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Fender Amps

Leo Fender began building guitar amps before he started manufacturing guitars. The first of these amps were the K&F models, which were produced between 1945 and 1946. The original Fender amps were tube powered, and the company also started producing solidstate models in the late 1960s.

The first amps that Leo made himself were the K&F amplifiers. They were made by the K&F Manufacturing Corporation, which was run by Leo Fender and Doc Kauffman. Most of the amps were finished in a “gray crinkle” finish. The finishes were baked in the Kauffman family oven. They were made in three different sizes, 1×8″, 1×10″, and 1×15″, these amps are extremely rare as very few have survived to today. From 1946 to 1947 Fender began making the Woodie, it was the first amp that he made himself.

After the Woodie, came the Tweed amplifiers, they were known as Tweed amps due to them being made in a Tweed finish. The tweed was first used on Fender amps in 1948 on the Champion, the Fender company stopped using the tweed covering on all amplifiers, except the Champ, in 1960. From 1960 till 1964, the Fender company produced the Blonde amplifier, there after they produced the Blackface.

The Blackface was produced from 1964 till 1967 and during their production CBS took over Fender, and after the buyout the only thing that changed on the amp was the front panel, which was changed from “Fender Electric Instruments” to “Fender Musical Instruments”.Fender Silverface amplifiers were built between 1967 and 1981. They are often referred to as Silverface (or Chromeface) because of their brushed aluminum face plate. The first Silverface amps, manufactured between 1967 and 1969, had an aluminum frame around the grillcloth. All of the Silverface amps had blue labels on the face plate, with the exception on the Bronco, which had a red label.

If you’re looking to pick up your own
Fender Amp
, to go with your Fender Guitar look no further than the
Guitar Lounge

About the Author

The Guitar Lounge is a specialist guitar store in Sydney stocking only Fender, it’s a Fender players paradise.