So, I Fell In Love with Fender Amps. Here's Why 

Next week: “Why I’m selling all of my Fender amps.”

Next week: “I’m moving on from fretted instruments, the trombone is where my calling truly leads me.”

The day I finally grew up, was the day I got a Deluxe Reverb. It was last month. I'm 44.

The “Fender clean” sound is undefeated. I use a Twin Reverb as my base tone with a strat for gospel and r&b

You fall in love with everything! Lol. Falling in love with a Fender tube amp is no big deal, everyone loves them. Own as many of them as you can afford.

Guthrie Trapp plays a Tele straight into a Princeton in his RU-vid vids and it's glorious. Really made me take a big step back from pedals and focus on the playing.

I've always used a Fender Deluxe for my gigs. When I use a modeler, I dial in a Fender clean. Its really the best. I recently got to play a Champ. I had to play it at a higher volume. It was awesome...

The best clean tone I’ve heard on your channel was the Suhr Bella. Absolutely killer. Granted it’s derived from a Fender Bandmaster.

Give me my 65 Fender Princeton Reverb all day/everyday. Whats not to love? = Pristine Cleans, gorgeous Reverb, tube-driven-tremolo & takes pedals well > (Barber Gain Changer SR) . Always enjoy your tone and incredible playing brother.

I fell in love with the best Fender Deluxe Reverb that Fender never made... a Tone King Imperial Mk II.

I sold a mountain of amps and found happiness with a Princeton. Sounds great and I don't need a Chiropractor on Monday. If Mike Campbell can play stadiums with a Princeton I guess it's good enough for me.

Oh! There it is, YOU played a Princeton Reverb as your 1st Fender experience! I love that thing. Sounds suprisingly amazing with an Acoustic Guitar as well.

My '65 Bassman is incredible, as long as it's working.

A lot of amps can get a good lead tone, but only Fender amps get that gorgeous clean sound.

Pretty hard to go wrong with a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb. I'd happily play either all day.

Really enjoyed your video on this and your playing is very good. I have had a 68 Fender Deluxe Reverb wired to the blackface sound since 1983. I'm 60 now, and still get goose bumps while playing through this tube amp. And the amp is still working perfectly after one restoration 10-15 years ago.

You gotta remember guys, the marshall “plexi” was just another take on the bassman circuit. I’ve had a 65’ super reverb for a long time, and everytime I take it out to a show it blows all the other guitarists away 😂 it’s the most dynamic amp i’ve played, and I REALLY REALLY love marshalls

Now to get you to drop the Strats and love the Tele...another original product of perfection...

Really nice hearing you play this over the your usual bit more processed hx stomp vibe. I’d take this everyday!!

Local shop has a used ‘66 Black face twin for sale.❤ just what I need for my bedroom amp.😂😂😂

I have a Rivera Quiana. The fender clean channel is to die for. Had it for 20 + years

Disclaimer, I'm an old guy and I've owned a few amps over the years and also prefer Fenders. Right now I have a '59 Bassman LTD, for loud stuff and a 65 Princeton 12 watt into a 12" speaker, for everything else. The 12" speaker in a Princeton is a bit unusual, the 10" is bit brittle to my ear. Princeton 65 Bordeaux is my current gigging amp and really the one I prefer. I also have a couple of Hot Rod Deluxe's with creambacks (for use in stereo live with the Bassman dry). I recently sold off 3 special issue HRD's and a Blues Jr. Blues Jr's were a fun platform for modification, but I eventually slipped over into the HRD's and now have settled into the Fender reissues. Years ago I had a Super Reverb, which may be the best gigging amp for louder gigs, though I've never played a Vibro King. The Super Reverb was purchased after comparing it side by side with a Twin Reverb, and it just sounded better. Up until that time I though the Twin Reverb was the holy grail. A friend of mine plays through an old Vibroverb, that I love. Another studio friend has his grandfathers original 1952 Fender amp. That amp is the single most amazing amp I've ever heard or played through im my 50 plus years of playing. What is interesting about the brands you mentioned of course is that the Mesa Boogie amp was a rip--off of the Fender Princeton, and the Marshall was a rip-off of the Fender Bassman, at least in their inception. Love the feel you have in your lead phrasing, and the tone is stellar. All the best.

