Anybody into Brown amps?

[Saul Goodman]

 

[duncans]

It was my very first amp in about 1968. Bought it used , don't remember a thing about it.

[Jeff R]

Charlie Starr has a '60 Concert I got to spend some up-close time with at one of his soundchecks. It sounds like what I envision Heaven looks like.

[RacerX]

My first “real” amp was a brown Fender Vibrasonic with a JBL.

 I bought it from Paul and Jol at Northern Prairie Music in ‘75.

😊

 

[Jakeboy]

I am on my second Lil Dawg 6g3 clone head. IMO the nastiest and best Fender…very Marshallish…but chewier and not as bright. It really sounds like no other Fender. But it just rocks.

I love the tweed, blondes, and browns. 

Edited January 9 by Jakeboy

[joshoowah]

Lucked into a closet queen 6G2 Princeton with a bad PT 20 years ago. Got a transformer and speaker from Kendrick (the near perfect Oxford was dry and brittle, so out it came), and that thing has been a dream ever since - until it blew a fuse a couple months ago. She's overdue for some TLC. Haven't settled on a tech, yet.

If there is one thing I wish everyone could experience in person about those brownies, it's the true physical wobble you feel with properly tuned bias trem, even with lower wattage and a single 10!  And the warmth of that amp, at any volume setting, from whisper to roar, is just unmatched. You only need four knobs: Volume, Tone, Speed and Intensity. It's perfect. 

[hamerican gigolo]

I have a 6G2 clone with a 12" speaker, but it isn't brown. 😆 Great amp. 

[Disturber]

That was a LOT of talking, and very LITTLE playing. I am none the wiser. GIve some some sound examples of how the damn thing sounds on full blast. I want to hear the brown sound overdrive these things are famous for.

[hamerican gigolo]

A local guitar shop had a used Suhr Hombre a couple of years ago. Based on the 6G3. It was very nice & reasonably priced. What I'd love to see & hear is a clone of the brown Vibrolux. 

[Saul Goodman]

3 hours ago, hamerican gigolo said:

A local guitar shop had a used Suhr Hombre a couple of years ago. Based on the 6G3. It was very nice & reasonably priced. What I'd love to see & hear is a clone of the brown Vibrolux. 

I almost bought an Hombre. Then my Cali Tweed came up also and I thought it would do more. Decided on it with no regrets. But man, like you, I'm digging into the brown hole. 

[Dutchman]

I still have my 6G6B. Since I built myself a Deluxe Reverb it's been Idle. Now for sale. Tough to beat the DR tone!!

[bubs_42]

Per Fender History, they did talk about continuing the Brown Amps along side the Black Amps as a different line. But you can guess which one on the team squashed it. 

Dr. Z Z28 is often references to the Brown Deluxe. It does do this thing that is smack dab in the middle of an American Amp and a British Amp but being set apart with the EF86 Preamp. I’d like to get a Brown Deluxe, they have always intrigued me. 

[ArnieZ]

I had a Z28 head with a 4x10 cabinet when they first came out. Incredible amp....started missing reverb and moved on.There werent a lot of really great reverb options then besides Fender and Dr Z. Fender was no longer made and the Z was too much for my cheap ass. One of my very few regrets. That amp really killed!

arniez

Edited January 12 by ArnieZ
brain freeze

[The Shark]

I've owned a bunch of Brown Fenders.  The best of the lot was a 2x10 Super.  I remember one Vibroverb that was supposed to be "Stevie Ray".  I didn't like it nearly as much as the Super.  And the Vibroverb was worth a bunch of money, due to the hype.  But that was the early nineties!

[stedge]

I had a brown princeton.  Never bonded but likely due to my own limitations.   I suspect i would like the deluxe more. 
 

i had a tuxedo 6g bassman head.    Now that one was lovely.  Wish i had not sold it.  It had the mojo despite my playing. 

[bry4321]

On 1/11/2026 at 2:32 PM, bubs_42 said:

Per Fender History, they did talk about continuing the Brown Amps along side the Black Amps as a different line. But you can guess which one on the team squashed it. 

 

Who? I don’t know anything about this history…

[stobro]

Fender Brown combo amps and Blond head/cab amps were from the same era, correct? I have this Tremolux 6G9-B blond/wheat rig sitting in my basement that I haven't powered up in close to 10 years. I had it apart about 5 years ago to see just how original it is. I'm pretty certain the filter caps are new-ish. If it's been sitting this long, is it safe to power it up without a clean bill of health from an amp tech?

All of the pictures were right side up when I dragged them into this post, but 2 out of 3 got flipped somehow. How to fix?

 

 

Edited January 12 by stobro
Tried to fix images

[bubs_42]

 

Brown Panel with Blonde, then you transition amps that are blonde with black panels, Leo waisted nothing. Used every Flat Logo until they were gone. IMHO those 2x12 cabs are some of the best made. Well the design is anyhow. Mojotone has up the quality of the build process for sure. 

Edited January 12 by bubs_42

[stobro]

Another transition was from dogbone handles to brown strap handles (like this one has) to black strap handles.

[Pieman]

On 1/10/2026 at 5:50 PM, Saul Goodman said:

I almost bought an Hombre. Then my Cali Tweed came up also and I thought it would do more. Decided on it with no regrets. But man, like you, I'm digging into the brown hole. 

By “Cali Tweed” do you mean the Mesa amp?

[Saul Goodman]

9 hours ago, Pieman said:

By “Cali Tweed” do you mean the Mesa amp?

Yes, I got a great deal on NOS 4:40, pre Gibson about a year ago. I also got 2% back on my card.