Fender Super 60

Everyone knows the deal already on this one ...

I have used a number of guitars on this amp, having had it since 1990. Most recent guitar is an EVH Wolfgang Signature w/Floyd-like gear which probably had given me the best tone out of them all. Had a few others on there as well, a Fender Strat SRV, a Fender Strat (Japan), Ibanez Steve Vai Sig, and a Jackson of some sort. The thing I like is that it adds character to your guitars tone without completely transforming it ... some amps I have messed around with destroy the nuances of particular guitars.

I play a bit of everything, just being a hobbyist more than a muso. Most commonly I play EVH-style riffs and plenty of blues and funk and it works well for it. With enough volume (and it has plenty of it), it goes a nice EVH brown and yet is tight enough to punch out some funk easily.

Not very noisy which is a good thing - and pedals don't add any significant buzz.

Don't use the clean channel much, I prefer to use the overdrive channel and guitar volume to get my "clean" tone. If I had a complaint about it, it is that the clean channel doesn't have enough volume.

The distortion is very good - a fairly classic tone without being overly sharp. Play with the EQ and you can get some good variety in your distortion. If you intend on using the gain on 6 or higher and the volume on 3 or higher, I suggest you don't sit anything on the top, make sure the feet are really steady and stand back - it's damn loud!

Happy with the tone, but I was raised on valves so it's no surprise.

Had it for 14 years. I have had a few minor glitches ... the second input jack fell in one day when a mate was screwing around with. Anyone who's played with one of these will know that the upsidedown electronics are a nightmare to get to. Replaced the tubes recently, fortunate to have a father in high end audio who gets me some great tubes. The original tubes lasted for 9 years ... can't complain too much there - although it wasn't being used for gigs and was a little brown at the end.

Broke down once ... but that was the tubes.

Never dealt with them.

I use a variety of effects ... but mostly stick to Digital Delay, Chorus and Wah nowadays ... and the occasional use of a Phase 90. I've been playing for 17 years now, but only with wired stuff since 1990. Remember finding an interesting trick a while back when I owned a Marshall Shredmaster ... if you don't like the overdrive just stick one of these babies into the effects loop and you have instant shred ... worked better than doing it DI.

Love it's tone ... hate the weight of the damn thing. It is seriously hernia inducing if you aren't careful. Struggle with it and watch roadie wannabe's or your mates laugh. Get them to lift it and watch them go pale and say something that starts with F and rhymes with Duck.

If it got pinched I'd probably use it as an excuse to buy a 5150Mk2 Head and Cabinet, but if I could find one in good condition for the right price I'd get it.

This is probably one of the better combo's I have messed around with ... if not the best. I have recommended it to a few budding kids looking for something other than Marshall grunt (and there ain't many kids who actually understand tone) and they have basically changed their style because of the tone you can get ... hell, they even discovered distortion WITHOUT a pedal!

Find one in good nick and buy it. Even if you get sick of it after a while, you can sell it again. It is worth a go, trust me.

I'd echo what others have said...I'd really like separate EQ sections for individual channels, but only because the Super 60's overdrive channel flavors the sound a bit. Maybe it's just a Fender thing.

I'm using a frankensteined Telecaster with a neck P90 and a bridge Quarter Pounder and I've been fairly impressed with the sound. Once you adjust for the brightness of the Tele, the Super 60 gives a nice smooth tone...in fact, almost too smooth. I'd like much more volume on the clean side--I've never been able to get the clean channel to break up, even dimed. The clean is a bit on the sterile side, and the gain channel doesn't really open up until you've hammered it for a while.

It just died on me! Fizzing pop, no sound. It's getting dropped off in the morning to be checked out. It seems fairly well built, although when I first received it (used off of Ebay) the jacks were dodgy and the reverb kept cutting in and out.

no comment

I've been playing for 15 years and this is only my second tube amp. If I had it to do over again, I'd get another Classic 30 because I think it's a bit more versatile. I'd wanted a Super 60 for years because I played on in a store once and loved it--back when I first got serious about guitar.

