How to Hot Rod Your Fender Amp: Modifying your Amplifier for Magical Tone

186 Pages·2011·107.86 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Falla

Jeffrey Fa lIa
Photography by Aurora Johnson
Voyageur Press
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DEDICATION
To Daniel Falla
Acknowledgments
My thanks to Brock Kline, who let me use his Super Reverb reissue amp for some of the
modifications in this book. Thanks as well to Robyn Orsini, Jason Farrell, and Jake Hill at Fender
Musical Instruments Corporation for all oftheir kind assistance.
First published in 2011 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company, 400 FirstAvenue
North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
Copyright © 2011 by Jeffrey Falla
Photography copyright © 2010 by Aurora Johnson except where noted.
All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no part
of this publication may be reprod uced without prior written permission from the Publisher.
The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations
are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also disclaims any
liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details.
This publication has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by Fender Musical
Instruments Corporation.
FENDER®, BAND-MASTER®, BASSMAN®, CHAMp®, TWIN REVERB®, SUPER REVERB®,
BANDMASTER'", TWIN AMP'", DELUXE'", HOT ROD DELUXE'", SUPER-SONIC'", STRAT®,
STRATOCASTER®, TELECASTER®, TELE®, and the distinctive headstock designs commonly found
on the STRAT and TELE guitars are trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and are
used herein with express written permission. All rights reserved. FMIC is not affiliated in any way
with the author or publisher, nor does FMIC endorse the modifications to FMIC products discussed
herein.
Voyageur Press titles are also available at discounts in bulk quantity for industrial or sales
promotional use. For details write to Special Sales Manager at MBI Publishing Company, 400 First
Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA.
To find out more about our books, visit us online atwww.voyageurpress.com.
ISBN 978-0-7603-3847-6
Digital edition: 978-1-61059-765-4
Softcover edition: 978-0-7603-3847-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Falla, Jeffrey, 1958-
How to hot rod your Fender amp : modifying your amplifier to get magical tone / Jeffrey Falla.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7603-3847-6 (sb: alk. paperl
1. Guitar amplifiers. I. Title. ML1015.G9F46 2011
787.87'192--d c22
2010028256
Editors: Darwin Holmstrom and Michael Dregni
Design Manager: Katie Sonmor
Layout by: Greg Nettles
Designed by: Greg Nettles and Simon Larkin
Cover designed by: Andrew Brozyna
Printed in China
Disclaimer:Tube amplifiers contain very high voltage that can cause injury or death. These
voltages can be stored in an amplifier's capacitors after turning off the power. Do not open up an
amplifier, do not attemptto repair an amplifier, and do not attemptto modify an amplifier unless
you are absolutely certain of what you are doing. Many ofthe procedures detailed in this book are
meant for individuals with knowledge of electronics and proper safety procedures. The author and
the publisher accept no responsibility for any destruction of property or for any personal injury,
accident, or death.
On the title page: Fender's '57 Tweed Twin Reissue amp with a 1952 Fender Telecaster Reissue.
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
On the contents page: Fender's '57 Champ with a Custom Shop Master Built 50th Anniversary 54
Stratocaster. Fender's Champion 600. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
CONTfNTS
Chapter 1 Choosing an Amp 6
Chapter 2 Tools and Electronic Components 16
Chapter 3 Speakers, Switches, and Schematics 40
Chapter 4 Bias 52
Chapter 5 Quick, Basic, and Essential Modifications 76
Chapter 6 Overhauling the Silverface, Hot Rodding the
Hot Rod, and Rebuilding the Reissue 92
Chapter 7 Reverb 120
Chapter 8 Tone Stack Modifications 132
Chapter 9 Adding Gain 146
Chapter 10 Dual Channel Modifications 162
Chapter 11 Switch Boxes 174
Resources 182
Index 182

