VINTAGE VAULT
BY LAUN BRAITHWAITE AND TIM MULLALLY
1959 Fender Harvard with 1962 Fender Esquire
As important and innovative as Fender guitars were in the 1950s, Fender amps were
the industry standard, renowned for their
tone, durability, and easy maintenance.
At Fender, the amplifier was considered
as important to the overall sound as the
guitar. The right electric guitar needed to
be matched to the right amplifier before
music could be made.
If the legendary recordings made at the
Memphis Stax-Volt studio in the 1960s are
any kind of evidence, the perfect mate for
a Fender Esquire (or Telecaster) would be a
Fender Harvard Amp. Steve Cropper, session guitarist and member of Booker T. and
the MGs, used this combination on nearly
every Stax hit of the 1960s. The sounds
ranged from mellow (Otis Redding’s “I’ve
been Loving You too Long”), to biting (The
MGs’ “Green Onions”), to distorted (The
MGs’ “Hip Hug Her”).
Fender introduced the 10-watt Harvard in
1955 to fill the space between the 5-watt
Princeton and the 15-watt Deluxe. It had
one 10” speaker (sometimes an 8” was
used) driven by two 6V6 power tubes. It
had one tone control and one volume control. The Harvard was discontinued in 1961.
Detailed information on Fender Amps can
be found in Soul of Tone: Celebrating 60
Years of Fender Amps by Tom Wheeler
and Fender Amps: The First Fifty Years by
John Teagle and John Sprung. The Tele/
Harvard combination can be heard on The
Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959–1968 CD
box set.
Dave's Guitar Shop
Daves Rogers’ Collection is tended to by
Laun Braithwaite & Tim Mullally
Photos and words by Tim Mullally
Dave’s Collection is on display at:
Dave's Guitar Shop
1227 Third Street South
La Crosse, WI 54601
608-785-7704
davesguitar.com
