This was definitely one of my favorite amps I've ever owned. At one point I even bought a second one and ran them in stereo. How cool am I? This was a 1983 Fender Concert amp that was part of the series of amps that were designed by Paul Rivera. In 1982 Paul basically saved the Fender amp line that was floundering and getting off-track back in the early eighties...he also came up with the Champ II, the Super Champ (one of the most coveted modern era amps of all time), Princeton Reverb II, Deluxe II, and the Twin Reverb II. Maybe more. The specs I found on the 'net include: 1-12" speaker - 60 watts, all tube with 2 channel w/switching, point to point wiring - bright push-pull on clean channel, mid-boost push-pull on gain channel - gain channel has gain/vol/master for fine adjust of distortion level - effects loop has return send trim pots.
The best part about this particular amp is that I found it over in the dirty, dusty corner of a pawn shop in San Clemente, CA that just had the word "GUNS" real big on it's sign out front.
Lots of surf boards and other crap and one dirty, dusty Fender Concert amp. I talked him down to $200 and loaded it in the car. Got it home and took the better part of a Friday night cleaning the whole thing up. Getting the dirt out of the inside of a combo amp always seems like the biggest pain in the ass, but once you get it all looking nice you feel pretty good about taking the extra time to do it right. The older style blackface look to this amp is really nice and, once I got the tolex all ArmourAll'ed up and shiny, it was looking sweet.
I plugged it in and, man, this thing sounded great. The sixty watts were more than enough and it really had a sweet spot that you rarely get to crank up to unless you are gigging in a large club. I remember it being fairly heavy for a 12" combo and, now that I think about it, right about the time that I was lugging this thing to gigs I ended up getting a hernia. Now I'm not blaming Paul Rivera or Fender for the fact that I eventually had to have surgery, but I'm pretty sure that pulling that thing in and out of the truck didn't help.
Anyway, great amp and I would highly recommend grabbing one if it wanders too close to you and no one is watching. The only reason I let mine go was because I hit a point where I wasn't playing live and I finally talked myself into believing that the space it was taking up (c'mon, it's only a 12" combo amp...not a stack) could be better used by a plant or something. My bad.
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26 comments:
If you really wanted to put up a plant, you could have recessed the wall where the amp goes. Or put a plexiglass frame over it and put the plant on a high table. Or Gotten a cactus and put it on top of the amp. Or. ..
Did I say it was ME that needed room for a plant? I meant MY WIFE.
i have this amp. I just love it.
i have one and it rocks!quite powerful little thing!
I have an '83 Concert that I purchased from the original owner, who had replaced the capacitors, as well as the speaker, which had worn out (was a Fender Blue - his amp tech replaced it with an Avatar Hellatone 60, which is just a slightly modified Celestion Vintage 30 8 ohm). He said his tech preferred it to a regular Celestion or an ElectroVoice for this particular model. I recently had my tech replace all the tubes (9) with Mesa Boogie tubes and go over it with a fine tooth comb - what a difference! This amp is IDEAL for Classic Rock, but can deliver Metal w/pedals. If the sound of a Strat or Les Paul circa late'60s-1979 is your thing, get this amp - at the least, upgrade what you've got with a Hellatone speaker & Boogie tubes (my tech advised Groove Tubes on vintage Marshals & some vintage Vox models, Boogie tubes on all vintage Fender amps).
I got my amp this morning, I was looking for a twin, and found one online, but the amp was sold before I got to place, you know first come first served thing, so the guy sad -I have another amp it's concert, it's old and dusty, I can let you take it for 100 bucks, sorry about the twin-, sow we plug the thing in, I mean the thing it looked like a pice of shit, the guy sad it was from the 80's and that fender did not do anything good in that time, I was impressed, and made a poker face, the guy sow my no expression and sad take it for 80 I paid 50 in the end, got home with this ugly, heavy, dust collecting, loud pice of work, my wife was not happy, sow she got online, after reading reviews checking prices she comes in to the room and ask, (in an alarming piste of way) -how much did you spend on the amp- -50 bucks-- for real, you did not pay nothing over 500- -no, what f@#- . And know I'm writing this comment with a smile on my face... Best 50 bucks ever spend...