1
chapter
CHOOSING AN AMP
The history of Fender is the story of a quest for clean proves that high-quality artisanship and skillful manu
amp sound, culminating in four-tube 100-watt units, facturing are alive and well in the United States.
such as the Twin. Most modifications to Fender amps The era of the blonde and brownface Fenders ran
have represented attempts to restore the distortion from 1960 to 1963, when the amplifiers were covered
by going back in history-"blackfacing the silver with blonde or brown tolex. These were innovative
face" is a case in point. In this book we'll not only and transitional amplifiers with the introduction of the
discuss these modifications, we'll go beyond them. separate head and speaker cabinet models, the intro
duction of vibrato and reverb circuitry, silicon rectifiers,
and a fairly unique tone stack that would evolve into
Fender Amplifier History
the famous three-band equalizer that helped define the
The first Fender amps appeared on the market in 1946 Fender sound in the 1960s and early 1970s.
and sported uncovered wooden cabinets. In 1948, Blackface models typically date from 1963 to 1967,
Leo Fender introduced the famous "tweed" Fenders, with slight date variations according to model. The
so called because of the tweed-like mate-
rial Fender used to cover them. These
amps were primarily low-watt
age, cathode-biased amps. The
circuit design resulted in early
tube breakup or distortion that
became the legendary sound of
many blues guitarists. To this
day the "tweed" circuit design
extremely popular, and
IS
many of the boutique ampli
fiers currently being produced
are mainly clones of the tweed
amps with improved compo
nents. Due to their hand-wired
construction and high-quality
parts, boutique amps are quite
expensive, even though the
basic tweed design is simple and
the operating theory extremely
basic. What you're mostly pay
ing for is the care and attention
to detail that goes into these
amps. Indeed, the interior chas
sis of a decent boutique amp
The original tweed Deluxe is considered by many guitarists to be the amplifier with the
quintessential vintage sound. Steven Seagal Collection/Rick Gould
Opposite: Fender's classic tweed Bassman was created as a bass amp but quickly became the favorite of guitarists as
well. The amp has been reincarnated as the '59 Bassman Reissue, show here in the LTD "lacquered tweed" edition.
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
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The blonde tolex Fender amps mark the transition from tweed to blackface. Shown here is a 1962 Tremolux head and
matching cabinet. Oliver Lieber Collection/Rick Gould
Fender "silverface" era generally ran from 1968 to no one really twisted Leo Fender's arm and forced him
1981, again varying slightly with each model. Contrary to sell his company.
to popular conception, the sale of Fender to CBS, Inc. in Silverfaces can be divided into early models (1968 to
1965 does not mark the distinction between the black 1972) and late models (1973 to 1981). The tipping point
face and silverface models. In fact, blackfaces continued between early silverfaces and later versions was the first
to be made for a couple of years after the sale. Silverface inclusion of the master volume control. Circuits differ
models, on the other hand, definitely are CBS-era across the silverface era and this distinction is meant
amps and, due largely to this fact, are at times unfairly to further clarify the differences. For actual dating of
maligned and disregarded. The criticism is understand a particular Fender, consult the appendix for websites
able when put in the context of the end of an era. Yet, that can assist in that process.
Because of their fairly wide availability and still
moderate price tags, the first choice for modifications
is silverface-era Fenders, preferred models being Super
Reverb, Pro Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Twin, Bandmaster,
Fender Amp Timeline
Bassman, and Showman. It should be noted that the
silverface Bassman is worlds away from the original
1948: Leo Fender introduces the famous tweed-era Bassman. Essentially, the different circuitry
"tweed" Fenders between these amps makes them similar in name only.
Furthermore, silverface circuitry is fairly close to that
1948-1960: Tweed amplifiers
of the blackface, which is believed to be of the best
1960-1963: Blonde and brownface amplifiers
Fender circuit designs. Indeed, blackface models are
1963-1967: Blackface amplifiers excellent choices for the modifications in this book,
but with the added caveat that in general they cost
1968-1981: Silverface amplifiers
twice as much as silverface models. For instance, while
a silverface Super Reverb costs around $700 to $800, a
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