Fender, Groove Tubes Announce Joint Agreement

January 29, 1998 -- Fender Amplifiers and Groove Tubes announce that as of January 1, 1998, all Fender tube amps are now shipped from the Fender factories with matched sets of Fender Groove Tubes installed as original equipment.

Groove Tubes was founded in 1979 by Aspen Pittman on the premise that most tubes used in guitar amps were originally designed for radios and other non-musical applications. Groove Tubes personnel analyze, sort, and match tubes based on computerized parameters that predict a tube's musicality and reliability, as well as its frequency response, distortion characteristics, and power ratings. Pittman, the company's president, is the author of the best-selling sourcebook, The Tube Amp Book.

"Certainly, over the years, a lion's share of my tubes have been installed into Fender amplifiers by players looking for a way to maximize performance and tone," says Pittman. "Now that Fenders are being factory equipped with Groove Tubes, what was previously an after-market enhancement comes straight from the Fender factories. The real winners are the players."

For more information, visit their web site at www.fender.com.