Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) and Joe Bonamassa today announced the release of Bonamassa’s own signature amplifier: the ‘59 Twin-Amp™ JB Edition. A reissue of the popular “high-powered” ‘59 tweed Twin-Amp, the new ‘59 Twin-Amp JB Edition combines Bonamassa’s favorite features in a new model that is sure to appeal to fans, collectors and professional guitarists alike. Priced at $3,499.99, the custom amplifier will be available in limited quantities exclusively on jbonamassa.com.
“The King of amps is back! It is one of the greatest amplifiers ever built, if not the greatest amplifier ever built,” said Joe Bonamassa.
The new model recaptures the amazing tone, power and dynamic range of the original. It excels across a wide variety of genres, live and studio gigs – bringing the tweed ‘59 Twin-Amp to today’s players and collectors. This re-issue is the first time in 60 years that Fender has released a “high-powered” tweed twin model since its original inception.
“The 1959 ‘high powered tweed’ Twin-Amp is one of the most collectible guitar amplifiers of all time,” said Shane Nicholas, Director, Product Development, Electronics at Fender. “They sound amazing for almost any type of music, are rare, and highly sought-after by rock stars and collectors. We’re proud to work with Joe Bonamassa on the ‘59 Twin-Amp JB Edition, as he is not only a great guitarist, but a fanatic collector of Fender guitars, memorabilia and amps – including the tweed Twin models he began performing with several years ago.”
Designed and handmade to Bonamassa’s specifications in Corona, Calif., the amp’s key features include: a classic 80-watt Fender 5F8A circuit; hand-wired eyelet board and Fender vintage-style “yellow” paper-foil-resin tone capacitors for original tweed-era tone and nuance; three premium 12AX7 preamp tubes; a quartet of 6L6 output tubes that are matched and rated for high output; an internal bias pot; a 5AR4 rectifier tube; Bright and Normal channels with high- and low-gain inputs; custom Mercury Magnetics™ transformers; as well as two 12” Celestion™ JB85 speakers – exclusive to this amp – for high-powered rock guitar tone.
The amp is housed in a finger-joined solid pine cabinet for resonant tone and features a lightly distressed cosmetic treatment with a lacquered tweed covering, ‘50s-style grille cloth and steel-reinforced leather strap handle. Subtle, ‘50s cosmetic touches, such as the serial number stamped with the original 1950s tooling and font from the era, complete the package.