The Pawn Shop Special Greta (above) and Excelsior (below) models.

Fender introduced its new Pawn Shop Special amplifiers at this years NAMM show, which present a coolly unconventional take on amp design by evoking the enjoyably esoteric finds you might find in a pawnshop or second-hand store. They have the air of the early days of electrified sound, when musicians grabbed whatever amp they could get—be it for guitar, harmonica, lap steel, accordion, vocal mic, etc. Those amps produced sounds that were wonderfully distinctive precisely because they were so primitive, and it was exactly their oddball nature that made them so much fun.

The two new Pawn Shop Special models—the diminutive Greta™ and the elegant Excelsior™—deliver that offbeat no-school-like-old-school spirit in spades. Neither is intended as your everyday main amp (in fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the name “Fender” anywhere on them), but you’re nonetheless in for a delightful sonic experience that just might spark some magic creative impulse, spur a great idea or lend a certain never-heard-that-before sound to your recording. Plug in, and you’ll find new voices, new sounds and new songs hiding in these unruly little boxes—all just waiting for you to let them out.

In the playful form of a vintage tabletop radio, the Pawn Shop Special Greta model is quite possibly the most unusual Fender tube amp ever. In fact, nobody would blame you if you saw a Greta and, not yet realizing its true identity, tried to tune in the local weather on it.

But an amp is exactly what it is—a two-watt tabletop beauty with a 4” Special Design speaker, old-school VU meter with “clean to overload” indicator display and simple volume and tone controls. Its charmingly vintage-style enclosure has front and rear wood panels finished in bright red, gold-finished metal top and sides for increased shielding, “Greta” script badge on the front panel and tabletop feet. Under the hood and on the back panel, the Greta features a single 12AT7 output tube and 12AX7 preamp tube, with a ¼” instrument jack and ¼” line out jack (for preamp use with another amplifier). Greta produces a variety of low-volume clean and overdriven guitar tones, but even if you never plug a guitar into it, the 1/8” back-panel auxiliary input is perfect for iPod or other media player use, with great mono tube playback sound that’ll have you rocking right there at your desk.

Alluringly refined yet harboring tones from polite to raw to raucous, the Pawn Shop Special Excelsior model is undoubtedly one of the most distinctive tube combo amps in Fender history. Its brown textured vinyl covering, smartly stylish “E” grille design and bold crossed-swords front-panel badge convey a decidedly stately vibe with a marked air of cold-war cool.

To say nothing of its admirable tone and power. The 13-watt Excelsior elegantly encloses a single 15” Special Design speaker, with a bottom-loaded primary chassis and top-loaded control chassis for operating convenience and low noise (powered by two 6V6 output tubes and two 12AX7 preamp tubes). Distinctive features include “instrument,” “microphone” and “accordion” inputs that each have individually optimized circuitry; tremolo circuit with speed control, bright/dark tone switch (for treble or bass emphasis), volume control and ¼” internal speaker disconnect that lets the amp drive an external speaker enclosure. For playing at home, smaller gigs and studio sessions, the Excelsior is a class act that brings a fresh and unconventional new vibe to your playing.

Note that this mod requires working with the highest voltages in the amplifier. If you decide that you want to do this yourself, be absolutely certain that you already know how to do it safely before you start – unplug the amp, let it sit for an hour, etc. If you have any doubts, take it to a tech who knows how. Amps can be valuable, but they’re not worth dying for.

The diodes have to be able to withstand at least twice the B+ voltage in the amplifier. For amps up to about 450V in normal operation, you can use the cheap and widely available 1N4007, which is rated for 1000V and 1 amp. For amps with B+ supplies over 450V up to about 550V, use the ST Semiconductor STTH112U, which is rated for 1A and 1200V, available from Mouser Electronics.

After the mod, the B+ will be 0.7V smaller – an insignificant amount. If the rectifier tube just wears out and quits conducting, the amp still quits working; that’s what replacement tubes are for. But if it shorts, the solid-state diodes now take over the load. In fact, the amp simply keeps playing if the rectifier tube shorts. The high voltage supply actually rises by maybe 50V, so the amp gets a touch louder. You can keep playing until the show is over and you have time to put in a new rectifier.

You might ask, “Why are we doing this?” The “immortal amplifier” idea originated in the poem, “The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, and was furthered along by stories of how Rolls-Royce made its notoriously reliable cars. The basis of both of these is that in any machine there are weak points – places which will break first.

In the poem by Holmes, the horse-drawn carriage was constructed so that every part was as strong as the rest, so it all failed at once – like a bubble bursting – after 100 years. In the case of Rolls Royce, they did abusive testing on entire cars, found what parts broke, then made those parts stronger so they did not break.

Tube amplifiers are already pretty reliable. If we were to find the few weak points and add some reinforcements there, they could last even longer, suitable for leaving to your grandkids. The fact that they don’t fail you on stage or are cheap to repair when they do manage to fail is icing on the cake.

This mod is intended to strengthen a weak spot in tube amps. After doing these mods to my amps, they may not really be immortal, but they should outlast me!

Immortal Amplifier Mod #1 - Rectifier Tube Fail Soft

A well-made tube amp can last a long time, but there are a few things that can make them uneconomical to fix, as well as unreliable. If you were to make these weak links stronger or easier to fix, the amplifier would then last a long time – maybe even longer than you, effectively making the amplifier immortal.

