Best Fender Tweaks

[selloutrr]

yes it's never ending, then just went you think you get it, you wake the next morning and hate it. if so.. take into acount ear fatigue, pickups, wood / fret board / strings, how long the tubes have been heating up, room, and climate.

While you are voicing the amp try to decouple it from the floor, possible on foam yoga blocks or a chair.

It's all those little things that make hunting for the ultimate tone like finding the holy grail. Didn't the history channel say it was in florida? lol

Personally I gave up on that quest and went another route. Amp collecting, a tone for every occasion Now instead of sinking all my time and $ into one amp I get to do it to a bunch of them and upset the wife with all the space they take up.

[Gibsonman63]

I came full circle. During the early 80's, I could pick up Black Face Fender heads in the pawn shops cheaper than buying tubes... so I did. I went through tons of Tremolux and Bandmaster heads. Then I started horse trading for the amps I really wanted. I finally got to the point that I could show up at any jam with a Fender that I could crank on 7. You just have to have the correct wattage amp for the situation.

Now I don't HAVE to have anything... but if the right deal presents itself![/b]

[Analog Assassin]

I've got a '65 super reverb. One thing I did about 10 years ago in a quest to get tighter bass was replace the 70 uf caps with 100uf caps.
Turned the amp sterile. I couldn't figure it out for the longest time. When I recapped, I went back down to 70 uf on the mains and I also reduced the first 22uf cap with a 16uf (what they have in Deluxe Reverbs)
I also increased voltage on the phase inverter, so now it sounds really tight, yet it also is very touch responsive. Very musical.

Keep in mind, speakers are a BIG part of the equation. If your speakers are crummy, you could have the most fantastic amp in the world, but you'll never hear it that way.

[selloutrr]

I don't fully agree with the 70mfd to 100mfd conversion creating a sterile amp. I've replaced the filter caps in a lot of fender amps with great results. I've personally found the bias point of the tubes to have a bigger impact on sterile tones. To a lesser degree the actual brand of filter caps can have an effect on tone as well.

[Gibsonman63]

I am pretty sure that I went up to 100uF on mine as well. It is not really apples and apples when you change out a bunch of worn out caps with new ones of different values, so it is hard to know if the new caps or the changed values made the difference.

Something to think about and it would be a cheap and easy experiment. There is something to be said for getting your hands dirty and trying things out for yourself.