A “hidden treasure from the early 1960s” that bridged a vital gap between two eras of Fender amps has been revived, with the Big F announcing the brown-paneled, dual-personality ’62 Super.
Arriving as part of Fender’s American Vintage line of retro-ist guitar amps, the small-but-punchy combo is a blast from the past, with no notable modern tweaks or features. This very much is an ode to the OG Super, which was the first of the Fender brown-panel models.
During the ’50s, Fender’s tweed amps were renowned for their raw tones, while black-panel designs from the mid-’60s were all about clean sparkle and then some. The brown-paneled ’62 Super, by comparison, struck something of a tonal balance between the two.
“An incredibly warm and woody sound” is promised when this reissue is played clean, while the amp is also said to be capable of “sweet overdrive” when cranked. Not only that, Fender promises “phenomenal tone at any volume”.
Presented as a combo amp with two 10”Celestion Custom Design speakers beneath its aged wheat grille cloth, it serves 40 watts of power at 4 ohms. It is driven by six 12AX7 preamp tubes, two 6L6 output tubes, and a single 5AR4 rectifier tube.
Plug into the Normal channel and find streamlined controls for Volume, Treble, and Bass via vintage-style brown radio knobs. The Vibrato channel adds dials for the Speed and Intensity of the amp’s built-in phase-shifting harmonic tremolo effect. There’s also a master Presence control.
The Harmonic Tremolo was something of a USP for Fender’s brown-panel amps, although not all models were bestowed with it. The guitar signal is split into high and low frequencies, with two signals modulating at different volume rates for a trippy (and certainly very ’60s) flavor.
Unlike traditional tremolo, it modulates the harmonic content of what is played simultaneously, offering a more complex and musical tremolo effect.
The ’62 Super also comes with a footswitch for jumping between the two channels on the fly. Assembled in the USA, its housing is made from solid pine, which is said to inject more resonance into the mix.
The Fender ‘62 Super amp will be available in September this year for $2,499.99.
See Fender for more details.