I bought this amp in the late 80's/early 90's used. It was probably a mid to late 80's model. It has 2 channels, foot switch, etc (see other reviews). I use this as a practice / jamming amp. It has 2 inputs - all the basics.

This amp has a nice melodic - but not very loud - clean channel. It has a reasonably loud and raspy distorted channel. It is a raspy, but not a harsh distortion, I guess that is what separates tubes from solid state.

Here is my main problem with the amp. After playing for an hour or two, the tone disintigrates into a muddy, bassy sounding tone. I tried replacing the tubes several times, I have tried Groove tubes, Fender tubes, to no avail. I added fan cooling - no improvement. I read on the internet that this may be a symptom of needing new capaciitors, but I'm reluctant to pay for that without being sure it will work. (This problem may be why the amp was sold in the first place.) One other small problem is that the tubes are seated upside down in the top of the chassis, and I've occasionally had them shake loose in transport, so if the amp has travelled I make sure the tubes are seated tight before I plug it in. Other than that the amp is solid and hasn't failed in the 12 or so years I've had it.

Never tried - no opinion.

It has a great sound on the lead channel, until it starts to get muddy. It's like a friend, it's got good and bad points but the good outweigh the bad.

Already described properly by other reviewers. Same EQs for both channels, but that's not a problem for me, since I only use the overdrive channel. This amp is small but it's so HEAVY it's hard to believe. It's extremely powerful...My band (punk r'n'r stuff) is very loud and I never needed to crank the volume of the amp to the max!

I mainly use Gibson guitar w/ P90s and the amp just sounds GREAT.
Also use a Telecaster and Gibsons with humbuckers and it's always a great sound.
The overdrive channel sounds very different from any other Fender amp.
It has tons of bass, and it's very full. Just beautiful sound.
Even if you use a lot of overdrive, the sound is still very clear and with plenty of attack. Not muddy at all.
Great amp for rock'n'roll, but it's also fantastic for blues, hard rock, punk.
The clean channel is okay, but nothing special compared to the overdrive channel. The reverb is okay too.

Bought it used, and never had a problem with it so far...

Been playin for over 12 years. Always been into Marshall amps. I have always liked Fender clean sound, but never managed to get a decent distorted sound with a Gibson through a Fender amp. Until I tried the Super60. This amp is really different from any other Fender. I also own a Marshall Plexi 50w head and a Marshall Silver Jubillee 50w head, and a few other amps. I like 'em a lot, but the Super60 sounds even better!!
It's really a fantastic amp. It's getting a bit hard to find in Europe, but it's not expensive at all.
If it were stolen or lost, I would absolutely try to buy another one.

Effects loop/reverb/clean/overdrive/speaker out/footswith/shared eq
Pretty much everything I want but not the kitchen sink.

RG220B and Fender Strat. Great sounds with both guitars screaming blues overdrive. Will only do Jazz/Blues/Classic Rock/country. No high gain. Extremely loud overdrive channel - pure SRV type tone. Accutronics spring reverb tank is huge - sounds good too.

Dropped it here and there - ten years old what can ya sa it was made in the USA

Never needed it. Although you got to like the fact that fender through the schematic in with the amp.

OVERALL GREAT!!! AMP for blues smokes. Pure fender clean and blues tones.

Already described comprehensively by other reviewers. My favorite feature is the effects loop. It's very quiet and transparent--even with a lot of digital rack stuff in the loop.

I've used this amp on a lot of club gigs w/ styles ranging from classic and hard-edged rock to jazz and fusion. The clean channel sounds somewhat period-specific, i.e., almost too dead-clean and compressed at times, but it's nice for those styles that call for a dead-clean sound. The distortion channel is more versatile. When I first bought the amp I was pairing it with an EMG-SA-loaded Strat in a classic/hard rock band that played stuff like Nugent, Ozzy, Halen, etc., and the amp performed more-than-adequately at gain settings of 7 or 8. Back off on the gain (4-6) and the amp produces more vintage-sounding distortion and nice "borderline" clipping when the guitar's volume is rolled back.

