Vintage Tube Amp

Up for sale, a 1963 Fender Bandmaster in collector-grade condition and in perfect working order, loaded with a full vintage tube set. Extremely original, this “Piggyback” Bandmaster is decked out in original rough blonde tolex and wheat grillcloth. This Brown Panel circuit drives two matched Tung Sol USA small bottle 5881 (6L6GC) power tubes for 40 powerful watts. Like the Tweed amps that preceded it, the Brown Panel circuits are dynamic and responsive, delivering Fender’s hi-fi glassy clean tones. The EQ controls have a positively huge sweep, from thick and mellow to biting, twangy snap. After around 5 on the volume dial, the amp cascades into rich tube overdrive that compresses a bit and feels slightly loose and gritty in just the right way without losing too much clarity. It’s the kind of natural tube overdrive that only comes from pushing a well-designed Fender circuit. The Harmonic Vibrato circuit is also a complex design only found on the top tier Brown Panel models, utilizing three tubes and creating a lush pitch shifting effect that has more in common with a Leslie or Chorus than a traditional tremolo. The circuit is 100% original save for a recap of the main power supply. The full complement of Schumacher-made transformers are intact, with date codes from early’63. The preamp is untouched, with all of the famed blue Ajax tone caps intact, along with all of the original Stackpole pots which have visible date codes from the 14th week of’63. The power cable is the original gray two-prong, and a three-prong cable can be installed at no additional cost at the next owner’s discretion. The full (likely original) vintage tube set includes include a pair of matched small bottle vintage Tung Sol USA 5881 (6L6GC) power tubes with RCA and Tung Sol-branded valves in the preamp. The speaker cab is loaded with the original Oxford alnico magnet 12L6 speaker pair and untouched speaker harness. Inside the head cabinet, the tube chart has a “MF” stamp which translates to June of’63. Cosmetically, this is an extremely well-kept example, with clean and original rough blonde tolex and wheat grillcloth. The faceplate is in great shape, and all of the original cream barrel knobs are present. Both flat Fender logos are original on the head and cab and all additional stock hardware is present too, with tilt-back chrome legs, leg stops, sphinx glides (feet), nickel corners, flat handles and piggyback clip bars.