Black Panel Amp

In general, this term covers all the Fender guitar and bass amplifiers made from 1963 to 1967. These amps had black control panels on the front of the amp heads or combo amps, black Tolex coverings on the cabinets, and silver sparkle grille cloths. Earlier amps (roughly 1960-1963) had brown control panels with brown, tan, or white vinyl coverings, while Fender amps built from 1968 to 1981 (the longest running incarnation until recently) had silver control panels with the model name silk-screened in a Teal color. Late in 1981, Fender went back to the black control panel design. Today, many of Fender’s most popular reissues (i.e., Twin Reverb, Super Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, and so on) are of their legendary mid-1960s black panel amps.