This is a unique Fender head. It started life as a hand-wired, Rivera-designed Bassman 20 in 1983. Fat Willie (Lord Valve) of NBS electronics (who is now deceased) completely went through the amp several years ago, replacing many components with mil-spec and modding the circuit to be a nearly identical copy of the Fender Deluxe non-reverb version (except for the solid state rectifier ). Lord Valve also installed a trim pot with 1 watt resistors so the power tubes can be easily biased without soldering.

The Bassman 20 also has a mids control, unlike the Deluxe Reverb. The long-tailed-pair phase inverter was modded by Fat Willie to use a 12at7 which was standard in the Deluxe Reverb instead of the 12ax7 that shipped in the Bassman 20. Fat Willie also added what he called a "Soul Control" which allows the negative feedback to be adjustable. The Bassman 20 is highly regarded for a guitar amp and is a very close copy of the Deluxe Reverb, but with some slight changes for bass. Fat Willie modded this one back to be optimal for guitar. The amp chassis is in a light weight Mojotone cab. The amp still has the original power supply caps which Fat Willie said (several years ago) were still good. The amp is in fantastic condition and has never had any issues. These amps are worth looking into if you want a super light weight, 15 lb, compact Fender tube amp and this particular amp is one of a kind.

The amp has a new set of JJ 6V6's installed and the original Fender power tubes are in good condition and will be included with the amp. I also have all the original resistors and caps that Fat Willie replaced.

Here is an excerpt from the Denver Post about Fat Willie (Lord Valve):

"Fat Willy might come off as a cantankerous sort when you first wander into his nondescript store on South Broadway, but he has a wry sense of humor and is easy to get along with if you take the time. He’s also Denver’s best-known amp guru, having worked on ones for the likes of Derek Trucks."