This amp has been one of the least reliable amps I've ever owned. I've spent WAY more money on repairs than the original cost of the amp. I've had to replace resistors, pots, and ALL the caps--despite regular maintenance. The amp tanked on me on a Motown/Soul/Funk/R&B gig once when a resistor failed. Fortunately, only a partial loss of power occurred, so I was able to make it through the night. NEVER gig with this thing without a backup!

N.A.

I've been playing for 32 years. I have many different sized rigs for different sized jobs. My setup for larger venues is a rack/component system which consists of a Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp, Lexicon MPX-1, Chandler Stereo Digital Echo, and a Soldano Super Lead Slave 105 all-tube power amp. As for the Super 60, I like its portability and relative versatility. I dislike the cheesy, printed circuit board construction and materials. If the amp were stolen or lost I doubt that I would look for another one.

This is a red-knob series fender. You know the features from other reviews. I don't think features are really that big of a deal in an amp (all that matters is tone) so i'm not going to give a rating for this category.

I'm using a godin with rio grande pickups. my style is blues, rock, and a little jazz. I like this amp. It has great clean tone on the clean channel (although that is balanced by the fact that the clean channel has no volume and is basically unusable in a live situation). The amp isn't extremely noisy but isn't really quiet either. The clean channel doesn't really distort at higher volumes, which makes me think that there might be a circuit flaw having to do with the clean channel and the power tubes that might also contribute to the lack of volume. The overdrive channel sounds very good at low volumes. As you turn up on the dirty channel, the treble becomes more pronounced. This leads to the dirty channel not having extreme versatility, but you can get low to medium gain blues sounds (think bb or albert king). So to sum up: great clean that is taken away from by lack of volume and a decent overdrive for bluesy, mid-rangey sounds that isn't very versatile and can sound like a trebley pile if you don't tweak it right. It has groove tubes in it now (most likely sovteks). I am going to put in some svetlana 6L6GCs, rumored to be very good tubes. hopefully that will improve the overdrive channel.

It's never broken down on me, but I haven't pushed it hard that often and the red knob series is notorious for its reliability. And i think there really is a flaw in the circuit that accounts for the lack of volume on the clean channel.

Never dealt with them, but it would help if i could find a manual or official information online.

i've been playing a while now. this is my only amp right now. if it were lost somehow, I would explore something different, but I still think this amp was worth it, especially for the low price tag (definitely beats most of the other amps anywhere near this price range. I love the clean tone and the bluesy tone on the overdrive channel, but don't like the lack of volume on that channel and the lack of versatility on the overdrive channel. My rating here is the same as in the sound category (no coincidence). An 8 equals a B on my scale.

I did a review of this amp on 03/28/2001, so I won't recount al of the features.

I had sold my other Super 60 when I picked up an '83 Princeton Reverb II amp. I didn't keep the PRII long as it just sounded too mid-rangey for my tastes after awhile. Probably great for gigging with a band, but not for practicing on my own.

I regretted selling my Super 60 and just recently bought another one that is in EXC condition inside and out. Like my old Super 60, my latest one is an '88-'89 vintage.

Unlike the last time I bought a Super 60, I have decided to keep the original speaker. It's an excellent speaker and has a massive magnet like you'd find on a Jensen ceramic. It's not a small magnet like Fender uses nowadays on the Ultimate Chorus amp.

What I did not notice with my first Super 60, is that the tube chart on my latest one says "Super 60 Bandmaster". I have never seen these amps referred to as anything but "Super 60"; never with the word "Bandmaster", but that's what my amp says on the tube chart.

This amp sports 2-6L6 power tubes (classic FEnder tube complement), 2x12AX7 preamp tubes, and 1x12AT7 phase inverter tube, pushing the Fedner-branded 12" speaker. The reverb is real spring reverb, but the reverb circuit is solid state.

