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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:11 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:29 pm
Posts: 614
Location: SW Ohio
Retroverbial wrote:
BMW2002Ti wrote:
Love your workshop, too!


+1

I wish mine were that neat and orderly.

Arjay


Well guys.... This is the side counter at Centerville Music where the owner and the amp tech work right out in the open. HaHa. Tim does keep a clean shop. Not only this side work bench area but the entire shop. Easy to browse and picking up a guitar and testing driving new and vintage gear is highly encouraged.

If you want a laugh.... read the History of the shop. The owner is quite the comedian. HaHa


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:54 am
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Professional Musician
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Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 7:06 am
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If you want a laugh.... read the History of the shop. The owner is quite the comedian. HaHa[/quote]
:lol:
That was quite good If I was ever in the area I would most likely stop by.
I must say phansford that was quite a transformation from before to after with your amp
mud


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 3:51 pm
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I am really digging all these nice brown-face era Fender amps. Maybe break out the blonde Tremolux tonight.

:mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 4:45 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Location: SW Ohio
Nikola Tesla wrote:
Great find, congrats

How's the amp's tone?


:D


The amp is now getting serviced and repaired. Its still not playable. It needs a cap job, a grounded plug, a new transform - one that doesn't require a tin can cover :lol: - and some minor repairs to some of the connections. And a speaker harness. I hope to get it back in a couple of weeks. Then I can provide some comments on it.


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 4:25 pm
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The amp is now getting serviced and repaired. Its still not playable. It needs a cap job, a grounded plug, a new transform - one that doesn't require a tin can cover :lol: -.[/quote]

Recently put a new can cap in my BFVC looked nothing like the one you had :lol:
mud


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 4:51 pm
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mud wrote:
Recently put a new can cap in my BFVC looked nothing like the one you had


Only Fender's single-ended Champ, Vibro Champ, and Bronco, plus the Princeton and Princeton Reverbs use the multi-value cap can. It was a space-saving decision by Leo to keep the smaller chassis's as uncluttered as practical.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 5:01 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:29 pm
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Location: SW Ohio
Well.... here she is all put back together. Again... the cabinet is a reproduction/replacement and the speaker is obviously a new Weber. Go up and look at the before photos. :lol:

The only work to the circuit was a resistor had been disconnected by the previous owner - that was corrected, the 3-prong plug was installed, and the tube sockets were cleaned out. That's all the work the circuit needed after all these years... and having been housed in the homemade box. :shock: There is absolutely no hum when the amp is on.

Interestingly enough, my amp tech thinks the pre-amp 7025 tubes are original. They are vintage Amperex. They have the logo with the vacuum tube playing a horn. The power tubes are Military surplus 6L6G's by Sylvania. The Philco transformer in the tin can works and we kept it as it certainly tells a story. HaHa. (The previous owner was a Philco sales rep at one time.... hence the basement full of Philco parts, testers, radios, tubes, you name it... remember I got this from an estate sale for $200)

The tremolo is very smooth.... almost sounds like reverb to my ears. I have only been able to play it for maybe an hour or two. I got it back late Thursday and was out of town all weekend. But what time I did get to spend with the amp, I just love it. Playing it at lower volumes right now to break in the new Weber driver.

I've located a repo footswitch and will get that ordered this week.

It will sit in my office for awhile. :lol:

Image

Image

Image


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 5:15 pm
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Awesome amp! What a difference between "Before and After!"

"They have the logo with the vacuum tube playing a horn."

These are Bugle Boy tubes. Some of the finest line of selected Amperex (Dutch) tubes ever made. And it is not uncommon for 40-50 year old tubes to still test higher than modern ones on the market. Same goes for original RCA 7025 and Raytheon 12AX7WA.

http://cf.mp-cdn.net/62/3d/a7bf39350ead ... d152eb.jpg

You have photos of those mil spec 6L6GA or -GB? AFAIK, the only true US made 6L6-type mil spec tubes were the 7581A, 5881 (6L6WGB), 5932, and the 6550. VT 115 and VT 164 were commercial tubes with military designations.

BTW... (OT) The Sylvania 5931 is one of the only mil spec 5U4GB that you can still find on EBay, once in awhile. An excellent rectifier.

http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/fran ... 5/5931.pdf

Bet that amps sounds super smooth! :D


Last edited by BMW2002Ti on Sun Aug 07, 2016 6:01 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 5:46 pm
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Prettiest thing I've seen all week!

You've got a real gig-worthy amp there -- take righteous care of it and your grandkids will be playing it long after you've hung up your guitar.

:wink:

Rawk on!!!

8)

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 6:11 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Location: SW Ohio
BMW2002Ti wrote:
You have photos of those mil spec 6L6GA or -GB? AFAIK, the only true US made 6L6-type mil spec tubes were the 7581A, 5881 (6L6WGB), 5932, and the 6550. VT 115 and VT 164 were commercial tubes with military designations.


Beemer - without tearing the amp apart again, here's what I got for you. I just cropped a photo I have showing those 6L6's. I maybe be making an assumption that they are surplus as the previous owner had tons of military surplus electronic stuff.

Image


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 6:16 pm
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Those bottles are probably good for another ten or fifteen years.

:mrgreen:

And yes, they are "surplus" insofar as they carry the JAN nomenclature.

JAN = Joint Army Navy, a precursor to the procurement ID system that the military now uses.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 6:23 pm
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http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af1 ... jjup6q.jpg

These are fine tubes. Not special mil spec type with special properties like high altitude or vibration standards. But, commercial type re-labeled for military use. That is why there is no all number type status (like 5881) Excellent tubes, none the less.

Looks like 6L6-GA or -GB. Bias to a MAX of 19 watts per tube. I recommend around 12-14 watts per tube. Enjoy them!


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 6:29 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
I recommend around 12-14 watts per tube.


+1

The brownface 6G11 was rated for 30 watts so Steve's recommendation is just about optimum.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 10:15 pm
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That was quite a transformation. Mighty fine looking.


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Post subject: Re: 1962 brown Vibrolux project
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 10:39 pm
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sfceric64 wrote:
That was quite a transformation. Mighty fine looking.


Indeed!

Such a restoration could easily return a ten-fold profit on the initial investment. Not even Warren Buffet's financial acumen could generate a P/E ratio like that.

:mrgreen:

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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