This might be the only channel which posts totally useless videos most of the time, but still makes them tempting to watch.

I think the best all around Fender amp would be the Deluxe reverb. Kinda sits in that midway point between a princeton and twin in terms of volume and can kind of bridge both sides really well. It gets a great sound in the lower volume and can easily get a great tone at higher volume as well. I've used it both in the studio and live for many years and rarely feel like it doesn't work for the situation.

I put an EVM12L in my Hot Rod Deluxe and I love the sound. I’ve also modified the reverb circuit so it’s usable. My HRD would be my desert island amplifier, but I did have to modify it to make it so.

Nice episode John, just thought I’d chime in and let you know. For the algorithm and stuff…. I have 2 main amps, but my number one is a Fender Concert post Rivera pre reissue deluxe/hotrod. It is PCB, which probably isn’t sustainable, but it sounds amazing… It is part of the pro tube series they did for about 1 year The pr-244. It has a tube driven long tank reverb that is very lush and beautiful. A pretty rare amp…, you may want to check it out.

I may be low rent, but my amp has been a hot rod deville for 21 years. Its been recapped, respeakered, and retubed, and i still love it like decades ago when i bought it.

In 1970 my goto was Fender Vibrolux- now it’s the reissue of the same amp

I've owned & tried various amps over the years - but I've always gone back to Fender amps. It's what has always worked best for me. I have a 212 Hot Rod DeVille (2001 USA-made) that was my workhorse amp for many years. Since 2014, I've gigged only with my 1964 Deluxe Reverb. Nothing comes close to it for the tone and it's suitability for the music I play.

I've my eyes on a Tony Bruno Cowtipper for ages! My VOX blackface Bruno collaboration works great for what I need right now.

I found my perfect setup with two Princetons, one brown and one black panel. Definitely loud enough and the brown one nicely fills out the midrange that the black one lacks a little. It's also such a treat to hear the tremolo from just one of two amps in the room, instant 3D!! I use 12 inch Celestions in both amps, one Greenback and one Alnico Blue

No joke: I miss my Fender Super Champ XD. Such a great amp for small gigs and home use. That Clean channel was really something.

Black panel Vibro Champ, Deluxe Reverb, and Pro Reverb.

Yep - a Fender amp with a Tube Screamer will get you through any gig: blues, rock, jazz, fusion, even metal.

The Guitarologist is a techie on YT who repairs amps. His take on the wiring/construction is always worth a look. He don't seem to be overly keen on Mesa Boogie

I agree. I used Vintage Blackface Fenders (Bandmaster, Bassman and Twins) for most of my gigging life until moving on to Boogies in the 1990s. A boutique amp brand that I would recommend is Carr. They are probably hard to get in the UK. Over the years I have owned 2 of their models and both gave a lush and very responsive Fender-like playing experience.

Deluxe RRI settings learnt from a famous Nashville session guy - these settings go against everything that thought you should do.. Sounds mind blowing - here we go.. Volume 6-7, Bass 2 and treble at 6.. With a Les Paul is a rock monster. The thing is to get rid of the bass flab. Try it!

Literally every other amp maker started by modifying Fender circuits. And I've tried everything once over 32 years of playing. In the end, my desert island amp will always be either a Princeton in a 1x12 cab, or that magic silverface Super with Utahs I should have bought when I was 22.

So, I have been meaning to ask. Would you do a video on your choice of chord shapes that you use? And how you are thinking regarding your choic of voicings? Or can you recommend a True Fire course? I would prefer some curated shapes rather than a complete course, something tasty to get us started…

Been playing 35 years. Owned just about everything. I agreee w what you say. About 6-8 yrs ago I played a real 59 5E3 (first vintage amp I ever) and it was magical. Most pure tone I ever heard. I bought! Now have a real 73 deluxe reverb and 74 super reverb. All amazing and great pedal platform.

