is fender super reverb amp good for unit effects?

[ali_ki]

is fender super reverb silverface 70, with celestion 4*10 speakers amp good for unit pedal effect?
or its only good for clean sounds, jazz style and without any effect especially distortion?
once i tried it with some pedals like boss ds-1 , boss cs-2 and boss od-1, but its sound is been very harsh and very bad.
what can i do with this amp to give nice and vintage sound?
should i change the amp and buy another one?

[qsblues]

It depends on what KIND of Super Reverb it is. Do you have an original "Blackface" SR from pre-1964, or do you have a "reissue" SR from last week? Do you have a 70's "Silverface" SR, or do you have one of the horrible, late 70's/early 80's SR that Paul Rivera more or less killed because they were SO bad? If it's the latter, get rid of it. If it's one of the good ones from the pre-CBS era, either the tubes are shot or you're just using the wrong type of setup with this amp.

SR's are kinda finicky. If you use the tried and true jumper cable setup, where you jack your axe into input 1 of the Normal channel, then run a short cable from input 2 on the Normal channel to input 1 of the Vibrato channel, then turn that sucker up, you'll get some killer tones! Run a good distortion pedal in front of that, like say, an old Tube Screamer or an MXR Distortion +, and you'll be amazed at how good it sounds. It does take to pedals quite nicely, once again, depending on what kind you have. I prefer the old ones with a tube rectifier as opposed to the "reissues" with a solid state rectifier; while it does not affect the tone one bit, it does affect the "feel" and the "sponginess" of the amp. But it's not over yet ....

What kind of speakers are you using? Anything except low wattage, paper cone, blue frame Jensens or something similar is simply unacceptable with this amp. If you have ultra efficient, super high output speakers in there, yank them out before you finish reading this post, and order some Jensens or Kendrick speakers. If you have the head version from the late 70's, burn it and slowly back away. I believe they call these abominations "Super Six Reverbs". Truly horrible and should be terminated with extreme prejudice. If yours has a Boost Switch and a Master Volume, get a qualified amp tech to kidnap and bribe heavily to switch it to "Blackface Specs" post haste. If any control pulls out for a poor emulation of "Distortion", then good luck with that.

In a nutshell, if yours dates from 1963 - 1972, you're in good shape, no matter if the cosmetics are "Blackface" or "Silverface". After that period, they were bastardized and cheapened to turn a buck once Boogies came on the scene, and everyone wanted channel switching, preamp gain heavy amps which Fender did not, and IMHO, still does not do very well. There's a very good reason why you see so many "reissue" amps from Fender ... because with a few and far in between exceptions, every amp they've made for guitar since Paul Rivera left just plain sucks...the one notable exception is the Vibro King, and possibly the Pro Reverb. But if you had one of those amps, you would NOT be complaining at all.

Peace.

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by qsblues

Ibecause with a few and far in between exceptions, every amp they've made for guitar since Paul Rivera left just plain sucks...the one notable exception is the Vibro King, and possibly the Pro Reverb.

Every played a Tonemaster? Jimmy Page and Pete Townsend seem pretty happy with them.
Prosonic rocks as well- Zinky designed.

[qsblues]

Hmmm ... if Jimmy Page and Pete Townsend had these amps, then I'm almost certain that they would not be wasting their time with this website. The question at hand is how to get a good tone out of THIS guy's Super Reverb. My opinion of the past or present state of Fender amps doesn't mean squat.

Not to knock the GS site, cuz if Pagey and Pete knew about it, and I'm sure they do, they probably would like it. But nonetheless, until we can get some solid answers from the subby on what kind of amp he has, nobody can really answer his question.

I'll bet that the Tonemaster and Prosonic or whatever probably sounds good depending on what they're used for ... not bashing them at all. But I DO know that certain Super Reverbs sound better than others, and that's what I'm trying to find out regarding the subby's question. But, if and when I get a chance or an inkling to do so, I'll check these amps out. Thanks for the suggestion!

