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Post subject: Tremolux-Vibrolux-Vibroverb
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:05 pm
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What's the difference, tone-wise? I can read the descriptions and tell the difference in terms of power, speaker configuration, etc. But I'm wondering what the sound differences between them all are. I've never played any, and can't imagine I'd find a guitar shop with all three so I could do a side-by-side comparison. Any of y'all played all three? I guess I could have expanded the list to Pro Reverb... and any relatively low-to-mid power Fender amp with tremolo and reverb. I'm not interested in 100W amps, or even 50W amps. Thanks guys!

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Fender Guitars: Am Std Tele, EC Strat, AVRI '62 Jazzmaster, Lee Ranaldo Jazzmaster, Thurston Moore Jazzmaster.
Fender Amps: '61 Brownface Deluxe, '65 Champ, '59 Bassman Ltd, Tweed Champ clone, Tweed Deluxe clone.


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Post subject: Re: Tremolux-Vibrolux-Vibroverb
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:14 pm
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During the brownface era, these three amps shared much of their chassis architecture and circuitry with one another -- the Tremolux and Vibrolux are near-identical twins. All used cathode-follower tone stacks with a center-tapped treble control. The Vibroverb added an adjustable NFB loop tied to a presence control and offered the reverb and tremolo effect on both channels. All three amps featured a GZ34 tube rectifier.

When the blackface era arrived, all three amps became AA763's but still shared much of their topography. All gained a bright switch in each channel (the Vibroverb's presence control was abandoned), the tone stacks were moved "upstream" for more clean headroom (the center-tapped treble control became a standard "boost" pot), and plate voltages to the output tubes increased substantially.

Within the two year-group designs, the biggest variation in tone between the three amps is the speaker array and configuration -- 2 x 10's in a bass-reflex enclosure for the piggyback Tremolux and a single 12 in the open-back Vibrolux combo. OTOH, the Vibroverb's transformation to AA763 guise was more dramatic, altered from a 2 x 10 infinite baffle to a single 15 (also in an infinite baffle). In late '64, the non-reverb Vibrolux was discontinued and replaced by an all-new reverb-equipped platform - the AA864 Vibrolux Reverb combo, with a pair of 10's. The 1 x 15 Vibroverb was discontinued at the end of the year, with the Tremolux following suit in early 1966.

Thus, the most substantial sonic difference between these amps lies with their speaker complement. The single 15 will be robustly throaty, with a strong bottom end and smooth mids. The single 12 provides somewhat similar tones to that of a Deluxe or Deluxe Reverb. The two 10's will be brighter and punchier, though less so in the sealed-back Tremolux cab.

HTH

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: Tremolux-Vibrolux-Vibroverb
Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:33 pm
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Arjay, thanks, that was very informative. Since the Blackface's have more headroom, would it be safe to assume that the Browns might have a cooler dirty tone, including dirty tremelo, but that the Blacks might have a nicer clean tremolo sound? I wish I could line up half a dozen of these side by side and play them!

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Website: http://www.robroper.com
Fender Guitars: Am Std Tele, EC Strat, AVRI '62 Jazzmaster, Lee Ranaldo Jazzmaster, Thurston Moore Jazzmaster.
Fender Amps: '61 Brownface Deluxe, '65 Champ, '59 Bassman Ltd, Tweed Champ clone, Tweed Deluxe clone.


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Post subject: Re: Tremolux-Vibrolux-Vibroverb
Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:10 am
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Your assumption is correct. As well, the brownfaces are a skosh more mid-heavy due to the tone-stack configuration and the center-tapped treble pot. Combined with the lower plate voltages at the output stage, this confluence of features makes the brownfaces more akin to the earlier tweeds.

As for the tremolo, the 35- to 40-watt blackface circuits all use the opto-isolator method ahead of the phase inverter while the brownfaces employ an oscillator which modulates the bias voltage applied to the power tubes. A nuanced-but-still-distinct difference is audible between these two systems.

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: Tremolux-Vibrolux-Vibroverb
Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:34 am
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Arjay has the right answers as usual...as far as the Browns being easier to drive into saturation,(dirtier),than the Blackfaces,they are not as much as the Tweed...they are indeed fairly easy to classify as the in-between transition amps between the tweeds and BFs...I really like the Brown amp mid range tones,and to add reverb to one it's better tonewise to use an outboard reverb unit,it just adds to the classic sound.
I own a Brown '62 Vibrolux,it's one of my favorites.


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