Fender Super 60

the little combo,please read the others...

im using fender mex strat and jerzy drozd custom guitar.
This little amp has a big problem, i tried many things to take the best of the overdriven channel but i couldn't find where the problem is...im now thinking that its the cone thats up...im gonna change it to a vintage 30 or Jensen C12-K, bc this amp is very very loud...
i would like to hear another Super 60 but i cannot, its not very popular in here...
i tried it wit a 2x12 of vintage, sounded really better...i tried a 4x12 with g12t75 to hear the differences and it was less brighter...

the problem i'm talking with the overdrive is the great amount of high freq., it makes the amp sounds very ugly when u play a D chord is 1st position for example when having the gain more than 3 or 4...
its a nightmare...

i play of kind of styles but of course this amp is designed for blues, country,surf, classic rocknroll... if i'd have a eq just for the dirstorted sounds, i could use it for all kind of styles...

if i finally correct the overdriven channel (that for me is lika booster over the clean channel) i'll be very happy...

still lucky: no needed to...

ive been playing for 10 years, i have a jmp+marshall 8008+1960 4x12 too, and from the guitars to the amps i use a EB volume pedal, the duncan booster y the 535 crybabe wha...
i love the clean channel, but i hate the overdriven...its a love/hate story
im now gonna make a revalving /rebiasing and change the speaker and i hope i'll have the real sound of this baby, thats hiding inside some defective thing...Rivera made good job but its not easy to use it 100% and let u completely satisfied...

I'll write this review in spanish. For those who doesn't know about us: Spain and Latin America rocks too.
Primero: Desde Buenos Aires, Argentina, quisiera compartir con uds la experiencia que tengo con este amplificador.

Origen EEUU, producido entre 1988 y 1992, post-CBS era. Lei por ahi que fue dise?ado por gente de la firma Rivera (epa, intersante). Algunos lo consideran un equipo de transicion dentro de la firma Fender. La discontinuacion de este ampli dio a lugar a lo que pudimos ver en los 90: "el resurgimiento de la estetica vintage". Los potes en la parte superior, como los primeros amplificadores dise?ados para tocar sentado frente a la audiencia (imaginate sentado con la viola y tu ampli al lado: si tenes los potes al frente, es muy incomodo; los cambios introducidos en la accesibilidad a los controles tienen relacion directa con los cambios en el uso: pensa en Hendrix frente a su muralla de Marshalls poniendo todo en 10 ;D)

Todo lo dicho respecto a la "estetica vintage" parece atentar contra este equipo, y lo digo por esto: la verdad, los amplis vintaje son lindos a nivel visual, parecen mejor terminados, mas decorativos...esto hace que el Super60 no sea adecuadamente valorado: he escuchado hablar a musicos grosos sobre este ampli (sin decir nombres, integro la formacion que grabo Oktubre de los O's), diciendo "ah...see, con las perillitas rojas...es un invento raro eso, naa no va". Bua

en fin, si sos fan de utilisima satelital buscate otro ampli, porque con el Super60 no vas a lucir bien, simplemente, vas a sonar bien. Esta en ti decidirlo...

Ah...cierto..."red knobs"...que cagada no? mi ampli no se parece al legendario twin reverb...bueno basta de eso. Tiene esa particularidad. Son rojos. No son doraditos, como los marshall...que macana. Lo que si, te aviso: mi ampli tiene mas de 15 a?os, y jamas un pote me metio un ruido...Esto te deja en otra cruel encrucijada, sonar bien o lucir bien...pensalo...

Un parlante de 12 pulgadas...mencione que se trata de un combo? Pesadito eh, si lo queres desplazar en tu monoambiente de 20m2, ponele rueditas, va de onda.
Respecto al parlante, ese cono, tranquilamente puede soportar un cabezal de 100watts de transistores. Cuando las valvulas empiezan a tomar calor, el volumen que podes alcanzar te va asombrar.

