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These before and after photos show the rough condition that our columnist's '65 Super Reverb arrived in, and the worn-but-dignified look of his restoration. Of course, a shiny red ES-335 with a Bigsby pretties things up, too.

Our columnist shares a love story about his longtime passion for the 1965 heavyweight that’s his No. 1.

Let me tell you the story of my first vintage Fender amp, which I call “No. 1"—the 1965 Super Reverb that I consider the greatest guitar amp I've ever heard and played.

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Nearly 50 years since its creation, the Marshall JTM45 remains both a relevant and near-perfect example of what a great rock ‘n’ roll tube amp should be.

Nearly 50 years since its creation, the Marshall JTM45 remains both a relevant and near-perfect example of what a great rock ‘n’ roll tube amp should be.

It was originally built around the design of one of Jim Marshall’s favorites, the Fender Bassman; like the Bassman, the JTM45 was actually a fantastic guitar amp. Because of its consistent popularity, Marshall has offered a reissue version of the head— more than 20 years after production of the original JTM45 ceased. While the reissue is built with modern components and assembly techniques, it retains much of the tone, responsiveness and character of the original, hand-wired versions of the early days. No wonder builders today still carry on the tradition of the JTM45, and guitarists continue to seek out the pure simplicity and touch response of this tone machine. To celebrate the JTM45, I got together with my Sunday afternoon amp group, after contacting a handful of respected amp builders who sent us their versions of the amp. We fired them all up alongside an original and a reissue JTM45 to take a listen—and to enjoy one of the best amps ever designed.


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