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Post subject: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo input
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 10:07 pm
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Three questions for the loungers:

1. If one has no footswitch on/off for the above input, is it ok to stick in a RCA plug to activate the tremolo circuit? I have seen this done in a guitar shop and a recording studio to substitute for no footswitch (possibly the plug was modified in some way to complete the circuit?). I could disconnect the plug off an audio patch cord to use if something like the above will work.

2. If I buy an aftermarket footswitch, any recommendations as to a brand / supplier?

3. Am referring above to a 61 Super and a 64 Deluxe. On the back plates, the Super is labeled "Vibrato Input", but the Deluxe label says "Tremolo Input". As most of us know, the correct descriptor for the associated sonic effect is tremolo, even though the vintages and later reissues read "Vibrato" on the front plate. In my small sample size of two vintage combo amps, a back plate label change occurred sometime between 1961 and 1964, unaccompanied by a front plate label change. Anybody know why :?:

Craig H


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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:34 pm
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Reviewing my photo archives, the 6G4 Super Amp's rear panel is marked "VIBRATO PEDAL" next to the RCA phono jack while the AA763 Deluxe Amp's jack is labeled "TREMOLO PEDAL". The amps each use a specific and distinctly different method to achieve this effect, which is both cases is actually a tremolo. The "harmonic tremolo" employed by the Super amp uses a three-tube circuit which creates a pseudo-doppler effect that is often perceived by the human ear as a vibrato while the Deluxe Amp employs a single tube and an opto-isolator to modulate the amplitude of the signal. You'll need a shorting plug to operate the Deluxe Amp's tremolo in the absence of a footswitch but I believe the Super Amp's "vibrato" is always on, requiring the footswitch only to turn it off. Repro footswitches are available and they're relatively inexpensive.

HTH

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 6:41 am
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chartman wrote:
2. If I buy an aftermarket footswitch, any recommendations as to a brand / supplier?



http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amp-s ... assemblies


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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:06 am
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demaria.daniel wrote:
chartman wrote:
2. If I buy an aftermarket footswitch, any recommendations as to a brand / supplier?



http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amp-s ... assemblies


+1

And if you want a period-correct brown footswitch for your Super Amp, there's an Ebay vendor named "Jay Fletcher Music" who occasionally lists them.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 5:59 pm
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Daniel and Arjay, thanks for the advice, a black single footswitch now on the way for the Deluxe.

Arjay, thanks for the reminder primer on the trem circuits for the 2 amps. It seems a lot of us (me included, all-time personal favorite trem is this Super) really like the trem sound/circuit that many of the browns have. I just A/B'd the two trems again, and a scope (time vs volume) might show the Super to be more sine wave like, whereas the Deluxe may lean more sawtoothy, but there has to be more going on to get the great warble tone of the browns than just a unique volume waveform. You and others may know more of those reasons. And yep, the Super footswitch turns off the trem (always on when switch not plugged in), but need the switch to turn ON the Deluxe trem.

And I have a question on the Deluxe 12in speaker(s). Former Deluxe owner had a purported original and a contemporary Weber 12F150 8ohm 50W. I demoed both speakers at the sellers, liked the orig better, but walked out with both as part of the deal. The older speaker is now installed, sounds great, but I have no idea what it is, and would like to know.

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii6 ... ae917d.jpg

In the last few minutes I joined Photobucket, inserted the speaker photo, and the link to it is above. There has to be a better way for the Loungers to access what I want them to see in Photobucket than what I did above, and any advice on how to best interface Pbucket with the Loungers would be appreciated. This speaker has no markings on it that I can find, and can take more photos if needed. Should I put this speaker query in a different post?


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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 6:30 pm
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I hate to piss on your parade but that is not an OEM speaker for a blackface Fender Deluxe amp from any year. The correct speaker was the Oxford 12K6 or (rarely) Jensen's C12P. To be honest, there's nothing sonically remarkable about the Oxford (I replaced the one in my '68 Deluxe Reverb with a JBL D120F) and I'm certain that the Weber included in the deal is much better suited to the amp.

If there are numbers ink-stamped somewhere on that "mystery" driver, post them and we might be able to determine its pedigree.

HTH

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:09 pm
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Post a pic of those amps! we love amp porn.


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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:27 pm
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Rebelsoul wrote:
Post a pic of those amps! we love amp porn.


Yeah I was gettin' around to that, Rick......

:mrgreen:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:08 pm
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Arjay,

Pissing ok! Note in the first mention of the mystery driver, I used the word "purported", as the lack of any speaker label was suspicious. But I liked everything else about the deal, the Deluxe is here now. I get to play around swapping the speakers.

I will take photos this weekend of both amps, and look once more at the mystery driver to look for id. Will put pix in a new post.

Craig h


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Post subject: Re: Fender vintage combo amps backside vibrato / tremolo inp
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:23 pm
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Sounds great, sir -- we'll be here.

Rebelsoul has a brownface Super and a '65 non-verb Deluxe was my first blackface Fender amp so yeah, we're always interested in seeing these geriatric warriors.

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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