2 canales, limpio, y distorsion.
Primero el limpio: impecable, muy leal a tu viola. Cada nota adquiere un cuerpo increible. Un sonido con mucha compresion...bien
Distorsion: se controla mediante el pote "gain". Vos diras, "eh, los equipos marshall tienen como 20 potes para controlar el canal lead, el super60 no tiene matices": error.

Features...aver..ah..3 controles de equalizacion, reverb valvular y "presence".

Tiene 2 entradas para la viola, pero no recomiendo tocar con 2 instrumentos, no lo hagan en sus casas ni?os.
Es un ampli muy versatil, ahora digo por que.

En cuanto al sonido, es aqui donde me puedo explayar respecto a la versatiliad.
Basicamente lo uso siempre en el canal distorsionado. La clave de este ampli es la convivencia entre el control "gain" y la equalizacion: agudos, graves y medios. Realmente marcan la diferencia, del 1 al 10, Ag Me y Gr, muy sensibles, recorridos muy parejos, quizas lo mejor del equipo.

Por ej, te gusta SRV bluseando? listo: pones los medios en 7, graves en 4 y agudos en 6; el gain en 4, y tu strato vuela. Vas a tener un sonido con muchisima compresion y sustain, muy muy calido y dulce. te vas a preguntar para que existen los pedales de compresion, en serio.

Te gusta Santana? solucionado, gain y Gr en 7, muchos medios y tu Les Paul va a adquirir ese matiz que tiene la distorsion de Santana, algo opaca pero repleta de matices en las notas altas.

En cuanto al reverb...tambien hace la diferencia...muy sensible, recorrido muy parejo, otra una pegada del ampli.

No tengo conocimientos tecnicos, ni tampoco tengo idea respecto al pote "presence". Lo dejo en 5, neutral, que no joda pero que no desaparezca :P

Creo que la pegada de este equipo es la versatilidad que ofrece la excelente equalizacion que tiene. No soy partidario del sonido metalico, pero si pones el gain en 8, y matas todos los medios, te podes acercar a un sonido metalico...pero no es su fuerte. Si buscas eso, seria preferible hacer base en el canal limpio y usar algun pedal a tu gusto.

La mayor parte de mi conocimiento sobre el super60 es a traves del uso de una strat plus '89, con lace sensors. Si hay algo definitivo que se pueda decir respecto a este amp, es que con una strato hay satisfaccion garantizada.

Lo recomendaria para tocar Rock/Blues/Jazz. Responde muy bien a los controles de tono y volumen de tu viola. Tu viola en 9 suena clarita, en 10 cruje. Claro que depende mucho de tu viola, pero hay amplis que no tienen esta ventaja. Vease un gran equipo, como el JCM2000...nop

Hay que decir algo en contra: si queres sonar distorsionado, agresivo, este no es tu ampli, al menos que elijas algun buen distorsionador. Si con el gain pasas el 7, y queres mantener un buen nivel de medios y agudos, va a parecer que no cambiaste las cuerdas en a?os; perdes todo el brillo, no hay crujidos, ni armonicos, nada, un desierto; y el sustain q obtenes no justifica la perdida. Mal. Muy Mal.

Todavia no tuve problemas. Es un fierro, es un Fender.
El problema es que al ser un equipo discontinuado, no vas a encontrar en Argentina personal que conozca esta gama de equipos; mucho menos repuestos.
Ni bien lo compre (usado a primer due?o), encontre que en algunas frecuencias metia un ruido (que se escuchaba solo a bajo volumen), era un ceceo, como si hubiera alguna parte suelta que vibraba a ciertas frecuencias, muy molesto si planeabas tocar bajito en tu cuarto.

