Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
I stopped by my local store the other day, and sitting on top of the reissue Vibrolux Reverb that's been sitting there for a few months (partly because I can't afford it) is another Vibrolux Reverb. This one looked a little weird; ostensibly blackface cosmetics, but over-simplified and cheezy-looking. Checked in back, usual tube complement, few 9-pins, pair of 6L6s, tube rectifier. Normal VR control layout: 2 channels with volume, bass, and treble, plus tremolo and reverb on the second channel. But it has a "pull boost" function on the effects channel volume control. WTF?
I added all this weirdness up in my head, and concluded it must have been built in the early '80s. I know Fender built some pretty good amps in those days (what we call the Rivera era): the 75, WahWah's Super Champ. However, despite its pull boost switch, this amp obviously didn't get the full Rivera makeover.
Does anybody know anything about these amps? Any good? Similar to the silverface amps of a few years earlier? Cold and sterile compared to original blackface amps? Anything super-weird about them, like ultralinear outputs or any of that nonsense? What do they look like inside? Eyelet boards? PC boards? Mod-able back to older specs?
Physically, it's in nice shape. Literally sat in the basement of a little old lady, whose son played years ago, and then it went unused for 25 years until she decided to trade it in on a iPhone. They have is tagged at $500 (compared to $900 for the new reissue) adn I'm sure I can get them down lower.
Since my one-and-only amp is a tiny little 13 watt Marshall clone, clean headroom is not something I have in abundance. I've know for a long time that I need a Fender, and my modest volume needs would let me get away with a 50-watt Fender and still have it qualify as my "clean" amp. A Super Reverb would be really cool, but size and weight point to the Vibrolux as a better solution. This oddball one might be an inexpensive way to get me into a VR, espeically if it's either a bang-for-the-buck sleeper as-is, or can be converted to one with some simple mods.
Tell me what you know.
I added all this weirdness up in my head, and concluded it must have been built in the early '80s. I know Fender built some pretty good amps in those days (what we call the Rivera era): the 75, WahWah's Super Champ. However, despite its pull boost switch, this amp obviously didn't get the full Rivera makeover.
Does anybody know anything about these amps? Any good? Similar to the silverface amps of a few years earlier? Cold and sterile compared to original blackface amps? Anything super-weird about them, like ultralinear outputs or any of that nonsense? What do they look like inside? Eyelet boards? PC boards? Mod-able back to older specs?
Physically, it's in nice shape. Literally sat in the basement of a little old lady, whose son played years ago, and then it went unused for 25 years until she decided to trade it in on a iPhone. They have is tagged at $500 (compared to $900 for the new reissue) adn I'm sure I can get them down lower.
Since my one-and-only amp is a tiny little 13 watt Marshall clone, clean headroom is not something I have in abundance. I've know for a long time that I need a Fender, and my modest volume needs would let me get away with a 50-watt Fender and still have it qualify as my "clean" amp. A Super Reverb would be really cool, but size and weight point to the Vibrolux as a better solution. This oddball one might be an inexpensive way to get me into a VR, espeically if it's either a bang-for-the-buck sleeper as-is, or can be converted to one with some simple mods.
Tell me what you know.
