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Post subject: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:16 am
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:?: :?: :?: I bought a Custom Vibrolux Reverb about a year ago. I am fairly new to tube amps. I have read about this amp a lot of different places and bought Aspen Pitman's Tube Amp book. All this has so far overloaded me with information and left me confused.

Problem: I love the tone, but hate the loud hiss when you're not playing.
Some forums suggest using more expensive boutique tubes
Others, having the amp biased. Still others having additional resistors installed.

Is the hiss something inherent in the circuit of this amp, or are there sure fixes? I didn't want to spend $200 on new tubes if it would not change the hiss.


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Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:24 pm
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The Custom vibrolux hisses. If you look at reviews at other sites, that's the only thing that kept it from getting 9's and 10's.

Mine hisses too. That's what they do. If you change the tubes out (to another type) you will affect the tone. If it is new, It probably won't need re-biasing unless you change the tubes. Then it will still hiss.

Pretty much every tube amp will hiss some, especially when you turn it up. Lots of power floating around in there...

Sorry, I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear. The cool thing is that you don't notice the hiss when you are playing. No one is going to say "Hey, those are some nice riffs, but I noticed your amp hissing while you were on break!" And if they do, they are probably the same clown who screams "play some Skynard" right after you finish "That Smell."


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:10 am
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The CVR has no Negative Feedback Loop. A NFB loop eliminates much noise/hiss. Also, because the CVR has reverb in both channels, this causes much of the hiss. The original Fender crap tubes don't help, but they are not the reason for most of the noise. Also, the reverb is quite weak. There is a cap installed in the Reverb Recovery cap that needs to be replaced with a .0033 silver mica cap. This opens up the reverb. These changes and a few others actually convert the CVR into the '63 Vibroverb. Many folks like the CVR the way it is for it's early breakup and nice tone.


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:48 am
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pdyckman wrote:
The CVR has no Negative Feedback Loop. A NFB loop eliminates much noise/hiss.


+1

A NFB loop (perhaps with a presence control as well) and a more carefully-selected pair of speakers would've prevented the CVB from ending up as an also-ran. I nearly wrote a check for one of the early blonde issues in '93 until I heard that hiss. A pity, really......

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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 11:56 am
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Tubes help quite a bit. A good selection is a pair of SED winged 6L6's. Run Tung-Sol golds throughout except for a JJ 12AT7. Unfortunately, that's another $230.00. Out of 5 Tung-Sol Gold pins, one went bad within 20 minutes. A great amp by Fender that's still a fairly new model is the Supersonic. I watched Stevie Winwood & Eric Clapton performing "Voodoo Chile" & "Dear Mr. Fantasy" as recorded @ "Crossroads 2010". Supersonics were behind them and did they sound good. No Vibro Kings. The Supersonics sounded outrageous. It would be interesting to know if any mods were performed on them, and what tubes were glowing. I've never seen Clapton play so well as he did on "Voodoo Chile". If there was any question on who is one of the greatest guitarists in the world... ever...it is Eric. Stevie Winwood broke out laughing during Clapton's solos a few times. So many times Eric Clapton lays back and plays @ half mast to give the other guitarists some room. I've seen him do that many, many times. Even way back with Robbie Robertson in "The Last Waltz". [A great film]. Clapton's not out to overshadow anyone. He and Winwood go back so far to "Blind Faith" and long before when these blokes were in their teens. Clapton just about burned the neck off of his maple neck that night. It was 3 in the morning when this came on PBS and I was so moved I grabbed my Strat and joined in. S.Winwood was on the original "Voodoo Chile". I mean how many lyricists can make the first line of their first line of their song: "On the night I was born, the moon turned a fire red"? There was only one, and will only be one James Marshall Hendrix. The intro guitar to Jimi's "Voodoo Chile" sounds like the cauldron's bubbling in Macbeth. You can almost see the heads floating in the Strat soup. Look up "Mark Moyer Mods" on the Vibrolux noise/reverb issues. Fromel Electronics sells ready-to-go kits. To me, the CVR has a great sound without the mods. You just have to kill the signal between songs.


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:03 pm
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The last time I saw Eric Clapton his amps were all EL34-powered......

:mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:23 am
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Well, you know that guys like Eric, all have the best techs. It is possible that he was playing thru EL-34 outputs. That would probably be a minor mod for those guys. I read up on the man who does custom pedal boards for Brian in Queen (in the day) but is still putting these military looking pedal boards for some of the current stars. I believe that Gilmour was one. You may know his name. The ugliest pedal boards I have ever seen. The LED's are so bright, he said that from out in the crowd, he could tell which effects had been activated. Very Bright.


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:26 pm
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I guess you didn't "get it".

The last time I saw EC he was playing these......

Image

:lol:

And he hasn't sounded as good ever since!

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:03 pm
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Oh...thank you so much for sharing your ultimate wisdom & helping me to "get it". Thank God such knowledgeable people such as yourself have not fallen prey to turning into stuck up superior douches. Thanks again for blessing me. Since you appear to live on forums having no other life, I'm sure you're very happy with yourself. If the last time you saw EC he was playing thru Marshalls, how would you know how he plays now?


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:25 pm
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pdyckman wrote:
Since you appear to live on forums having no other life, I'm sure you're very happy with yourself.


I've played 41 gigs so far this year.

How you doing, pal?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

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: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:42 pm
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I PLAYED 6,258 GIGS LAST MONTH!


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:48 am
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pdyckman wrote:
Oh...thank you so much for sharing your ultimate wisdom & helping me to "get it". Thank God such knowledgeable people such as yourself have not fallen prey to turning into stuck up superior douches. Thanks again for blessing me. Since you appear to live on forums having no other life, I'm sure you're very happy with yourself. If the last time you saw EC he was playing thru Marshalls, how would you know how he plays now?


What's your problem? If you don't like what Arjay writes, don't read it. :roll:
Some of us have time to spend on the forums because we retired early, are semi retired, or disabled and stuck at home and like the people they converse with. Some of us just can. Who made you the posting sheriff of the Fender forum. My suggestion is to get a sense of humor and grow a thicker skin. Arjay has helped tons of people on this forum with technical electronic issues and historical Fender information.

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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:58 am
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63supro wrote:
What's your problem? If you don't like what Arjay writes, don't read it. :roll:
Some of us have time to spend on the forums because we retired early, are semi retired, or disabled and stuck at home and like the people they converse with. Some of us just can. Who made you the posting sheriff of the Fender forum. My suggestion is to get a sense of humor and grow a thicker skin. Arjay has helped tons of people on this forum with technical electronic issues and historical Fender information.


+1
That was just uncalled for man. He was just giving you a friendly hard time and you responded with guns blazing. Stay chill my friend! Arjay was just making a funny (a damn good one at that, because it's true!).

We've all got something to share on this forum. No need to start beefs with people we've never even met in person.


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:56 am
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To the OP: Have you tried a quiet 12AT7WA or a 12AY7 (a 6072A might be more quiet), in the input section? Just to see if it helps the noise issue?


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Post subject: Re: Hiss in Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:31 pm
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The Fromel Electronics outlet sells quality noise reduction kits for the CVR. There is a basic mod kit for $39 and a "Supreme kit" that supplies all of the filter caps. My amp tech got the flu while working on it but did complete the filter cap replacement portion of the work. Even with additional work needed; I had to check to see if it was on or not! Sounds beautiful. Can't wait for the rest of the work to be done. It does have SED power tubes and Tung Sol gold 12AX7's & a Jan Philips 12AT7. These tube work well with this amp. Some folks trade V3 with V6. That's a 12AX7 in reverb with the 12AT7 in phase inverter.


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