Lo lleve a los tecnicos de oficiales de Fender en Argentina, y me cobraron 20 u$s de aquel entonces por mirarlo y decirme "no se que le pasa al ampli"

Los distribuidores de Fender en Argentina apestan, me haria contrabandista de Fender solo para verlos arruinados. Grrr

Aguante la Industria Nacional

http://www.blues-music.com.ar/amplis.html
http://www.nativoamps.com.ar/Indexesp.htm
www.fantaluthier.com.ar

y a todos los luthiers! a romper con la dependencia economica! :P

En lineas generales, es un combo que reune caracteristicas que son imposibles de encontrar en Argentina:
1- Es Fender
2- Completamente valvular
3- Tiene un gran sonido (ser fender y valvular no lo garantiza, por eso hay que diferenciarlo)
4- Es muy potente, 60 watts.
5- muy versatil

y por ultimo, atencion:
6- 500 dolares. Los desafio a que recorran el pais con 500 dolares en la mano (sean cuidadosos, hay mucho atraco por ahi) y comprar un equipo Fender valvular de 60 watts.

Van a encontrarse con humanoides que les pediran entre 1000 y 1400 u$s por los fender de la linea Hot Rod (40 y 60 watts respectivametne, deville, deluxe, bla bla). Por supuesto, justificaran ese atropello a la razon porque son "vintage"...Por favor, descarten eso...no les den pelota...

La unica alternativa en Argentina al Super60 son los equivos valvulares nacionales, como los Cream. Con 500 dolares ya se puede salir a pelear algo, y son tan buenos o mejores que los Fender. Caso contrario, preparense para tener que gastar arriba de 800 dolares para sonar valvular.

Vi que en EEUU, en ebay, lo ofrecen por 150 uss....alla ellos. Que vengan aca a comprar un ampli valvular con 150 dolares...si vienen, mejor vayan a florida a comprar camperas de cuero ;)

diegohg@argentina.com

This amp, along witht the Super 210 and a couple other variants in this vintage, have about the same complement of features. All designed in the late 80's and at the time, destined to be the last of the tube amps. "the twin" falls into this catagory as well, but in a completely different animal. All of my comments will/should pertain to all of these tube amps with the exception of the twin, which will be in another post. The sixety is basically a one channel amp, but when set up right is very powerfull. The reverb is standard Fender and one of the three 12ax7's is for this purpose. Whats left is your basic gain/distortion and master volume. Full complement of tone controls and presence/notch. Never use the notch, only the presence. One 12 inch fender speaker in the 60 and 2-20's in the 210. Weight is bearable. All were red knob, black grill, will some very late issues in and around 92-93 were black knob, silver grill.

Now for the good/bad. When either the 60 or 210 is set up right, they are super sounding amps. They can be fairly reliable (more below)and rugged. However, when they are bad...they are really bad. If you have a good one, put some eminence legends in it and you have one fine little club amp. Add a few peddles, and you can do most anything. Just don't overdrive the front end too hard...you'll be sorry. See below.

Next the trouble you may get into. These amps are an absolute bitch to work on. I'm also a tech and have worked on amps for a very long time. If you've heard horror stories on the twin,(which ain't as bad as you hear)then these are far far worse. First, make a wooden cover to shield the red knobs from all doors, other cabs, anything metal or anything hard. Put the cover on religiously or you'll be sorry. If you bang a knob (that sticks out way too far) its history. Find a replacement? Only from Fender. Expect weeks/month to get it and you'll also get dinged pretty good for it. Suggestion: Get a handfull or build the wooden cover. If you break one off, that circuit is done until repaired. These are all mounted on a pcb board and its a very difficult surgery to get it out and back. Just barely room. Next most of these have fixed bias. There is an optional bias circuit on the schematic, but I've never seen one with it installed. Suggest you install it or try to stick with the tubes it came with. One pot and resistor change is it.....well, except for getting the main pcb out. Fender designed these things such that all the components are on top of the board facing the bottom of the amp. So when the chassis is removed, you don't see the pcb components and location codes until removed. About 10 leads to unplug to get to anything. Then you have a board out, unplugged. How can you troubleshoot a board like this? No power or connections. No other way, unless you have xray vision to see through the pcb to the other side. So using a signal tracer is out or using a generator/scope is out. UNLESS, you have a test unit set up to place the board in for testing! I did just that...only way to do it right without spending an inordinant amount of time checking components. Bottom line, if it breaks, expect you pay big bucks for the repair.

