Bill, no offense intended here. You are theoretically correct, but factually a bit fuzzy. If Fender still had the components, they used them until they ran out. Furthermore, you could order just about anything you wanted.
I have my cousin’s 1964 brown tolex, brown control face Fender Reverb unit that he ordered to match his 1962 Concert Amp and 1962 Super Amp — and yes, I have those amps too. When he ordered his Strat with gold hardware for Christmas in 1966, he also ordered a Vibrolux Reverb. Sure enough, they put gold sparkle grill cloth on the amp instead of silver sparkle. Fender often did that for gold hardware/amp combos. I still have that amp, but the guitar was gone long before I came into the picture.
They also did whatever it took to deliver an item. They weren’t thinking about the future collectibility of their products. In fact, the Vibrolux with gold sparkle grill cloth may have simply been a convenient way to use up existing material, especially since CBS owned Fender by that time.
Many supposed “anomalies” were actually quite common — they were just examples of companies, like all others, using whatever was on hand to maximize, drum roll please… profit, of course.
That’s true…by ’64 it would have disappeared altogether?? Or maybe evolved into the 4×10 Super-Reverb?
There is no such thing as a 64 Brown super.
hey Kitch, glad u found the site too. This is a great site for amp info. I have only used the Super once because I don’t gig that much and most are very small venues where I can get by with a smaller amp. But the Super sounded great and it is here in my arsenal with hopes of using it again. One interesting note; I have noticed that the cabinet is kind of “boxy”, meaning a little bit large. I guess that’s because it is a 1960, meaning a first year brown amp, with Fender perhaps still refining things. It would seem to me that the cabinet should be as small as a blackface Vibrolux. Then again, the cabinet size may contribute to the sound. Either way, it is killer. And Kitch, depending how bad you want one, they are still around on ebay for relatively decent prices.
I am glad I found this page! I owned a ’64 Brown Super. I have been asking people about them for the last 30 years and no one could tell me squat about them. Everyone always said it was a Super Amp, and I always argued that it only said Super on it. They said I was Crazy. One of those things you always have hindsight about. I traded it in 1981 for a 1974 Cougar XR7 automobile in great condition (valued at $1000 by my insurance co.). That amp was the best I ever owned. Loud. Really Loud. Outrageously Loud!!!! I have been trying to replace it since and I have never found anything that comes close to it. I know that the guy I traded it to sold it for $450 in 1985. I knew the guy he sold it to, but lost track of his whereabouts in 1987. The last I heard he vas in Vegas playing in a show band. The first Amp I ever owned was a Gibson Maestro 40w 2 × 12″ with the tubes in front with and metal grate housing them (if you touche it it burned the p#*s out if you). I have no idea what year it was. I only know that it belonged to Pete Brinkley (Original backup guitarist for Chuck Berry’s band), so I’m pretty sure that it was a 50’s period amp. It didn’t even compare to the Super. Not even close. I’m sure the Gibson is worth more now, but it was definently not the better of the two. The only amp that has come close was a 1995 Sovtek MIG50 head, with a Ampeg 2×12″ cabinet. Even the Sovtek was short of the mark.
19 comments
Bill, no offense intended here. You are theoretically correct, but factually a bit fuzzy. If Fender still had the components, they used them until they ran out. Furthermore, you could order just about anything you wanted.
I have my cousin’s 1964 brown tolex, brown control face Fender Reverb unit that he ordered to match his 1962 Concert Amp and 1962 Super Amp — and yes, I have those amps too. When he ordered his Strat with gold hardware for Christmas in 1966, he also ordered a Vibrolux Reverb. Sure enough, they put gold sparkle grill cloth on the amp instead of silver sparkle. Fender often did that for gold hardware/amp combos. I still have that amp, but the guitar was gone long before I came into the picture.
They also did whatever it took to deliver an item. They weren’t thinking about the future collectibility of their products. In fact, the Vibrolux with gold sparkle grill cloth may have simply been a convenient way to use up existing material, especially since CBS owned Fender by that time.
Many supposed “anomalies” were actually quite common — they were just examples of companies, like all others, using whatever was on hand to maximize, drum roll please… profit, of course.
That’s true…by ’64 it would have disappeared altogether?? Or maybe evolved into the 4×10 Super-Reverb?
There is no such thing as a 64 Brown super.
hey Kitch, glad u found the site too. This is a great site for amp info. I have only used the Super once because I don’t gig that much and most are very small venues where I can get by with a smaller amp. But the Super sounded great and it is here in my arsenal with hopes of using it again. One interesting note; I have noticed that the cabinet is kind of “boxy”, meaning a little bit large. I guess that’s because it is a 1960, meaning a first year brown amp, with Fender perhaps still refining things. It would seem to me that the cabinet should be as small as a blackface Vibrolux. Then again, the cabinet size may contribute to the sound. Either way, it is killer. And Kitch, depending how bad you want one, they are still around on ebay for relatively decent prices.
I am glad I found this page! I owned a ’64 Brown Super. I have been asking people about them for the last 30 years and no one could tell me squat about them. Everyone always said it was a Super Amp, and I always argued that it only said Super on it. They said I was Crazy. One of those things you always have hindsight about. I traded it in 1981 for a 1974 Cougar XR7 automobile in great condition (valued at $1000 by my insurance co.). That amp was the best I ever owned. Loud. Really Loud. Outrageously Loud!!!! I have been trying to replace it since and I have never found anything that comes close to it. I know that the guy I traded it to sold it for $450 in 1985. I knew the guy he sold it to, but lost track of his whereabouts in 1987. The last I heard he vas in Vegas playing in a show band. The first Amp I ever owned was a Gibson Maestro 40w 2 × 12″ with the tubes in front with and metal grate housing them (if you touche it it burned the p#*s out if you). I have no idea what year it was. I only know that it belonged to Pete Brinkley (Original backup guitarist for Chuck Berry’s band), so I’m pretty sure that it was a 50’s period amp. It didn’t even compare to the Super. Not even close. I’m sure the Gibson is worth more now, but it was definently not the better of the two. The only amp that has come close was a 1995 Sovtek MIG50 head, with a Ampeg 2×12″ cabinet. Even the Sovtek was short of the mark.