I gigged with a 12" 75 that I bought new in'80 til 84. I used no outboard effects. Very good amp for the otherwise unattainable ZZTop "Francine" type of mid boosted tone. It replaced 3 huge amps that I had been using in different configurations. I had a 100 watt Marshall full stack and an Earth GL 1000 tube head, a Kustom 100 watt bass head and 2 3-15" Altec Kustom bottoms. All white sparkle padded.[ the marshalls were black] All 3 cranked at outdoor events. When we got better PA system I moved to the 75 and never regretted it. If you can't dial in the tone you need from a 75 you don't have any business playing rock and roll. I just bought a 75 head for $100 with the tubes in a plastic sack, all broken. New JJs [2 6l6, 2 12 at7 and 3 12 ax7] and now it works as it should and sounds fantastic through a 4x12.
I have a 75 Head. Bought it new around 81? 82? Never used channel 2. Always ran a pedal board into channel 1. Channel 2 wasn't quite right. Had EV 12 Ls in it for years ...... until they became Way too heavy- Ugggh my Back. Currently putting my 12Ls into 1X12s to transport. This amp is a BEAST and is LOUD!!!!!
Great Stuff I'm the proud owner of one, bought it 2nd hand in 1984 have used it on countless gigs.... never a hassle... except for it weighing a tonne. I put wheels on mine a month after i bought it Mines got a 15" speaker
Saw this review and decided to go check out a private sale for one of these. Glad I did. The OD was a dream. I was wondering why mine sounded so nice. A sticker on the back of the speaker, old enough to have a phone # sans area code, read NATEC. Turns out NATEC was Bruce Egnators original shop from 30 yrs back. I never even knew Egnator was from my area. The way this baby sounds, I think he may have personally done some mods to this amp. Thanks for posting the Vid.
@GoldtopSam I didn't say it was the last of the Fender tube amps, I said it was one of the last of the HAND WIRED tube amps, apart from the custom shop amps that is a true statement.. I have always heard it was a Rivera era amp, thats strange that it isnt. Thanks for the info. :)
TheBlakem the Rivera models are the last of the hand wired fender amps of that era. This amp was released before them. The gain sounds a little more usable on these than the Rivera models though
No worries, but I believe all the Rivera era tube amps are wired sans a PCB. Not quite point to point. Fender used a fiber board to consolidate connections. Probably as close to point to point as Fender got from the 60's through the 80's and early 90's. I have a Fender Concert I purchased in '83 brand new from Guitar Center store no. 1 in Hollywood. Came with the Fender special design EV 12" speaker. I modified the amp using A Dan Torres Engineering kit and it really opened it up. Think Fender Concert Rivera era 2.0! It tuned the Cap values, added a amp-wide master volume, rebuilt the Bright switch, etc. Huge improvement. Anyway, thanks for the video. You're not the only one that claims it was one of the last hand wired Fender amps. Widely purported misinformation.
Excellent amp review and probably the best demo of the much maligned (deservedly) Fender 75 that YT will ever see. GJ Actually when you had the boosts engaged on the clean, the signal was being clipped and although you refer to it as being "clean" I actually heard a potentially great jazz lead tone.
The Fender 75 is a dream come true, you just need to adjust the amp for your sound and use bright speakers..... The amp is DEEP and will overload normal speakers causing the distortion to suck, but if you use bright speakers it's MAGICAL sounds just like a good MESA amp.......
The black tolex makes them look like cheap solid state's.The silver looks good, but I think I'd I went to the trouble, I'd put a unusual color on such an unusual amp. Fender made a bunch of limited release tube amps that were exceptional, and ,- thanks to social media, - only now cost as much or more than they're worth. The 15's are killer in the right amp; Peavy and Traynor make some solid combos with 15's.
Nice demo, sounds great on the clean channel. When you have a moment, re-set the grill cloth, it's kind of not quite where it should be :o) I have two of these for sale in England.
Ed jahns designed the 75, superchamp and twin II. Look it up. Other RD guys developed the other "II" series amps. Rivera was pulled in as head guy. Your review does the amp no justice. Plug a jazzmaster or strat into one of these and its blackface sweet clean belltone. Also there is no need to pump the master up to "6 or higher" 3-4 does fine. You are choking the preamp tube set on 1. It needs to be around 3-5 for a sweet tone. I've owned a few of these and still have a 15" from 1981.
