NAD! It's good to be King!

[Powdered Toast Man]

Picked up a brand new Fender Vibro King yesterday! It's actually a 2012 model but my local store made me an offer I couldn't refuse (they wanted to be rid of it). The only issue was that I noticed that the Vibrato (Tremolo) was "ticking". The store sent it over to their shop before I bought it and they modded it a bit (changed the value of a cap I'm told). The tick is much less prominent, however the Intensity knob doesn't do much until it's up around "5". Trade off I suppose. I don't really use tremolo so I'm not too concerned about it.

This thing sounds like an absolute beast! Extremely low headroom - especially for a 60 watt amp. The tone controls are different from any I've encountered. They're highly interactive with the amp's volume setting - especially the Bass and Mid knobs. This sucker gets loud and brash really easily and is very sensitive to adjustments on the guitar's volume and tone knobs.

I'm still learning what this amp is capable of and how to get the sounds I want from it. It's very complex and dynamic. I can say that players who love pristine clean tones will hate this thing. Despite it's appearance, it's NOT a Blackface. Kinda wish I could have gotten the brown or blonde models, but seriously it was the deal of a lifetime so I didn't have the luxury of ordering another one in.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Sweet! Awesome score!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Definitely one of Fender's best amps. I kind of like the blackface look, over the original blonde. I've come close to buying one several times.
Still have all the other great Fender amps you've bough over the years?

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Definitely one of Fender's best amps. I kind of like the blackface look, over the original blonde. I've come close to buying one several times.
Still have all the other great Fender amps you've bough over the years?

Right now I have:
Vibro King
59 Bassman
Mission 5E3 clone
EC Vibro Champ
Custom Vibrolux Reverb

The Vibrolux is most likely going up for sale though. I have to give up something due to the VK purchase. Not so much financially as I just can't justify having that many amps in the 40-60 watt range. I try not to have too much duplication or overlap. Like I got the EC Champ so I sold my '73 Champ. I would not have even considered the VK due to the price but like I said, I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. Basically I bought it new for probably lower than the used market value.


*Edit* After looking at the list of amps I have I'm kind of embarrassed to admit how much gear I have. I swear I didn't buy all of it at once!

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Are the Vibrolux and VibroKing like upmarket versions of the "standard" amps or something else completely?

 

[Godin15]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

That's a Great amp. The sounds you can get from those are fab. Congrats on your deal !!

 

[d1dsj]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Wow, awesome amp.... Sounds like you got it for a steal too. Congrats.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Are the Vibrolux and VibroKing like upmarket versions of the "standard" amps or something else completely?

They're both part of the series of amps that Bruce Zinky designed when he was at Fender. They're fairly different amps but both are apparently more "Brownface" era inspired rather than Blackface. Low headroom, no negative feedback loop.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

And eats tubes faster than.....new tubes puhleez naw!!!

Great amp though!

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

One of my faves.

Bill

 

[Securb]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Nice score. Always wanted one of those. Page was known to use them in the studio here and there. Obviously he got great results.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Sweet amp! Enjoy!

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: NAD! It's good to be King!

Nice Grab, Priced Right, 'Grats!!!

 

[Scott_F]

NAD! It's good to be King!

As I have read, they old days where they ran a stand alone fender reverb 6G15 unit into the front end of a big Blond Showman 6G14 to get that surf sound was the starting point of this amp. Let me see if I can find that link.