History · Fender-style

The Super line

The Super is Fender's two-10-inch, 6L6-powered step above the Deluxe. It begins in 1947 as the twin-speaker "Dual Professional" — Fender's first two-speaker amp and an early finger-jointed cabinet — soon renamed Super, and runs through the tweed sequence gaining inputs, jacks, a standby switch, and finally the narrow-panel 5F4 with its cathode-follower treble/bass tone stack and long-tailed-pair inverter. The 1960 brown redesign moves to fixed bias, a GZ34 rectifier, and vibrato before the name passes to the blackface Super Reverb. As with all tweed circuits the early production dates are approximate, and factory power ratings across this family are notably inconsistent.

1947–1963 7 models 1 documented 6 history-tier

Era timeline — each bar spans a model's production years; the chain from top to bottom is the line's succession.

Documented circuit — links to its page History-tier — placed & sourced, circuit not yet drawn Succession within the line

The models

Designation	Years	Watts	Output stage	Key change	Circuit
Dual Professional	1947–1953	—	push-pull 2x6L6	The origin of the line: introduced in 1947 as the Dual Professional, Fender's first amp with two speakers (a pair of 10-inch Jensens in a "V-front" baffle) and an early finger-jointed cabinet, then renamed Super. A cathode-biased 6L6 pair on a 5U4G rectifier sets the family's power template. Running changes in this era feed straight into the numbered circuits — a fourth input appears at the 5B4 and under-chassis speaker jacks at the 5C4.	history entry
5B4	1953–1954	—	push-pull 2x6L6	The first wide-panel-cabinet Super circuit. Relative to the V-front era it adds a fourth input, keeping the cathode-biased 6L6G pair, 5U4G rectifier, and twin 10-inch speakers.	history entry
5C4	1953–1954	—	push-pull 2x6L6	Adds a speaker jack and external-speaker jack under the chassis over the 5B4; output stage and tube complement otherwise unchanged.	history entry
5D4	1954–1955	—	push-pull 2x6L6	The last wide-panel Super, adding a standby switch (seen on 1954-1955 examples). Still cathode-biased 6L6G into two 10-inch speakers on a 5U4G rectifier, just ahead of the narrow-panel redesign.	history entry
5E4	1955–1956	—	push-pull 2x6L6	The narrow-panel redesign. The 5E4 moves to the tighter cabinet and a fuller preamp (12AY7 plus 12AX7). A short-lived 5E4-A variant substituted a 6V6GT output pair and used a selenium rectifier in the bias supply — a bridge toward the 5F4 rather than the mainline circuit.	history entry
5F4	1957–1960	26 W	push-pull 2x6L6	The definitive tweed Super and a sibling to the 5F6-A Bassman preamp architecture: a 12AY7 two-channel front end into a 12AX7 gain stage and a DC-coupled cathode follower feeding a treble/bass tone stack, then a 12AX7 long-tailed-pair phase inverter driving a fixed-biased 6L6G pair on a 5U4G. A selenium rectifier sits in the bias circuit. Published output is inconsistent — the corpus's own DC-verified circuit is documented at 26 W, while the field guide lists the narrow-panel Super at 30 W.	5F4 circuit ↗
6G4 / 6G4-A	1960–1963	40 W	push-pull 2x6L6	The brown-Tolex redesign, the last amp to carry the plain Super name before it passed to the blackface Super Reverb. Fixed non-adjustable bias and a GZ34 rectifier replace the tweed cathode-bias/5U4G scheme, and the amp gains vibrato plus a Normal/Bright two-channel panel with presence. The 6G4 ran 6L6GC output tubes; the later 6G4-A moved to 5881s. Twin 10-inch speakers continue; the field guide's 40 W rating is a factory figure and higher than the tweed Super's.	history entry

A circuit ↗ badge links a fully documented circuit — redrawn schematic, verified operating point, parts list. A history entry is placed and sourced here but its circuit isn't drawn yet; contributions are welcome.

Dating & notes

Power ratings across this family are inconsistent between sources and eras: the field guide lists the wide-panel tweed Super at figures that look like a Deluxe template carry-over (~15 W) despite its 6L6 output stage, the narrow-panel Super at 30 W, and the brown 6G4 at 40 W, while the corpus's DC-verified 5F4 is documented at 26 W. Wattage is left null where only a doubtful factory figure exists (the wide-panel and 5E4 circuits) and carried with a source note where a specific rating is defensible. Tweed sub-circuit dates are approximate; the "Dual Professional" entry uses the pre-5-series name because the numbered designations had not yet begun, mirroring how the Deluxe line's "Model 26" woodie is handled.

Sources

Every model above carries its own citations in the corpus data file. Browse the full source list for this line: history/families/super.yaml.

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