Vintage Fender Super Reverb

[Keefoman]

So, a friend of mine called me a couple of weeks ago, saying he got a non-working amp that he was thinking about throwing away. Anyway, he thought he'd call me first to see if I would want to pick it up. And so I did.
It looked like this when first getting it home.









As You can see, it was in a somewhat sorry state...

The serial number stamped on the back, told me it was a 1969 model, and the tube chart inside showing AB763 could indicate it had a Blackface curcuit, as some with that number, exported to Scandinavia was delievered with that curcuit. The serial number on the speakers also said original '69 CTS Alnico 10" speakers.





Tested speakers with another amp, and they worked fine, so I called my amp-tech wondering if he thought the amp itself could be restored. "No problem" he said. "This amp is basically a tractor, so there's probably not much wrong."
As it turned out, this doesn't have the Blackface curcuit, but luckily, that's not a major mod, so my ampdoctor is doing that mod, and the necessary repairs as we speak, and he promised me it wouldn't be too costly. Also the reverbtank was beyond repair, the footswitch too, so he ordered new ones for me

Me, I turned to the cab, cleaning it as good as I could. Took the speakers out, and did some work to get them looking a little bit nicer.



Now I'm just waiting for the amp to return, and I must admit, I am pretty exited to find out how it will sound!

 

[BGood]

WOW ! Happy Mojo to you !

 

[Davis Sharp]

Nice work in cleaning up the speakers.

 

[Keefoman]

Nice work in cleaning up the speakers.

Thanks. I was a little reluctant about that, but as they were in the state they were in, I decided to sand off surface rust, treat them with a combined corrosion stop and primer and then a coat of spray paint. Not beeing the most valuable of amps, I'm quite pleased with the result.

 

[Supersonic]

Awesome, just awesome. Someone gave me a 1974 Deluxe Reverb about 10 years ago that they were gonna throw away because it didn't work (it works great, the only thing that was wrong was blown tubes). Silverfaces must bring good luck!!

Here's mine, kinda looks like your amp's little brother. It's a beast, but I like yours better.

 

[Keefoman]

Awesome, just awesome. Someone gave me a 1974 Deluxe Reverb about 10 years ago that they were gonna throw away because it didn't work (it works great, the only thing that was wrong was blown tubes). Silverfaces must bring good luck!!

Here's mine, kinda looks like your amp's little brother. It's a beast, but I like yours better.

Cool man! Not just blown tubes in mine, but still. My amp-tech assured me I would get a killer amp for little money spent.

 

[John]

Well dang I wish I had friends like that. Thats awesome and again great job on the speakers....

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

Nice score! I dunno that I would have done the mod, but then I love silverfaces. And "not being the most valuable of amps"?? The only thing better than a Super is a 1X15 Vibroverb!
Anyway, thanks for keeping a classic out of the dump!

 

[Keefoman]

Finally got it back, and it sounds great!

Blackface mod:



Sweet combo:



Need to find an upper back panel:



With the Epi sisters:

 

[John]

I'm glad you brought her back to live, that's awesome.

 

[CheshireFrog]

Finally got it back, and it sounds great!

Blackface mod:



https://flic.kr/p/DE99bs

Sweet! I don't know how far you plan to take it, but check this out:

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/msd/d/custom-cabs-retolexing/6354453728.html

 

[Keefoman]

Sweet! I don't know how far you plan to take it, but check this out:

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/msd/d/custom-cabs-retolexing/6354453728.html

Mojotone also does empty cabs and so on, but i kind of like the worn look of it, so I don't plan to do much more to it than getting the upper back panel, and maybe new support legs.

 

[epi kev]

what was wrong with it

 

[wildeman]

Killer, should give years of service to you.

 

[Keefoman]

what was wrong with it

Actually quite a lot. Powersupply was not wired correctly, and standby switch wasn't there. The vibrato-curcuit didn't work, treble curcuit on normal channel, some capasitors and resistors were damaged and of course changing some of the tubes and modding it to a blackface curcuit.
Cost a few quids, but not nearly as much as one would have to pay for an original in good shape.

 

[Keefoman]

Did a little recording of the amp just for fun. This is at a modest volume, so it doesn't shine as it can do, but I still like how it plays. Here coupled with my Gibson ES-335.

 

[BGood]

Nice tone Keefoman !

 

[CheshireFrog]

That literally brought tears to my eyes. I'll just console myself with the thought that I don't have space for an amp that big, free or not. Enjoy it.

 

[Michael A.]

Great amp, congrats on the find and bringing it back to glory! Looks like you have all the original CTS alnicos, that's killer. I like how you painted the speaker baskets to freshen them up, but didn't get spray paint on the back of the cones! Good job!

I'm the original owner of a SFSR that was a gift from my parents on college graduation in 1970. Maybe the lowest mileage one of that vintage anywhere. Only used in my home since birth and rarely above 4.

 

[Paruwi]

Great work