Fender 5F10 Harvard (1956)

Fender's 5F10 Harvard was positioned between the Tweed Princeton and Deluxe models of the period offering players a true sweet spot in the lineup. Louder than a Princeton, but quieter than a Deluxe, and with a more unique preamp stage and overall feel that's a little cleaner and clearer sounding that both of those other amps.

Legendarily affiliated with session ace Steve Cropper, the Harvard delivers that Tweed-like immediacy and bounce. The original Jensen P10R provides that classic American alnico voice, with a reedy top end and wonderful compression when pushed. What's most fascinating about this particular Harvard beyond its tone? It might be its serial number.

This looks to be the 50th serialized 5F10 in existence! It's without question the earliest of any respective model Fender amp we've ever had in the shop - truly a trip to see! It certainly makes for an interesting origin story, as the model was officially released in 1955, but this amp appears to have been completed in May of 1956 based on the tube chart stamp and date code on the volume pot. It's certainly possible that it was a holdover or employee amp, but that's just speculation nearly 70 years later. One thing for sure is that it's bonafide No. 50.

It just recently came through service by the great Stan Day, who installed a fresh set of power tubes, replaced a faulty input jack, along with some caps and installation a 3-prong power cord. He also replaced what was an incorrect output transformer with a new Soursound layer wound output transformer, faithfully restoring the tone of the original. The amp has a defunct speaker jack installed long ago on the lower corner of the back panel, which we've elected to leave in place. The original Victoria slipcover remains, and it's in excellent shape!

Here's a great opportunity to grab one of the most important guitar amplifiers in Fender history!