# The rare and the unicorn.



## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Had to post this. The Bandmaster came in for service late last week. 1960 and probably the only one I'll ever see in for service.
The '64 non-logo Deluxe ain't too shabby either....and to those who expressed interest in the Deluxe, it's sold!


----------



## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

Wow, a "Center Volume" brown BandMaster! Holy crap, that really is an amp unicorn.


----------



## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Wow, cool! Thanks for sharing.


----------



## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

Never saw a band master like that before ! I thought they where a head and separate cab jobbie ?


----------



## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

silvertonebetty said:


> Never saw a band master like that before ! I thought they where a head and separate cab jobbie ?


Hence the unicorn title....carried over from the tweed Bandmaster combo this is an unbelievably rare transition model. 3 x 10" speakers too. Also notice no metal corners on the cab. This amp predates their inception.


----------



## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

nonreverb said:


> Hence the unicorn title....carried over from the tweed Bandmaster combo this is an unbelievably rare transition model. 3 x 10" speakers too. Also notice no metal corners on the cab. This amp predates their inception.


Honestly I think the best looking fenders are the tweed or brown face.


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

How rare we talking? 100? 25?

Either way it seems pretty cool!


----------



## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

WOW !!!!! Yup you don't see them thar amps every day. I've actually seen precisely 1 in person in my years.
Me thinks super $$$$ too. I was following an auction for one on eBay about 10-12 years ago. I was seriously considering it....till it got to 5 figures. I can't imagine it's value now.


----------



## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Budda said:


> How rare we talking? 100? 25?
> 
> Either way it seems pretty cool!


Only made in 1960 and there were changes made during it's short run. Notice that it still sports tweed era grill cloth and as StevieMac pointed out, centre volume configuration. This doesn't last long. The circuit is 5G7. That changes later in '60 with the introduction of the 6G7 circuit design, metal amp corners, the typical tone stack/volume configuration and the later oxblood grill cloth. If i were to take a wild guess....maybe 200?


----------



## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

nonreverb said:


> Only made in 1960 and there were changes made during it's short run. Notice that it still sports tweed era grill cloth and as StevieMac pointed out, centre volume configuration. This doesn't last long. The circuit is 5G7. That changes later in '60 with the introduction of the 6G7 circuit design, metal amp corners, the typical tone stack/volume configuration and the later oxblood grill cloth. If i were to take a wild guess....maybe 200?


I went and took a look at the ggjaguar "dating Fender amps" resource, and they show serials between 00001 and 01750 for this particular style of amp, suggesting there could be as many as 1750. However, I believe the chassis might have been similar to the Super and the Pro, so these would have all "split" those chassis and serial numbers. So... much less than 1750 were made.



fendamp6



"Bandmaster 5G7, 6G7 (brown)
00001 to 01750 – 1960

Bandmaster 6G7, 6G7-A (blonde)
01750 to 02400 – 1960
02300 to 05200 – 1961
52000 to 57000 – 1962
57000 to 59400 – 1963"


----------



## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Griff said:


> I went and took a look at the ggjaguar "dating Fender amps" resource, and they show serials between 00001 and 01750 for this particular style of amp, suggesting there could be as many as 1750. However, I believe the chassis might have been similar to the Super and the Pro, so these would have all "split" those chassis and serial numbers. So... much less than 1750 were made.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Interesting. I found a different set of numbers.


http://www.superiormusic.com/page195.htm



*Bandmaster* _5G7, 6G7 (brown) _
00001 to 01000 - 1960 
*Bandmaster* _6G7, 6G7-A (blonde) _
00001 to 02400 - 1960


----------



## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

nonreverb said:


> Interesting. I found a different set of numbers.
> 
> 
> http://www.superiormusic.com/page195.htm
> ...


Looks like they took it from ggjaguar, but they never copied the update (they copied 5 instead of 6):



fendamp5



That series of pages (1 through 6) is a really interesting read. It's not easily navigable, but just change the 6 or 5 to a 1, then 2, etc... in your address bar to read the whole saga of these guys trying to date Fender amps by serial number. Pretty informative.


----------



## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Pretty detailed article from Vintage Guitar.





Fender’s 1960 Bandmaster | Vintage Guitar® magazine







www.vintageguitar.com


----------



## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Griff said:


> Looks like they took it from ggjaguar, but they never copied the update (they copied 5 instead of 6):
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I was discussing the amp with the owner. He tells me this version did not last long and figures the numbers are in the low 200's.


----------



## Jerome (Dec 4, 2015)

Being interested in the minutiae of old Fender amps , can you tell me which output transformer is in that Bandmaster ? An 1848 perhaps ?


----------



## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

An excerpt from Vintage Guitar:


----------



## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

the learning never stops.


----------