[CapnMarvel]

Originally Posted by ali_ki

is fender super reverb amp good for unit pedal effect?
or its only good for clean sounds, jazz style and without any effect especially distortion?
once i tried it with some pedals like boss ds-1 , boss cs-2 and boss od-1, but its sound is been very harsh and very bad.
what can i do with this amp to give nice and vintage sound?
should i change the amp and buy another one?

IMHO, those pedals will sound crap on most amps. Townshend still uses an OD-1, but the no-brainer 90% answer for overdrive on a Fender is the Tubescreamer or a clone (don't listen to the 'older' line either - a TS7 generally sounds just as good as a TS-808, except the switch sucks and it's 20% of the price. Believe me, I've owned 'em all.) Fenders love the mid-hump of the TS.

I also feel, truly and verily, that the whole 'SF is crap' argument is extremely overrated. Yes, Fender did not do themselves a service by using cheaper speakers, master volumes, HO output trannies, and other bad ideas instead of continuing with the BF circuits. Yes, I can tell the difference between a late-70's SF Twin (I own a very nice '77) and a '65 BF Twin. But the SF are not in any way BAD amps. You shouldn't 'burn them' or ditch them outright as has been suggested above, not at least without figuring out whether the tubes are in decent shape or not, the caps are leaking, or other obvious issues are happening that are not inherent in the circuit. In fact, I would say a SF Super might be great for pedals - my Twin certainly is. Really, many people have so bought into the idea that the only decent Fenders have black paint with white writing on them that it's still possible to get a very early-year SF (like my 'black line' '67 Bandmaster, which is truly a BF circuit through and through) that are indistinguishable sound-wise from the BF on the (relative) cheap. I will make the blanket generalization that the recent reissues are basically not even in the same ballpark tone- or quality-wise as a vintage 60's model.

I can't cotton to much of what Fender's done since about 1980 or so, but I do know a little about SF's, and don't like to see them dismissed outright like that.

[popvulture]

I've found that the higher wattage Fender amps take effects well due to the headroom - in fact, you pretty much can't overdrive a twin without destroying everything in a 100yd radius... you definitely need an od or dist pedal if you want some crunch.

Supers are less watts of course (45W to a Twin's 80? - could be wrong on the exacts), so the headroom's a little lower. Runs a little hotter... I say that's a good thing.

I have a '68 Twin that's been absolutely great. If you can find this particular year (look for a metal "drip edge" around the grille cloth), buy it. The electronics are virtually if not fully identical to a blackface, and the price is a lot nicer. The key thing to look out for on a silverface fender amp is a master volume knob; if you see one of these, WALK AWAY. One of the worst moves in Fender history, in my opinion.

[CapnMarvel]

Originally Posted by popvulture

The key thing to look out for on a silverface fender amp is a master volume knob; if you see one of these, WALK AWAY. One of the worst moves in Fender history, in my opinion.

Not if you just leave it at 10, it's not. My (extremely anal) amp tech reassured me time and time again that the effect that part of the circuit would have on the tone with the master volume dimed is completely negligible.

[qsblues]

I don't recall anyone saying that all SF Fenders just plain suck. That's definitely not the case, and I have stated the same. But, and I'm sure we're all on the same page here, there is a distinct point of departure from when the "good" ones were made, and when the "bad" ones flooded the marketplace. Most notably, as someone had pointed out, when a Master Volume control was added.

Once again, this is just my opinion, which, once again, doesn't mean squat. Before we get into a heated discussion on what sucks and what doesn't about SF vs. BF Fender amps, does anyone even remember what the original question was? Do we have an answer yet on what kind of amp the subby has? Let's stay on point, people! We don't even know what we're giving advice on yet, let alone drawing lines in the sand.

Peace.

[theGeek]

if you're in the market for a GOOD amp there are plenty of Amp Clones out there

I don't care much for what fender has coming off their lines nowadays. Its not horrible but unless you're willing to drop major cash you can't get anything really good.

but for what fender charges for an "assembly line special" you can have a PTP wired Weber Clone and you have yourself a REAL amp. (you'll have to assemble it yourself OR weber can put you in contact with people that will do it for you)

Ceriatone has good amps too but a much smaller selection.