Dating Fender Tube Amps by Serial Number Part 5

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 January 2011 08:25 Tuesday, 05 May 2009 18:23

Dating Fender Tube Amps by Serial Number - Part 5

Greg Gagliano's famous fifth in the series of Dating Fender Tube Amps By Serial Number is a real humdinger. It contains a humungous table of serial numbers to satisfy even the most gutonous of Fender tube amp daters.

Greg uncovers some odd things, such as the fact that in the past Fender would comfortably use "incorrec" parts when the real ones were scarce (specifically on a tweed Vibrolux).

Myths debunked! You thought that Fender only used Schumacher transformers on amps made in the 1960s and 1970s and that they were marked with EIA code "606" (the company number for Schumacher), didn't you? Think again... Greg's research team found a slew of amps with transformers made by the Better Coil and Transformers company - marked with EIA code "831". These were rife during the 1966-68 time period.

Part of the research included a fortuitous interview with an ex-Fender employee (worked there in 1972 - 1973) in the amplifier department. This interview provided valuable insights to how the amps were built. The article includes some interesting quotes from that interview, concerning the actual hands on work he did at the Fender Musical Instruments factory. Did you know that the eyelet boards were loaded/wired/soldered in Mexico?!

Unlike serial numbers used for most Fender guitars and basses, serial number sequences are unique to a particular model or a family of models of amplifiers.  This is similar to the early '50s Telecaster and Precision Bass having their own unique serial number system.  Because the serial numbers are for a particular model and that chassis were stamped sequentially, it is reasonable to assume that the serial number infers the Nth unit manufactured.  Tread carefully here, as it is likely that not all chassis were used due to the presence of defects or the fact that duplicate serial numbers may have been stamped.  Since these two scenarios are probably a very small percentage of total production, they've been ignored.

For the uniquely serialized models, the production estimates can be determined from the serial number tables that Mr Gagliano has constructed.  Some vintage dealers may cringe when they find out how common some of their amps really are!

I won't provide the Fender amp serial number table here - you should head over to the Dating Fender Tube Amps by Serial Number - Part 5 article to get all the details.

Radial Headbone VT Amp Head Switcher for Tube Amps

As part of the growing line of Tonebone foot pedals, Radial introduces the Headbone VT, a guitar amplifier head switcher that allows the player to transition from, for example, a Mesa Boogie Dual-Rectifier to a Marshall JCM800 while using the same cabinet. The Headbone employs a series of photocells to assure noise-free guitar-to-head switching and a series of high cycle relays that switch between the 2 heads and the speaker. A digital programmable interrupt controller receives commands from the onboard footswitch or the Slingshot remote switching system and controls the transition between equipment to ensure proper amplifier loads are always maintained.