Forget it, unless you want to take it to a good Fender service center, then expect to pay. I guess the good news is that parts are available, but pots only through fender. PS, these are 12mm pots pcb mount.

When its good, its very good. When its broke, its not a pleasant experience. Do take care of the knobs. Have a tech (and be prepared to spend some $$) put in an adjustabe bias and check the entire circuit for distortion. Check all coupling caps. Replace all the electrolyics (its time...16 years) and do it while the board is out.
Then you should have another 10-15 years of service out of a great little club amp.

60Watt - 1x12" Fender Blue Spkr - 2 Channels(Hi and Low input) with same EQ, reverb(spring accutronics), presence - 2 x 12AX7 and 1x12AT7 pre - 2x6l6GC power - Pre out and Power amp in - 8ohm exit...Made in Usa in the late 80'. I thinks these are enough for this kind of amp.

Ok...Clean sound its really lovely and all guitar give the best, obviously my 1984 Japan Strat with texas special is the better test, maybe it can be a little fat but harmonics and natural brightness are sure.
The really good side is the EQ, it's sensitive(also reverb), not like some Marshall where Eq works like a ghost...Reverb its perfect for my taste,presence works fine.
Ok...Overdrive Channels needs to work on it...first you can raise the gain only to 4-5, this is the deadline,after this...shit!!With a strat is just an overdrive/crunch...With a TS9 maybe you will improve the overdrive to something more "comfortable".I use a Rat fo dist and with this amp this pedal is brilliant(sustain and harmonics).I use my 1980 Ibanez Artist 50 with humbckr and the things doesn't go better...but something really interesting happened when I tried an Ibanez RG550 with a DiMarzio ToneZone bridge position., Hey guys...This amp sound Rock!!! I mean really rock dist sound... not bad...

Really like a Tank 26 Kg of quality...

This amp make you always one step up for is sound quality and loud power versus other similar amps.

60 watts, 2 channels, class B, tubed, footswitch, and 1,000,000 lbs.
Sounds great, only has one eq though. Weighs a ton for its size.

I only use the clean channel. I get my tone from a Fulltone Fulldrive2. I get a slight hum if i get a little too distorted, but i rarely do, and the hum could come from anywhere in my chain. Plays really well. Very loud.

Yes...it does sound great...but mine is a piece.

bought it used a year ago...it came broken. Had it repaired, replaced all the tubes, fixed it up. A couple weeks ago it completely died. Is sounds like im listening to headphones from across the room. Thats about how much volume i get. Replaced all the tubes....nothing. Sent it to a fender tech...haven't got it back yet.

Died one other time on me, had to replace a preamp tube. Dont know why...the others didn't seem like they needed replacing.

Never contacted fender directly...but i have dealt with fender technicians. That dude was nice.

Been playing 5 years. I really like this amp....when it works. I get great tone. Suits my price range. If i was to buy another, i'd probably go with a class A amp a little more fancy than this...like a vox....but this definately does well for me. Wish it had a separate eq for both channels...and wish it weighed a lot less.

I own one of the rack mount versions and baught it brand new in 1989. It has two channels and an effects loop and all tube. I cuurently am running it though a fender 4/12 cab that I got used for under two hundred (I probably should break down and check to see what speekers it has in it because theys sound better that may Marshall 1960 4/12.
I wish the clean were a bit louder but miking it with a PA can resolve that issue. The gain channel is down right lowd it can hang with my JCM2000 DSL 100. It may actually be louder. At least below the 4 setting it is alot loader. And I never use it above 3.5.

