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Post subject: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 9:20 am
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Hello all, I am new here and looking for some advice on choosing the right fender amplifier for my needs. First some background on me.. I'm an amateur musician (I sing, play guitar & piano, and am learning violin), and I currently play mostly in a medium sized church. I am very interested in someday starting a cover band to play my favorite artists' music. My favorite artists are Eric Johnson, the Eagles, Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Allman Brothers, and the Outlaws. I believe that a fender amp will be generally best for these types of tones as well as nice tones for worship. Right now I play through a fender frontman 212r, with a modified classic vibe strat as my main guitar. The 212r is decent for certain things but very limited, and I finally am ready to move into the tube world.

I am looking for an amp with great clean tones and reverb at a reasonable price. Fender amps are known for sparkly cleans and reverb. I don't really plan on cranking the amp to get distortion since I have delay before the amp and overdrive pedals to achieve distortion. I've played through some smaller fender amps such as the DRRI and blues junior and wasn't overly impressed. The blues junior I really didn't like, especially since I'd rather have an amp with just one volume control. I've found deluxe reverbs and princetons to be a little too creamy for me, and they also break up pretty early. I'm looking for something more crisp and precise. This suggests that I look at an amp with 6L6s instead of 6V6s like the deluxe. These amps are larger and I need something that I can actually carry since I do a lot of that. Under 50 lbs would be good. Also I don't need a huge amount of wattage, ideally something from 20 to 40 watts. So by my reasoning (which may be flawed) I've arrived at the vibrolux and vibroverb amps.

The 63 vibroverb reissue made in the 90s sounds nice and can be found used for decent prices. I understand that replacing the speakers is a common modification to those amps. I have heard that the currently made custom vibrolux reverb can be pretty easily modified back to the 63 VV specs. Then there are the vintage silver face vibroluxes which are also available. Original blackfaces are too expensive for me. Yet another option is boutique copies of these amps. Sligo makes some that are affordable. Another silver face amp on the larger side is the pro reverb, which I've heard mixed things about.

So what do you think, am I on the right track? If so, what are the differences between the 63 vibroverb and other vibrolux models and what would you recommend? Or should I reconsider the deluxe reverb or different amps? Let me know, any input would be greatly appreciated.


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:44 am
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djsuperdock,

Welcome to the Forum! :D

You ever play on a nice BF or SF Super Reverb? Think you may like it.


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:48 am
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There's nothing at all wrong with a vintage Pro Reverb.

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: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 4:45 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
djsuperdock,

Welcome to the Forum! :D

You ever play on a nice BF or SF Super Reverb? Think you may like it.


Thanks! I have played a silver face and a reissue.. I did like them but they are so huge and seem so beastly loud with the four 10s! Looking for something a little more manageable with somewhat similar characteristics.

Retroverbial wrote:
There's nothing at all wrong with a vintage Pro Reverb.

Arjay


Yes that is why I am considering it! I'd like to find out more about how it compares with vibroluxes and vibroverbs besides the fact that it runs two 12s.


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 5:45 pm
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djsuperdock wrote:
Yes that is why I am considering it! I'd like to find out more about how it compares with vibroluxes and vibroverbs besides the fact that it runs two 12s.


The Pro Reverb's chassis architecture is quite similar sonically and in component layout to the AA964 Vibrolux Reverb and the AB763 Vibroverb. The power supplies are nearly identical and all use smallish, easily-saturated output trannies.

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: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 5:50 pm
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You may have a look at 1x12" fenders such as DeLuxe Reverb. They have a very good reputation for what they are :D


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 6:51 pm
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DJ, Arjay nailed the amp circuit aspect! The SF Band Master Reverb head would also be up that same alley. I too, play at churches and outdoor fests. Can you tell us, the size of the sanctuaries and the accompaniment line-up? I mean that, I'm usually in a 250 seater. But last week, I played in a small, old clap-board(country) church. Get the idea that you're going after a self contained sound source, with no PA connection or dependence, right? Art.......My Bad, Welcome!!!

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Last edited by aclempoppi on Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 6:59 pm
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Yeah, the Vibrolux or Tremolux series amp is worth a test drive. I like my VLR & stopped hunting for a Deluxe Reverb.


Image



Image


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:33 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
Yeah, the Vibrolux or Tremolux series amp is worth a test drive. I like my VLR & stopped hunting for a Deluxe Reverb.
Image
Image



Awesome!

I want one as well :lol:


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:04 pm
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This post deepens my thought process yet further on a single channel Vibroverb (AB763) build, with a single 12. Portable enough, yet toneful, as long as compensation is made in the event of lost gain, if any, as noted from an earlier post, from the missing 12AX7/Normal Channel. I'm sure this has been done before, or maybe I'm way out there on this and need to go to bed.


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:21 pm
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upnorth wrote:
This post deepens my thought process yet further on a single channel Vibroverb (AB763) build, with a single 12.


Vibroverb is 1x15" I believe.

http://www.thevintagesound.com/ffg/


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:47 pm
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upnorth wrote:
This post deepens my thought process yet further on a single channel Vibroverb (AB763) build, with a single 12. Portable enough, yet toneful, as long as compensation is made in the event of lost gain, if any, as noted from an earlier post, from the missing 12AX7/Normal Channel. I'm sure this has been done before, or maybe I'm way out there on this and need to go to bed.


On the left is a custom-designed Deluxe Reverb wired to a 15-inch JBL speaker that I built (a stock DR is shown on the right for comparison).

Image

Venues where I used to routinely drag a Twin Reverb to, I'm now playing with this 20-watt platform. It seldom requires miking through a PA, has loads of genuine Fender tone, and my knees and back thank me after every gig. It weighs in at just over fifty pounds.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:13 pm
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Up North, You would not lose a gain stage. If you're going for a single channel reverb design. The signal would be straight, without any channel-series detractions. The very reason, I went for a Princeton Reverb 1X12 15watt clone(and PI tone). Just didn't need another 6L6 fixed bias amp! Art

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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:33 am
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aclempoppi wrote:
DJ, Arjay nailed the amp circuit aspect! The SF Band Master Reverb head would also be up that same alley. I too, play at churches and outdoor fests. Can you tell us, the size of the sanctuaries and the accompaniment line-up? I mean that, I'm usually in a 250 seater. But last week, I played in a small, old clap-board(country) church. Get the idea that you're going after a self contained sound source, with no PA connection or dependence, right? Art.......My Bad, Welcome!!!


Thanks Art. My church has two sanctuaries, both fit about 200 people I'd say. I play with bass, acoustic, drummer, keyboard, and violin. So cutting through the mix is definitely important (I'm pretty sure the 212r is not so good at that, especially with humbuckers). Right now I do not mic my amp but there is a chance I might in the future. But even so I'd like the ability to do both, whereas with a deluxe I'd be worried that using it without a mic would mean getting distortion since I'd be running it louder.
To be honest I don't know how many watts I really need.. my 212r is 100W and I usually have the volume around 3. Maybe that corresponds to around 30W but I've heard that there seems to be a volume difference between solid state watts and tube watts.


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Post subject: Re: choosing a fender amplifier
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:37 am
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And thanks Arjay. Sounds like the pro reverb, vibrolux, and vibroverb would all be up my alley (if I actually need that much wattage).


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