1962 Fender Tremolux Brown Panel Pre-CBS Blonde Piggyback Tube Amp 2x10 w/ Altec 425-8A

Up for sale, a 1962 Fender Tremolux piggyback head and matching 2x10” speaker cabinet in excellent condition and in perfect working order. An early example of Fender’s Blonde/Oxblood Tremolux head dating to January of ‘62 on the tube chart, this amp is one of the first to feature the 2x10” speaker configuration (transitioning from the Tone Ring cabs seen in ‘61), offering better wattage handling for the amp’s 35 watt circuit. The cabinet is loaded with a pair of Altec Lansing 425-8A Alnico magnet drivers, ensuring optimal headroom, projection and clarity.

This amp boasts the sweetness, tonal range, and harmonic richness that characterizes the Fender Brown Panel amps, with pure, dynamic Fender clean sparkle until about noon on the Volume dial where the amp begins to get just a touch of overdrive on the notes before cascading into full tube saturation when dimed out. The bias-based tremolo circuit has a deep pulse, and the EQ controls have a huge sweep.

The circuit retains the original Schumacher-made output transformers and choke, while the power transformer is a later replacement. The blue Ajax capacitors and Minimite electrolytics in the preamp are also original, with just a couple new Sprague Orange drops and smaller caps to ensure optimal performance. All of the original pots are present, and the power supply has been recapped with Sprague Atoms. The original two-prong power cable is present, and the power tubes comprise a matched pair of Tungsol 5881s (6L6s), with a Sovtek 5AR4 rectifier and quartet of modern valves in the preamp. The tube chart is intact with an "LA" date stamp, which translates to January of 1962.

The speaker cab has been outfitted with a replacement pair of Altec Lansing 425-8A Alnico magnet speakers, featuring clean white frames and matching date stamps from the 43rd week of 1970.

Both the head and speaker enclosures retain their original rough blonde tolex and dark oxblood grillcloth, with a few stains from knots in the wood of the pine cabinets and the sap localized in these areas seeping through from beneath the tolex. Original hardware includes the chassis straps, sphinx glides (feet), and flat Fender logos, while the molded “dogbone” handles are modern replacements. The faceplate is clean, with the original set of white barrel knobs.