SurfGuitar101.com | Forums: Brownface, Blackface, Silverface?

Photo of the Day

The Bahareebas

Shoutbox

dp: dude
367 days ago

Bango_Rilla: Shout Bananas!!
322 days ago

BillyBlastOff: See you kiddies at the Convention!
306 days ago

GDW: showman
257 days ago

Emilien03: https://losg...
179 days ago

Pyronauts: Happy Tanks-Kicking!!!
173 days ago

glennmagi: CLAM SHACK guitar
158 days ago

Hothorseraddish: surf music is amazing
138 days ago

dp: get reverberated!
89 days ago

Clint: “A Day at the Beach” podcast #237 is TWO HOURS of NEW surf music releases. https://link...
22 days ago

Shout History

Please login or register to shout.

IRC Status

racc

Join them in the #ShallowEnd!

Need help getting started?

Current Polls

No polls at this time. Check out our past polls.

Current Contests

No contests at this time. Check out our past contests.

Donations

Help us meet our monthly goal:

87%

87%

Cake

May Birthdays Cake

Cake

1st – betomunhoz, Coach, lsylte
2nd – BorfJr, GatoStrato, InstroChick, NoiseFloor, Tikitena, ZombieGroove
3rd – bobdeans, Dohenyjoe, FredJr, fulgore, Joheny, Masuto
4th – Freehawk, JoeJazz2000, PhantomOperators
5th – DJ_Sid_Presley, JBPhoto, Millwinder, verschuurpual
6th – stimey
7th – Agent_Z, BoB69, yantiliu
8th – GandyDancer, ruglandma, surfbeat99
9th – BradMcNulty, Jerry13
10th – Pastana75, tonymcgowan55, tvardy
11th – spskins, TheeAaronRev, Wellens_
12th – GulfofBrass, PistonDude, SmileySmile, SoCalOldGuy1956, SpaceTimC, Thunderbird
13th – Amplion, Beeza71, TheOutpost
14th – gabrielpowell, Rskingdom
15th – Agent_15, mikeo, speedfaias
16th – d4man, dustyWyo, instrumentwire, LM_Olympic, Marky_Wildstone, Rome, SwampCat
17th – bigkahunaron, electronificated, jdangerously57, Jimmy_Strings, mom_surfing
18th – acidjoker, JohnBlutarski, pavlovsdog
19th – Andolf, balt11tab, JoeKer_Z_Wilde, mschafft, ShortScalePDX
20th – juankamilo0surf, Skullie
21st – Hothorseraddish
22nd – BeachCombers, Londonbus, RandySG88, surfdefender2013, SurfsUp, sworgs
23rd – 3singes, bubbaznetti, Pingrider, StingrayStingray
24th – bigaaron, thesidss
25th – romainsan, Rudy92
26th – elreydlp, eocb, IvanP, Pyronauts, Trafolta, vampireautoparts
27th – coffin_wheels, cohen2344, Donald77, easydranch, Finkdaddy, nsiegel27, Todd_Kelp
28th – aaronBONESbata, Silverface
29th – DNAdude, rickylasvegas
30th – Bennie01, blueeyedlava
31st – Hodaddy, Ludella, RedBeard

SG101 MP3 Comps

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Brownface, Blackface, Silverface?

• New Topic

toddr513 Joined: Dec 30, 2013 Posts: 245	Posted on Jan 13 2014 03:13 PM I was wondering what the difference between these, besides color.....I know they all have a different sound just never understand why everyone wants to black face things like say a silverface Top
surferjoemusic Joined: Jan 01, 2008 Posts: 2107 Livorno	Posted on Jan 13 2014 03:38 PM Most people buy a silverface, to change it to a blackface, all because a brownface is too expensive — Lorenzo "Surfer Joe" Valdambrini (www.surfmusic.net) Top
Noel Joined: Mar 15, 2011 Posts: 8528 Back in Piitsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.	Posted on Jan 13 2014 03:46 PM This answer comes from Jeff Senn of Crazy Aces. I've quoted it and provided the link to the whole discussion. "I'll take a stab at it and I'll keep it simple, related to tone not the science behind the circuits. There are many here that may enjoy going into things like bias tremolo vs. optical circuit, tone stacks etc. but that tends to confuse folks that are looking for comparison in sound. First off be careful when talking about Fender amps regarding the tolex color. Brownface amps came in Brown tolex and Blonde. Some blonde amps have blackface circuits.......you get the idea. Fender amps, in short, went from Tweed to Brownface to Blackface to Silverface. The further back you go, Tweed and Brownface, the more mids the amps have, less clean (although some are still quite loud) and "bolder", "thicker" sound. The Brownface amps have a Deeper more throbbing Tremolo than later Blackface amps, perhaps one reason Surf Guitarists dig them. Blackface amps are generally able to stay cleaner at louder volumes than Brownface amps but do not have as dramatic Tremolo (this can be altered) Due to changes in the tone circuit from Brownface to Black, the Blackface amps are generally not as "thick" sounding as Brownface, have more highs and built in Reverb comes along with the Blackface era amps. Silverface in some cases are very similar and sometimes identical to Blackface circuits and thus sound similar or the same. There are other reasons for these generations to sound different, phase inverter changes, tube bias etc. but these are some working generalizations that I have experienced through owning all of these various production models. Hope that helps." Differences Between Fender Amps of Different Eras — This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got. Top
josheboy Joined: Mar 13, 2009 Posts: 2367 Twin Cities, MN	Posted on Jan 13 2014 03:47 PM surferjoemusic wrote: Most people buy a silverface, to change it to a blackface, all because a brownface is too expensive Top
DannySnyder Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 11077 Berkeley, CA	Posted on Jan 13 2014 05:00 PM Silverfaces are a much longer time period, thus there are great differences amongst them. So beware lumping them all together. They can be excellent amps, but need to be taken on a case by case basis. In addition, since these amps are so old, many have been altered significantly. My first blackface was a pro reverb that someone pulled the tube rectifier circuit out and put in a solid state one and added a master volume - YUCK! Then 22 year old me had it hot rodded. Recently, I put it back to "stock", but it still suffers from the work done. — Danny Snyder "With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo I am now playing trumpet with Prince Buster tribute band 'Balzac' Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF Top
Hammond101 Joined: Feb 22, 2013 Posts: 342 SoCal USA	Posted on Jan 13 2014 05:48 PM Fender, as time went on, made revisions to the amps to continuously make them cleaner with less distortion. Blackfacing a SF amp usually involves removing some capacitors and changing resistor values in the power section to make the amp a little more apt to break up earlier when pushed. Changes to the phase inverter and bias section are also involved. There is nothing wrong with Fender Silverfaced amps. If you like the tone, play 'em! The clean nature of larger SF Fenders lends well to surf music. They take pedals well too. Many of the smaller amps didn't change much at all in the SF years. There are as many exceptions as there are rules in the design of these amps. Each model year or each model really needs to be discussed on it's own merit. For example many early SF amps were identical to there prior BF counterparts. These can be real bargains. — Keep it Drippy Brothers and Sisters! Top
toddr513 Joined: Dec 30, 2013 Posts: 245	Posted on Jan 13 2014 08:21 PM thanks a lot guys! Top

Top

Please visit our friends in the surf music community:

Contact Us • About Us • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Colophon

SurfGuitar101.com © 2004 - 2025 by Brian Neal. All comments and user contributed articles are property of the posters.

Thanks to all the surf bands, past and present. And thanks to all the fans who care about and keep surf music alive.