Fender Amps are great if you don't have to carry them to gigs. Heavy AF! I'm happy with my Boss Katana 50w MK2 EX Combo , very light and does what I need it to do .

My only amp from about 13-18 was a Marshall AVT 50, which was fine for what I was doing, but my main amp since I was about 18/19 (I'm 34 now) has been a Fender Twin Amp as a pedal platform. All of the pristine clean headroom you could ask for in an incredibly heavy package. I have other amps that are great, but the sound from my Twin is 👌👌

It would be churlish to point out this is hardly news. Given your amp history as outlined it’s easy to see why the dynamics and tonal signature of a tube Fender would appeal for your melodic and articulated style of playing. So welcome to a rather large club, and enjoy! I’ve played a 1972 Fender Twin Reverb since 1989 when you could pick them up cheap. It’s been the core tone my playing and music has developed around. Other amps have come (and sometimes gone), but they tended to address things I thought the Twin would not do easily. But I’ve always come back to it because my playing developed in response to key characteristics and I would miss them; transient attack, full bass response, clarity with bloom on the note. The stuff that introduces more chance and perhaps risk. I’d note that these characteristics don’t always survive recording, compression, and attenuation well, which is why your use of modelling amps may suit the demand of your RU-vid videos well. The amp is just a tool that has to be fit for the job. As such, I would never survive the “burning building” test because rather than grabbing a guitar I cherished above all others, I would be slowed down trying to lug 42kgs of Fender through the flames!😂

I did a Gibson GA-9 replica from scratch couple years ago, sounds truly amazing. Modelers today are amazing, but tube amps still bring the goods.

Great video man

The same with Bösendorfer piano's. Once you hear and played them. They are the " best: (sidenote) you need to know how to play. And that is the same with John and his Fender. For me its my Vox AX10 1964. Sometimes I asked myself. Why doest every good gitarist play this ( Mesa, Marsall,Vox and Fender). Looking for sound ( which is in fine tuning our ears and ours practising finger (settings). Glad there is this mystery. Keep it alive John keer it alive

Twin plus pedals was all I every played on stage for years. never even replaced a tube, but this was late 90's so I am old now.

I've owned both a Princeton and a Bandmaster. Both were great sounding amps with great cleans. Ultimately I sold them both since my Boogie Mark IV does an amazing clean with loads of headroom.

My 1966 ProReverb really pairs well with a 335 type guitar. Fills in the missing midrange in Fenders scoopy sound. As you played with your Strat I noticed a lot of beautiful low mids, but that can get lost in a larger band setting. I added a mid boost pot to my 66 to bring in some mids depending on the guitar used. The Pro is amazing in that it stays clean at most practical playing scenarios. I'm on 2.5 for quieter gigs, 3.5 for a wedding, 4.5 for a loud trio. The thing has never failed me once I alleviated al the "crackling" with a good service tech.

The video you did with the Princeton is my favourite playing on your channel, I have one and replaced the driver with an Alnico. As for got older life realised the $100 Tubescreamer or the Princeton is at least just as good as the boutique variant that’s more expensive.

The paradigm used to be that you had to have an amp that provided good crunch. But nowadays you can use a Fender for its clean and get your crunch from a good dirt pedal or two. One big advantage of that is you can get good crunch tones at almost any volume level, so one amp will do the job for gigs. And the clean is SO good!

Better late than never, I guess . . . I have used Fenders since the early '70s.

The Deluxe 112 is a magnificent beast, that I've managed to tame and put in harness with a Boss Katana 100. That and the Peavy running a clean signal, three amps is the way to go!

