The lines behind the circuits

History

A documented circuit is one moment in a line that ran for decades. This section places each amp in its family — the chain of revisions it came from and the ones that followed — as a dated, sourced era timeline. Most entries are history-tier: the model is placed and cited but its circuit isn't drawn yet. A few link straight to the fully documented circuit page. 16 lines, 97 models, 39 with a documented circuit.

Fender-style
The Deluxe line
1946–1966 · 8 models
3 of 8 models documented

The Deluxe is Fender's mid-power workhorse:

5 history-tier
Fender-style
The Princeton line
1946–1968 · 10 models
4 of 10 models documented

For its first fifteen years the Princeton was, in Fender's own framing, a Champ with a tone control and a slightly larger output transformer:

6 history-tier
Fender-style
The Super line
1947–1967 · 9 models
4 of 9 models documented

The Super is Fender's two-10-inch, 6L6-powered step above the Deluxe.

5 history-tier
Fender-style
The Champ line
1948–1968 · 8 models
5 of 8 models documented

Fender's smallest student amplifier and its longest-lived circuit idea:

3 history-tier
Fender-style
The Pro line
1948–1963 · 7 models
2 of 7 models documented

Fender's mid-size single-15" workhorse, sitting between the Deluxe/Super class and the piggyback Bassman/Twin/Showman class for its whole run.

5 history-tier
Fender-style
The Bassman line
1952–1967 · 9 models
6 of 9 models documented

The Bassman began in 1952 as a companion for the new Precision Bass — a single-15" tweed combo meant to amplify a bass guitar cleanly.

3 history-tier
American-style
The Gibson GA line
1952–1963 · 3 models
1 of 3 models documented

Gibson built amplifiers to sell guitars, and it built them its own way.

2 history-tier
Fender-style
The Twin line
1952–1967 · 6 models
1 of 6 models documented

The Twin is Fender's flagship:

5 history-tier
Fender-style
The Harvard line
1955–1963 · 2 models
1 of 2 models documented

A short and unusual line.

1 history-tier
American-style
The Supro and Valco line
1957–1968 · 3 models
1 of 3 models documented

Valco was a contract shop that happened to own famous brands.

2 history-tier
British-style
The Vox AC line
1958–1965 · 8 models
2 of 8 models documented

Jennings Musical Industries built its first guitar amplifier at the end of the 1950s:

6 history-tier
American-style
The Ampeg Portaflex line
1960–2000 · 7 models
1 of 7 models documented

Ampeg's answer to the problem of carrying a bass rig:

6 history-tier
British-style
The Marshall lead-amp line
1962–1989 · 6 models
5 of 6 models documented

Marshall's first amplifier adapted a Fender tweed circuit for a British market wanting more volume, then diverged from it fast:

1 history-tier
Fender-style
The Deluxe Reverb line
1963–1967 · 2 models
1 of 2 models documented

The Deluxe Reverb is the blackface spin-off that eclipsed the amp it grew from.

1 history-tier
American-style
The Silvertone amplifiers
1963–1967 · 1 model
1 of 1 models documented

Silvertone was not a maker.

line fully documented
British-style
The Hiwatt line
1964–1995 · 8 models
1 of 8 models documented

Dave Reeves trained in electronics in the Royal Air Force and worked at Mullard; made redundant in 1966, he set up Hylight in September of that year and built amplifiers under contract for Ivor Arbiter's Sound City shop.

7 history-tier

History-tier entries record a model's place, era, tube complement and the change that defined it, with sources — but no redrawn schematic, verified operating point, or parts list yet. Those are the documented circuits, earned one at a time. Want to move an entry from history-tier to documented? Here's how to contribute a circuit.