As far as I know this is not a "true" 2 channel amp. That why the volume of the "clean" channel also has effect on the "lead" channel. Turning the volume of the clean al the way up, increases the distortion you get on the lead.
Thank you Tim LeBlanc, first, how much do you want for the Fender 75? then we see the details of the payment and the shipment ... I suppose the equipment is working all OK... Atte: Alfonso.
I had one of these and it pretty much sucked sound wise. Playing my old Les Paul through it proved impossible to get a sound I liked. Had it re-tubed and biased and it still had crappy sound. Finally, I sold it and bought a Carvin Belair. Now THAT is the sound I was looking for. Still have the Carvin and still love it after all these years.
you have it set all thin an trebly, the one i heard years ago was huge with great distortion,an beautiful sparkly clean..not like this a t all, more marshall plexi lik,an i wanted one back then,o well...clean your ears or something, too trebly,an no bass.....shame.............................
Havent had that amp in years and this video had been shot with a cheap camera with built in mic, everything sounded trebly on that. That amp was great with pedals but the distortion was not good in my opinion.
I gigged with a 12" 75 that I bought new in'80 til 84. I used no outboard effects. Very good amp for the otherwise unattainable ZZTop "Francine" type of mid boosted tone. It replaced 3 huge amps that I had been using in different configurations. I had a 100 watt Marshall full stack and an Earth GL 1000 tube head, a Kustom 100 watt bass head and 2 3-15" Altec Kustom bottoms. All white sparkle padded.[ the marshalls were black] All 3 cranked at outdoor events. When we got better PA system I moved to the 75 and never regretted it. If you can't dial in the tone you need from a 75 you don't have any business playing rock and roll. I just bought a 75 head for $100 with the tubes in a plastic sack, all broken. New JJs [2 6l6, 2 12 at7 and 3 12 ax7] and now it works as it should and sounds fantastic through a 4x12.
I have a 75 Head. Bought it new around 81? 82? Never used channel 2. Always ran a pedal board into channel 1. Channel 2 wasn't quite right. Had EV 12 Ls in it for years ...... until they became Way too heavy- Ugggh my Back. Currently putting my 12Ls into 1X12s to transport. This amp is a BEAST and is LOUD!!!!!
Great demo, I saw one for sale $350. I would scoop that up, but I have no room. I already have a 1980’s Fender Concert.
I have the fender 30. Its the little brother of the 75. Now I have a shot at a 75. I'm going to own both amps. This was a great video. Good job.
Great Stuff
I'm the proud owner of one, bought it 2nd hand in 1984 have used it on countless gigs.... never a hassle... except for it weighing a tonne. I put wheels on mine a month after i bought it
Mines got a 15" speaker
Saw this review and decided to go check out a private sale for one of these. Glad I did. The OD was a dream. I was wondering why mine sounded so nice. A sticker on the back of the speaker, old enough to have a phone # sans area code, read NATEC. Turns out NATEC was Bruce Egnators original shop from 30 yrs back. I never even knew Egnator was from my area. The way this baby sounds, I think he may have personally done some mods to this amp. Thanks for posting the Vid.
Hey man I saw you on the LP forums. I just got a the head version and I'm in NH too! I love the amp so far! Nice playing BTW.
The drive channel doesn't sound bad to me. Sounds like a typical Fender drive channel. I am liking it!
@GoldtopSam I didn't say it was the last of the
Fender tube amps, I said it was one of the last of the HAND WIRED tube amps, apart from the custom shop amps that is a true statement.. I have always heard it was a Rivera era amp, thats strange that it isnt. Thanks for the info. :)
TheBlakem the Rivera models are the last of the hand wired fender amps of that era. This amp was released before them. The gain sounds a little more usable on these than the Rivera models though
maybe not the coolest gain channel, but also, very cool in its own right; unique.
No worries, but I believe all the Rivera era tube amps are wired sans a PCB. Not quite point to point. Fender used a fiber board to consolidate connections. Probably as close to point to point as Fender got from the 60's through the 80's and early 90's.
