
The Fender Super Reverb is a
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
amplifier
An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...
made by
Fender. It was introduced in 1963 and was discontinued in 1982. The Super Reverb was a
Fender Super
The Fender Super was a guitar amplifier made by Fender between 1947 and 1963 and, as the Super Reverb, until 1981.
History
The Super evolved from the so-called Dual Professional, "often cited as the world's first twin-speaker amplifier," which wa ...
amplifier with built-in reverb and "vibrato" (actually tremolo). The original Super Reverb amplifiers were all-tube designs and featured spring reverb. There were two different designs, distinguishable by the color of the "face" or front control panel. Super Reverbs from 1963 through 1967 had "blackface" panels. From 1968 until its discontinuation in 1982, the Super Reverb had "
silverface
Fender amplifiers are electric instrument amplifiers produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The first guitar amplifiers attributed to Leo Fender were manufactured by the K&F Manufacturing Corporation (K&F) in 1945. Later, Fe ...
" cosmetics and circuitry. Early models in 1968, while cosmetically "silverface", did contain "blackface" circuitry.
Fender introduced a reissue '65 Super Reverb in 2001 featuring a
printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...
design rather than the hand-wired circuitry of the original '65 Super Reverb.
The Super Reverb is commonly used by blues guitarists due to its ability to deliver loud, warm tube distortion through its four 10" speakers. It is also known as having a
scooped mids tonality, meaning that there is less midrange and an emphasis of sparkly treble and full, round bass frequencies.
Specifications
Tube (valve) complement:
* 4 × 12AX7,
* 2 × 12AT7,
* 2 × 6L6,
* 1 × 5AR4/GZ34 RectifierTube for blackface amps and 5U4GB for silverface amps
Two channels: Normal and Vibrato, with Bright Switch
Dimensions:
* Height:
* Width:
* Depth:
* Weight: approx.
* 40 watts into 4×10" 8-Ohm Jensen, Oxford, or JBL, or CTS speakers (wired in parallel for 2 Ohms)
* Silverface models: 45 watts (power increased to 70 watts in 1977 and a solid state rectifier added. These are known as the "ultralinear" models with different transformers. Master volume was added after 1972, and pull-out boost circuit added in 1975. Line Out jack socket and a 3-band equalization for the Normal Channel added in 1978.) Silverface amps made between '68 and '72 were emblazoned with "Super Reverb-Amp" with a tailed amp logo in the grille cloth. After 1972 this was changed to just "Super Reverb" and the tailed Fender logo from the mid-1960s was replaced with a modern "unscripted" tailless amp decal (changed to a "scripted" style in 1977). There were only minor adjustments made to the pre-1975 silverface Super Reverbs. Today aftermarket kits are sold for non-master silverface amps allowing them to be taken back to the more desired blackface specs.
* A master volume was added in late 1974.
* A "Boost" control was added in 1975.
* A Mid control for the Normal channel and a Line Out jack socket were added in 1978.
* Super Reverbs produced between late 1980 and 1981 have blackface cosmetics and a silver sparkle grille cloth but the same circuitry as prior years.
Some early Super Reverb amplifiers came with the option of factory equipped JBL speakers instead of the Jensen, Oxford or Utah speakers widely used in the majority of Fender amplifiers. The JBL speakers had aluminum dust caps with larger magnets and voice coils, this gives a fuller response range and handles more power reducing the risk of "blowing a speaker". These models also add to the overall weight of the amp, making casters (wheels) a very good option.
Super Six Reverb
The Super Six Reverb is essentially a master volume
Twin Reverb
The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Fender Stratocaster, Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known f ...
or
Dual Showman Reverb equipped with six Oxford 10L6 (or CTS 10" AlNiCo) speakers featuring 10"/5.2 ohms (8 ohms each in series-parallel) and 100 watts RMS (changed to 135W in 1977). Introduced in 1972, this
silverface
Fender amplifiers are electric instrument amplifiers produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The first guitar amplifiers attributed to Leo Fender were manufactured by the K&F Manufacturing Corporation (K&F) in 1945. Later, Fe ...
combo amplifier was discontinued in 1979.
Notable users
*
Daniel Rossen
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*
Ronnie Earl
Ronnie Earl (born Ronald Horvath, March 10, 1953, Queens, New York, United States) is an American blues guitarist and music instructor.
Earl who grew up collecting various music records, pursued a degree in special education and education at Bo ...
*
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...
*
Jimmie Vaughan
Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunder ...
*
Johnny Marr
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*
Lee Ranaldo
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*
Isaac Brock
*
Freddie King
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*
Jimmy Page
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Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
*
Robben Ford
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*
Derek Trucks
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*
Anson Funderburgh
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Career
Funde ...
*
Philip Sayce
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Early life
Sayce was born in Aberystwyth on June 3, 1976, his family moved to Canada when he was two years old, and he grew up in Toron ...
*
Bryce Dessner
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*
Carrie Brownstein
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During a long hiatu ...
*
Alex Lifeson
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*
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...
*
Doyle Bramhall II
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Early life
Bramhall was born ...
*
Fred "Sonic" Smith
Frederick Dewey Smith (September 14, 1948 – November 4, 1994), known professionally as Fred "Sonic" Smith, was an American guitarist and member of the rock band MC5. He married and raised two children with poet and fellow rock musician Patti S ...
*
East Bay Ray
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*
Laura Chavez
*
Marcus King
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His 2020 album ''El Dorado'' recorded under his own name receiv ...
See also
*
Fender Super
The Fender Super was a guitar amplifier made by Fender between 1947 and 1963 and, as the Super Reverb, until 1981.
History
The Super evolved from the so-called Dual Professional, "often cited as the world's first twin-speaker amplifier," which wa ...
References
Instrument amplifiers
S
Valve amplifiers
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