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#1
03-21-2015, 11:19 AM
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Fender solid state CM-17 amp
I have this "Made in USA" Fender solid state amp from the 80's. It's a smallish bare-bones (vol/tone/reverb/tremolo) unit with a 8" speaker. I couldn't find out anything on-line about it (or even referencing it). Don't know if it's junk or worth cleaning up. Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks 
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#2
03-21-2015, 12:04 PM
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i googled it and found nothing. you may want to ask in the amp section of the fender site's forum.
play music!
__________________
2014 Martin 00015M 2009 Martin 0015M 2008 Martin HD28 2007 Martin 000-18GE 2006 Taylor 712 2006 Fender Parlor GDP100 1978 Fender F65 1968 Gibson B25-12N Various Electrics
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#3
03-21-2015, 01:52 PM
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Post-1982 Fender tube amps didn't have tremolo until the blackface reissues came on the market and, with the exception of the two ill-fated series of the late-60's, neither have the solid-state amps until the release of the Champions last year. If this is in fact a genuine Fender product I'm thinking it was made exclusively for the export market, as it sounds very similar in concept to the Princeton Reverb or Vibro Champ; on the other hand there was/is a flourishing market in forgeries - the "Made in USA" label notwithstanding - and this may well be one of those. If you could post some reasonable-resolution pics - inside and out - it may be of some help, and I personally wouldn't fire it up without having a tech look it over first...
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#4
03-21-2015, 02:38 PM
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Hey Steve
It's roots may could be England, I lived there for a bit not sure how I send you pics tho I tried, but it's either me being a dinosaur or the system/forum that won"t allow me to attach them - thanks
__________________
Fender Amer Series Strat Martin D15-M Martin DXM Epiphone Dot Studio Jay Turser Dread Yamaha APX-3 Breedlove Passport S101 335 Ovation Celebrity "And I guess I just don't know" - Lou Reed
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#5
03-21-2015, 02:46 PM
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I spent the last 10 minutes looking up the CM-17 in my "Soul of Tone" Fender amps book and found nothing on it. Like Steve mentioned above, it may have been manufactured for the export market. I read in the book that some of the people thought that all the export amps were made in USA but some were actually made in Mexico in the '80s. They had an "M" on the inside panel.
Any chance you have a serial number? An email to Fender may help. Whatever you find please let us know. We're interested.
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#6
03-21-2015, 02:46 PM
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Quote:
TMK there are instructions on how to post pics in the FAQ - if you're still having trouble, contact one of the moderators for help...
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#7
03-22-2015, 07:00 AM
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Quote:
Thanks for the heads-up - hopefully I did this correctly and there are some pics here    
Last edited by Layitdown; 03-22-2015 at 07:10 AM. Reason: pics not downloaded
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#8
03-22-2015, 10:10 AM
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That "CM-17" designation got me thinking, and the pics confirmed my suspicions; in spite of the labeling (as well as its cosmetic similarity to the Fender Bronco/Musicmaster amps), what you have is most emphatically not a Fender, but a Teisco Checkmate 17 amp which, to my eye (and based solely on the photos) dates to 1966-1972 (I'm not sure when they went out of production, but we used to have one very similar to yours in the music studio where I taught when I was in college in the early-70s). If you bought it "new" in the '80s it was most likely what we call NOS or "new old stock" - stuff that's been hanging around the shop since Methuselah was in kindergarten - and they boogered it with aftermarket logos to pass it off to the unsuspecting; alternatively, it was an outright forgery made in Japan - keep in mind that this was the beginning of the "lawsuit" era - and destined for the Japanese market (the 21W power-consumption rating would be about right for a 5W output SS amp from this period), that somehow found its way into the UK much as the Tradetang/Alibaba "Gibsons," "Martins," and "Taylors" do today...
Here's an eBay site run by a guy who specializes in early Japanese equipment (note the cosmetic similarities to your amp, as well as the "CM" designations): http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nk...EL+CM+17&rt=nc Sorry I couldn't give you better news... 
Last edited by Steve DeRosa; 03-22-2015 at 05:29 PM.
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#9
03-22-2015, 05:04 PM
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Hey Steve
Good news or bad, i appreciate your follow-up. The amp owes me nothing and certainly wasn't the highlight of my collection. (On the other hand, had you told me my Strat or Martin were fakes, then I would certainly be making my way towards the liquor cabinet.) I'll search other avenues to explore its roots, and if I find out something new, will be sure to post it. Thanks
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