Being a true Fender guy since the 70s, and with all the add ons available to us all nowadays like the HXs, Boss pedals, the modelers and profilers - in watching That Pedal Show when those guys showed how versatile an effects loop is, I traded by Twin in for a Hot Rod Deluxe IV so I could put my HX Stomp (3.71.0) in the HR's effect loop power in. I got a phenomenal SOLDANO amp thru the HOT ROD! Unfortunately I dont have a Soldano (yet) to compare but sure sounds good to me... I also use a HX one to add whatever Im in the mood for at the time, and of course you need a volume pedal between the guitar and the amp in, but it all works great! . . . Everybody says how unruly the HOT Rods are, and they can be- but ya gotta tame em with a volume pedal- carefully and a HX device! A few weeks back I downloaded your GumRoad stuff and its all in my stomp now. I just need time to play around with all the content I got . . .but that Soldano is just killer, talk about bite... AND I still have the Fender cleans

I am playing the 59 Bassman in my Tone Master Pro and loving the sounds. A dash of reverb and slight chorus and I am good to go. I have a Fender Twin... It is a beast! Too much amp for my needs but I don't want to let it go.

I love deluxe reverbs and use 2 in stereo with my mostly stereo pedalboard. I’m hooked.

two things that will never let you down tone wise a good tele and a blacface princeton.

I've had deluxe reverb tonemaster few years now and it works really well as my only amp. Tonemaster enables to change the volume while keeping same sweetspot so I basically keep same settings and adjust the "virtual" voltage to match a room size. Understand it's not 1:1 sounding compared to tube ones but in a band mix I couldn't tell the difference so the flexibility makes it better for me.

I recognize what you mean! I have had several amp(brand)s in the past.... from Crate indeed, to Line6 Spider III 75, Nux Mighty Space, Yamaha THR 30II (that was was really good!) etc... but now, I have a Fender Champion 100, and its the best sounded I've ever had!

Have owned and almost exclusively used Fender amps all of my playing life. Some of my faves: Showman head with the 2 JBL D130 15" spkrs bottom for cleans with a Strat = omg!! Princeton Reverb clean with a Tele (obviously fairly low volume) is fantastic. (You are right about the pedal thing on this one, John) Deluxe Reverb with a Strat or 335 on about 5 (vol) is my idea of great Fender edge of b.u. Piggy back Blackface Bassman - gotta try it at least once in your life. (That's the amp Dumble based his OD Special on after hearing Robben Ford playing one)

I have a recent Deluxe which I love - definiately a clean machine. Mine has a Jenson speaker and bright cap and with this I find the 'Vibrato' channel very bright and definitely not suited to drive pedals (horrible in fact). I plug into the Normal channel with a Keely Phat Mod (Blues Driver) and use a jumper from the second input of this normal channel to the vibrato channel to blend in some of the beautiful reverb. Works for me.

Love your guitar playing John :0) I have a Fender Twin (red knob grey face), when I gigged it, the sound was superb. The amp got a bit of hate by some folks but I liked it and worked great for the bands I used it for. I've not used 'The Twin' for years, ever since I bought a Mesa Roadster which is amazing has a good approximation of the twin clean channel. I've not used the Mesa for years as I know have a Kemper (more for convenience and consistent sound). I run the Kemper through a Mesa 2x12 cab and can get close to both the twin and the mesa sounds.

Great video, thank you! Always wanted a Fender Deluxe Reverb, but it’s a wee bit out of reach price wise at present. Instead, I use a Laney Lionheart L5T-112 combo, which new cost £600-£700. It has a beautiful clean channel, manageable volume (it’s 5 watts but can still make the room shake if cracked!), an excellent G12H Celestion speaker and is really well built. It handles pedals brilliantly also. Not really loud enough for gigging, but for home and practice use it’s perfect. It’s often an overlooked amp, despite all the awards and accolades which is a real shame as it’s a peach of an amp. Cheers!

I have a non Fender clone of a late 50s vibrolux, so basically a Princeton without reverb. Sounds good at basement jam volume and is loud enough for a drummer in a garage. It has all the clear chimy fender sound but with a little bit more mids. It makes my favorite guitar sounds!

Every time I check out a guitar I’m interested in I plug in to a ‘65 Deluxe Reverb RI. Love that clean tone.

