There are very few “great deals” still left out there in the world of Vintage Guitars. Fender amps from the Silverface era one of those few remaining deals to be had. Maybe it’s because they are pretty easy to find (Fender made a lot of ‘em), or because they don’t quite carry the cache’ of their Blackface brethren. 

We’ve heard it said that Silverface amps are nearly identical to their Blackface predecessors. Today we are out to test this theory. We have a 1965 and a 1970 Deluxe Reverb, both in nearly original condition and recently serviced. We put them through their paces testing everything from clean sounds, to their respective reverbs and tremolos, to seeing how they interacted with pedals in front. 

So, is a Silverface Fender amp every bit as good as a Blackface model? Are the vintage examples undervalued? Or, is there an inherent difference between them that justifies the premium that a Blackface amp commands? We leave it for you to decide. 

One more note: We nearly went completely astray until we realized that the speaker makes a huge, huge, really huge difference in the sound (duh!). Fortunately we caught this and it adds another element to consider here. Hmmmm, sensing a topic for a future podcast...

Gear used: 

1965 Blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb
1970 Silverface Fender Deluxe Reverb

Vintage Jensen C12Q Speaker
Modern Jupiter 12-LA Speaker

Custom Built “Strat”
Custom Built “Tele”
Gibson SG
Analogman Prince of Tone
Prescription Electronics Yardbox

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