TQRResident Amp Whiz Dave Boze and I recently spent on entire day with Victoria Amplifier founder Mark Baier and his production facility 30 minutes outside of Chicago, where we were surrounded like pallets of re-issue Jensen speakers fresh from Italy, shelves brimming with meticulously assembled circuit boards awaiting installation, row after row of boxed NOS Tubes, and of course, The Amps. There are definitely worse ways to spend a day, especially when it ends at Buddy Guy's Legends blues club listening to Anson Funderburgh and local Chicago blues talent!

The currently do have Mark Baier to think deciding that the world needed more tweed amps, and he has indeed built them-identical reproductions of virtually the entire line of Fender tweed amps manufactured in the late '50s, with a few respectful enhancement added along the way. The brief, non-technical description of the line follows, and you'll learn some interesting tactical details on the Victoria's (and Leo's tweeds) in the accompanying interview with Mark.

The original Fender Champ was termed a "student" amp in the Fender literature, with around 8W of power and an 8" Jensen AlNiCo speaker appearing in the late '50s tweed models. Eric Clapton used a tweed Champ on the "Layla" sessions, and they are fun little amps with a lot all of raucous Class A muscle that belies their size. Victoria will also build earlier versions of About Champ on request.

The original Fender tweed Deluxe featured a single Jensen 12" and is considered by many to be the ultimate 18W Blues Machine for small club work. Ditto with the Victoria Deluxe.

The Double Deluxe never really existed until Victoria designed its 2-12" version of the Deluxe circuit with higher output of 35W-40W, depending on the rectifier tube used. This amp smokes!

The Victoria version of the Super offers a traditional 2-10" configuration boosted to 35W-think about Vibrolux sans reverb. The original tweed Bandmaster introduced a new 3-10" Speaker configuration in the mid-'50s that Victoria has also re-issued at 35W.

The Pro offers a single 15" with BIG tone and 35W of power (one of our favorite Blues combos).

The legendary 45410 Bassman boasts 40W and 4-10" Jensen re-issue AlNiCo P10R's, and the mighty low-power and (yeah, right) 50212 Twin hits 50W (but sounds like a lot more) with 2 Jensen reissue C12N's being our definite first-choice over traditional AlNiCo speakers in this amp.

Two powerful 80W versions of the Bassman and Twin are also offered for the big stages, outdoor venues, and players seeking revenge on their neighbors for complaining that a Deluxe Reverb is too loud. "Oh, really? Well, try this!"

The Mystique Surrounding Fender Tweed
If you own a vintage Fender amp or two you've no doubt grown to appreciate the awesome and-uiquely musical tone that the original Fender tweed amps deliver. But damn have they become expensive! A pristine '59 Deluxe recently sold on eBay for $1,800 and the Bassman and Twin models routinely sell for $3,500 in "good" condition, which is often road-weary, torn and frayed, with one or more replaced or reconed speakers. And that is precisely why Mark decided to recreate these legendary amps - so more of us could enjoy Leo Fender's timeless designs for another 50 years! (Victoria will also restore your vintage Fender tweed amp circuitry back to it's former glory upon request). If you're relatively unfamiliar with tweed tone, the following comments are provided to help unveil the mystique surrounding these wonders of simplicity and Fender tone that Victoria has so carefully recreated.

Consider the Fender tweed-era amps and the Victories to be musical instruments every bit as much as the guitars you'll play through them. These amps breathe with a unique voice that is unmistakably tweed, and for players seeking sweet, overdriven, saturated tone that's dripping with classic Fender character, these may be the ultimate blues, rock, jazz, and swing amps. We've extolled the considerable virtures of the small black and silverface Fender combo amps in the pages of TQR in the past; low power ratings of 18W-35W simply enable players to milk more tone out of an amp at reasonable stage volume. The Victorias meet our requirements in this respect to near-perfection. Although it's essential to remember that every amp is a tool designed to meet the demands of specific applications, Dave Boze and I definitely discovered a few favorites among the entire range of Victorias we sampled, and we even agreed on our choices, so let's get to `em!

