Fender Bronco Amp
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2021) |
The Fender Bronco was a guitar
Technical information
Fender has recently released an amplifier bearing the name "Bronco" but it has little resemblance to the original version beyond using a 10-inch-diameter (250 mm) speaker. The new Bronco is a completely solid state amplifier using integrated circuits to control both the preamp section as well as power amp section of the amplifier. Solid state diodes are used to rectify the input AC mains electricity going into the amp to DC. Current production Fender Bronco amplifiers use no tubes and are housed in a tweed style cabinet constructed of medium density fiberboard and covered in a diagonal tweed fabric similar in appearance to amplifiers produced by Fender in the late 1950s. New production Broncos have the controls mounted on the top-rear of the amplifier unlike the original 'Silverface' Bronco.
The original Fender Bronco uses an all-tube AB764 circuit featuring a 12AX7 dual-triode preamp tube utilizing both sections of the tube in the preamp section of the amp. A second 12AX7 tube is used for driving the vibrato function. The power tube in the original Bronco is the 6V6GTA power tube, often used by Fender in its tube amps of the era. This amp's circuitry design is commonly known as a 'single-ended, class A' amplifier. Rectification in the original Bronco is via a single 5Y3GT rectifier tube, used by Fender since the early 1950s. In fact, Fender used an earlier version of this rectifier tube in the 1940s (the 5Y3) before it was phased out by manufacturers in the early 1950s to be replaced by the more electrically robust 5Y3GT.
References
- ^ Teagle, J. and Sprung, J.: Fender Amps: The First Fifty Years