Fender 1950 Pro 5A5 Tweed TV-Front 15" Jensen 6L6 Excellent

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Perhaps because I am obsessed with vintage amps, our shop has become the place to shop for pieces you never see, like this rare and very early tweed Pro.  The amp came in with a 1955 Stratocaster.  Both items had sat dormant since 1990 or so until they arrived here.

The amp made its way through a local repair shop in the very early 70s.  There is a stamp from the shop inside the cabinet.  Dates on the capacitors that the old radio shop installed dated to early 1971, and there were a bunch of orange drop caps installed in place of original coupling caps.  We brought the amp up slowly on our Variac.  Everything worked, but there was a good deal of hum and some fritzy bass, so we dug in and got it right with quality components throughout.

It runs nicely now and it sounds incredible!  The octal preamp tubes are a bit microphonic, but that is pretty standard.

The transformers and the speaker are original - a beautiful thing!  The tweed is in amazing shape, as is the grille.  You just never see early Fenders in this shape.  The handle is a hand-made replacement - the nicest handle I've been able to find.  The original handle was replaced long ago, so I added this icing on the cake.

Now lets dig a little deeper...

When vintage Fender enthusiasts discuss their favorite amplifiers, the conversation typically centers around the Deluxe, Bassman, and Twin. The Pro-Amp is the unsung hero of that golden-era lineup — the tweed era's best-kept secret. The Fender Professional Amplifier predates all of them in the lineup hierarchy. It was Leo Fender's flagship professional instrument from the late 1940s onward — the amplifier that working musicians chose when they needed the most Fender had to offer. The 5A5 is the earliest circuit designation in the TV-front Pro series, used from the late 1940s through roughly 1951, before the 5B5 revision took over. A 1950 example with the 5A5 circuit is among the oldest surviving TV-front Pros in any condition — and this one is in excellent shape throughout.

The Fender Pro Amp was a groundbreaking guitar amplifier in its day, delivering impressive tone and power that made it a stage-worthy professional-grade option for the performing musician. With its unique TV-front tweed-wrapped pine cabinet and single 15" speaker delivering upwards of 18-20 watts output, it secured itself as one of Fender's most crowning achievements in the budding industry of electric guitar. The TV-front cabinet design — named for the squared-off front panel that resembles a 1950s television set — is the visual signature of the earliest Fender production era, before the wide-panel and narrow-panel tweed cabinets of the mid-to-late-1950s replaced it. Original pine cabinet, original brown grille cloth, original tweed covering, all in excellent condition. 

The 5A5 circuit uses the 6SC7 octal double-triode preamp tube — the same preamp architecture found in the PA amplifiers and phonograph amps of the period, carried into the guitar context by Leo Fender in these earliest designs. The cathode-biased pair of 6L6G power tubes along with the 6SC7 preamp provide lush tube power that saturates into overdrive with a woody and harmonically rich response. The Pro-Amp excels at delivering pristine, articulate clean tones perfect for country and jazz, yet when driven hard produces a warm, harmonically complex breakup ideal for blues and rock.  The single 15-inch speaker and compact power section create a tighter, more focused sound signature than the Bassman. Past about 6 on the volume control it doesn't get any louder, just gives more sustain and body — the 15" speaker simply barks the blues. Playing slide through one of these is magical. 

The 15" Jensen Alnico 5 speaker is the original unit, speaker manufacturer code confirming Jensen production from week 7 of 1950. The speaker has been professionally reconed, well before it was stashed in a closet back in 1990. Both original Triad power and output transformers are intact. The filter caps are brand new, the correct and responsible service approach for a 75-year-old amplifier. The INST channel volume pot has been changed with a late 50s, correct spec pot— the remaining two pots are original. The leather handle is a beautiful reproduction that is the best replacement in the business. Power cord has been upgraded to grounded three-prong. The chassis carries the stamps and signatures of a repair shop right here in Chico, CA— a shop that dated back to the 1950s. RCA 6L6 power tubes, RCA 5U4 rectifier, three RCA 6SC7 preamp tubes. No case.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Date: 1950
• Where Is Date Noted?: Serial#, codes
• Weight: 38lbs 0.5oz
• Dimensions: w 22" x h 20" x d 9-1/2"
• Watts: 18 watts
• Case/Cover?: no
• Case/Cover Brand: n/a
• Case/Cover Condition: n/a
  
• Covering Material: tweed
• Covering Color: tweed
• Covering Original?: tweed
• Cabinet Material: pine
• Cabinet Condition: excellent
• Cabinet Repairs/Changes: none
• Cabinet Original?: yes
• Grille Style: brown cloth
• Grille Condition: excellent
• Grille Original?: yes
• Baffle Material: pine
• Baffle Condition: excellent
• Baffle Original?: yes
• Baffle Repairs/Changes: none
• Chassis Material: sheet metal
• Chassis Condition: excellent
• Chassis Original?: yes
• Chassis Repairs/Changes: none
• Knobs Original?: yes
• Handle Material: leather
• Handle Original?: no - but it is a beautiful reproduction!
• Speaker 1 Brand: Jensen Alnico 5 
• Speaker 1 Size: 15"
• Speaker 1 Manufacturer Code: 220
• Speaker 1 Date Code: 007
• Speaker 1 Cone Code: hard to read
• Speaker 1 Cone Original?: no, reconed
• Speaker 1 Condition: excellent
• Speaker Original?: yes
• Power Transformer Manufacturer: Triad
• Power Transformer Manufacturer Code: n/a
• Power Transformer Model Number: 6516
• Power Transformer Original?: yes
• Output Transformer Manufacturer: Triad
• Output Transformer Manufacturer Code: n/a
• Output Transformer Model Number: 1846
• Output Transformer Original?: yes
• Choke Transformer Manufacturer: n/a
• Choke Transformer Manufacturer Code: n/a
• Choke Transformer Date Code: n/a
• Choke Transformer Original?: n/a
• Reverb Transformer Manufacturer: n/a
• Reverb Transformer Manufacturer Code: n/a
• Reverb Transformer Date Code: n/a
• Reverb Transformer Original?: n/a
• Reverb Onboard:  no
• Reverb Tank Original?: n/a
• Tremolo Or Vibrato Onboard: no
• Pedal Included?: no
• Pedal Condition: n/a
• Pedal Original?: n/a
• Rectifier Tube: 5U4
• Rectifier Tube Brand: RCA
• Power Tubes: 2 x 6L6
• Power Tube Brand: RCA
• Preamp Tubes: 3 x 6SC7
• Preamp Tube Brand: RCA
• Potentiometers Original?: 2 original, INST pot changed
• Filter Caps: replaced
• Internal Repairs: yes
• Power Cable: grounded upgrade
• Accessories Included: none
• Documentation: stamps and signatures of repair shop in chassis
• Smells?: none
  
  

Shipping Policy
By completing your purchase you are agreeing to this shipping policy. Shipments require signature on delivery, no exceptions. Less than 1% of our shipments are damaged in transit, and we are committed to making sure your item arrives safely. If there is damage, retain all packing materials intact, photograph them immediately, and send the photos to sales@maharsvintageguitars.com.

Amplifiers: We take additional precautions to prevent common shipping damage. Depending on the amp, this may include removing tubes, pulling the chassis from the cabinet if heavy transformers present a drop risk, or removing heavy speakers that could crack baffles in transit. Reassembly is required on delivery — we label everything clearly. These measures add to shipping costs but reflect hard-won experience. All amps are tested in our shop upon intake and again before shipping. We cover shipping damage but cannot be responsible for the failure of vintage components in instruments that are 20 to 50-plus years old.