The Victoria 35212 Double Deluxe
For clubs with small to medium stages where miking is generally not going to be necessary, we both worshipped the tone of The Victoria 35212 Double Deluxe, and our admiration was intense. This amp was equipped with 2 Jensen reissue ceramic magnet C12N speakers (although other options are available) and power is rated at 35W. Clean, sparkling tone is evident at volume settings ranging from 3-5, but it's when we pushed this thing into high gear that The Double Deluxe hit it's stride, producing astounding overdriven tone. This amp is indeed an instrument to be played in every sense. Variations in pick attack are totally transparent, and every nuance can be felt and heard. Rich harmonics just ooze out of this amp when driven with single coils, and subtle adjustments to the volume and tone controls on the guitar are transmitted directly through the amp with a transparency that is remarkable. Nudge the volume pot down from "10" on the guitar and clean, sparkling tone emerges. Likewise, a slight cut on the treble pot produces a creamy and mellow alternative to all-out spank and soaring highs. Like the smaller Deluxe, The Double Deluxe is an instrument to be played, admired, and enjoyed, and we cannot recommend it highly enough for the right applications. However, the Double Deluxe also has its limitations. It wasn't designed to produce crystal clear, clean tone with headroom when cranked to high volume, and those or you who want or need that capability may wish to consider our next choicce in the Victoria line-the 50212 low power Twin. But don't let the term "low power" fool you. Let's first place 50W of power squarely in perspective...

The Victoria 50212 Low Power Twin
ToneQuest advisory board member Peter Stroud, guitarist with the Sheryl Crow Band, routinely plays some of he large outdoor venues and indoor arenas on the planet, and he continues to faithfully rely on his favorite tandem consisting of a mid-70's Marshall 50W combo with 2-12"s, and a 40W silverface Fender Super Reverb (A/B'd but not used together). Peter has told us that he leaves his volume settings of "6-7" pretty much unchanged regardless of the venue. The point being made here is an important one; 50W is more than enough clout for any conceivable application today, and it provides an incredibly big sound if and when you need it.

Victoria's 50212 Twin is indeed a very powerful amp, but the story doesn't end there. This amp has a uniquely soulful voice that spans the entire range of rock-solid low-end response, to soaring, seemingly endless highs, with well-balanced mid-range. There is absolutely no sag evident on low notes, and unlike many other powerful amps we can think of, you'll hear no obvious holes or seemingly "scooped" frequencies with The Twin. The Jensen C12N speakers are also very well-matched to the Twin's tweed circuitry and gigantic transformers. The Twin delivers a strong, powerful, and aggressive tone that will fill any concert venue with uniquely musical sound that can be creatively shaped with the tone controls to achieve a broad range of sonic colorations. Provided that you can truly use its power, The Twin is an extremely versatile amp that overdrives brilliantly, yet still fills the needs of players seeking clean tone at high volumes. Rock players in particular will find the Twin to be the tweed-era amp of choice, and we felt that it offered that trademark Marshall crunch with more headroom and tone than any Marshall small-box head or combo we've ever heard. If there is a downside to the Twin other than weight, we simply couldn't find it. But again, we urge our readers to carefully consider their practical power requirements first. If the limitations of the rooms you are playing will prevent you from cranking a 50W Twin into the range of "5-6" on the volume control, you'll never tap the soul of this amp, in the absence of a stompbox, and that would be a shame.

The Victoria 45410 Bassman
The remaining models in the Victoria line are equally unique, and they share the same soulful, tweed-family tone. The 45410 Baseman is a superb and very powerful amp with a unique voice that's largely shaped by the 4-10" speaker configuration coupled with a 2 ohm transformer. In our evaluation, The Bassman seemed to display a natural presence and forward voice that held up unusually well at higher volumes even when driven hard, and the bass response was extremely tight thanks to the Jensen reissue P10R speakers. The Bassman is a versatile classic considered by many to be the ultimate guitar amplifier, period. Players seeking a more traditional 50's tweed sound with power will find that The Bassman fits the bill perfectly. It's a little more manageable that than the Twin in terms of volume, but still a very loud amp when pushed, and the crunch of 10" speakers provides a slightly more compressed and less beamytone than 2 12's.

The Victoria 35115 Pro
The Pro (35115) promises a very pleasant surprise to the uninitiated. A well-made vintage 15" speaker is a joy to be heard in the right hands, but they have also become increasingly hard to find these days hence the current waiting list for Victoria Pros. Dave Boze swears by the EV SRO 15", and vintage Jensen and JBLs can be found occasionally, although they are never cheap, even when reconed. The tweed Pro was the flagship of the entire line of Fender tweed amps for years, and it produces a lush sound that is unique to a 15" speaker, and the Pro circuit. These amps break up very nicely (and early) due to their smaller output transformers.

The Victoria Super
The Super is another excellent choice for players seeking the tone of 2-10's and their more compressed and musical crunch. We recommend this amp in particular for players using guitars equipped with humbucking pickups; the 2-10" speaker configuration seems uncommonly suited to them. Come to think of it...a Telecaster is right at home with this amp as well. The Super is a versatile club amp with tone to the bone at manageable volumes with a Vox-like chime.

