Tim Swartz Fender Head Mod

This is an early CBS era Fender Bandmaster Blackface head (ca. 1965), model 763. This is the model with two channels, one with tremolo, one without. These heads had the two black vertical slide switches for "deep" and "Bright" in place of the pre CBS heads which had a presence knob.

I purchased the head from Tim ($275) with the mod ($375). I used to own a very clean 1967 763 Bandmaster - it was a nice enough amp but had only one sound - typical Fender, clean, glassy and bright. This head is an entirely different animal though it does retain a totally stock look (no ugly stickers or surgical scars evident!)

The amp now has one channel - but that channel has four distinct personalities, thus making this a supremely versatile amp! The basic settings are:
1. straight Fender
2. with "Fat" switch (In place of the original deep)
3. with "tone stack" activated (in place of the bright)
4. with both Fat and Tone stack switches on simultaneously

Each setting has a great range due to the expanded EQ - instead of the relatively flat Volume, bass and treble knobs on the stock model, the head now has: Pre- and Master volumes, treble, bass, midrange and Presence. It retains the stock tremolo speed and intensity knobs. Tim is making me a custom footswitch for this head (also very reasonably priced!). This should make the amp even more flexible in a number of applications....

It retains the original tube compliment (amazing how Tim squeezes so many great tones , including great British sounds out of a pair of 6L6GCs!! No need to go to EL34s as I would have thought!), same on/off and standby switches on rear panel and a new three prong AC cord.

At 40 watts or so the bandmaster is a good volume for all but the loudest situations; no worries there as Tim can mod Showmans, Twins, Bassmans, Supers, etc and that's just the Fenders! So Your volume will depend on the platform used. I can also just mic this head thru a PA if needed.

About the only thing needed to make this 100% perfect would be an FX loop (Which I did not request), though this amp sounds good enough to cut it sans effects of any kind! Great clean and dirty sounds, I couldn't dial in any bad sounds!

I tried the head out with a single coil G&L Tele, and Les Pauls with PAF Humbuckers and P-90s. I play old school (not as insane as Slipknot, more gain than SRV) and prefer tube amps that have good rich harmonic breakup without a lot of harsh buzz. I used a Carvin 2x12 loaded with their BR (Celestionesque) speakers. This amp really delivers the goods!

The straight sound of the amp is much more woody and strong than I recall my old stock Bandmaster sounding - Tim informed me it was tweaked to sound more like an earlier tweed Fender - much more to my liking and probably anyone else's unless you like totally glassy tone. I was still able to get Fender twang just fine with this.
When cranked in this mode it gets a nice old school distortion, a la Stevie Ray.

With the "Fat" switch engaged, you get just that- more girth and breadth to the sound as well as gain. This yields beautiful tones with a fat sassy quality that really enhances the tele and sounds just plain funky with the Jr.

The "tone Stack" is where the real nastiness comes in - great with the Jr. and incredible with the PAFs - reminded me a bit of Billy Gibbon's sweet crunchy tone back when he was faithfully playing his Pearly Gates sunburst Les Paul through ZZ Top's custom Rio Grande amps. (Which Tim informed me are akin to Marshall's Super Bass - nice PHAT vibe with a LOT of sparkle on top!!) I LOVE It!

Notes sustain beautifully in all modes, this is the way bent notes are supposed to sound!!

With the Fat & tone Stack both engaged together, you get an even more complex and huge sound. Tim thought this might be a bit much with a high out put pickup, but with the PAFs it sounds amazing!! Much better than a Boogie or Soldano in My opinion.


One thing that really impressed me was that regardless of how high I pushed the gain, it never gets hissy or buzzy, even with the tele. Nice full throated feedback howls were easy to get but the amp's thunder is very easy to control.

Again, there are NO bad sounds here! The amp channels little bits and pieces of classic American (Fender, Ampeg) and British (Marshall) tones but manages to establish its own voice - a bit dark and extremely musical, with well defined notes.

Because this is a mod reliability is largely related to the platform's integrity. I have no worries with the Fender, and Tim does guarantee his own work for a fair amount of time. Also, though intangible, one does get a vibe when dealing with people - some techs don't seem to give a damn while others clearly take great pride in their work and show respect for their customers. Tim definitely belongs to the latter group - the amp arrived timely and well packed, and all my correspondence leads me to believe any problems would have been smoothly resolved. So far (a Bit over a month) the amp has been pushed hard and performed flawlessly.

I was referred to Tim several times by folks in the tube amp community, where he is clearly well liked and highly respected. After dealing with him myself , I learned why - not only does he possess a frighteningly encyclopedic command of tube amp technology and a musician's ear for great tones, he also has the rare but crucial ability to both interpret my incoherent ramblings and articulate his own thoughts in layman's language I can understand!

On top of that, he's a really nice guy, and highly ethical when discussing proposed mods, etc. A pleasure to deal with! Again, some techs are indifferent, some are downright jerks. And of course, a few are real professionals - Tim is one of the good ones!

I've been playing long enough to have owned the best gear and this amp is right there with some of the best amps I've played. It has a really nice personality of its own, not just a Fender with a "hotrod" chip thrown in! As I told Tim Its versatility will probably make it my main stage amp; for my next Swartz mod I may go for a louder platform just to have that option. (I am not waiting till this gets stolen - I want another one NOW, soon as I can get the $ up!!)I would recommend these amps to anyone interested in great tone at about 1/3 the price of snooty plexi clones and other boutique amps. Time can mod pretty much anything far as I can tell, so it's worth contacting him to get an idea how he can take a great amp and make it even better!!! ( Contact : timtube@comcast.net )

Original Blackface Bandmaster with tremolo. 40 watts. Tim worked his magic on this baby and it now has a footswitchable tone stack and the bright switch serves as a low gain/high gain selector. The amp now has 4 different settings. Very nice. Way more flexibility than the amp was designed with. Still has original tone too!!

