KVR Audio

Zamiriz · Post by **Zamiriz** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:44 pm

I need a all tube head, not a dang combo, and would prefer a Fender head! I lug around a fender vibratone speaker cabinet every where I go (bout 2 gigs a week) and tired of lugging my Fender 'combo' amp around for head use only. I currently use a Blues JR for small venues and use my Hot Rod DeVille 212 amp for the larger gigs were I need more volume. Here's the catch, I'm just using those amps for HEADS only, and don't even use the speakers. I notice most other amp manufactures offer the same amps in head only and combo. So, why doesn't Fender offer a Blues JR HEAD, a Hot Rod Deville HEAD, or a blue Deluxe HEAD?

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:38 pm

That's a good question, why don't they.

Step 1) just dismount speaker(s) from combo - and you are down to less than half of weight to move around.
Step 2) take a saw and chop off lower part of combo cabinet, you can even choose to remove part in middle and assemble bottom of that chopped part again. It's no more difficult than building a speaker cabinet.

SJ_Digriz · Post by **SJ_Digriz** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:42 pm

it's simple. They don't sell. They've attempted several times and they just don't move inventory. Fender product managers have commented on this many times over the years.

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:29 pm

I have a Superchamp X2 head - and wonder about those then?
Or maybe there wasn't a combo of those, never looked.

Bassman and some others exist as heads, etc.

But neither Pro Junior or Blues Junior were heads, or?

SJ_Digriz · Post by **SJ_Digriz** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:50 pm

They have made very few heads. For whatever reason people don't buy Fender heads. Just as an aside I would also prefer heads instead of combos. I've actually asked in person at a couple of events. I have read and was told the same answer. They just don't sell enough to make it worth the additional scues.

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:52 am

I think combos put a lot of stress on tubes.
I had a 50W Pro Reverb 15 years ago - and spent a lot of time eliminating all sorts of resonances in protecting grid over tubes and things like that.

And some tubes made mechanical noise due to resonances etc.

A head, with slight isolation from speaker cabinet is way to go, I think.

CapnLockheed · Post by **CapnLockheed** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:01 pm

I used to have a hot rodded, (Dan Torres Super Texan mod), BlackFace Bandmaster. Damn
I miss that amp!! My bitch of an ex-wife stole it in the divorce. Not because she wanted it.... but because she knew I did. Worse still she later gave it to her new boyfriend......who's lucky I'm not the violent type. I paired it with an open back 4x10 cab...that rig absolutely screamed!!

I've been looking at the X2 heads also....I've got a VibrochampXD and I like the combo of tubes and the DSPFX which are pretty good. Also on the lookout for a Silverface Bassman head as there are more of those than just about any other vintage Fenders and they're real easy to mod. I also have a '56 Vibrolux.....but I'm not about to take a saw to that!!

stillshaded · Post by **stillshaded** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:12 pm

CapnLockheed wrote: ↑Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:01 pm I used to have a hot rodded BlackFace Bandmaster.....damn I miss that amp!! My bitch of an ex-wife stole it in the divorce. Not because she wanted it....because she knew I did. Worse still she later gave it to her new boyfriend......who's lucky I'm not the violent type.

Christ man... this is unforgivable. Smdh

CapnLockheed · Post by **CapnLockheed** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:25 pm

Christ man... this is unforgivable. Smdh

Thanks man....yeah, it was pretty raw. And I wish I could say the amp was the only thing she stole. And it was all actually awarded to me in the divorce decree. I could have called the man. But I just wanted to get away and end the pain. I swear I'll never let that happen again.

JCJR · Post by **JCJR** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:34 pm

Long ago I had 2 Super Reverbs used for stage amp for wurlie and plastic organ. Selling them seemed like a good idea at the time, but Super Reverb was always my favorite Fender amp. The high price kept me from getting another one. Those 4X10 TNT amps would probably scratch the same itch.

All those old fender amps need re-grooving anyway unless they have already been rebuilt. For a head, maybe try to find an old non-rebuilt fender combo amp in such bad shape that it is not sacrilege to put the amp in a new head-only cab after a rebuild? Anybody but true purists would at least want an added master volume knob.

CapnLockheed · Post by **CapnLockheed** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:56 pm

Anybody but true purists would at least want an added master volume knob.

Totally agree....I was a Sovtek/EH dealer back in the day and the Tony Bruno designed MIG50's scratched that itch. Unfortunately, they suffered from reliability issues.
EH claims their new re-issues have addressed these issues but, from what I've seen and heard, I'm still a bit skeptical. I still have a 90's MIG100 it's a beast....still a bit Fendery as it uses 6l6's but also nods heavily towards the Marshall vibe....don't have too many chances to use it these days.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Wed Feb 13, 2019 8:37 am

I guess it's a variation on the Baby Duck Syndrome.
Marshalls should be a head with cabinet, Fenders should be a combo.

I've got this Orange tube head, and I love it... Then I saw an Orange combo in the shop, and my reflex opinion was: it's not the same thing! Very hard to overcome that bias.

So we are hard-wired: Fender amps are supposed to be the Twin Reverb combo. And that's why their heads won't sell.

If you really want one, take the advice of the first reply here: take out your woodcraft tools, and transform that combo into a head. You could even build a new enclosure if you're worried about ruining the combo enclosure in case you want to sell it. It's certainly doable

SJ_Digriz · Post by **SJ_Digriz** » Wed Feb 13, 2019 2:41 pm

BertKoor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 13, 2019 8:37 am If you really want one, take the advice of the first reply here: take out your woodcraft tools, and transform that combo into a head. You could even build a new enclosure if you're worried about ruining the combo enclosure in case you want to sell it. It's certainly doable

You can get the various head boxes from places like mojotone. It's 10 minutes to swap. I did it with a princeton that was microphonic as hell.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Feb 13, 2019 3:36 pm

Zamiriz wrote: ↑Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:44 pm I need a all tube head, not a dang combo, and would prefer a Fender head! I lug around a fender vibratone speaker cabinet every where I go (bout 2 gigs a week) and tired of lugging my Fender 'combo' amp around for head use only. I currently use a Blues JR for small venues and use my Hot Rod DeVille 212 amp for the larger gigs were I need more volume. Here's the catch, I'm just using those amps for HEADS only, and don't even use the speakers. I notice most other amp manufactures offer the same amps in head only and combo. So, why doesn't Fender offer a Blues JR HEAD, a Hot Rod Deville HEAD, or a blue Deluxe HEAD?

one word "Frenzel"

CapnLockheed · Post by **CapnLockheed** » Wed Feb 13, 2019 8:28 pm

You can get the various head boxes from places like mojotone. It's 10 minutes to swap. I did it with a princeton that was microphonic as hell.

Agree 100%

Yup, that's the way to go. You'd lose more $ in vintage value AND work a lot harder
by sawing up the old combo cab.

Why doesn't fender offer more tube HEADS?