The Victoria Deluxe
The Deluxe is a low-power tone machine appropriate for small clubs and rehearsals, but keep in mind that its tone will become dirty very quickly as the volume is increased. This is not an amp capable of providing players with an abundance of clean headroom at higher stage volumes, but if small clubs and saturated sustain are where you live, the Deluxe could be the tweed you need.

The Victoria Champ
The Champ is an often overlooked practice alternative for apartment dwellers, or rockers and blues players whose practice environment demands low volume. The standard Champ with a single 8" speaker can't hold its own with a drummer, but for solo playing with overdriven crunch, these amps rock! They can also provide a very interesting contrast to the sound of larger amps in studio applications, yielding a Class A bark that sounds every bit as "big" as the big dogs on tape. I frequently use my '64 Champ for late night jamming when I don't want to disturb the family, and I would certainly miss it. Mark Baser will also make earlier versions of The Champ, and as with most Victories, you can custom-mix new and exciting speaker combos that extend beyond the original 6" and 8" Champ models.

The Victoria Reverberato
The Victoria Reverberato is a unique design that features tube tremolo and reverb in a tweed package. Lush in the operative word here, and we agreed with Mark's description of the tremolo circuit sounding suitably "greasy" enough to make The Reverend Billy F. Gibbons proud. Check out Mark's interview for more information on the Reverberato. It's a very cool tool.

Victoria will custom build almost any amp in the line with reverb for an additional charge, and they will also create custom combinations of specific amps with speaker configurations never offered by Leo Fewer or anyone else.

Details, Details, Details
Your choice of speakers and tubes can also make a dramatic impact on tone, and this fact has not been lost at Victoria. All Victoria amps leave the factory with NOS American and European tubes that have been carefully matched and tested. The only exception here applies to the 5AR4 rectifier tubes, which are Chinese, although you may order NOS American and European rectifiers for an additional charge. We know of no other amplifier. manufacturer that goes to such lengths to insure that the quality of construction is mirrors by the choice of components used. If this sounds like an advertisement, we can only plead guilty to having told the truth for what it is...

The fit and finish of Victoria's solid pine, box-jointed cabinets and hand-lacquered tweed covering is uncommonly good, perhaps defining what one should expect from a "boutique" manufacturer. These amps are as enjoyable to look at as they are to play, and as you'll read in the accompanying interview, the cabinets contribute significantly to the tone of the original Fender tweed designs.

But Tweed Tone Ain't for Everyone...
Our review would be incomplete without noting the limitations inherent in an entire line of amplifiers originally designed with technology that was state-of-the-art nearly 50 years ago. These amps are not for players who depend on channel switching, effects loops, master volume circuits, hum balance, sophisticated EQ, direct-out jacks, and other modern conveniences. While Victories are comparatively stripped-down in their authentic tweed (they do have bias adjustment pots added), no expense has been spared in acquiring components from the original manufacturers who supplied Fender in the 50's. Interleaved transformers, "degraded" filter caps, Allen-Bradley carbon-comp resistors, fiber eyelet boards, cloth-covered wire, amp chassis, and cabinets all have been faithfully reproduced in the exact image of the originals at great expense. According to Mark Baler, getting this stuff back into production required a commitment to purchase enough components to build thousands of amps before the first one was ever sold! You'll get what you pay for, but know what you're getting-50's classic tone, not boutique 90's technology.

Your investment in a new Victoria amplifier will range from roughly $2,000 - $3,000. You'll get a lifetime warranty on everything but tubes and speakers, and ongoing access to Mark Baier, which is always informative, and never dull or boring. He remembers all of his "direct" customers and he outwardly enjoys discussing all things related to tube tone (including hi-fi).

Bargain-hunters will be happy to know that used Victorias can also occasionally be found now on the usual web sites, including GuitarBase, Harmony Central, and Vintage Guitar Classifieds for almost half of their original retail cost, but they don't last long.

We recommend Victorias highly for their purely authentic sound and superb craftsmanship. If tweed tone is your cup of tea, the Quest for Tweed Tone stops here. If you're unsure about your "Need for Tweed," call or write Mark Baier for more information, and enjoy the following interview. We think you'll find the Victoria story as fascinating as we did.TQ

TQR: Mark, we're constantly being asked about matching the right amplifiers for specific gigs, and there seem to be a lot of big, expensive amps being sold by players who originally overestimated their power needs. How do the various Victoria models stack up in practical terms that players can relate to?

