, and i found this to have the best tone. i don't plan on selling it ever.

Not sure how old this amp is, but it is just great! Tube amp, I think it's 40 watts, that is what is says on the back panel. So you know which amp I am talking about, I will give a full description (I hate it when I am researching a product and the review only lists opinions, not what it looks like). From left to right on the front (sliverfaced) panel: -"normal" channel with 2 inputs, a bright switch, volume, treble, bass--"vibrato" channel has 2 inputs, bright switch, volume, treble, middle, bass, reverb, and rate, intensity contols for the vibrato. Back panel, left to right: ground switch, fuse, standbye switch, on switch, speaker out (40 watts to speaker), Ext. spkr. jack, vibrato pedal RCA jack, reverb pedal RCA jack, vibrato output (to amp), reverb output (to amp).
This amp is a dream to play. The Fender reverb is really something that stands alone in this world. So sweet, so smooth. I bought this amp because I missed reverb with my Sovtek MIG100. I got the trem as an added bonus. I never use the normal channel, but the vibrato is the preferable channel to play anyway. The bright switchs are neat, they allow an "enhansing" to the signal. Great features.

The sounds that come out of this amp are great. It is super responsive to pedals, so you can make almost any sound come out of it. I like to play music similar to Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Pixes, with some Dick Dale and Devo mixed in (a pretty f*%ked up martinie with this combination!). I use a few pedals, and they all mostly sound great through this thing. Right now I am using this set up: choppped and customized strat copy guitars (one in normal other in alternate tuning)--MXR dynacomp (re-issue)--Arion Stage tuner--BOSS AW-2 Auto Wah--E.H. re-issued Small Stone phase shifter--E.H. re-issued Big Muff distortion--this amp. very great sounds out of this amp, clean yet able to fuzz up with a good pedal in front of it. Fender amps are the amp to get for Mudhoney style grunge as well as smooth and rolling rock/jazz.

It is old, I am not sure how old, but it is holding up great. Shows wear, and tear, but it functioning fine. I worry about the reverb/vibrato outputs to the amp, because they are exposed and crusty, but they haven't shorted out, and I am sure a new conection would fix any problems. I doubt I will do it in anytime soon. Kinda weird how their are RCA outs for the contoller pedals on the back...

Never dealt with Fender, but I do like most of their gear.

I have been playing for a few years now, and I have been through many amps, but this one is my keeper. I love reverb, it is so fine. I also like not having a pre/post gain or even a master volume nob to deal with. Makes the tweaking simpler. The only better amp that comes close is the Sovtek MIG100: it is just awesome, pure power and tube tone, but no silky reverb, and that was what got it sold...(don't worry, the Sovtek went to a good home!) I was in a guitar store when someone brough 2 of these in for trade, I got to try it out to see if it was in working order (I know the guys in the electronic dept.) and wanted it bad. I had my old amp sold and this amp bought within a week. This amp, as well as most old fender, non master volume stuff, just sounds great. I was attracted to the Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue, the tone and features (which are very similar to this amp's) got me interested in it, but the price shoved me away! This thing has more power anyway! Overall, a great find, a great amp.