Late 70s Fender Pro Reverbs - what are they like?

[idiotbear]

Hey guys,

Anyone got any experience of the late 70s silverface twins, like the one below? If so, what are they like?

[zhivago]

the amp in the pic is Pro Reverb.... 


as far as the Twins go...the ones I've come across were extremely loud, very clean and weight about a ton!

[Sauerkraut]

the amp in the pic is Pro Reverb.... 


as far as the Twins go...the ones I've come across were extremely loud, very clean and weight about a ton!

that pretty much sums up my '79 Twin, with the right speakers and tubes they can be just as good as any other silverface Fender.

[mezcalhead]

Rob, I guess you saw darkstriker's thread in this section, there's a bit of silverface twin discussion in there.

From my experience with silverfaces I'd expect it to be loud, heavy, loud, have a great clean sound, and be really loud. And heavy. Robert Forster once told me that his blackface Twin was the best sounding amp ever, but that it had ruined his back .. he told me to buy one, but only if I could find someone else to carry it for me. I heeded his warning and bought a Vibrolux instead .. still heavy, but manageable.

As for the loudness, Twins really are loud enough to play with a loud band and still stay clean, as in country clean.

And yeah, that's a Pro, basically a Vibrolux with 2x12" speakers rather than 2x10" .. it wil have 2x 6L6s in the power stage rather than the 4x 6L6s you find in a Twin or Showman. As I said in the other thread, I don't know why anyone buys new Fenders when these great old silverfaces can be had for the same or less money. The later ones are less well-respected and have odd additions like master volumes and so on but you can usually just ignore them .. my silverface VR has a pull boost which sounds terrible .. I simply never pull it.

A lot of people talk about blackfacing the silverfaces .. personally I think they're great old amps just as they are, and if you want to mess around in their guts then why not go the whole hog and just make a blackface repro from the ground up?

[Sauerkraut]

A lot of people talk about blackfacing the silverfaces .. personally I think they're great old amps just as they are, and if you want to mess around in their guts then why not go the whole hog and just make a blackface repro from the ground up?

I believe you can't blackface the later Silverface models (well I know you can't do it with UL 135 watt mastervolume Twins), or at least it's very difficult. Even if you could I agree it wouldn't really be worth the effort.

[idiotbear]

the amp in the pic is Pro Reverb.... 


as far as the Twins go...the ones I've come across were extremely loud, very clean and weight about a ton!

duhhhhhhhh  sorry

I meant to type pro reverb, but I've had my eye on a twin too, and... bollocks. How embarrassing. 

Pro reverb is what I'm really interested in, although I'd love a twin too.

[Jay]

I had a silverface Pro Reverb without the master for a bit and the only way it sounded good was clean but it really wasn't loud enough clean to use for just clean so I got rid of it.  I rarely played clean anyway.  May have just been my sample too.  Do you have an opportunity to check one out?

[glimmertwin]

A lot of people talk about blackfacing the silverfaces .. personally I think they're great old amps just as they are, and if you want to mess around in their guts then why not go the whole hog and just make a blackface repro from the ground up?

I believe you can't blackface the later Silverface models (well I know you can't do it with UL 135 watt mastervolume Twins), or at least it's very difficult. Even if you could I agree it wouldn't really be worth the effort.

....it's true - you can't easily BF the newer ultralinear models but the other thing to note here is not all of Fender's models got the UL treatment so your best served to research a particular model before making a purchase....and to echo another sentiment here, many of the silverface circuits actually sound pretty damn good "stock" - even some of the ultralinear ones(gasp!). 

I think some of the biggest failings of silverface amps is actually the speakers -  Fender used several different brands of speakers in the 60s-late 70s which include Utah's, Fender labeled(Jensens), Oxfords, Rola, Eminence, CTS, etc.  I used to have a silverface Pro Reverb which is a great amp but I didn't really dig the Utah speakers in them (although I hear 50s Utah speakers are awesome)....for me, I would have preferred Jensens. Anyway, for what it's worth....

[mjet]

....it's true - you can't easily silverface the older ultralinear models but the other thing to note here is not all of Fender's models got the UL treatment so your best served to research a particular model before making a purchase....and to echo another sentiment here, many of the silverface circuits actually sound pretty damn good "stock" - even some of the ultralinear ones(gasp!). 

I think it's as easy as checking the output on the back - Pros were 40w and the ultralinear ones were 70w, right?

[Sauerkraut]

....it's true - you can't easily silverface the older ultralinear models but the other thing to note here is not all of Fender's models got the UL treatment so your best served to research a particular model before making a purchase....and to echo another sentiment here, many of the silverface circuits actually sound pretty damn good "stock" - even some of the ultralinear ones(gasp!). 

I think you got some things wrong here; we're not talking about 'silverfacing' ultralinear models but about 'blackfacing' them, as they're already silverface amps, ultralinear models are in fact later silverface models, not older ones.

[mjet]

I'm pretty sure that was just a typo...

[Sauerkraut]

I'm pretty sure that was just a typo...

two typos then. I don't mind, just don't want anyone to get confused.

[glimmertwin]

I'm pretty sure that was just a typo...

two typos then. I don't mind, just don't want anyone to get confused.

..your right - typos. My apologies...I guess we just found out how often I proofread ;-)

...and that is correct about the wattage on the back - non UL Pro Reverbs were 40 watts and everything higher is UL.  I don't believe Vibrolux Reverbs ever got the UL treatment.

[Marc]

They are great amps - just don't use the pul boost. It really is that simple.

I think I know a guy in Bristol who has a mid seventies model for sale actually.

[nealescott]

i REALLY want a pro reverb, i mean REALLY!! 

i have been playing a great hotrod deluxe recently, and i'm getting hooked on that fender sound,
i think the pro is kinda similar spec to the deluxe, (apart from the modern channel switching gubbins)

40 watts, 2x12 inch speakers, 6L6 power, huge reverb, hmm, the only other amp i really want is one of these....