Yeah...one of the joints I play regularly is a typical corner bar. Every Friday and Saturday night they move a couple of tables out of the way and there's your stage---barely 8x10--and the room seats about 50-70 people. I generally bring an 18W Deluxe if we're gonna do Chicago Blues. The Deluxe is an amp that overdrives quickly and with traditional Blues, the drummer hangs back a little-not quietly, but reserved. With my Muddy Waters/Little Walter style band, the Deluxe is generally enough. It's important to consider whether or not the band can hear you, as well. If you want more clean tone, or if you use pedals, more power than a Deluxe may be in order. I wouldn't bring something as large as a Bassman, but a Super (2x10), Pro (1x15) or a Bassmaster (3x10) would be appropriate. All of these amps deliver greater clarity, punch and a bigger sound on stage. The Double Deluxe (2x12) is also a great choice-bass response is tighter and headroom is improved over the regular Deluxe. The Double Deluxe also has a more forward midrange component; fans of humbucking pickups may be more comfortable with the 2x10 or 3x10 configuration. We've found that anywhere a Vox AC30 would, be desired a Double Deluxe is really at home. There are many obvious similarities-4 cathode-biased power tubes running Class A EL84's and 6V6's are quite similar tonally. The pentode EL84 has a bit more high-end extension and it isn't as smooth and textured in the midrange. But overall, both of these amps fit into the same power category, they both use 2x12's as drivers and they are renowned for their musical, chimey tone when driven. Also, an AC30 is gonna need a mic in front of it in most pro applications-just like a Double Deluxe. I really think the Vox crowd will find the Double Deluxe to be a great option.

Moving beyond small clubs into real nightclubs with a stage and house sound system opens up more possibilities. If you want to overdrive a small amp at the expense of stage presense, any of the amps I've mentioned will work well as long as you put a mic in front of them, but most players will opt for a bigger sound that only the bigger amps can deliver. By far the most popular amp is the 4x 10 Bassman- the 4x 10's will fill the stage and the bL6 power tubes provide a lot of headroom. The Bassman has the ability to vary from sounding hot and Marshally to clean and sweet with just a nudge on the guitar's volume con- trol or a change in pick attack. Aspen Pittman once called this the best guitar amp ever made and I fully concur with him. The alternative among our amps is the 50212 low-power 50W Twin (5E8-A.) It's a tad bit quicker to break up than the Bassman and is favored by rock-oriented players because of its aggressive overdriven tone. It has especially smooth and creamy top-end-never harsh or piercing-a big, complex midrange and a huge percussive low end. The low-power Twin has more in common tonally with the 3x 10 and 2x 10 amps than the Bassman, and it excels at producing tone that's reminiscent of Billy Gibbons, Dickey Betts and Duane Allman, for example.

The Victoria 80W 80212 and 80410 are really intended for the largest stages and outdoor venues and they are very loud amps. That's not to say that someone seeking very big clean tone in a small venue couldn't use them, but these amps are really serious powerplants. With more players becoming aware of the real risks of hearing loss, you generally see major artists using moderately powered rigs on stage. And sound systems are so sophisticated today that the need for those 100W combos or multiple combos just doesn't exist anymore.

The Twin is a great studio amp, actually. I'd guess that half of our pro clients utilize the 80212 as a studio amp-Nashville players mostly. What I'm saying is that the 80212 is an appropriate amp on a big stage but it isn't so appropriate in smaller clubs and bars. Whenever I hear big amps in a small joint, I'm usually wishing they'd brought a smaller amp-or two or three! 35Watts is fine for most rooms. But another big variable is the number of people in the room. The difference between a packed room and one that's half full can make a huge difference in your power requirements on a given night.

TQR: What drove you to recreate all the great tweed amps of the 50's?

Well i guess it's a matter of analyzing the problem correctly isn't it? I mean, if it's been done once, it ought to be able to be replicated. I sat down and decided to do just that, and it was a very pleasant surprise to find that many of the original suppliers were still humming along satisfying shareholders and creating good old American wealth. That shouldn't have been a surprise though, because all of the suppliers to Fender in the old days represented the best of their respective specialties, and quality endures doesn't it? I have no doubt that Victoria amps will endure for the same reasons. Was it difficult recreating these classic amps? Not really. It was a matter of obsessing about the Need for Tweed to the point that I simply had to do something about it-I had no choice I suppose.

TQR: You have obviously taken an obsessive approach to recreating all of the great Fender tweed amps, down to the very last detail.

Yeah, I've gone to great lengths to reproduce everything faithfully-the transformers being one part in particular- lots of scary mathematics going on inside those, that's for sure. They have the potential to color the sound of an amp more than a potentiometer or a resistor does by far, since they perform the duty of coupling the tubes to the speakers. And those are two very different things in nature. Guitar amp trannies are rather crude as iron goes really-low efficiency cores and losses frequency-wise in the top end make for real character, and the inherent deficiencies of these "working man" transformers create specific, essential colorations. Some players are rightfully obsessive about transformers, but this is pedestrian stuff compared to the Western Electric or Transmitting Triode crowd. You'll learn more about transformers than you could imagine if you get one of those Western Electric freaks going, man!