Back up your tube rectifier so it “soft fails." Rectifier tubes fail, like all tubes do. They usually fail by not conducting current at all, instead giving complete silence, which is no big problem. As a smart and well-prepared musician, you can just pop in your spare rectifier tube, making good use of the tube sockets.

But sometimes when the rectifier tube fails, it does not open. Sometimes it shorts and dumps the full, high voltage AC power into the filter caps. Polarized filter caps cannot stand AC, so they usually fail shorted. Now there is a solid short on the power transformer high voltage winding. The AC power line fuse might blow in time to save your power transformer from burning out, but it also might not, as it’s deliberately made a time-delay (“slo-blo”) type to allow the amp to get started. And your power transformer is the single most expensive part in your amp.

Fortunately, the fix is simple: add – or have your tech add – two solid-state diodes, one in series with each anode of the rectifier tube. The diodes must be rated for more than twice the B+ voltage of the amp and at least the full current. One-amp (1A) rated diodes are sufficient for nearly all tube amps. In most amps, the power transformer leads go directly to the rectifier tube socket. The simplest way to wire in the diodes is to unsolder the wire from the rectifier tube socket, then solder the cathode (bar) end of the diode to the rectifier tube. Bend a loop in the anode (opposite) end of the diode, then slip a length of heat shrink tubing over each transformer lead, soldering each transformer lead to the loop in one diode. When the solder cools, slip the heat shrink down over the diode and heat it. Don’t leave the wire leads uncovered – this is important for safety!

This is not an ideal mounting arrangement for the diodes, as they are supporting the transformer leads. To take some strain off the diode leads, use nylon cable ties to keep the transformer leads together, or, better yet, secure them to nearby parts of the amp to keep the leads from stressing the diodes mechanically.

The G-Dec 3 Thirty Metal.

Fender ’s acclaimed G-DEC 3 Thirty practice amp is now available in three genre-specific FSR (Factory Special Run) versions tailor-made for blues, metal and country guitarists.

Like the standard 30-watt blackface G-DEC 3 Thirty, all three new FSR models come equipped with 100 presets, a wealth of CD-quality backing tracks, easy computer connectivity and Fender FUSE™ software for custom configuration. Unlike the standard model, however, each of these three distinctive new amps features a striking cosmetic treatment created especially for its individual musical personality.

The G-DEC 3 Thirty Blues is a vintage-style amp with a classic Fender look, with blonde vinyl covering, oxblood grille cloth and chrome corners that tastefully evoke the early 1960s. Onboard CD-quality backing track loops by dozens of top musicians give a special nod to the blues, with other tracks in various vintage jazz, R&B and soul styles and 100 tone presets appropriate to these styles.

The G-DEC 3 Thirty Metal goes horns up for shredders and punks alike, with black hardware and grille cloth and covered in hardcore black-white-gray camo. It features onboard CD-quality backing track loops by members of Hatebreed, Anthrax, Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel, Sepultura, Bad Religion and others, plus several sick drums-only metal loops, a few Southern rock tracks thrown in just for fun, and 100 tone presets perfect for all these sounds.

The G-DEC 3 Thirty Country saddles up with stylish western “cowboy tooled” vinyl covering, wheat grille cloth and chrome corners. Its onboard CD-quality backing track loops by dozens of top musicians give a special nod to classic and modern country, rockabilly, and Americana styles, with 100 tone presets by acclaimed pickers Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, James Burton and more that are ideal sounds for the tracks.

The G-DEC 3 Thirty Blues (Above) and G-DEC 3 Thirty Country (Below).

The new 1x8” Mustang I (above) and 1x12” Mustang II (below).

The new Fender Mustang I and II guitar amps raise the standard for modern guitar versatility and muscle. Driven by incredibly authentic amp models and a huge bank of built-in effects, Mustang I and II come equipped with USB connectivity and Fender FUSE™ software, both of which let your musical creativity and imagination run wild.

Mustang I is a 20-watt closed-back combo with an 8” Special Design speaker; Mustang II is a 40-watt closed-back combo with a 12” Special Design speaker. Both sound great and pump serious volume, and both contain 24 highly accurate on-board amp presets with tones from vintage Fender sparkle to outrageous modern metal distortion, all easily and instantly accessed right out of the box with only a twist of a single knob.

Mustang I and II also contain a bank of 24 built-in effects, including chorus, flanging, phasing, tremolo, vibratone, step filter, reverb, echo, octaver and more—12 modulation effects and 12 delay and reverb effects in all. Effects selection and adjustment is quickly and easily accomplished using two simple knobs on the control panel. Both amps are great for practice and jam sessions, and the 1/8” headphone jack doubles as a speaker-emulated line out.

The Fender FUSE™ software included with Mustang I and II opens up a world of possibilities, including on-screen parameter control, deep editing, additional effects, unlimited preset storage, online preset swapping with the Fender FUSE™ community, and free Fender artist presets. An optional single-button footswitch controls two quick-access presets.

Mustang I and II run from a very simple control interface, which includes gain, volume, treble, bass, master, preset select, modulation select, delay/reverb select, save button, exit button and tap tempo button.

Other features of both models include an auxiliary input for media player, chromatic tuner, Ableton® Live Lite 8 Fender Edition studio-quality recording software (compatible with the Mustang USB recording output) and AmpliTube® Fender LE software. All Mustang features are packed into a striking visual design with sleek and modern Fender styling, delivering looks that are as desirable as the sound.