Tremolux Dilemma

Tremolux dilemma


Ok so apart from being a funny band name I have a blonde piggyback dilemma, that you all might be able to help me with.

I have (or should say, had) a blond ‘63 blackface tremolux piggyback. Now here’s the thing, many years ago the head was stolen and the cab has sat in a corner of my studio feeling very sorry for itself for years. (Nearly 30 years!)

Due to lockdown I’ve been thinking about it lately and how I’d very much like to have the head back on it.

First let me say that I know the ab763 circuit backwards and have build and rebuilt fender amps many times. I had decided to rebuild the head as close to original specs as possible sourcing as many old parts as possible and a new repro chassis, I have a friend who can build the most amazing cabinets so that isn’t a problem and will undoubtedly make it spot on and even age it to the condition of the cab

But I’ve now run into a snag with this, and that is, no one makes a blackface tremolux chassis, I’ve found Showmans, bandmasters, twins, pros, bassmans, Princetons, vibrolux reverbs, deluxes, you name it, even BF tremolux faceplates but no tremoluxe chassis!

So my here are my avenues of thought on how best to achieve this

look for a Tremolux BF blonde head. Been doing this for years although not obsessively, it seems very few people have the heads seperate from the cab, so far I have had no luck. The search goes on.
Buy a blackface head and have it recovered - this has possibilities but it seems a shame to remove a original stock tolex and recover, maybe I could get it looking in keeping, but the amp will probably be later that 63
Have someone build me a chassis. There are blackface tremolux faceplates available, so this seems possible though I’ve only found one person who has offered to do it and their work looks a little rough tbh. I don’t have all the measurements for the hole knockouts and bolt alignments, trying someone to get that right could be difficult without original drawings or someone who could kindly measure a real one.
Buy a BF Showman chassis and faceplate and work from there. The showman is an inch wider than the tremolux, so first question is, will it fit between the piggyback thumbscrews or will it end up not slotting on. I have no idea not bring in possession of early blackface showman(not a dual with is much wider)
Wait and see if anyone has a broken tremolux in any state of disrepair or smashed cabinet and rebuild

So there we have it, any help would be gratefully received from anyone here I’d love to get a whole bunch of views, obviously there’s the “buy a vintage tremolux rig in good condition” but I don’t want to abandon my cab just yet, plus I’d love to build a tremolux, I’m currently building a blonde 6g15 reverb unit and it’ll go with it ever so nicely,
(I might post this on other forums so please don’t be mad if you see it twice ��)

Thanks

Tim

The AA763/AB763 Showman and Dual Showman heads are 24 inches wide -- too big to fit the piggyback anchors of a Tremolux speaker enclosure (they would fit a Bandmaster cab though). If you absolutely must have a blonde Tremolux head, the best bet would be to find a black one and have a new cabinet covered in blonde Tolex built for it. Finding the correct gold-weave wheatstraw grill cloth will be problematic though.

Thanks phantomman! yep that has occurred to me, seems a shame to take off original tolex, maybe a stripped one will show up soon

t

If you needed a Showman or Bandmaster head cab I could help you out with that (I have an "orphan" enclosure available).

It seems the Tremolux is an enigmatic amp. Few were built, relative to the number of Showman/Bandmaster/Bassman models, and most who own them don't seem interested in parting with them (trust me, I know). I'd love to have one for my collection but my quest thus far has been fruitless. BTW, what speakers are in your Tremolux cab?

It had Oxford 10K5, I had actually taken them out and put them in a ‘67 BF vibrolux reverb, which might be the best amp I’ve ever heard. I’ll Probably get a pair of the Jensen C10Q reissues and then decide which amp is more deserving of which. I really don’t get the distain for Oxfords, I like most of the speakers fender used in the 60s.

Yeah, I do want a tremolux so I guess I’ll have to see what comes along. Thanks for the offer of cab but I don’t think the studio could take anymore!

Oxford's tone fell off the bus in late '65 after CBS/FMI insisted they ditch their time-consuming QA/QC protocols in order to ramp up production to meet Fender's increasing demand for speakers. Those Oxfords made prior to that sounded hokay -- not nearly as sweet as Jensens but certainly befitting the designs that Leo created. Ironically, Fender abandoned Jensen as well in 1967 over wholesale pricing demands. Utah (and later, Eminence) were brought onboard to take up the slack, neither of them measuring up to the Chicago-made Jensens.

Do you have an opinion of the reissue jensens?

I will post my own reply to your latest question here but phantomman is much more experienced than me and will probably be of much more service, especially regarding amps.

I recently bought a new Fender amp with a modern Jensen C12N speaker and having read tons of reviews stating that they're "all right but the older ones can't be beaten", I just can't believe my ears.

Awesome speaker. Very good definition and very bright, I don't think a speaker can scream "Fender!" more than this one...

This guy has the BF Tremolux chassis: https://seasidechassisdesign.com/