TQR: I suspect that a lot of players buying vintage amps don't know much about transformers or the importance of verifying that the amp they're considering has the proper, if not the original transformers, since they were frequently blown and replaced. The wrong tranny in an otherwise "original" vintage amp rather defeats the goal of acquiring authentic vintage tone, doesn't it?

David, these are friggin' hard questions to answer, man. Yeah, I guess it can defeat the purpose of buying a vintage amp. Just the other day a fellow came in with a '51 Deluxe that was making noises and it turned out just to be preamp tubes, but we opened it up to take a look at it and found out that the output transformer had been replaced. This guy paid about $1,100 for this amp and it turned out to have a piece of iron in it that you could have bought at Radio Shack in the 60's. If the goal of buying a vintage amp is for investment purposes, yeah, you definitely want to make sure that everything on it is original. But I also think that these old Fender and Gibson amps were equipped with what ever was available at the time, and I try to caution people not to get too hung up on that stuff. But it is a critical part of the whole tone equation. It's unfair to say that any vintage amp with a replacement transformer has been compromised totally, but I can't tell you how many Tweed Pro's I've found with blackface Pro or Bassman transformers in them, and that's not the direction to go. It's a good time to be using tube amps, however. With all of the attention given to vintage amps today, there are lots of sources for good replacement parts.

TQR: Who were the primary suppliers of transformers for the Tweed amps?

Triad, Chicago Transformer, Stancore, and they're still around these days.

TQR: And all of the transformers were dated?

Yeah, all of those components are clearly dated.

TQR: Come to think of it, I've seen an unusual number of tweed Pro's with replacement transformers, and they happen to be one of my favorite Blues amps. Why so many replaced trannies in the Pros, in particular?

Well, I've got a theory. In the mid 50's, the speakers used by Fender were Jensens, and if you take a look at the specs of a P15N for example, it was an 18W speaker. A P10R is rated at 9W or 10W and that's a critical factor in relation to the transformers that were used. I was fortunae to acquire the actual engineering data that was used to manufacture the original transformers from a retired engineer that had worked at Triad, and he had kept the original winding data. On these sheets where the specs are listed, one of the criteria for the transformers used for the tweed Pro, Bandmaster, and Super was that the transformers be built with "restricted low-frequency response." What this means is that they were trying to restrict low frequencies getting to the speaker, because those are the frequencies that will blow a speaker the fastest. So they were using a smaller transformer then what you would have expected for the tubes that were being used, because the way to restrict low-end is to diminish the size of the transformer core. So I think Leo Fender wanted to saturate the transformer before the speaker became saturated, but as players were turning up these amps and getting great saturated tone, they were also saturating the transformer, and probably a lot of heat was generated that over the years, caused them to fail. Of course, it would have taken just a few weeks to cause the speakers to fail.

TQR: What's the difference in the effect on tone between the power transformer and the output transformer?

Overall, a power trannie doesn't have nearly the effect on tone that an output transformer does, but it can have an effect when serious demands are placed on it and it isn't up to the task...

TQR: Why do you go to the trouble and expense to include NOS tubes in all of your amps? Few do.

Peopl want them! The market for real NOS tubes is becoming like the commodities market it seems. There is definitely a tonal difference between the new stuff and good NOS stocks. The current JAN (Joint Army-Navy) supply is generally poo-poodd by the hi-fi crowd as being too noisy and having too much distortion, and as a rule, the JAN tubes are not adequate for intense hi-fi use. But for guitar amps, we're committed to using them for a few reasons. First, these tubes were manufactured during the same period of time that the tweed amps were manufactured. It makes sense to use them in a strictly authentic sense. We buy them in bulk and screen them for noise and tonal characteristics. Another reason for using NOS tubes is purely emotional-our customers are generally very well educated and they expect the best. Using real U.S. made tubes gives them a comfort level that's important to us. It also helps set us apart from the crowd. Very few companies have made the commitment to NOS tubes. Even Matchless stopped using them near the end. They may have gotten tired of weeding through the chaff...it is frustrating. We have discontinued using the ECG (Sylvania) 6L6 WGB/5881's because it got to the point where we were rejecting 50% of what we bought. What a drag that is. When the Svetlana, became available a while back we did a serious side-by-side comparison with everything...JAN WGB's to NOS GE's and RCA's. The Svetlana's flat blew away the JAN stuff in terms of power, tonal balance and detail, and they really hung in there when compared to the venerable RCA and GE 6L6GC's. At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I even thought they were superior to the Genalex KT66's. But that's colored by my personal taste. I don't really care for the tubby bass and recessed top end that the KT66's are known for. Rock guys love them for that reason, but I prefer the snaky lows and brilliant top end that the Svetlana's deliver. As I've said on our website, I even like the Svets in my McIntosh M-240 over GE's or KT66's.

