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Post subject: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:40 pm
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This may turn out to be a long post. My apologies.

I always have to own some sort of Fender amp. That just seems to be the way with me. Even when I'm using something else as my main amp I still end up wanting a Fender-style clean tone, usually Tweed. For the longest time I played Blackface Fenders, or at least Blackface-style amps, but in recent years I found myself gravitating more towards Fender Tweed tone, for the additional mids and less piercingly bright top end. I've found that OD and higher-gain pedals sound better to me with that thicker Tweed foundation, and neither Blackface nor Tweed clean-ish amps will give me enough gain on their own, so an amp's effectiveness with pedals is always one of my major concerns. Bassmans fit the bill for me, to a tee.

As a point of reference, these are some of the Fender and Fender-style amps I've owned:

'65 DRRI (three of them)
'65 TRRI (two of them)
The Twin (not the red knob version, but the 100w Pro Tube Series monster with the "high-gain" channel)
Vibro-King
'64 Vibroverb Custom (the model with the factory César Díaz mods)
Victoria 45410
HRD
HR DeVille 4x10
Blues Jr III
'68 CDR
'68 CVR

I also have extensive experience with the 60w Supersonic 1x12, the '57 Twin, and the '65 SRRI. Because I'm such an avid fan of SRV, I've always wanted to own a Super Reverb. The 4x10 Super has always been my Holy Grail Fender, at least in theory. Every time the opportunity to grab one presented itself, though, I somehow managed to get something else. I'd try to convince myself that I would love the '65 SRRI, only to have its excessive treble kill the deal for me. I just could never get along with it, especially with pedals. Its large, rather unwieldy size is also a drawback for me. Regardless, the Super remains the one glaring hole in my Fender amps wish-list.

In any case, spousal illnesses, spousal car crashes and my own battle with Stage IV-A cancer forced me on multiple occasions to sell all my guitar gear, which is the main reason I went through so many beautiful Fender amps. Along those same lines, a couple of neurospinal reconstructive surgeries left me leery of the prospect of having to lug around large, heavy amps again. And that's how I arrived, albeit in rather roundabout fashion, at my new '68 CVR. The chemo treatments robbed me of the use of my limbs. The neuropathy was so acute that I couldn't feel the strings, so I went ahead and sold my last rig. A year later, I regained some sensitivity in my limbs and could play again, so I decided to treat myself to new replacement gear. In addition to a custom Carvin HSH C66 with Suhr electronics and a new American Deluxe HSS Strat that I modded by swapping out the entire pickguard assembly for one from a Jeff Beck Strat, I bought a Bogner 2x12 combo, which is absolutely fantastic, but it's just too large and heavy to be practical for me. Lugging that thing up and down stairs, or even just getting it into and out of my car's trunk...no fun.

"I need a smaller grab-and-go amp," I decided. "Something cool and bluesy; something portable enough to lug around with ease, yet still loud enough for rehearsing with a band and playing small gigs." This idea ultimately led me to the Blues Jr III, which I truly love. The only thing is, it really doesn't have enough clean headroom to serve my needs. So, I sold it. I'll almost certainly get another one at some point, but for now it will have to wait.

That's when I learned about the new '68 Custom amps. The idea of a small, easily portable '65 DRRI with reverb and tremolo on both channels, along with reduced negative feedback, no bright cap on the 'Vintage' channel, and a Bassman tone stack on the old 'Normal' channel? Sign me up!

The thing is, I read every review of the '68 Customs that I could find. All my google searches led me inevitably to this Fender forum. Here, I soaked in countless words of wisdom from Arjay and Rverb, and many others. The consensus seemed to be that the '68 CDR sounded fantastic but was troubled by excessive white-noise hissing, an inordinate amount of reverb/tremolo hum, and definitely way too loud of a 'pop' sound when engaging the Standby switch. Also, many folks here seemed to believe the Celestion Ten 30 speakers that Fender chose for the '68 CPR and '68 CVR was little more than a cost-saving measure, diminishing what are otherwise fine-sounding amps.

When my '68 CDR arrived, sure enough, it was plagued by an unusual degree of white-noise hissing, even with the unused channel's Volume control turned all the way down. More disturbing to me, however, was the obnoxious popping sound from the Standby switch. So, I tried the other method: bypassing the Standby switch and rolling both Volume controls all the way down and letting it idle for a bit before simply turning off the amp. Sometimes it worked. Maybe forty-percent of the time, there would be no 'pop.' The rest of the time, and it was never predictable, I'd still get that same 'pop' that I experience with the Standby switch.

