Fender Amplifiers

Fender amps are some of the best in the business. Whether you’re laying down a warm, 12-barre blues or power-chording your way through the newest popular music, a Fender amplifier can help you to find your own signature sound and style.

Broadly speaking, guitar amps generate sound by two distinct methods. Solid state amps simply increase the sound’s volume while applying various processing methods, and are generally smaller and more easy to maintain. Tube amps are heavier and require more maintenance, but generate sound by the use of vacuum tubes. Despite their disadvantages, tube amps are generally preferred by classic rock or blues guitarists due to their warmer, more resonant tones.

Fender amps established themselves in the area of tube amps for historic blues and rock guitarists. Fender’s founder, Leo Fender, grew from a self-taught electronics repair technician running his own shop in 1938 to a manufacturer of guitars and amplifiers for the popular country and Hawaiian music genres during the 1940s. In 1948, Fender sold his old repair business to focus on Fender gear full-time, and his connections with many musicians helped him to further refine his many Fender amps. The Fender sound has been heard in numerous guitar acts throughout history, and Fender amplifiers continue to have a well-deserved reputation for quality both in construction and tone.

While Fender began by producing tube amps, it has since branched out to producing solid-state and solid-state/tube combination amps for just about every level of ability, budget and watt requirement. For those who are starting out, or who simply need an amp for playing smaller spaces, Fender offers various inexpensive, quality practice amps from which to choose. For instance, its Mini Tone Master is a small package with Fender’s vintage look, as well as knobs for gain, volume, tone and power. It is battery-operated, meaning you aren’t tied down by cords and wires when choosing a place to jam, and is also highly regarded by those who purchase it. All in all, the Mini Tone Master is an excellent beginner amp for someone who enjoys the Fender sound.

For those who prefer the more traditional Fender tones, there are a number of vintage Fender amps still available on the market today, both used as well as new. The available selection is simply astonishing, and is difficult to describe concisely. Despite being referred to as vintage, these amp designs from half a century ago still feature prominently in the acts of popular musicians such as Carlos Santana and Eric Johnson.

If you aren’t too attached to the vintage Fender tone, then perhaps a re-issued Fender amp is for you. Re-issues sacrifice some tonal characteristics of the amp on which they were modeled, in favor of modern innovations and simplifications in amp design. The result is likely lighter, more rugged and can be maintained more easily, all the while sounding so identical to the original vintage model that only the most discerning guitar enthusiast can tell the difference.

While initially making its name in the country and blues genre, today’s Fender amps are used in just about every style imaginable, and all of these uses are backed by over sixty years of experience in designing the best amps. Whether you’re just starting out or are a professional with years of experience, it’s tough to go wrong with a Fender amplifier.