I have a Fender Concert I purchased in '83 brand new from Guitar Center store no. 1 in Hollywood. Came with the Fender special design EV 12" speaker. I modified the amp using A Dan Torres Engineering kit and it really opened it up. Think Fender Concert Rivera era 2.0! It tuned the Cap values, added a amp-wide master volume, rebuilt the Bright switch, etc. Huge improvement.
Anyway, thanks for the video. You're not the only one that claims it was one of the last hand wired Fender amps. Widely purported misinformation.
Excellent amp review and probably the best demo of the much maligned (deservedly) Fender 75 that YT will ever see. GJ
Actually when you had the boosts engaged on the clean, the signal was being clipped and although you refer to it as being "clean" I actually heard a potentially great jazz lead tone.
@RDArtist81 WOW!!! GREAT NEWS, Glad I could help :)
@Blueguitar007 thanks for vomiting all over my video. I love the settings I do. You got your ear, I have mine.
The Fender 75 is a dream come true, you just need to adjust the amp for your sound and use bright speakers..... The amp is DEEP and will overload normal speakers causing the distortion to suck, but if you use bright speakers it's MAGICAL sounds just like a good MESA amp.......
The black tolex makes them look like cheap solid state's.The silver looks good, but I think I'd I went to the trouble, I'd put a unusual color on such an unusual amp.
Fender made a bunch of limited release tube amps that were exceptional, and ,- thanks to social media, - only now cost as much or more than they're worth.
The 15's are killer in the right amp; Peavy and Traynor make some solid combos with 15's.
Nice demo, sounds great on the clean channel. When you have a moment, re-set the grill cloth, it's kind of not quite where it should be :o) I have two of these for sale in England.
I bet a lot of people have told you how really smart you are. You ARE
Also a classy player
@GoldtopSam well , I guess I was informed wrong, thanks for the clarification...
Ed jahns designed the 75, superchamp and twin II. Look it up. Other RD guys developed the other "II" series amps. Rivera was pulled in as head guy.
Your review does the amp no justice. Plug a jazzmaster or strat into one of these and its blackface sweet clean belltone. Also there is no need to pump the master up to "6 or higher" 3-4 does fine. You are choking the preamp tube set on 1. It needs to be around 3-5 for a sweet tone. I've owned a few of these and still have a 15" from 1981.
As far as I know this is not a "true" 2 channel amp. That why the volume of the "clean" channel also has effect on the "lead" channel. Turning the volume of the clean al the way up, increases the distortion you get on the lead.
watching this makes me appreciate my blackface and silverface more..
the 75 tone i can get from pedals
When i first got mine i played in the yard and two of my neighbors commented on its nice sound! UL but with good tubes mmmm...
EXCELLENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does any Fender 2 button footswitch work?
Had mine for 30th, my uncle gave it to me,.. I still don’t understand the effects in out.. any suggestions? Links?
Thank for the demo, seems to me if you spend a little time with it, can you get a good sound out of it. Just like most guitar amps
I don’t understand, weren’t the Rivera amps handwired? I’ve seen chassis that are point to point. This can’t be last one
Its the same era as Rivera, the last of the hand wired from Fender.
I had one like that 35 year ago and I regretted losing it, I appreciate you to inform me if you know where I buy one. Thank you very much...
I have one I am considering selling. I am in New Hampshire, USA.
Thank you Tim LeBlanc, first, how much do you want for the Fender 75? then we see the details of the payment and the shipment ...
I suppose the equipment is working all OK...
Atte: Alfonso.
I am glad I don't let you turn the knobs on mine....
I had one of these and it pretty much sucked sound wise. Playing my old Les Paul through it proved impossible to get a sound I liked. Had it re-tubed and biased and it still had crappy sound. Finally, I sold it and bought a Carvin Belair. Now THAT is the sound I was looking for. Still have the Carvin and still love it after all these years.
you have it set all thin an trebly, the one i heard years ago was huge with great distortion,an beautiful sparkly clean..not like this a t all, more marshall plexi lik,an i wanted one back then,o well...clean your ears or something, too trebly,an no bass.....shame.............................
Havent had that amp in years and this video had been shot with a cheap camera with built in mic, everything sounded trebly on that. That amp was great with pedals but the distortion was not good in my opinion.
You REALLY need to learn how to put grill cloth on straight. That frankly is the worst grill cloth job I've ever seen. Redo it.