TQR: What's the scoop on rectifiers? The common assumption is that rectifier tubes have "no influence on tone." What are you using for your production amps now?

It's frustrating. I don't like the Chinese GZ34 but it's the only game in town. I'm always trying to score Mallards, but I have to deal with flaky Euro tube brokers and Mallards cost a fortune these days. But I would encourage our owners to find a real Mallard GZ34-they do make a difference. For a player, finding Mallards shouldn't be too much of a problem, but finding enough to build a couple of thousand amps-now that's a real problem!

TQR: But we've often heard that rectifiers don't make much of a difference in tone at all.

It's supplying high-voltage current for the amp to operate-why and how they function precisely, I honestly don't know. We have designers and engineers that know that stuff if I need to consult with them. All I know is what I hear. I used to feel that rectifiers simply supplied power and really didn't make a difference, but I can tell you now that I believe they do. Maybe it's the way these electrons are supplied and a distortion factor. The Mallard tube just seems a lot more musical, but they are all fairly delicate and prone to potential problems. Maybe it's the chemistry of the cathode itself, and it relly breaks my heart to even say this, because knowing I have to settle for Chinese rectifier tubes in our amps is just, well...it breaks my heart. But I'm not willing to charge what would be necessary to put them in all of our amps. Even in inexpensive amps they might make a difference, and just because your amp doesn't have a tube rectifier won't close the door on some big improvements in tone either. One of our favorite mods is to replace the standard silicone diode rectifiers in Twin Reverbs with fast recovery epitaxial diodes commonly known as FREDs. It's a solid state diode that is much cleaner-sounding and musical then a silicone diode. One of the things I've never liked about Twin Reverbs is that diode-It has, a weird kind of brittle attack to it that is really evident with pick attack. With the FRED it almost approaches the sound of a tube rectifier

To sum it up, generally speaking, NOS tubes are superior but not always. We use them because as a rule they are more authentic and sonically pleasing. Like anything else though, there is no substitute for personal experience.

More Info and how to install FREDs here!

TQR: Your cabinetwork is outstanding. Aside from their vintage appearance, what part does the cabinet play in the tone of these amps?

The cabinet in a Fender tweed amp is an integral element of the overall tone of the amp. It's a very resonant cabinet with lots of vibrations going on, for better or for worse (laughs), and pine is a very light and resonant wood. First-time users of our amps are always impressed by the fact that they don't miss reverb...there is a natural, subtle, resonant reverb thang happening in those cabinets. When you consider the difference between the Tweed and Blackface amps, the best difference is the cabinetry. The BF amps are really stiff and tight and those speakers are locked on, man. You need reverb to open up those BF mutha's. I think they're real tight and lifeless compared to a tweed cab, which is very loose and lively-almost vocal in character. They do have a drawback however-lots of cabinet buzz. Comes with the territory, I guess. That potential problem causes us more headaches than anything, and I'm convinced that Leo Fender changed the design of the tweed cabinets in part because of their tendency to resonate too much for their own good. Ying and Yang, baby! The whole tweed package is so coupled to itself structurally that everything plays a part. Consider the Bassman reissue Fender put out-it doesn't quite have The Tone, does it? One key element that's missing is the cabinet they chose. They opted for a denser, cheaper wood and they eliminated the box joints at the corners. Those cabinets just don't breathe and interact with the chassis the same way, in my opinion.

TQR: You also use the exact same eyelet board that was used in the 50's-why was that so important?

Yeah, the fibre board we use is produced by the original supplier, and as such, you can expect the same performance characteristics, which means that it will warp a bit over time. We've taken that into consideration dressing the leads and components by allowing slack beneath the board and leaving enough lead length on the components to allow for some shifting of the board. It's a quirky material, and not the most ideal for use as a high voltage insulator. High humdity causes a bit of voltage creep onto the first tube grid via the 68K input resistors, and that can cause some annoying pathologies. The thing is, we've identified this specific original material as contributing to the overall tone of the tweed-era amps. It's distinctive microphonic character and the way it interacts with the amp when it's shakin' and rockin' plays a part in the dynamic character of the amplifier. So for "vintage reissue" models we will continue to use it albeit with some trepidation. We are looking at ways to minimize the voltage creep, and it's interesting to a that Fender had the same problems, which is why the Late Blackface and early Silverface amps had wax all over the circuit boards. This wax will ionize over time due to the operating temperatures of the amp. I can't tell you how amps from the early to mid 70's I've seen in which the circuit board had been sprayed with this paraffin substance and the stuff ionized, getting into pots and tube sockets-a real mess.

