1981 Fender 75 (1x12 combo), with footswitch.
Chunky combo from the pre-Rivera era. Two channel (normal and lead) with pull boosts on all three EQ knobs. And a bright switch that'll tear your head off. I'm approaching it like my old Concert II: a one channel amp with reverb, and a series of knobs that you ignore. Supposedly 15 watts (low power) or 75 watts (high power). Seems like a lot of watts from 2 6L6s. (Some internet chatter described these as Ultralinear... other described it as a cross between a deluxe and a twin, which would be pretty ideal actually. So long as it wasn't just "size of deluxe, weight of a twin")
The seller had it marked down to a silly price as the vendors were packing up, and I couldn't resist. I've only played it some at home but: nice reverb, seems really loud (even at low power), reminds me a bit of the Concert II. Old tubes in there, too. The speaker (labeled Fender) has a HUGE magnet on there (as I took off a preamp tube cover, it jumped out of my hands and stuck to the back of the speaker).
It is, however, really noisy when the master volume is anything over 5. No idea when it was last serviced, so that'll be a first step. I'd also consider switching out the speaker for something lighter (or Neo something) to get it to a reasonable weight (ampwares has it at 65-70 lbs and that seems in the ballpark). The seller said he'd had it in his dining room for years, and "it's a great amp if you don't have to move it."
Blonde Tone Master Twin Reverb
I'd been really curious about these as I've been meaning to get a Twin Reverb again (after recording the last two records with a 1972 SF Twin; I had a 1968 that initially had EV SRO speakers which were amazing but untenable, and it lost much of its charm when I switched them with Jensen Neo speakers. Still: I should have held onto it). So far (living room) the TMTR sounds pretty good, but a little less "alive" than I'd hoped (and less so than the 75 at a similar volume). I'll see what it sounds like in a band context. First blush is that it seems more than serviceable although maybe less than inspiring. I've been playing a JC77 mostly, so solid state isn't a deal breaker.
I'd played around with the Twin some at the show and had packed up the 75 and was about to leave when I decided to pop back in to see if the Twin was still there at closing time. I gave the guy a lowball offer and we settled on a more than reasonable price ($600). We'll see if it sticks around.
The Fender 75 weighs significantly more than the twin
