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Post subject: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 6:35 pm
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Hello all I am new to the forum and new to this particular Fender amp so I thought I’d join this forum and ask a question or two. First I will tell how I acquired this amp .To make a long story short, or maybe not so short. I work part time for Biohazard Cleanup company and we were sent to clean out a REALLY filthy apartment (bedbugs, spiders, rats you name it). Myself and three other workers, were told to discard all contents in the apartment. I arrived an hour after the other three workers so they had a head start on the job. They began throwing trash into a trailer to be taken to the landfill. I suited up began to add trash to the trailer, as I added a bag of trash to the trailer I caught glimpse of what appeared to be an amplifier under the growing trash pile, and yes you guessed it, this amp had been trashed by the other guys, after picking it out from under the other trash I stashed it in my truck to look at it later after the job was complete. So I get home and here she is. A tweed Fender Vibrolux. Serial # 02205. It was missing all the tubes and had a small wedge shaped switch in the speaker cavity. I dismantled the amp to take pictures and clean up the parts. I purchased a set of tubes for it and it fired right up and sounds really nice, the tremolo function works with the footswitch and it has nice tube breakup when turned up. After some internet surfing it appears it is somewhere between a 1956 and 1960 amp. My first question is whether any mods have been done to it, capacitors etc..? Secondly it seems pretty valuable if it is original, would you guys use it or store away as an investment? Any ballpark values on this thing? After I questioned the guys about throwing it away they said “it was just a little amp anyway”. Later they mention that it had a nice matching cover that was thrown away unknown to me before we dumped all the stuff at the landfill. Anyhow here are the pics I took when I disassembled it to clean it. Thanks for any input.

Here is one pic (only one allowed it seems) and a link to a slideshow.

Image

http://s229.photobucket.com/user/rs70ch ... w/Vibrolux


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Post subject: Re: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 6:48 pm
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Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
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You have a pretty righteous specimen there. But despite its age, it's had some recent maintenance performed -- specifically some new Sprague Atom caps. The P10R speaker may likely be original to the amp, with a manufacturing date of the 31st week of 1959. It's rare to see these tweeds with the original footswitch -- a tragedy that the cover was not also redeemed. Value-wise, I'd guess something in the neighborhood of three large -- perhaps a skosh more.

Welcome to the forum and 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: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 8:22 am
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You are very lucky . This amp may wort $2000 maybe more , yes 2K.


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Post subject: Re: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 1:56 pm
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Cant believe someone left that behind. Makes you wonder the treasures that might have been trashed unknowingly over the years.


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Post subject: Re: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:37 pm
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Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
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Sure lots ot treasures in garbadge . 2 years ago a found a WEM Dominator tube amps , kind of Vox AC30, need some repair , but one of the best amp I own and and I have few good vintage amps.

Same year I found a Traynor voicemate reverb head , cab just need some glue.


I found those in my way home , I never search for .


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Post subject: Re: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 4:23 pm
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Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:25 am
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It is rare to see the tweed amps in good condition, it was most likely under the cover for all those years, and it is worth 2k at least

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Try these guitars out man!


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Post subject: Re: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:35 am
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rs70chgrrt, Welcome to the Forum! :D

Sure would be nice to see more photos of that amp. Esp an "under-the-hood" shot. Us Fender nuts get a thrill....

:lol:


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Post subject: Re: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 9:17 pm
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Great find. Many people never get opportunities to play real Tweed's. Make sure it's up to speed, watch the weathered handle and play it. You could think about a grounded cord, saving the original of course.


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Post subject: Re: New to forum, Vibrolux find and questions
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:13 pm
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upnorth wrote:
You could think about a grounded cord, saving the original of course.


+1

Above all, safety first!

And the leather handle may indeed become a liability. I'd buy and install a new leather repro and store the original for posterity.

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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