TQR: Sounds like a CBS innovation.

Oh, sure it was. It's pretty clear that they did it for the same reasons that we've noticed. When it gets hot and humid it's a real problem. We're looking at using the same varnish on the circuit boards that our transformers are impregnated with and our new designs will be constructed using terminal strips like a Matchless or an old McIntosh stereo. But the vintage stuff is gonna have to use vulcanized fibre board to achieve the whole vintage tweed vibe. So my point is that despite the problems associated with the eyelet board material, its sonic contribution is important enough that we've opted to deal with it with our eyes wide open. Some people will twist themselves inside out making sure that a transformer is impregnated with the exact same beeswax that was used 50 years ago, rite? So using the same eyelet board material speaks to that obsession.

TQR: You've made quite an investment in acquiring the original Allen Bradley carbon comp resistors. Couldn't you have gotten "close enough" without resorting to having these re-manufactured?

A guitar amp produces sound as opposed to merely reproducing it. The resistors we use are real Allen Bradley carbon types because they were once the defacto standard by which all resistors were judged. Compared to modern types they will be more veiled sounding-more romantic, if you will, and sounding-not as transparent or glassy. Modern film-type resistors are more harsh and top-endy. They are more accurate and precise...which is desirable in stereo and hi-fi, but in a guitar amp the tonal coloration afforded by the Allen Bradley resistors is a fundamental part of what you could call the personality of the amp. I've had a few rancorous debates about metal film vs. carbon comb resistors before, but you listen with your ears, not test gear.

TQR: Buddy Guy gets a huge sound out of just one Victoria 80W 80410 Bassman with no pedals that I've ever noticed. When you initially began speaking to him about using your amps, did he experiment between the 4x10 Bassman and the low-powered Twin at all?

All he was ever interested in was the Bassman. He wasn't happy with his rig and his management company call and invited us to bring a couple of amps down to his club in Chicago. So we did that, and a few days later I got a call again and they said Buddy wanted to meet me. Well, I go, and I'm escorted up to the VIP room and Buddy is doing an interview or something and as soon as he was introduced to me he stops the interview and says, "I just want to shake your hand and congratulate you. The minute I plugged my guitar into that amplifier you brought, I heard things that I hadn't heard since I was using my old Bassman. I just want you to know that you've really done a great job." I thought, "Oh my God, what's wrong with this picture? My idol is telling me this?" But what Buddy really liked about our amp was the fact that it sounded like his old Bassman amps. He still has two old Bassmans, but their kept at his house.

TQR: That must have been a moment of glory for you after all of the years of work you'd devoted to recreating the Bassman.

Yeah, it was a validation of what we had been doing, and I had been telling people that the Victorias really do sound like the old amps, but to hear it from a guy as influential as Buddy certainly was important. Now, the development of the 80W Bassman came about because Buddy was really tired of carrying 4 amps around on the road-2 reissue Bassmans and 2 of ours. So the idea for the 80410 came about from his roadies, and we basically mated 4 10's with the high-power Twin. The original circuits for both amps are essentially the same-in fact, the output transformer for the Twin is the equivalent of 2 Bassman transformers combined. But by far and away Buddy uses the 45410 Bassman for most of his gigs, reserving the 80410 for outdoor venues and big stages.

TQR: If someone called you and asked for a Double Deluxe with a 15" speaker, even though you don't normally build that configuration, would you?

Sure, I've done just about everything you can think of. I've had some hunonica players ask for a Bassman with six 8" speakers. We definitely can accommodate those requests and I personally enjoy building them.

TQR: You now offer Jensen reissue speakers throughout the Victoria line, and I understand that "vintage" speakers are also available by special order. What are some of your favorite speakers, and what are the range of choices available to your customers now?

I used to have a pretty deep collection of old vintage Jensens, but I don't anymore. If someone absolutely had to have a 1959 P12R we would do it, and there would naturally have to be a premium charged for that, but we'll still do it.

TQR: So you'll hunt down a vintage speaker on request?

Yes. I would go to the same search sites everyone else goes to and a few other industry contacts to find what we needed. The most common amp that we build that requires a vintage speaker is the tweed Pro. Jensen has told me that they are going to do a 15" but I haven't seen it and I'm not holding my breath. I have a waiting list for tweed Pros, and anytime I find a suitable vintage speaker we'll go down the list and make one for whoever is next in line. I mean, there are some things we can't do, like acquiring a matched set of 4 original Jensen P10R's. But one speaker or perhaps a pair can usually be found throughout the range of speakers made by Jensen. I have a Jensen 15" Concert speaker now that's very nice, in fact, I prefer the Jensen ceramic magnet speakers in the 15's over the AlNiCos. Both the Concert model and the EM1500 are excellent ceramic 15's made by Jensen, but still difficult to find.

