top of page

Blond Piggyback

64' Fender Blond Showman

IMG_1438.jpg

This is a transistional 64' Showman. Fender went from 6G14a

to the AA763 circuit but kept the blond Tolex. Leo never wanted to use blond, Dick Dale needed an amp an Leo said all he had in stock was blond. Dick said that's fine, Leo said this stuff won't wear well and if you use it, people will want one.

The rest is history. Some of the early models used 7355 power tubes, after problems Leo went back to 6L6GCs. A note for both cabinets, I had these made by Paul Wisenor, who has Soultone Music. His work is outstanding! He uses a CNC to get them perfect and has some original blueprints he got for Bob Rissi. This has 8 ohm JBL D130f speakers.

64' Fender Blond Bassman

IMG_1429.jpg

I know, but here is another Holy Grail amp. The 6G6b is like the Princeton, Leo didn't change the circuit till Aug 64' but Tuxedo models (black vinyl w/white barre knobs) were produced starting June 64'. Supposedly this model was used on more Beatles recordings than a Vox AC30. George bought one, used it a while and gave it to Paul, it stayed in the studio. This is a Fender cabinet but has been re-grilled. This amp head my boss, Garth Brooks bought me at  the Houston Guitar Center shopping spree. I found the cabinet later and re-grilled it. Original blond cabinets are hard to find, like Leo said, they got dirty and beat up.

63' Fender Blond Showman

IMG_1448.jpg

This is another Holy Grail amp. It's an early 63' 6G14a Showman. This is the amp Leo called Dick Dale at 2:00am and said get over here, I've made an amp you can't blow up. Dick went over and tried, he couldn't, used this model till he passed.

The key to Leo's success was using 2 16 ohm JBL D130s with a huge output transformer. Once again, a Paul Wisenor cabinet with 2 JBL D130s I had re-coned with 16 ohm kits. The amp  head was 1 of 20 G.E. Smith sold at Cream Music. When I first turned it on, it was dead quiet, when I played it, it knocked stuff off the walls. A true piece of history!

64' Fender Blond Bandmaster

IMG_1432.jpg

Here is a Jan 64' Bandmaster, it's older than the Bassman but has Blackface and skirted knobs. Here is another Fender cabinet that's been re-grilled, original vinyl. Nice sounding 40 watt AA763 design amp with C12N Jensen speakers. I think blonds are the most stunning looking Fender amps ever produced!

63' Fender Blond Tremolux

IMG_1418.jpg

Fender's smallest piggyback, 35 watts with 2-10" Oxford 10k5 speakers. This the same chassis as the Vibrolux but a piggyback, separate amp and speaker. Supposedly, Leo got the separate idea from Bob Crooks of Standel fame, who knows, Fender got it right. My fascination with this amp started with the Blind Faith album jacket, there's an equipment shot on the back with one of these in the picture. Got lucky on this one, found the cabinet locally and it's original. The head is a very low serial number.

bottom of page