Fender Tremolux Blackface Head (Vintage)

Fender Tremolux Blackface Head (Vintage)

Production years

1963 -1966 blackface circuits AA763

Tube layout

AA763 Tube layout (Seen from behind, V1 is to the right side)

• V1 12ax7 = Preamp normal channel
• V2 12ax7 = Preamp vibrato channel
• V3 12ax7 = Vibrato tube
• V4 12at7 = Phase inverter
• V5 GZ34 = Rectifier tube
• V6 6L6 = Power tube #2
• V7 6L6 = Power tube #2

AB763 Circuit, 35-Watts

Summary

The blackface Fender Tremolux was produced just a few years between 1963 and 1966 and had one circuit model; the blackface Tremolux AA763. In terms of power and clean headroom it is the smallest of all the Fender piggy back amps. Its history is much less complex than the bigger Bassman and Bandmaster amps who experienced a rapid development in terms of different circuit models and tube configurations. The blackface Tremolux and Bandmaster (AB763) are almost identical amps, just that the Tremolux is sized for smaller events and gigs. The Tremolux had tube rectifier, while the blackface Bandmaster had diode. Both amps had tremolo but no reverb. The Tremolux speaker cabinet was 2×10″ and not 2×12″. The Tremolux had smaller transformers (power and output) than the Bassman and Bandmaster. All these things add up to an amp with less volume, less clean headroom and more sag/compression; a more forgiving tone.

What does the blackface Tremolux sound like? It feels very much like the blackface Bandmaster, the normal channel of the Vibrolux Reverb and Pro Reverb or the normal channel of the earliest blackface Bassman (AA864). The sound is nice and clean and the tone remains relatively clean when one turns the volume knob. One does not reach the sweet spot as early as with the Reverb-amps with an additional gain stage in the preamp section. The  Tremolux uses only one 12ax7 tube in the preamp section in both channels before the signal enters the phase inverter.