Fender '68 Custom Pro Reverb

[Bob Carlucci]

Look, a PCB amp can have the identical circuit as the hand wired equivalent. I understand that.. tone wise the reissue fender amps are pretty well regarded.. The general consensus being" not exactly the same as a vintage PTP Fender, but pretty close".. No problem there.. the MAIN issue with these amps is that they are charging $1300 and using really poor quality PC boards that do not hold up.. If they used robust mil spec boards that cost a few dollars more and will hold up over the long haul i would have no problems with them.. many other top end amp builders are using PC boards these days, but Fender has been notorious for cheaping out, and using inferior quality components.. Some guys have had good luck with the reissue Fenders, but have a look at the big guitar forums... a LOT of miserable owners with nothing but headaches from these amps, even when they went to good techs to have them fixed.. The boards themselves are not even available. There are kits from several builders to convert these amps to hard wire , and many well known shops do a lot of them.. If the amps were reliable that business would not exist.. NOT a fan.... bob

[Steve Waltz]

I've had my RI 59 Tweed Bassman since 96' and it's a 1992. I never had any issues and I dragged it around a lot. I still think of it as my most reliable amp but it is time to replace power supply capacitors. That's almost thirty years of PCB board with no issues.

It seems replacing PCB boards exists as a business because people want to believe that it might sound better and it seems most that have done it don't hear a difference. The idea is to make it easier to work on in the future which is valid but you put the work in now on an amp that doesn't need it so it's easier later and you might introduce noise from a bad layout? If it's fun I guess go for it.

[Dan Beller-McKenna]

I guess I'm a bipartisan observer. Different tools for different jobs,each with pluses and minuses. I own a '71 twin chassis in a dual showman head cabinet. Had it serviced and "steel-ified" by Bob Metzger when I acquired it around 2010. Aside from the time I tried to blow it up by absentmindedly plugging the speaker out from my 78 twin into the speaker out on this one at a gig (yes: I actually did that)--which caused little damage because the Fender techs in 1971 anticipated boneheads like me and built a .50 cent kill transistor to short before the power got to any other components--it has required no real maintenance since Bob set it up. Plugged into my Peavey/JBL 15 it is far and away the best sounding rig I have ever had.

I won't be using this at my gig this afternoon.

Two hour, two-set gig, with another act following that requires quick stage turnover. I will bring the Tone Master Twin: one piece; XLR-out so the sound guy has one less mic to breakdown; light enough to throw to my wife off the stage so she can run it to the car (okay, that would never actually happen, but theoretically it COULD!) The tone master may also sound better in this situation where turning up to 4 on the '71 would be way too loud.

I didn't us either at my gig on Thursday night. Very small room accompanying one acoustic guitar. That called for my newly acquired DV Mark Jazz 12, which I am coming to like more and more. Had to haul everything up a long flight of stairs and play in a cramped space. A 19lb. small box amp that sounds decent is very welcome there.

If I were not using the tone master a lot to confirm that it's hampered tone (which is primarily due to the sucky neo speakers) is worth the benefits it brings, I would have (and kind of wish I had) used my 71 twin last night at a loud outdoor gig with full band.

I haven't even gotten to my reissue Deluxe Reverb, but it absolutely has its place as well. But I can say pretty honestly, at 62 going on 80, hauling one -35lb amp around all weekend has tremendous upside. My '71 twin head weighs over 40lbs alone and is a bear to carry with all the weight on one side (yes, yes, yes, I have side handles). The hand truck I own that I actually trust not to flip over under the weight of an amp and seat stacked up, probably weighs 25lbs itself (I've never actually weighed it) and is a back twister getting in and out of a small car. (And if you're going to tell me I should get a larger car to comfortably haul my larger amp....just stop and think about that.....)

Different tools for different jobs.

[Dave Hopping]

In today's money $1299 isn't a lot. I fired up The Inflation Calculator and found that the current $1700 price tag of a new Twin-Reverb translates in 1964 bux to about half of what you'd pay for a new Twin-Reverb in that year. If Leo had made a 1-12" single-channel trem/reverb 40 watter in the early blackface era, I'm certain it'd be a good deal pricier than the $153 that today's $1299 represents in that time.

Methinks they're selling us more sizzle than steak.

LOL and we could not buy that Twin in 1964 and return it for a full refund in 45 days along with FREE shipping !

Yup. We'd have to go to the retailer, and put hands and ears on at least one of them even before silver certificates changed hands. Then we'd have to lift it into the back seat and drive home, shifting gears by hand the whole way. Oh, the inconvenience!

[Greg Koenig]

I like the extra head room with 40w but would probably go with a rivera considering how close the price is.

[Gary Kaye]

Had a chance to play one today at my local Guitar Center. Nice sounding amp and that typical Fender reverb doing its magic but like Rick mentioned in a earlier post, it does start to break up past 5 or so on the volume which was.disappointing for pedal steel, I assume this breakup was intentional in the design of this amp.
My assumption is with a new speaker like the TT-12 with a 300w power handling capacity you could achieve increased headroom and much less breakup until really pushed but to spend $1399 on a new amp and then drop in a new speaker your getting up there in $$$.

[David Nugent]

I urge anyone considering the purchase of one of these units to check out the Marsh 'Mello-Verb Jr.' Great tone, excellent reverb, plus hand wired chassis versus PC boards. Price and weight are comparable to the Fender.

[Gary Kaye]

Rick, what are your thoughts to get this amp clean without breakup?

[John Goux]

My favorite amps are BF Pro Reverbs. I can’t carry that weight anymore. They are scarcely lighter than a TR.
I’ve moved to using my BF Vibrolux Reverb, also an awesome sounding amp, but I don’t love the 2-10” sound at higher volumes. I’ve been bringing a 1-12” cabinet and prefer that. I’ve considered having a cabinet custom built to house the BFVR with a single 12”.