Leo Fender should have gotten the Nobel Prize for his amp designs. The only ones I've ever played that I didn't like were the ones that needed work. Once those are fixed, they're fine. They are some of the finest products that our country has ever produced.

Best amp I ever played was a mid-90’s Tone Master head. Fender makes great amps! I used a Blues Deluxe for a while and it was great. With a pedal in front you can do anything with a Fender.

Fender hotrod DeVille ML version is amazing takes pedals so well.Clean for days!

Same here , i have played mesa's for a long time , i started with the studio 22 and then got a mark 3 , but the last 15 years i am a fender amp guy , i like them for there cleans and use my pedalboard for all other sounds , at the moment i have an tonemaster dr , sounds great , i did put another speaker ( jupiter 12 LC ) in it though , nothing wrong with the jensen neo speaker but the jupiter gives the amp a bigger / fuller sound .

I had a Mesa Nomad 55 2x12. That was one of my favorite amps. Now I own Fenders exclusively. But the Nomads were great amps. (pronounced May-sa BTW)

I’ve always felt you can play pretty much anything with a black panel fender and some pedals. My favorite desert island amp is my 67 deluxe reverb with a celestion in it

I almost always use a deluxe reverb, but I do absolutely love my super reverb, especially for the cleans. I have played a few funk gigs outside where I had wished I brought the super, but still managed with the deluxe

I often feel like all I really need is my deluxe reverb, and some petals in front of it, and I can get pretty much any tone. But at the same time, there is no way I will ever give up my Soldano or Synergy amps. So it’s kind of a moot point for me. :)

I have a Deluxe Reverb and love it.

Really enjoy the playing at the start of these videos - do you have any music like this recorded anywhere?

I’ve had quite a few amps and half/full stacks over the years, including brands like Crate, Marshall, VOX, Boss and Fender Fender is the one brand I’ve decided to stick with and have three, but would honestly like a few more I currently run through a Twin Reverb as my main amp of choice with the group of friends I play with I also have a HOT ROD DEVILLE and HOT ROD DELUXE There are pedal boards for each of these amps, because I love options (don’t we all?) The Deluxe and Twin have very crisp cleans where the DEVILLE is just a bit dirtier I’m really enjoying your content, keep up the great work!

I also like Fender amps, especially the "blackface" and "silverface" ones, i like their mild crunch with a humbucker equipped guitar, because that's the 60's american psychedelic rock tone that i always loved.

That is a great sound.

ADD is strong with this one...

There is a reason that the Deluxe Reverb is the most recorded amp in history. It lives in that perfect goldilocks zone

I’ve spent a lot of time and money trying to love amps that aren’t fender (or Fender voiced). I’ve tried to love VOX amps 5 different, always sold them within a few months. Marshall twice, JCM 800 and a blues breaker reissue,they were both great but didn’t sound like me when I played. I loved recording with an orang AD30 but when I tried to find the sound again in a room, I couldn’t find it. I even thought at one point that the best solution would be spend less money on amp simulators like the UA ruby 63. I always come back to the fender sound. My at home is either a 65 Princeton reissue or the UA dream 65 into a power cab, my my amp to cut through a band is usually the 68 custom reverb

I've always been partial to fender tones. I used to play a fender hot rod deluxe but I now play a Morgan PR12 (which is a version of a blackface princeton reverb) and it's basically everything I want an amp to be. I still sometimes like the quicker attack/transient of Marshall or Vox style amps but blackface fender era tones are really my happy place.

Very interesting pant, I love it

I use a Mojotone Slammins 1x12 with a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 200 along side with a HX Stomp and Friedman IRX. I feel like I can handle about any situation thrown at me and additionally the sound and feel is satisfying to me.

