Well, I got my Fender 75 with a 15″ speaker around 1980 when I was about 18. It’s the only amp I’ve ever used live, and here’s the story — I loaned it to a friend once, and he fried the transformer. The issue with that model was that electricity could jump out of the transformer, so I had mine rewired and the transformer relocated, which unfortunately ruined the quality of the “Lead” tone. Since then, that channel has sounded kind of bluesy and ratty, so I rarely use it. These days, I run the amp into a Mesa Boogie CabClone and from there straight to the desk. I’ve never had any trouble getting a wide range of cool sounds out of it — it’s an incredibly versatile amp and can sound just like a Fender from the ’60s. When playing live, I usually skip the lead channel and run a Boogie V-Twin pedal in the line: 1976 Fender Telecaster Custom → Morley Power Wah → EHX Memory Man Deluxe → Boogie V-Twin Preamp → Fender 75. With that setup, you can easily nail Santana tones and much more. If you’re chasing metal sounds, try a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem preamp before the amp — you can go from Laney to Plexi tones with no problem. P.S. — this amp also has the best reverb I’ve ever heard. The only downside is the lack of vibrato, but I fix that by running a Strymon Flint in the FX loop. To use the loop, you’ll need a 2× mono-to-stereo cable; I use one from Planet Waves. The Fender 75 is one of the only amps that truly “bells,” “rings,” and “sings” — terms that describe how the cabinet interacts with the tubes. It’s a great amp, often misunderstood or dismissed by people who don’t like it just because it’s not a Twin Reverb, LOL. Personally, I have no trouble at all getting mine to sound just like a Twin Reverb. On the clean channel, it stays pretty clean up until around Gain = 8.

I bought this amp brand new in 1982, its the silver grillcloth combo with the 15″ speaker. Can you elaborate on what you said here–disconnect your reverb out/in and place a single lead to bridge and bypass the spring reverb in your combo or head. I would like to try this but unsure how to do it. Also, i would like to swap out the original speaker but not sure what to replace it with, any ideas? Thanks

Hey Rick, sounds like you got a great deal on the amp! You must be thrilled. Yes, you’ll need the footswitch — unfortunately, it’s a bespoke one made specifically for this amp. You can order them from TAD, or check out this link for a workaround to disable the lead channel; otherwise, both the lead and clean channels will be active: http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/footswitch/footswitch.html. Consider this amp a keeper — it took me ages to dial in good tones, but once you do, ooooh man, sheer bliss! Try this setup after you’ve disabled the lead channel as described in the link: starting from the left, bright switch on, volume at 6, treble 6, middle 3, bass 2, reverb around 2.5–3, and master at 4 or 5. Squeaky clean, I say. Good luck, Rick!