Fender Harvard

1959 Fender Harvard 5F10

The Fender Harvard was a guitar amplifier made by Fender from 1955 to 1961. The Harvard appeared only in a tweed covered 'narrow-panel' cabinet, but in two different circuit designs - 5F10 and 6G10.^[1]

The 5F10 model, launched in 1955 (but not in time for the Fender catalog of that year^[2]), was a 10-watt amplifier utilising 6AV6 (from 1956 a 6AT6) pre-amp, 12AX7 phase inverter, a pair of 6V6GT power, and one 5Y3GT rectifier, tubes (valves), with a Jensen P10R 10" speaker. The amplifier had a very simple circuit and used only a volume and tone control. The Harvard was a fixed bias amplifier using a selenium rectifier. The 5F10 was discontinued in 1961.

The later extremely rare or possibly even mythical^[1] 6G10 Harvard used a single 12AX7, 6V6GT and 5Y3GT and, it has been speculated, was simply a Princeton circuit which could be fitted in left-over tweed covered Harvard cabinets after Fender had re-launched the Princeton in a tolex covered version.^[2]

Unusually for Fender, the Harvard had no predecessor and, although the Harvard name was revived later by Fender, no descendants. The Harvard filled a gap between the student Champ and Princeton models and the professional Deluxe.^[2] The Fender Vibrolux is almost identical to the Harvard, but with added tremolo circuit, a second 12AX7 replacing the 6AV6/6AT6, built into a Deluxe cabinet.^[1]

The 5F10 Harvard's dimensions were 16½" (42cm) × 18" (46 cm) × 8¾" (22 cm) and it weighed 20Lbs (9 kg).^[3]

The most famous user of the Fender Harvard, in conjunction with a Telecaster guitar, was Steve Cropper, who said that he used the amp for most of the classic recordings made with the Stax house band Booker T. & The M.G.'s, including Green Onions and (Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay.^[4]

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