Old Fender Tweed Amp

Alan Rudd · From: Ardmore, Oklahoma

My amp tech says this is a '61, but most amps from this year were brown. It belongs to a friend of mine who is looking to trade for a Les Paul standard, preferably early 80's, wine red.

Dennis Wireman · From: North West Indiana 47978

What brand and model is the amp? any pics?

Alan Rudd · From: Ardmore, Oklahoma

Fender Deluxe. It has 4 inputs, two instrument and two microphone. Ken Fox says it is possibly a '62, which is what we originally thought, but again it's not brown, and most tweeds I've seen are from the 50's.

Rick Abbott · From: Indiana, USA

Alan, Don't sweat the cosmetics too much unless you think they've been altered. Fender never wasted anything. Let's say they had a pile of pre-cut tweed for the Deluxe cabs...Leo would cover 'em till he ran out. There were 4x10 tweed Bassmans until after the split head/cab model. Transformers and other components were used until gone making for some very interesting "transitional models". I had a '63 brown face Princeton with the usual circuits only with the later power transformer and much higher voltages, VERY nice!!! Did you check the codes on the Power and output transformers? That is the best way to date it, unless there is a stamped date in the chassis. Many have the date, not all.
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Ken Fox · From: Nashville GA USA

According to the field guide they were make thru 1960. I did have a Tweed Harvard from 1961. Hard to say without checking the amp out for a date code, etc.

Alan Rudd · From: Ardmore, Oklahoma

pictures.

http://www.davidsonic.com/Tweed_Deluxe_10395/images.html

Chris Boyd · From: Leonia,N.J./Charlestown,R.I.

Nice....How does it sound?
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Alan Rudd · From: Ardmore, Oklahoma

Honestly, I haven't played through it, so I couldn't judge. It belongs to one of the guys in my band. My amp tech says original vs. sounding good...this amp is pretty much all original except for the 3 new filter caps.

Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

neato!

There was a wide panel in a lil better cosmetic condition at a recent guitar show here. They wanted $2000 for it and it did not sell.

Rich Gilbert · From: Freeport, Maine

That's most likely a GREAT sounding amp!!!!!! Not necessarily for steel, but it's a killer guitar amp. If it doesn't sound great now, it should with a good tune up. Too bad I don't have a LP Standard to trade for it. Is your buddy looking for anything else?

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

The amp code is KC or KG (hard to distinguish the second letter in the pics), which is either March or July 1961, respectively. What are the speaker and transformer date codes? If those are all late 60 or early 61, it may well be original - there is often some overlap of styles in a transition period. Speaker looks like a Jensen, the date code should start with 220.

Cool amps, I've had my share over the years. They went up like crazy several years back, but a lot of high-end stuff came crashing down the last year or two - not exactly sure where the prices on these wound up. But this is different from a 53/54 5C3/5D3 wide-panel version. Does he have a cash price in mind?

Doug Freeman · From: Los Angeles, CA

Pretty much a spitting image of my 1960 tweed Deluxe, down to the gray power cord and everything. Mine has a very crispy, mid/hi-mid range dominant tone--not as much low end with the alnico Jensen 12" speaker as you might normally want for steel. But coincidentally I pulled mine out to play a Magnatone G-65 6-string lap steel through a couple weeks ago and it sounded mighty fine.

I've been exploring non-Fender and non-Gibson vintage amps lately--Magnatones, Valcos, et al. They all have interesting qualities, and in fact they served as a starting point for Leo Fender, but he really did raise the state of the art by building solid, durable, reliable, and functional amps that stand at the top of the heap today. That tweed Deluxe in the pictures looks like a perfect, relatively unmolested example.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Anybody know the ballpark $$ value for that amp?

Jim Newberry · From: Seattle, Upper Left America

Doug Freeman · From: Los Angeles, CA

Here's THE site for Fender vintage amp values, at least on eBay:

http://codekinesis.mine.nu:3000/price/list_history

Looks like the latest tweed Deluxes (and they do show at least one '61) pull the biggest money, perhaps because they're the rarest? Anyway, the price trend (as with almost everything but gasoline) is downward, with a range of $1,500 to $3,000.

Doug Freeman · From: Los Angeles, CA

Looks like I owe Jim a coke.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Good site. Thanks, Doug.

Alan--I present this link to you (and your friend)

THIS LINK

I am not sure how interested I am in the amp or how interested Iam in moving this guitar but I'm just sort of floating it out there in the breeze to see if there's any....anything. If this ambivalence is too much of a drag, I apologize. I haven't had this guitar appraised so I don't even know what it could get on the market. But I couldn't let the mention of your friend's interest in a red LP Standard go by without touching base.

ooops---and thanks Jim. Didn't see you there. Yeah, Doug--send Jim some coke.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

As far as tweed Deluxes go, valuations depend on the specific model -

TV-front (48-52)
Wide-panel 5C3 (53)
Wide-panel 5D3 (54)
Narrow-panel 5E3 small cab (55-56)
Narrow-panel 5E3 large cab (57-60)

The later versions have generally been worth more than earlier versions - I don't think it's rarity but perceived tonal differences. In fact, I think the earlier versions are quite a bit more rare.

On the price centers of these - the high-end vintage guitar and amp market tanked a bit the last year or two, so it's hard to keep tabs on what this kind of amp is worth. I think the various price guides are a bit out of step with the current economic situation, ebay is its own thing, and looking at dealer pricing tells precious little about how much they are actually selling for - only what they are asking. Of course, condition is critical - just from the pics, I'd grade this as VG (Very Good) condition. In years past, VG would typically garner something like 70-80% of the price of an Excellent condition example, which is the condition most of the price guides quotes are based on.

To me, the only way to figure out real value in a particular market is to solicit offers in that market. One could do that by a pure auction or by setting a high price and considering offers.

Ulf Edlund · From: Umeå, Sweden

I own a 5E3 tweed deluxe clone. They don't have much clean headroom and basicly just one sound, but if you like that sound they're awsome. There's something sympathetic about amps with just volume and a tone control.

Here's a clip of Rich Robinson of Black Crowes playing through a pair of them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA_Q19HFQig
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Alan Rudd · From: Ardmore, Oklahoma

Nice!

Ken Fox · From: Nashville GA USA

Sold, traded or just looking for the best offer?

Still waiting for a reply on the last email I sent!!!

Alan Rudd · From: Ardmore, Oklahoma

Sorry, still looking to trade for a Les Paul.

Alan Rudd · From: Ardmore, Oklahoma

Put a brand new Jensen 12" Mod speaker in the amp today. Getting the original reconed. It sounds amazing. I'm trying to figure out how I can afford to own it myself!

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