Couldn't agree more, warts and all amps. love em and I play a 335.

gainy mid focused beasts are great for when you are first learning- eventually and hopefully you learn about dynamics and playing with feel, then it is time to get a fender. "Look Mommy-every time a guitarist puts the power cords away a fender amp is sold"

Vintage black panel Super Reverb and the new Custom Pro Reverb are my favorites. If I want the Pro to sound more like the Super, I keep the bass between 8-10, and the amp on the floor (so it gets all the bass and low mids it can), bright switch off, mids at 10. Speaker break in is a thing with the new Fender amps, especially if you are comparing them to a 60 year old speaker.

I got a Bartel sugarland second hand recently and really like it, have you played one? Id like to hear what you think about Bartel amps.

Same I got rid of my crunchy Brit amps and now I am chilling with my Fender Twin

I just picked up a Supro Amulet and prefer it to the Princeton. Sounds incredible and smaller size.

I switched to a single channel and pedals about four years ago. My current amp is a Morgan SW22R which is a DR clone I think (or maybe dumble SSS?). It has a Celestion creamback. My friend has a 62 tremolux with 2x10 cab and it sounds great.

All I use is the Fender Mustang GTX50. Sounds great. I can get whatever I want from it with only Fender presets.

I have a Hot Rod Deluxe that I love for clean but the Deville in the studio I go to is even better. Just an amazing amp. I played an 80s Rivera Concert for most of my gigging career and after 9 years on the road without a case, it looked like hell and started to fade sonically. Cut to: I sell it to my friend for a song and he redoes the whole thing inside and out, new Tolex, tubes, everything and it looks and sounds like a million bucks - or at least a thousand. lol Cut to: me kicking myself.😢

Id be keen on seeing you work up that clean tone in the HX stomp. Also i still think that white kline is my favourite.

Nice video. Straight up talk . Leo Fender made great amps. Always did & always will. Princeton is a good clean tone . Very versatile. A 2X10 is my favorite through . Tweed Super if you can find one and a blackface Vibrolux . Also for an affordable lightweight fender big clean tone try the Fender Rumble 4x10 w a reverb peal. It’s a bass amp but used with a strat it’s dreamy.

One of these days I'm gonna get myself a Princeton Reverb! ... until then I'm happy with my ENGL Savage 😄

Got my first real amp back in about 1980, a 77 Pro Reverb, (it is actually badged as a Twin and sold to me as such), and that was I played through to practice in my bedroom. The neighbours must have thought what the hell!! He is terrible, but great tone lol I still have that amp, and it is still my No1 Unless the venue is really small or I have to walk the gear in a distance, that is what I will drag along. I have supplemented it over the years with a Pro Junior, Tweed 5e3 clone, Bassbreaker 45 (emergency purchase when the PR developed a glitch recently and needed an amp with some volume, and it is crazy loud!!). So I guess I already know what it is about Fender amps!

I agree with you, in the sense that basically all the amps I love are either Fenders (Tweed Champ/Bassman, Blackface Princeton, Deluxe, Twin). Or they are the Vox AC or Marshall JTM or Sovtek Mig 50 designs that basically are cribbed off the early Fender Bassman circuits with affordability/availability and slight voicing tweaks. What I don't get is why there aren't loads of other fairly large manufacturers basically doing cut price, rather than Boutique, versions of those classic Fender combos. Especially now Fender are soooo expensive in UK/Europe. Would make sense for there to be a clone army of these things, the same way the say Behringer are doing with analogue synth circuits like classic Moog, Roland & Sequential designs. If EHX can make and sell a modern Mig 50 watt head for under £700, should be possible to do a Princeton for similar. The EL84 Harley Benton Tube 15 hints it should be possible to do it for even under £500.

Super Reverb - as long as someone else carries it for you

I’ve said it before and now you make a video on it, if you think that Mesa’s are a great sounding amp with all the switches and pull pot knobs, just play a simple clean amp like a Fender. Killer tone. You don’t need all the modeling and channel switching, just use a few nice pedals and be done with it. I have the equivalent knowledge and experience with tube amps as you have in modelers and patches. I’ve literally played over 200 different tube amps and can say a vintage Fender is certainly my fave. It you have the chance, try playing a vintage Ampeg Reverb Rocket - another beautiful clean tone.