Let me rant on a minute or two. The anti-Fender propaganda is that all Fenders are
'scooped'. All their amps are
'scooped'. All their pickups are
'scooped'. All their strings are
'scooped'. [No joke! Some have said that they don't like Fender strings because they are
'scooped'.] Hell, even Fender straps are
'scooped'!
When Leo Fender was designing what became known as the
'Brownfaced' amps in 1960, he added the first midrange control to his now famous passive tone stack. His amps had
so many mids that he made his midrange control
cut only. That's right, Fender amps had
so many mids that he made his midrange control
cut only. Bass & Treble were boost only. Not all amps had a midrange control. And to make things even more confusing all the tone controls were passive and interactive. If you turned down the treble you also turned down the mids (whether or not you had a midrange control, it made no difference). Same thing with the bass control. Turn up the bass and you turned up the mids at the very same time. I remember the Fender tone stack well. B.B. King set his at 6-6-6. I set mine at 7-7-7.
At this time Leo Fender invented the
'piggy back' amp head in 1961-62. These were the very first amp heads. Showman first then the Bassman. These amps would go on to become the much vaunted and highly sought after
'Blackfaced' series launched in 1963-64 as the Brownfaces had to be sold before new Blackfaces were manufactured. Later in 1968 they would become the
'Silverfaced' amps. There were some circuitry mods but the same basic Leo Fender design. These things sold like hot cakes & bourbon on Sunday morning. I loved my Silverfaced Bassman 100.
If you want to know about the birth of Fender Bass Amplification and the Fender Rumble series, read chapter 27 of Tom Wheeler's '
The Soul of Tone'. Fender Rumbles were based on the signature Fender tone from day one. This has not changed. Fender amps have
never been
'scooped' and they never will be.
Introduced in 2003, Fender Rumbles were well received. They sounded good and were as teenager proof as you could make an amp. The pulsating
'disco' LEDs on the Rumble 60 and 100 added to teenage appeal. By 2009 Fender Rumbles were the best selling bass amps world wide. A global achievement that Fender Rumble would continue to reach year after year, and even today they are still the world's best selling bass amps.
Fender Rumbles outsell all but one company's total annual output. Some day soon I look forward to announcing that Fender Rumble sales have outstripped all bass amp companies combined. It is very close, but not today. Soon.
Edited with accurate dates thanks to
@RColie
As I mentioned before I got a new 112v cab on a trade for my birthday, and I got myself a little something else to run with it, this ESP Ltd B-1005 Multiscale. I can't wait to run them both together but I have to run into town and get another speaker cable. Almost ready to Rumble.