TQR: Can you share the technique you use in packing and shipping amps? Looks like another area where you've really done your homework.

Sure. We ship them all upside down to keep the weight at the bottom of the box, otherwise, as they traverse the elevated tracks in the UPS shipping hubs they are more likely to topple off. Some of those tracks that move parcels are 6 feet high! I realized early on that UPS had the potential to ruin my company if I didn't pack these amps properly, so I called our rep and he explained how things get damaged in transit. They don't get damaged in the truck that picks up a shipment or delivers it-they get damaged on these miles and miles of conveyor belts at a typical UPS shipping hub. When these packages have to make a turn on one of these belts and they fall off, they can drop 6 feet. So they have to survive a 6 foot fall, and better yet, you want to avoid having them fall at all. By the way, packing amps upside down is something Fender has done for years. So I had special boxes designed that are really heavy duty, and I frequently get calls from stores or individuals that want to buy boxes from us for shipping amps. I guess our boxes are becoming as well known as our amps. Packing peanuts are out of the question, by the way. The amp is too heavy, and a big amp will just move that stuff around. We use heavy-duty air-capped bubble wrap that has a heavy-duty nylon backing that inhibits popping. We use 4 layers on the vertical axis and 2 layers on the horizontal.

TQR: How does your Reverberato differ form the old Fender reverb units aside from the addition of out board tremolo?

I always felt that Finder reverbs colored the tone too much. They seemed kind of splashy sounding, and I wanted to do something more original-the reverb copies had been done already. When we prototyped the Reverberato, we ultimately used the Blackface reverb as a model there's just less tone shaping with that design, and we matched it with the old "brown Concert" tremolo. I think we really came up with an excellent circuit and I'm extremely proud of it.

TQR: The brown Concert tremolo circuit operates on what principle?

It takes the signal from the guitar and breaks it into 2 components. One is run through a high filter and, another through a low filter. So you have them separated, they are run through an oscillator that gets the highs and the lows 180 degrees out of phase with each other, and then it recombines them so that the highs and the lows are beating against each other. That's what gives you that real lush, greasy tremolo. It doesn't draw out completeky-you never lose volume completely as you do with the pbotoresistor circuit. There is a subtle amount of pitch shifting going on but it's a basely noticeable component of the design. We spent l8 months working on our design and no small part of that was tweaking out the tremolo. One of the complaints that I had with the brown Concert was that when the signal was being separated in the original tremolo circuit, it was bleeding some of the tone out of the sound. When we designed the Reverberato we experimented a lot with cap values and there really is no signal degradation in the circuit compared to the original Fender design.

TQR: Do you offer onboard reverb on the Victoria line?

Yes, but it's a brand new design that uses a 12AX7 and a 6BM8 tube, which is a tube that is overlooked, sadly, by a lot of designers. We also offer reverb as an add-on for players who may already have a Victoria or even a Marshall, who want reverb. We haven't marketed it actively, because it requires a lot of customer support and we're not set up for that, but I think we will in the future. One of the things I like about this new revert design is that it's integrated right before the phase inverter and after the input amplifier and the tone stack. It helps keep the tone very transparent because you keep the character of the press rather than having the reverb in the very front. Revert tanks are extremely microphonic and they can be a problem if you place then in the wrong place in the circuit.

TQR: Have you ever thought about getting into the effects business?

Yes, I suppose I have, but effects are not something I use. I have a Tube Screamer, but I would never take it to a gig. The market also seems to be very saturated with a lot of good products already. I just don't use foot pedals, and I doubt that I'm the right guy to run a stompbox company. But we have toyed with the idea of building a tremolo stompbox on the same principle we used in the Reverberato. I don't know...it probably isn't something we'll ever do or even ought to do.

TQR: What is on the drawing hoard for Victoria?

Well, we have this EL34-based amp coming up slowly but surely. It'll be our first foray info a completely original design with master volume, reverb and EL34's. But I want the climate to be right for it, and as a business guy, I want it to be well accepted by our customers. It's basically "Marshall meets Matchless meets Fender." It has terrific driven tone, and I'm getting kind of tired of 12AX7's and 6L6's, so we're using things like the EF86 tube for the input amplifier and the BM86 for reverb. It will eventually be introduced as a head version with a closed-back enclosure using a Buzz Feiten design-a standard 50W-60W rock & roll amp. We're also very much into tube hi-fi here, and we're planning on doing some high and middle end tube hi-fi at Victoria. The day will come I hope, when all of the great guitar players in the country will realize that like guitar amps, in hi-fi tubes are really where it's at.TQ

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