Blackface (Fender)

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The Blackface Fender amplifiers were produced between 1964 and 1967. The first (1964) blackface amps had white knobs. After 1964 the amps had skirted black knobs. The blackface control panel was discontinued in late 1967. The blackface cosmetics returned in 1981. They were discontinued again in 1982.

Blackfaced cosmetics do not necessarily mean "pre-CBS" since the CBS company takeover took place in 1965 and amps with black faced cosmetics were produced up to 1967. After the buyout the front panels were changed from "Fender Electric Instruments" to "Fender Musical Instruments". No real changes were made to the amps until the silverfaced amps of 1968 where certain circuit changes made them less desirable than the blackfaced amps. This affected some models more than others. The Twin Reverb, Super Reverb were different, while other models such as the Deluxe Reverb were not altered in any way except for the change in cosmetics.

Silverface cosmetics do not necessarily denote silverface circuitry, however. Leo Fender was notorious for tweaking his designs.^[1] During the transitional period from late 1967 to mid 1968, the circuit designs of the Twin Reverb and Super Reverb were altered to eliminate an uncommon but serious oscillation in the signal chain. These changes took some months to finalize, as Leo worked through some designs, and happened after the cosmetic changes. Furthermore, the schematic and tube charts that shipped with these models did not always reflect the actual circuitry. Fender had many leftover AB763 (blackface) tube charts left over well into 1969, and shipped these charts with Silverface models.

Save for a few series (such as HotRod series), a majority of modern Fender amplifiers sports blackface cosmetic.

Preceded by Brown/White

Blackface 1964-1967

Succeeded by Silverface

Preceded by Silverface

2nd Series Blackface 1981-1982

Succeeded by Fender II Series

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