It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:22 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 10:18 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:56 pm
Posts: 56
Yep, this particular GC always seems to have a cool old vintage amp or three on hand. They currently have a to-die-for '72 Silverface Princeton with a 10" JBL that sounds absolutely glorious. As of a couple days ago, they also had a vintage Supro.

When I brought the '64 VVC back to GC to do our return/repair/buy-it-back deal, there were two factory reps there, from Fender and Marshall. They were both aghast at the very thought of swapping a JBL-equipped '64 VVC for a current-model SRRI. The Marshall rep even took me aside to ask what I paid for mine, explaining that he would have bought it on sight had he found it before I did.

In any case, GC is saying the amp might go out for repair today, or it might sit there for another week before they send it out. It might take two weeks, it might take six. Three to four weeks turn-around time is their average, they say.

Man....


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 12:52 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
Can the store offer a loaner until your Vibroverb is repaired?

Arjay

_________________
"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


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 3:08 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14049
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
Blue Notes wrote:
The GC's I've been to have had a vintage amp or two.

I see lots of GC over USA and sometimes I see vintage amps.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 5:08 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 5:40 pm
Posts: 87
What you should do is learn how to repair this amp. So when it breaks again you got it covered.

Not really that hard to learn, a lot of information out there. Start from the ground up... Learns Ohms law (the various formulas for finding the correct voltage, resistance etc etc) then with a pencil and paper, calculator and a simple multi meter & a schematic (learn how to read these also) you can find and fix anything. Having and O-scope is a short cut to the method I just described though...

Really not that hard. Once you get a grasp of repairing and how they work, then you can start building.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 5:17 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14049
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
pclugaru,

Most of the time it is a bad tube.

Knowing how to replace a tube or find wich one is blow ( as I explain in the first answer to the post ) is like to know how to check oil in a car's engine.


No need to know how to fix a car. But if you wish to learn mechanic , why not :)


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:36 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:56 pm
Posts: 56
status update...

I called GC today about my broken amp. The guy on the phone told me it's not back yet, and gave me the name of their repair shop. I shot the repair place a call, and they said they don't know anything about it. I called GC back and spoke to the same guy again, who, after doing a little research, admitted that he had been misinformed and the amp has, in fact, still not left their store. He added that no one there has any idea as to when it might ship out, assuming it ever does, and they certainly have no clue as to how long it will be before it's repaired and returned to them.

Not looking good. I'm guessing I will never see that amp again.

Anyone here have a solid lead on another '64 VV Custom, or something similar, up to and including vintage, factoring in a $2K budget? Otherwise, I may just go back to a Victoria, or possibly a Tone King.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:06 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2016 3:22 pm
Posts: 440
Location: South Carolina, USA
Ah yes, Tone King. I like the Imperial MKII.

http://www.toneking.com/products/imperial-mkii/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:30 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:56 pm
Posts: 56
Yep, that's the one. I drove up to the Premier Builders Guild factory (the makers of Tone King amps, Two Rock amps, Fano guitars, b3 guitars, etc.) yesterday, and spent a couple hours playing the Sky King and Imperial Mk II side by side. I went in fully expecting to prefer the Sky King, but ended up preferring the Imperial.

I guess I'm also looking now at the Suhr Bella Reverb. Compared to the '64 VVC they all have their pluses and minuses, but I'm under no illusions that any of them will truly hang with the Fender in terms of pure, beautiful, BIG cleans. That '64 VVC with the JBL speaker just sounds so incredibly massive and airy. Tough to beat.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:44 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
stevieraygovan wrote:
That '64 VVC with the JBL speaker just sounds so incredibly massive and airy. Tough to beat.


+1

You could always build yourself a Spankmaster Reverb......

Image

Image

That's a Deluxe Reverb mated to a 15-inch JBL D130F. An awesome combination.

Arjay

_________________
"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


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:49 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:56 pm
Posts: 56
Why not give it the Vibroverb's larger cabinet and greater headroom?

Better yet, why not thin the herd a bit and sell me (cheap!) one of your eight hundred and seventeen awesome mint-condition vintage amps? Like, say, one of your '64 Vibroverbs!

Yeah!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:50 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:56 pm
Posts: 56
Wait, that is the larger cabinet, innit? That one looks too tall to be a standard Deluxe cab.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 1:00 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
stevieraygovan wrote:
Wait, that is the larger cabinet, innit? That one looks too tall to be a standard Deluxe cab.


Yes, the enclosure is twenty inches tall, just as with a '64 Vibroverb. The 20-watt platform breaks up a bit earlier than a VV which makes for more sensible stage volume at smaller venues. But the 15-inch JBL guarantees a solid bottom end with superb definition and articulation. I've built six of these things over the years, four of which I've sold. The prototype was dressed up in blonde Tolex and wheatstraw cloth and for a change of pace I gave this one the drip-edge silverface treatment. The other four wore standard blackface guise.

Arjay

_________________
"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


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:57 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:56 pm
Posts: 56
Okay, you've piqued my interest. Are you starting out with a standard DRRI here, or an older PTP version? I read something about a hotrodded circuit for the Spankmaster Reverb, so what does that entail? Bright cap removal? Fritz mod? Something else entirely?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:36 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
The conversion works equally well with an original or a re-issue. The prototype began life as a re-issue to which I performed the Fritz mod on (reverb and trem on both channels). The bright cap was left in situ since I find it useful when playing a humbucker-equipped Les Paul. I also replaced the output tranny with one that features both 4- and 8-ohm secondary taps, switchable on the rear panel by converting the ground switch (which is in fact a dummy) to an impedance selector. Thus, the amp can safely run an 8Ω extension cabinet all day long at full power should I so chose. These are the extent of the mods aside from the larger cab and 15-inch speaker.

The drip-edge silverface Spankmaster is an unmodified 1977 chassis.

Arjay

_________________
"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


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Diagnose the issue with a suddenly dead '64 Vibroverb Cu
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:58 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:56 pm
Posts: 56
Finger-jointed pine cab?


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: