Matthews Guitars
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- Joined
- Aug 17, 2019
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I made the mistake of checking out a garage sale today. Because it caused me to spend money.
300 dollars for a silverface Fender Pro Reverb, how am I going to say no to that? So I bought it.
It's a '78 edition, 70 watts, ultralinear output transformer, middle controls, master volume with pull boost.
Identical to one I already own.
I'm kind of a sucker for these because while they don't have the best overdrive, the DO have the best, and most glorious,
luscious, reverby clean tones going.
Externally it's very dusty. There's some tolex damage. I will patch or replace the tolex as needed, which on these amps
can be done in sections as Fender put the tolex on in four separate pieces.
The most remarkable thing about this amp, I realized, after I removed the chassis for inspection, is that this amp is utterly
factory original to the smallest thing. I think it's never been out of the cabinet before today. Caps are all original, and
the two big ones have leaked a little at the vents.
Even all tubes are original. Date coded and type correct, preamp and power tubes, all of them. Original Fender orange print
7025s, 12AT7s, and 6L6GCs.
The chassis doesn't have a single etched-in fingerprint on it. The metalwork is bright with only some yellow Cadmium oxide in
places.
The condition of the chassis is actually awesome. I've never seen such an utterly pristine example this old before.
Even the original red plug on the end of the power cord is still there and the ground prong isn't broken off! That alone is pretty rare!
The front silverface panel does have some degradation, but not much. A little worm tracking corrosion and some clearcoat loss.
It's made it 45 years without needing service. Says a lot for how well made these were.
Aside from noisy pots, it's also 100 percent functional, clean, and quiet. Works like a champ! Or, more properly, like a PRO.
Plans: Clean up the very dusty cabinet, inside and out, patch the tolex or replace the damaged pieces, replace the caps that NEED it,
and resell it for a modest profit. Because I don't really need twin Pro Reverbs.
300 dollars for a silverface Fender Pro Reverb, how am I going to say no to that? So I bought it.
It's a '78 edition, 70 watts, ultralinear output transformer, middle controls, master volume with pull boost.
Identical to one I already own.
I'm kind of a sucker for these because while they don't have the best overdrive, the DO have the best, and most glorious,
luscious, reverby clean tones going.
Externally it's very dusty. There's some tolex damage. I will patch or replace the tolex as needed, which on these amps
can be done in sections as Fender put the tolex on in four separate pieces.
The most remarkable thing about this amp, I realized, after I removed the chassis for inspection, is that this amp is utterly
factory original to the smallest thing. I think it's never been out of the cabinet before today. Caps are all original, and
the two big ones have leaked a little at the vents.
Even all tubes are original. Date coded and type correct, preamp and power tubes, all of them. Original Fender orange print
7025s, 12AT7s, and 6L6GCs.
The chassis doesn't have a single etched-in fingerprint on it. The metalwork is bright with only some yellow Cadmium oxide in
places.
The condition of the chassis is actually awesome. I've never seen such an utterly pristine example this old before.
Even the original red plug on the end of the power cord is still there and the ground prong isn't broken off! That alone is pretty rare!
The front silverface panel does have some degradation, but not much. A little worm tracking corrosion and some clearcoat loss.
It's made it 45 years without needing service. Says a lot for how well made these were.
Aside from noisy pots, it's also 100 percent functional, clean, and quiet. Works like a champ! Or, more properly, like a PRO.
Plans: Clean up the very dusty cabinet, inside and out, patch the tolex or replace the damaged pieces, replace the caps that NEED it,
and resell it for a modest profit. Because I don't really need twin Pro Reverbs.
