NAMM 2012: Fender Pawn Shop Special Greta and Excelsior amps

Here’s something for those of you complaining that the big firms never make anything different: two new Fender amps – the Greta and Excelsior – under the Pawn Shop Special banner.

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Fender Pawn Shop Special Greta (front)

The most interesting for our money is the Greta, a two-watt ‘tabletop’ amp, which seems to be aimed at the casual player wanting a discreet valve amp solution.

On the front there’s an old-fashioned VU dial and the fifties-style shell houses two valves – a 12AX7 preamp tube and a 12AT7 output tube – plus a single four-inch speaker.

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Fender Pawn Shop Special Greta (controls)

On the rear the amp features a nod to the present day in the form of a 3.5mm aux in, which Fender suggest would be ideal for connecting iPods, as well as a quarter-inch jack output for connecting an external speaker.

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Fender Pawn Shop Special Excelsior (front)

Not everyone will be enamoured by the romance of the Greta and we can already foresee the ‘Dude, it’s got a rose on it...’ conversations. Fender’s a wiley one though and has balanced things out by giving the Greta’s brother model, the 13 watt Excelsior, a harsh, manly, Soviet style of its own.

A larger amp, the Excelsior houses a 15-inch speaker, plus two 6V6 output tubes and two 12AX7 preamp tubes, but despite its imposing design doesn’t lack a sense of fun...

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Fender Pawn Shop Special Excelsior (controls)

Alongside the guitar, the amp will also feature inputs for a microphone and, err, an accordion, each with specially-designed complimentary circuitry. Finally there’s an adjustable tremolo circuit and, like the Greta, you’ll be able to disconnect the internal speaker and use the amp to power another.

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