The clean channel is fantastic, the usual for a Fender tube amp. The gane channel down right screems. I have a les paul standars and Shecter tele standard. Both guitars sound incredible with this amp. My Marshall went into the shop recently and has been causing me major head aches. I replaced the power tubes (Gruve Tube Gold Series 6L69) on the old Super sixty and have been just blown away with its tone. I am going to replace the preamp tubes soon. I think I now like it better than my Marshall. When the Marshall gets back from the shop I will probably sell it and get a second super sixty rack mount to make a stereo setup. These amps are by far the best bang for the buck ou there I am surprised they havent become a classic amp. Better for those of us who know better.

I play mostly orriginal rock music that I compose. However I do like to play some Zeplin and some Who from time to time. With th etele I can get really close to Tonshends Live sound from the Early eighties. And with the pual and the help of my Yard Box ( a tone bender coppy) I can naile all those Great Zep one and two tones. Also with a Start you can do a pretty decend David Gilmore, Cumfortably numb etc.

I have been really enjoying my rediscovery of this amp. I may also get a combo just to play inside my house with on winetre days when it is to cold to go to the Barn

I have had this amp since new and it has never let me down. Ot sat rarely uised for at least 9 years while I went through my Marshall kick. When the Marshall went nuclear, I fired it up and was really impressed.

No experience.

These amps really are increadible and are a steal at under $400.00 used. Once I put those new power tubes in I realized that his amp kicks the Marshalls butt. I can't wait to get a second rack mount version so I can go stereo.

This thing is versatile. Spring-reverb, presence, a good distortion channel and an ok clean channel. Some minor problems: shared iq, the lack of footswitch (bought it used..). It has 60W all-tube power which is a lot. Not really suitable for playing home, but great with band.

I use a Fender Traditional Telecaster with DiMarzio Twang King -pickups. I play indie/alt -rock etc. The clean channel is maybe a bit too dry but very nice for jazzier sounds. I tend to use the dist. channel with gain on 3-4, volume on 2-3, treble on ~8, tone on ~9, bass on ~6. It gives me a sparkling nice fendery sound, definitely not sterile at all. But be careful with it, it has power to destroy the whole universe.. Actually a bit too much for my taste, i'd like to crank the amp to make it really sing, but it's hard. The distortion is maybe a bit too loud for me, but a Danelectro -pedal corrected that. Also an extension cabinet broadens the sound a bit.

I'm not so familiar with these things but it's been working ok for some time now and seems very robust.

Been playing for 9 years and this is my first all-tube amplifier. I am very satisfied with it. I love the distortion channel on mild settings with reverb and presence all the way up! For this price: i'd say the amp is perfect. Of course the red knobs lower it's value but i'm not really into the whole vintage fuss.

The amp (to the best of MY knowledge, which may be more limited than I think) was available from 1988 to 1992. I play with a pedal, I have my Clean maxed out (quiet cleans, surprisingly), my gain at about 1:30 position, volume for channel 2 (distort) at just between 6:30 and 7:30...this is A VERY touchy spot...one mm too low and your quiet...1 mm too high and your blasting. This thing is touchy as hell...I don't turn it up real loud, unless I'm alone nd far away. it's a monster.

My dials are bass: 12;00, treble, 11:00, mid 3:30. No reverb, presence at about 2 on the dial When oen of the tubes go out you iknow it - because all of the sudden you'll turn on your amp and it's going to sound like someone covered 1/2 of it with a soundproof barrier. I love the amp - got it used rarely from a local guitar god/genius for $200. They generally run about $400 it looks like...just after he gave me a deal on this one, he sold another one he had only with tears and scratches all over it for an extra $150 at the local music store...