The power transformer and the speaker/output tranny are massive - way bigger than anything you see on new Fenders. They contribute greatly to the amp's 58lb weight. Inside of the chassis is a tiny transformer-like thing which I assume is the choke: "a coil used to remove ripples or some types of AC from a circuit", for less hum, I suppose.

The EQ is shared between the 2 channels - clean and overdrive. Each channel has it's own volume and the channel switching is footswitchable via the single button "Channel Select" included with the amp.

The shared EQ bothers some folks, but not me. It's the same as Fender's Princeton Chorus and PC-DSP amps. Plus, I put a Digitech RP-3 mutli-FX pedal on the front-end of my Super 60 Bandmaster anyways.

This amp can get really loud - which is one reason I love it. 60 watts RMS (or so based on 2-6L6's) is plenty of power and all the mroe when it's tube power.

The outputs on the back include a mono effects loop, line out for recording or use with a PA (works great for recording!), and an 8ohm extension speaker cab output.


OK, OK. I'll give it a "9" since the EQ is shared, though I really wanted to give it a "10" :)

This amp does not do the sparkly Fender thing - thank God! I am so sick of that sound and everyone saying that this Fender or that one has the "typical Fender clean - bright and sparkly".

This amp's got muscle for low end through high end. On the clean/rhythm channel, I get nice, warm jazz tones with my sometimes exceedingly bright Gibson archtop.

The clean channel has less volume than the lead channel. Well, duh! Of course, the lead channel will blast your ears off your head!

Some folks complain that the rhythm/clean channel is not loud enough to gig with. I dunno, maybe they're right. Just LO it to your PA and dont' worry about it.

The reverb is solid stat, but real spring reverb. It is not the classic Fender reverb - boingy and bright. It is smoother, but no better or worse than any other Fender SS reverb.

I like the clean channel for jazz. Heck, I liek the OD channel for jazz!

I typically run my RP-3 through the clean channel and let the pedal add all the effects. Another thing that I really love about this amp is that it is pedal-friendly. No hissing! Pedals sound great thorugh it and it's got all the volume you need, believe me!

The OD channel has a GAIN knob for preamp gain. If you want power tube gain, you have to crank the amp to very loud volume. Even then, you won't get overly fuzz tone, but more a clean tube overdrive ala a non-master Fender Super Reverb, which shares the same power tube complement as the Super 60 Bandmaster. I like that sound as it sounds great for cleaner blues with an edge.

Still, I use my pedal to get the chorus, delay, OD, etc.

This is my second one. Both are built liek tanks. I took my recent one apart and cleaned the amp inside and out, lube'ing the pots and such, while vacuuming everywhere. I am as impressed with this one as I was with my original one for build quality. Just keep a spare set of tubes on-hand.

I've been playing about 8 years and own a Fender Acoustasonic JR amp as well as a BF cHamp amp, a Gibson ES-135 archtop, an Epi jazz archtop, and a Fender GA-45SCE flattop, and a couple of pedals.

I've owned dozens of amps from a Rivera Sedona down to an Alamo Capri and many in-betweeners, including a 70 watt Fender SR, PR-II, PC, PC-DSP, UC, UC-DSP, APro, AJR, GA5T, Hohner tubie, and more.

I purposely went looking for another Super 60 Bandmaster amp when I realized that I needed an amp capable of gigging in a band. Im' glad I got the one I did - perfect shape.

If I could change one thing about the amp, I'd knock 20 lbs off it, but hey, it's built liek a tank, so why shouldn't it weigh as much as one :)

This is a late 1980s/early 1990s Fender tube combo. It has two channels with a shared EQ. The shared EQ is kind of a pain in the ass, if you are switching between channels often. The reverb on this amp is decent, but not great. This amp puts out a very loud 60 watts, and it tips the scales at 60 pounds, which is massive for one 12 inch speaker.