I bought one 2 years ago from a friend. After trying every amp on the planet for my Rickenbacker 360/12, this one had the perfect tone I was looking for. Paid $500 for it, which may be high, but it sure is worth it to me!
i have been playing my 83 concert now for about 15 years, fabulous clean tone...trying to decide if i like the overdrive tone...prefer to set channel 2 to clean and run a ts9 pedal with the mid switch pulled... using a vintage 30 speaker...great retro classic tone, loud and dependable...best 300 beans i ever spent
I've sold/traded a lotta gear that I miss over the last 45 odd years of playing (Alembic, Gibson, Travis Bean, Fender, Rickenbacker, Vox, Marshall & even Danelectro stuff), but you picked one amp that I happened to have kept! Yeah, I love this heavy little amp, too, guys. One of the last real hand-wired production Fender amps, so I hear. Very versatile... both clean & over-driven, and LOUD for it's size. You know it's a great piece of gear when you can come back and find something new that you like about it. Thanks, all, for re-inforcing my feelings.
I own one! I's got an Electro-voice speaker 12-inch with a paper cone. Man, it's the baddest! I almost sold it, but thank God I didn't. A Heritage Gold Top, the full volume, gain 5-7, full treble, full midrange, no bass, reverb on 4and I'm as happy as he proverbial pig in the proverbial substance. It sounds filthy, great, "modern" blues sound
I bought my 2x10 Concert in 1983. I had no idea that this amp was special. It is in perfect condition, except for beer stains on the tolex. I just replaced the stock speakers with Rajun Cajuns after reading all the info on the net about this amp. When I was a kid I was looking more for a heavy metal sound and never got the concert to sound heavy enough. I never sold it though. Bought a Mesa rectifier 5 years ago. Now I'm getting more and more back into vintage rock and am completely in awe of the clean channel now with the new speakers. The reverb kills. My strat + Concert combination just can't be beat.
I am looking at my beaut right now. I just found another for $600 obo...thinking bout it. I have just toured 15k plus miles with mine....running it clean and a/b/y'd with an Orange rocker 30 for the distortion. holy cow! chris
ReVoLtReVoLt
I too found my '83 Concert in a pawnshop . The exterior wasn't extremely dirty but the interior had rat turds or some kind of varmint excrement in it. All knobs were there and switches all seemed to function. They let me demo it in-store and I knew right away I had found a diamond-in-the-rough...rat turds and all. Paid $250 or 275. That was back in the late nineties or early 2000 sometime. I'll never make the mistake and sell it like I did my '81 Telecaster or my little Fender Champ II amp some years back. What was I thinking!?!?
I just wanted to mention I have two of these amps- one Concert head and one Concert combo (w/ one 12" celestion speaker. Besides the speaker, the combo amp is stone stock. The Concert head I modified per instructions found in one of Aspen Pittman's Tube Amplifier Handbooks (don't remember what revision). This mod entailed converting the amp to run EL34 power tubes- I must say that this mod really sweetened up the overall tone of the Concert amp, especially in the overdriven stage. NOTE: It is very important to use a good quality set of power tubes (mine are the Czechoslovakian-made EL34 Groove Tubes).
Both amps freakin' rock. The guitars I play through these babies are either a '93 Les Paul Standard, or a '97 Fender Roadhouse Stratocaster.
One other thing: were any of you aware that you can obtain extra gain by plugging in a patch cord between the "send" and "return" jacks of the amp's effects loop (in the back panel)? The gain level can then be adjusted (using the send/return knobs) according to the player's own taste- Don't worry, this is actually a recommended option per the Fender Concert owner's manual. IMO this makes a huge difference in the tone quality of the amp's distortion.
