TUNGSTEN AMPLIFIERS
CREMA WHEAT:
Florida’s Tungsten Amplifiers is a
relative newcomer on the tweed scene,
at least compared to old hands like
Victoria and Kendrick, but its amps
are getting a lot of attention. This is
for good reason, as they are lovingly
handcrafted, relatively affordable, and
totally nail the vintage Fender tweed
thang. The company’s Crema Wheat is
reportedly not an exact Fender clone,
blending together some of the best bits
of a few different classic ‘50s circuits,
but its overall character practically
screams “Tweed Deluxe!” It features
20 watts of 6V6 juice with a GZ34 in
the rectifier position, pushing its oldtimey tones through a Scumback M75
speaker. It has Bright and Normal
channels, two volume controls, and a
master tone. This amp’s main claim to
fame is its remarkable touch sensitivity.
Small changes in picking can yield huge
differences in tone and attack, so it’s
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TONE TALK //
an ideal amp for cranking wide open,
and getting the sounds from your
guitar and your hands. It’s a minimalist
guitar nerd’s wet dream. The Crema
Wheat runs around 1,745 dollars, and
also comes in head format for a couple
hundred bucks less.
Obviously, this list is not meant to be
comprehensive, so I have necessarily left
plenty of fine, lovely sounding modern
tweed clones out. Please feel free to
give a shout out some of your favorites
in the comments on tonerport.com.
4 Best Fender Tweed Amp Clones