This new offering by Fender looks good on paper. I’ve had to play through newer PCB amps on gigs, and have never liked the way they sound. Don’t know why Fender can’t make them sound better.

I passed on the TMDR, not enough headroom, and harsh overtones. The Boss Blues Cube sounded better to me.

For a light rig, I bought the Milkman The Amp 100 watt. Tube pre, reverb, I used it with the 1-12 cab. Highly recommended. Alas, it has no extension speaker jack. I would not mind carrying two 1-12” cabs, but I really don’t want to drag a 2-12” cab in and out of the car anymore. The Milkman doesn’t sound exactly like a BF amp, but at 2 1/2 lbs it gets you most of the way there, Pedal steel players may prefer it’s cleaner hybrid tone.

I’m curious to hear owner reviews of this new Fender Pro 1-12”.
John

[Tim Whitlock]

My favorite amps are BF Pro Reverbs. I can’t carry that weight anymore. They are scarcely lighter than a TR.
I’ve moved to using my BF Vibrolux Reverb, also an awesome sounding amp, but I don’t love the 2-10” sound at higher volumes. I’ve been bringing a 1-12” cabinet and prefer that. I’ve considered having a cabinet custom built to house the BFVR with a single 12”.

This new offering by Fender looks good on paper. I’ve had to play through newer PCB amps on gigs, and have never liked the way they sound. Don’t know why Fender can’t make them sound better.

I passed on the TMDR, not enough headroom, and harsh overtones. The Boss Blues Cube sounded better to me.

For a light rig, I bought the Milkman The Amp 100 watt. Tube pre, reverb, I used it with the 1-12 cab. Highly recommended. Alas, it has no extension speaker jack. I would not mind carrying two 1-12” cabs, but I really don’t want to drag a 2-12” cab in and out of the car anymore. The Milkman doesn’t sound exactly like a BF amp, but at 2 1/2 lbs it gets you most of the way there, Pedal steel players may prefer it’s cleaner hybrid tone.

I’m curious to hear owner reviews of this new Fender Pro 1-12”.
John

I schlepped a 70 lbs Twin Reverb for 20 years. At this point it is retired to the basement where it will remain.

My new 68 Custom Pro Reverb checks every box: Great Fender sound, enough power at 40 watts, 12" premium Celestion Creamback Neo speaker, ext speaker jack, lightweight at 35 lbs, tube driven spring reverb and trem. It does break up at around 6 on the volume control but at that point it is quite loud - enough for the stages I play anyway. It would be nice to have more clean headroom. My tech and I are going to look into tweaking the negative feedback to get more headroom and then the amp will be just about perfect.

[Rick Heins]

Rick, what are your thoughts to get this amp clean without breakup?

Tom took the words out of my mouth. It was designed as a guitar amp with a little less negative feedback so it will break up around 6 but I plug into input two to pad down the gain a bit and i put a more robust 100 watt speaker in there that doesn't break up as quickly and that seems to work well for me.

It really depends your need in the band and how loud everyone is playing. These days, most players don't need crazy loud volume to get the job done. Besides, I like a hint of breakup at full volume because it tends to make the tone sweeter at halfway on my volume pedal, which is where I try to keep it while playing.

[Brandon Mills]

Has anyone had any stage experience with this amp on pedal steel? I am playing with a lead player who’s using a single 12” AC30…… he sounds great but can blow me outta the water if he wants to and I don’t like that lol. My Nashville 400 can hang but I have been eyeing this as well as the Quilter Travis Toy model.

[Brandon Mills]

Has anyone had any stage experience with this amp on pedal steel? I am playing with a lead player who’s using a single 12” AC30…… he sounds great but can blow me outta the water if he wants to and I don’t like that lol. My Nashville 400 can hang but I have been eyeing this as well as the Quilter Travis Toy model.

[Tim Whitlock]

Has anyone had any stage experience with this amp on pedal steel? I am playing with a lead player who’s using a single 12” AC30…… he sounds great but can blow me outta the water if he wants to and I don’t like that lol. My Nashville 400 can hang but I have been eyeing this as well as the Quilter Travis Toy model.

I have played a couple of gigs with my 68 CPR. It sounds great but it doesn't have the headroom you want for pedal steel. It really needs more negative feedback in the circuit to give it the traditional Fender "clean to the top" headroom. They are designed with less negative feedback to make them distort when you get above 6 on the volume control.

Increasing the negative feedback should be as simple as changing a resistor or two. I'm waiting to get an appointment with my tech so we can figure out which resistor to replace. Fender does not provide a schematic for the 68 CPR and refuses to give out the information. Thanks Fender!

[Gary Kaye]

Has anyone figured out how to change the negative feedback to get more headroom and no breakup? Rick, how about some inside tech info from Fender so us Steelers can put another amp on our “want” wish list?.

[Tim Whitlock]

Has anyone figured out how to change the negative feedback to get more headroom and no breakup? Rick, how about some inside tech info from Fender so us Steelers can put another amp on our “want” wish list?.

We'll get no help from Fender on this topic. They won't even provide a schematic. It's "proprietary", double secret information that they fear will lead to some sort of malfeasance.

[Rick Heins]

Guys,

I’m not trying to be a jerk but Fender made the decision, for many reasons, to not publicly share schematics anymore and I have to abide by this. It’s no offense to anyone but there’s all kinds of legal and safety ramifications these days.

I’m not saying to do any mods to your amp, as that will void your warranty, but I will say that there are several schematics on the internet of the 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb that highlight the negative feedback resistor. The circuit is very close to the 68 Pro and any tech that knows basic fender circuits should have no issue finding it on the PCB. Just putting that out there.