Fender 5A5 Pro Amp (1951)

Fender's Pro Amp was a groundbreaking guitar amplifier in its day, delivering some impressive tone and power that made it a stage-worthy Pro-fessional grade option for the performing musician. With its unique "TV" front tweed-wrapped pine cabinet and single 15" speaker delivering upwards of 20 watts output, it secured itself as one of Fender's most crowning achievements in the budding industry of electric guitar.

This particular Pro was built in 1951 and has all the hallmarks of a "TV Era" Fender amp, such as an octal tube preamp and ultra-simple tone stack. The cathode-biased pair of 6L6G power tubes along with the 6SC7 preamp provide lush tube power that saturates into overdrive with a woody and harmonically rich response. At low volumes, the amp produces beautiful clean tones with deep round bass and clear trebles. You can imagine just how well this amp paired with lap and pedal steel guitars in its day. Using the Instrument and/or Microphone inputs will yield a slightly different feel, as the input gain varies between the two.

The current owner has owned the amp since 2007 and it was recently serviced by Boston-area amp tech Stan Day. A recap and an Orange County Speaker recone of the original Jensen P15N make it about as plug-and-play as it gets. The original handle had worn out and was once replaced with a different style, but a proper replacement was added and the aftermarket handle was removed (see the plugs beneath the current handle). Despite some heavy wear, the original tweed wrap and grill cloth remains. There's some evidence of old green paint having been applied decades ago, but most of it had been removed. The cabinet is structurally sound and solid as well. One of Fender's original amplifier wiring technicians and perhaps the most notable - Lupe Lopez - left her signature on masking tape inside the chassis, which still remains untouched and clearly legible.

Priced with a Tuki padded slipcover.