I play through Peavey Wolfgangs (one trem, one stoptail) and a Gibson Paul...I play hard rock (VH, Ozzy, etc. etc.) and I LOVE this amp for it. The Wolfie's sound ESPECIALLY hot through this...thanks Eddie for the pickups...on the Wolfie I don't have tone...just 3 pickup setting and a volume...on the Paul, I try to make it sound like my stop-tail Wolfgang and leave it here...haha.

Haven't had it long enough, be honest...I know my tube burned out quickly...but that's the first time one had been changed and I bought this 12 years after it was bought originally by the guy I got it from...not bad...and he plays these amps, A LOT.

??? Don't want to find out...

I love it - 8 overall...sounds great, but you MUST dial it in properly...that's for sure.

You know all the features. I marked it down for having only one set of tone controls. I don't know if "massive power transformer" fits under features, but this thing has one. No worries there. Things like this add to the weight though.

I use a Strat with Texas Special pickups. My style is kind of psychadelic-blues-inspired-indie-rock, if that means anything to you. This amp is trebly by nature, especially on the distortion channel, so with the hotter pickups it takes a little tweaking to make sure it doesn't take your head off. I was originally kind of put off by all that treble in channel 2, but cranking up the mids seemed to solve the problem. Sort of counterintuitive, but whatever works. I usually play with treble at 12 o'clock, mids at 3 o'clock and bass at about 11:30. This gives a nice round distortion tone. The amp doesn't sound great for massively scooped playing, but who wants to hear that anyway? The clean channel has that great warm Fender tone. Real nice and round. The reverb isn't strong, but it's fine for my playing. If you want a Dick Dale tone the onboard reverb ain't gonna cut it though. The only real complaint I have with the amp is that channel 1 isn't very loud. I can sit in my bedroom with the volume maxed and play comfortably. You'd think 60 Fender tube watts would blow your head off at full bore, but not on this thing. Channel 2 is another story. It's massively loud. I think I'm going to try to find a clean boost pedal to drive channel 1 louder and maybe get a little grit in the tone. Even maxed out channel 1 is clean as a whistle (probably why it's so un-loud). All in all, the tone could be better, especially if the preamp would push a little more power through channel 1, but these things are unbelievable value.

I've had the amp for about a month, and first thing I did was bring it to a tech for a run-through. I spent almost as much on that service as I did for the amp itself. The tech said that these amps have a capacitor (on-off capacitor, push-pull capacitor? I don't know) that goes through heat cycles constantly and has to be replaced every now and then. Also, it's a fixed bias amp, so I assume that means it will go through power tubes a little faster than other amps. I figure this thing will need a good servicing every few years, depending on how much I actually play it.

No idea. I think Fender would run away from this thing if I tried to call them. On the other hand, finding a competent amp tech who knows Fenders is pretty easy.

If you can find them used you could probably buy these all day at $300. I got a great deal, so it was a no-brainer to buy this thing. Either way, it's major amp for the money. I don't know why these red knob Fenders have such a bad rep. I told an older gentleman I know about the amp and when I mentioned the red knobs he all but stuck his nose up at it. It's his loss. Great clean Fender tone and a distortion channel that is actually usable. No way could any current Fender amp under $1000 could stand up to this thing feature for feature and tone for tone. Buy one.

Everyone should know the features by now. I have an aftermarket footswitch for it. I don't use it though. I run my distortion through a boss mt-2 and a mxr wylde od. That gives me all the sound I want. All of my pedals have preamp eqs so the single eq on the amp is cool. The only feature I need is the beautiful loud arshh sound.

I'm using an Ibanez axs32 with a gibson 496r and a seymour duncan dimebucker. Sounds like heaven. I can use this amp to play any music I want, what a deal what a deal. I traded my 100 watts peavey XL head and hartke 4x12 stack for this little baby. Although, I must admit that I would prefer to carry the half stack. This amp is heavy! Amp is very trebly though, so hit up the bass.

I just got. But since it was made back in the 80's, you decide for yourself.

huh?

It's grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!