This amp kicks my ass. The first time I heard one of Tim's amps at a guitar show- me and my best bud almost trampled people running across the room to discover the source of this tone.

The clean sound is what you'd expect from vintage Fender. Deep, rich, harmonically complex- in a word ALIVE. This mode is with the tone stack engaged. When you step on the switch and remove the tone stack- OH BOY LOOK OUT!!!!! The amp turns into an absolute ToneBeast. Instant 70's classic rock tone. I prefer to run my Les Paul with this amp. The sweet spot is the low midrange frequencies, so when you play those classic anthem riffs its all there. It's warm fuzzy overdrive sound. This is the sound that will blow you away.

It is sensitive to attack and guitar volume. For those who like a more subtle overdrive the guitar volume is very effective. Roll it back and it cleans up without a drastic volume reduction; bring it back up and you've got the sound of an angry bluesman. This is most useful in the clean mode (which also breaks up nicely when pushed).

I have gigged with this amp and I didn't bring a backup. It's worked for 40 years; I'm not worried about breakdowns. Besides I know Tim Schwartz gave it a good inspection before selling it. I have it for a year and it's been wonderful.

Tim Schwartz is a first class guy. He's been very patient with all the questions I've had for him over the past year. I always have a good time chatting with him at the guitar shows. He's not a snooty tone snob; he's very approachable and knowledgeable. TIM SCHWARTZ ROCKS!!!!

My philosophy is that tone comes from amps. Period. Put away all those all those boosters, overdrives, distortions, etc...
To those seeking blues and classic rock tones; look no further than Tim Schwartz. His Fender mods ARE that sound. I've heard 3 others besides mine and they consistently put out "the tone".

Mine is a silverface Super Reverb that was an abandoned chassis that I had Tim turn into what we call the "SuperSuper". It is modded in such a way that it has a tone stack bypass as well as a boost, each activated by a foot switch. Plus the stock trem and reverb. The preamp was gently revoiced to give it a bit more Marshall quality. I run it through an open back old Peavy 2-12 combo box--I dunno the model. Pretty hilarious, as it looked like the most hideous thrift shop reject, but sounded quite the opposite. Now the brain is in a Fender head box. Still 40 watts of Fender power. I am presently using 2 old Fanes; I might go to 4-10's or to Vintage 30s or Greenbacks. I have heard these heads with the aforementioned 12's and they are even better.

I play an SG, a Hawk (no, not a Nighthawk, but a very basic version that is a nice black slab of mahogany, 2 490Rs, wraparound bridge)a Stat, '63 Silvertone, etc.

My style is a mismash from Robert Johnson forward, stopping shy of the modern noisemakers like Van Halen. I may channel early Clapton, Harrison, Page, Don Rich, Hendrix, Garcia, Joe Walsh, Mick or Keith, etc. or any combination thereof on a good day, or Ace Freehly on a bad day. Hell, dated mediocrity is still better than the vast majority of what now has replaced Rock n' Roll.

The amp is just as quiet as an old stock Fender and just as reliable. Suffice to say that the amp lets me sound like the artists mentioned above--65% superb Fender and 35% '70's era Marshall. The first level is with tone stack, no boost--stock beautiful Fender. Add boost, and you get boosted Fender/Marshall (more the former). This is better than Music Man or boosted stock Fenders of the '70s. Drop the tone stack and turn off the boost and you have louder deeper, fuller Fender, with about 30% more gain if you want it. Add the boost, and you have the SuperSuper--warmth and controllability of a Super with the gain of a Marshall. I am not a Marshall expert, having owned just a few, most recently a JCM 50 combo. Much more gain than that, and with mostly Fender tone, mostly Marshall response, and Boogie-level gain. It can get damn crunchy, perhaps approaching the sacred duelling rectumfrier. Still same volume output as a very healthy stock Super, but he can work the same magic with your Twin, and that will be my next amp.
The tone stack bypass is interesting--you get a very full, rich Fender sound with more lower mids (but not too much bass or treble) with this. Most of my guitars sound better. I only use the tone stack if a particular guitar needs some special eq.

Are old Fenders reliable? Mine always have been. A fair amount of gain is running through my first preamp tube, so I have had to replace it. Other than that, it is mindlessly reliable and easy to use.

I've known this guy for years--a very standup dude, as we old Michigan rockers tend to be. I also had the amp in a leser modded form, and it was superb then (less gain, even more glisten) but I finally decided to let Amp Doctor put on his Stage II mods as described above. I buy stuff from him from time to time (most recently a Fuzz Face in which he put in the right transistors--sounds far superior to most). Reliable, honest, fair, reasonable.

I traded a Soldano 50 watt head for the amp and speakers. I am glad I did. This amp makes me sound better, and does the opposite of fighting me. Unlike the Soldano or Marshalls, this thing has a generic great sound and fantastic ease-of-use. You hear the guitar and the player, not the personality of the amp screaming out as you do with a Soldano, for example. Just plug in and you sound pro, and your playing will improve as you are not distracted by weird tone. Rather, it is the sound that is in your head if your head is anything like mine, processing guitar sound for over 30 years. But read carefully what I play--this is for people that love these tones, not for those who covet Crates or other such fizz boxes. I have not seriously thought of buying another amp for the past 3 years that I have had the SuperSuper. Find Tim at guitar shows around the midwest and try one of his modded Fenders--amazingly inexpensive, by the way--and you will want to take one home. If it were stolen, although pissed, I would figure there is a guitar playing bastard out there that now sounds better than he did before, and yes, I would buy a couple more.