I use a Squier Standard Strat (s/s/h) which is surprisingly decent for such a cheap guitar. Played through the Super 60, the guitar sounds thick and full. Sometimes I use a Crybaby Wah (think Hendrix or Cream sounds). The clean channel on this amp sounds great, everything that you would expect from a Fender. The distortion channel is one of the best I have ever heard, and certainly the best built-in on a Fender. It absolutely beats the shit out of the cheesy distortion on the HRD series amps.

No problems here - I haven't had this amp very long but it appears to be extremely solid, and it weighs a ton.

Haven't dealt with them.

I have been playing guitar for a while, and I shopped around quite a bit for this amp. For the price, you simply can't get a comparable tube sound, especially with this type of wattage. The bottom line is that, in the under $600 price range, you simply can't beat this sound.

This is a red knob combo, not sure of the year. It has two channels with footswitch jack. Volume for the clean channel, gain and volume for the overdrive channel, shared EQ, reverb, and presence. 2 inputs and a standby switch. I wish it had two EQs and maybe the bright switch from its close cousin Super 112. I purchased it with new Groove tubes so I can't comment on the orginals. Because of the shared EQ i give it an nine. Versatile enough for 95% of my stuff, the rest I use pedals for. I do not gig (yet) but use it for band practice and home practice (though my drummer's moving so...)

I am using a Godin SD (h/s/s) with it. I play classic and blues rock, as well as a little bit of jazz and a little folk-alt rock (I have recently made it a project to work up hopefully good-sounding electric, violin and sax free arrangements of Dave Matthews Band songs). This is my first tube amp, and I love it. It has Fender clean (not as sparkly, a more round tubey feel) and IMHO a great overdrive channel. i haven't had the chance yet to push it into full power tube saturation. The clean channel, with the right tweaking, helps give my Godin a much more Strat-like sound that I didn't think I could quite get, with that nice round hollow sound from two single coils together, and bright with my humbucker and the right EQ. The lead channel sounds kinda lifeless with no gain (a lead channel isn't meant to be used with no gain!) but push it to around 2 or 3 on the gain knob and you've got nice tone that bubbles over a bit (think Buddy Guy) if you hit the strings a bit harder. Around 4 and you've got some nice blues overdrive. push it to 6 and you've got creamy thick overdrive (think Cream, Led Zeppelin, or Hendrix without the Fuzz Face). Push it beyond that and you're pushing into, dare i say it, the lower fringes of metal with a humbucker. Humbuckers give great rock-out tones while single coils give a nice Strat-ish (again, with tweaking) if sometimes noisy (especially with a computer monitor on)sound. The distortion is not high-gain metal brutal but more gain than your average Fender, Boo-Boo. despite the shared EQ you can dial in decent SRV, Santana, or other tones. Great tube tone. I sometimes throw in a chorus, wah, or Boss OD-2 (the pedal's distortion is remarkably like the amp's, but with a little more gain available) but usually plug straight in. Reverb is good, nice and Fendery, and Presence is good and helps give it a wider palette of tones. No amp is perfect, but what the hey I'll give it a ten for my needs.

As with all equipment (especially tubes) there is always a risk, but I could depend on it and would probably gig without a backup. I haven't had it for very long but it hasn't broken down. I haven't owned it long enough or pushed it hard enough to give a rating, but it's built like a tank (Super 60 could be describing the weight in pounds instead of the wattage.)

Never dealt with em.

I have been playing not quite a year now. I also own a cheap Aria accoustic, assorted pedals, and still have my old peavey practice amp (looking to sell it). If it were stolen or lost, I would look for another one, but who knows. I love the tone, but wish there were two EQs and switcheable reverb (not that I'd really switch it that often). Blues and rock tone monster, great for pumping out my favorite sounds with good tube tone at bedroom to practice to what I estimate to be good gig levels. I think with the SD and this amp I have a great combination that I got for a little more than this amp would sell new. I would definitely reccomend it to any blues or rock player looking for classic tone.