1968 Fender Bandmaster

Description

Up for sale is a 1968 Fender Silverface “Drip Edge” Bandmaster. The amplifier is fully functional, has been recently serviced and is in amazing condition for a 53-year old amplifier.
In August 1967, Fender changed cosmetics from the “Blackface” to the to the “Silverface” style. The earliest of these (Aug. ’67 to July ’68) had aluminum grill trim, black vertical lines on the control panel, and a highly textured version of the famous silver/blue sparkle grill cloth. We see all of these telltale features on this amp.
As listed in the Fender Amp Field Guide, the serial number range for 1968 Bandmasters is A28000 through A34000.
This amp is stamped A30425, which places is roughly halfway through the production run that year.
Additionally, the transformers are stamped “606742” (which dates to the 42
nd
week of 1967) and “606745” (which dates to the 45
th
week of 1967.)
Of course, the parts were made well before the assembly of the amp and were sitting around as stock.
So by extrapolating this data, we can tell with a good degree of certainty that this amp was assembled in April of 1968 and probably sold in a store in June of 1968.
In July 1968, the Bandmaster was given the infamous AC568 circuit. This amp is historic and is one of the very last Silverface Bandmasters produced with the Blackface AB763 circuit and all Blackface components.
The Tolex covering is in remarkably good shape with no noticeable rips or tears.
The control plate and corner guards are in good shape with some minor corrosion on the corners.
Overall, this is an outstanding example of a “transitional” Silverface Fender Bandmaster. The transitional amps were the one’s Fender manufactured at the end of the “Blackface” era and they used the same components and circuits, in this case the AB763 circuit.
The Bandmaster has been one of the cornerstones of Fender’s amp line since its introduction in 1953.
The Bandmaster is renowned for its clean headroom, but when cranked, the breakup is complex and harmonically rich.
You simply can’t get this depth of sound from anything modern.
Since this is a point-to-point, hand-wired, all-tube amp it “takes pedals” extremely well.
The Bandmaster features dual channels, a 2-input “Normal” channel with Volume, Bass and Treble and a 2-input “Vibrato” channel with Volume, Bass, and Treble along with Speed and Intensity controls for the amazing sounding Optical Vibrato.
Both channels have their own “Bright” switches.
The openings for the Bright switches have been drilled out prior to my purchasing the amp (pre-1978) to accommodate mini toggle switches, but they have been swapped back to the originals, see pics.
The unit comes with a footswitch for the Vibrato, which is rare for these vintage amps.
This amp was purchased second-hand by me in 1978 at Zavarella’s Music in Arlington, Virginia.
It was serviced in May of 2014 by the legendary Pete Cage of The AudioCage, which is essentially the “Mayo Clinic” for vintage amplifiers on the East Coast.  A
three-prong plug was added at this time for safety.
Get a piece of history while they still exist.
Item will be securely packed, shipped and insured to guarantee safe arrival.
And what’s best,
FREE SHIPPING.
All sales are final.