In 1959, Fender began to use a cloth-backed vinyl product called Tolex
to cover its amplifiers. This covering was far more rugged and durable than
the tweed suitcase fabric introduced in 1948. Fender chose to debut this
new material on its two newest amplifiers, the Vibrasonic and the Concert.
The Concert was the offspring of the legendary 4x10 Bassman of the mid to
late 1950s. Since the Bassman was being used primarily by guitarists, Leo
Fender redesigned the circuit to optimize it for guitar and added a tremolo
feature. Unfortunately, the circuit changes "sanitized" the sound since
Leo was (wrongly) convinced that guitarists wanted clean tone rather than
the slighty overdriven sound of the Bassman. As a result, the Concert was
never as popular as the Bassman. Its lower gain and clean, but rich, tone
is better suited to jazz than to rock and roll.
Power Amp: Tube; 2 x 5881, 40 watts RMS @ 2 ohms
Preamp: Tube; 3 x 12AX7, 3 x 7025
Rectifier: Solid state; silicon diodes
Speakers: 4 x 10" Oxford 10K5-1
Channels: 2 (Normal, Vibrato); 2 inputs per channel
Effects: Tremolo
Controls: Normal - volume, bass, treble; Vibrato - volume, bass, treble, tremolo intensity, tremolo depth, presence; foot switch for tremolo
Dimensions: 25 H x 24 W x 9 D inches
Weight: 55 lb.