Anyway, keep on rockin'
i just tried that tip from rusty, patching the send & return effects loop and HOLY BROWN SOUND BATMAN, I sound like Hendrix!!! No shit! I bought this amp from a friend back in the 80's. i don't even remember how much I paid but it wasn't much. He was down on his luck. i didn't really want it, I was totally happy with my Marshall 100 watt half stack and a '65 Super Reverb in a Vibroverb cab, so the amp has mostly sat around for 20+ years. I spent all morning playing around with that thing and man let me tell you the harmonics and overtones and spank and sqounk going I'm getting out of it is insane! Playing an American Standard Deluxe Strat and my 71 LP. I'm going to change the speaker though - too brassy. what do y'all think? I was thinking Ragin' Cajun or maybe just a Jensen? Thx y'all!
i have a fender concert amp bought in 1983. Should I keep it (I am moving). I don't play much anymore if at all (but the dream is still there). How much is it worth? How much would a similar replacement cost? Are new amps (I assume they don't use tube tech.) better?
I bought a 1983 Fender concert amp back in 1983, I put a 200 watt EVMS12 and Groove tubes in it, sits on top of a Marshall cab with 4x12 celestions, played through with a 1976 Les Paul Standard, toss in a Boss DS1, MXR PHASE, MXR Dyna Comp and a Boss EQ, HOLLY S#*%!! What a sound, the ultimate crunch. If you get a chance to get your hands on one of theese GEMS, grab it!!
I have had one of these since the 80's when I was still learning how to play, great amp! Clean or slightly dirty the sound is just great, too much amp distortion sounds like a can of bees! I Still have the first good guitar I owned as well; a 1982 Les Paul Custom (paid 550 used!). That guitar with my Boss Super Overdrive pedal I got at the same time through this amp is still the best tone I ever got.
I have a 4x10 '83 Concert. I bought it in '86 and it is still without any mod. Why(?)...it sounds great especially with my Strats and Teles and it is soooo versatile and very reliable on tour. I get almost every sound I need out of it, and if not, my parametric EQ pedal helps me further. I took it together with my '86 Hiwatt halfstack ( for the British sounds :-) on tour through Europe and I did not miss a thing. I won't sell it, never!
Guys, I just picked this combo up. It sounds great BUT for some reason it has a 15" Weber speaker in it. I want CLEAN and WARM so I was thinking of putting a couple Jensen 10" speakers in it. Any thoughts?
John in Ohio
I have a 1983 concert I bought back in 83 and I put a 200 watt EV 12 in it and groove tubes! Sits on top of Marshall cabinet with 4 12 inch Celestions !!!! WOW!! What a warm sound with my 76 Les Paul Standard!!!
@Reverend John: I think a couple of 10" would sound fantastic. Always been a fan of 10's.
I bought this amp when it first came out still use it everyday and the sound is awesome
Came upon this blog late, but I have had my '81 Concert for going on 27 years now (ouch, it hurt to say that). This amp traveled with me across the country a couple times, once on tour with a reasonably (at the time) popular Sub Pop band. The French band that toured with us had a guitarist who was the only member of the four piece who was not a brother of the other, and he used the Concert as well! Two distinctly different sounds, performed every night without a hiccup.
The amp came to me with a stock 12" EV and is bomb-proof. I only recently (5 yrs ago) replaced the tubes with Sovtek, and that literally doubled the power of this already extremely loud amplifier. I have an '84 Marshall JCM 800 50 watt that has a hard time keeping up with the Concert. I cannot say enough good things about my beloved Fender amp. In my youth, I had a '67 Bassman 10 that I used as a guitar amp, and that is the only amp that I loved more, but the Concert does not require me to apply fingernail polish to the speaker cones every time I play a gig!
I have one of these, and indeed it's a great vintage amp. Mine is in almost unused condition. I'm thinking of selling it. What should I ask? Mine has 2x12" Jensens in it.
John - in Ohio
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