These Custom Fender Amps Are Made of Wood From the 200-Year-Old USS Constitution

These Custom Fender Amps Are Made of Wood From the 200-Year-Old USS Constitution

Published: January 26, 2017 | By: American Luxury Staff

The Fender Custom shop can create pretty much anything a customer could ever dream of for their instrument and music amplification needs, such as the bejeweled guitars and amps crafted using Kentucky bourbon barrels that it built last year.

This year, Fender has come out with a special release amp for fans of nautical history just in time for this year’s National Association of Music Merchants show in California.

The Old Ironsides Pro and Old Ironsides Champ tube amps have been made using centuries-old oak wood sourced from Boston’s Charleston Naval Yard that is also being used to repair the USS Constitution, the ship the amps get their name from.

The USS Constitution set sail in 1797 and was responsible for many U.S. naval victories during the War of 1812 where it got the nickname Old Ironsides. It eventually went on to sail around the world before it was made a museum ship in 1907. Currently, the USS Constitution is getting a little bit of restoration work at dry dock.

Fender honored naval traditions, pairing the oak amp cabinets with brass knobs, hardware, panels, and dock cleat-looking handles, and it features a knotted rope or brass bar as the actual handhold.

Fender modeled both amps after 1957 models. The Old Ironsides Pro is based on its Custom Pro combo and offers 26 watts. The Champ is based on the ’57 Custom Champ and has a 5-watt output.

The Old Ironsides Pro and Champ are both on sale at the NAMM show, with the larger example fetching a $20,000 price tag and the smaller Champ seeking half that price.

3859 January 26, 2017 Accessories, Lifestyle January 26, 2017