Fortunately for me, Rverb mentioned that his '68 CVR exhibited neither of those issues. He said he might slightly prefer the tone of his '68 CDR to his '68 CVR, but that the '68 CVR was certainly quieter and more trouble-free. Others chimed in with similar reports. So, okay, since I know myself well enough to know that the '68 CDR's noise issues would always bother me, I went ahead and swapped the '68 CDR for the '68 CVR.

As it turned out, Rverb and those others were dead-on correct. My '68 CVR has no more white-noise hissing than my Bogner, or any other amp I've owned. Bare minimum, it's certainly quiet enough, and quieter than the '68 CDR. More importantly, there is absolutely no popping sound when I hit the Standby switch. In that regard, it behaves like most any other amp. So, on that score, it was a winner. Unfortunately the reverb doesn't work at all, and the amp arrived in poor condition. There is a serious gouge in the faceplate, and the metal cage that covers the power tubes is so smudged and worn-looking that I almost think they sent me a used amp. No biggie. A new replacement amp will be here Wednesday.

I did notice that the tremolo sounds different from the one in the '68 CDR, or the ones in my old Fender amps. It's less noisy and much smoother, but also less in-your-face and swampy. Variable bias vs opto, I suppose, and I'm not sure yet which I prefer. Because we're conditioned to like what we know and expect, my initial feeling was that I preferred the tremolo on the '68 CDR, but time will tell. Either way, it's nothing major. It's a subtle difference. I'm just hoping the reverb on this next one works correctly. I checked the tubes and the reverb tank. Nothing is loose, no solders are bad...nothing seems amiss. There is simply no reverb. No idea why.

Tone/usage-wise, the '68 CVR is the better choice for me, compared to the '68 CDR. The main reason is the additional headroom. I might say that the '68 CDR sounds a tad fuller, with more mids, and I do prefer that, but it also breaks up sooner than I would like. If I was basing it strictly on warm, thick, overdriven tone, I would have kept the Blues Jr III. That thing sounds like God to me. No matter the guitar, it makes everything sound totally bad-ass. The '68 CVR has to be set to six or even seven before it starts to achieve a similar overdriven tone, and that's perfect for what I want. It will stay relatively clean at sufficient volumes to hang with a drummer and another reasonably loud guitarist. Once the '68 CVR and '68 CDR do go into overdrive, there's little to choose between the two.

One major difference is the relative volumes between the two channels. With the '68 CDR there isn't much between them. The 'Vintage' Vibrolux channel is basically a match for the 'Custom' Bassman channel. Not so, with the '68 CVR. The Bassman side is significantly louder and fuller-sounding than the 'Vibrolux' channel, and that's fine by me. Similar to my experience with the SuperSonics, I'll likely never use the Vibrolux side, always opting instead for the thicker, less ice-picky Bassman side. The 'Custom' channel on the '68 CVR is really loud, and pleasingly so. As the kids say, it's "legit." That's the Fender tone I want. And It kills with pedals. Man, but does my 808HW sound like a nine hundred-pound violin through that thing.

As with nearly all Fender clean channels, however, I have to be careful with excessive treble. The '68 CDR has no Bright switches. The '68 CVR has them on both channels, and I've found that I prefer to switch them off even with humbuckers.

Which leads me to my last point...

The speakers. Of course the Ten 30s in this amp are not broken in, not by a long shot. Or at least they shouldn't be, since it's supposedly a brand new amp. Judging by the cosmetic condition of this amp, though, as I said, I'm not entirely certain that this thing hasn't already been used. Regardless, it could stand a bit less high-end sharpness, and I wouldn't turn my nose up at some fuller, thicker mids. Towards that end, I've begun speaker shopping. More often than not, I've left the stock speakers alone in my amps. With this one, however, yes, I think I will take the plunge. After doing a fair amount of research, I have it narrowed down to these choices:

Celestion G10 Gold
Celestion G10 Greenback
Weber 10A150 (alnico)
Weber 10A150H (alnico, hemp cone)
Weber 10F150 (ceramic)
Weber 10F150H (ceramic, hemp cone)
Eminence Lil Buddy (hemp cone)
Warehouse 10" Green Beret (20w ceramic Greenback clone with a massive magnet)
Warehouse G10C (Jensen C10N replacement)
Warehouse G10C/S (smooth cone for reduced treble)

Have any of you tried and compared these speakers against the others? Also, what do you think about the possibility of mixing speakers, even when their efficiencies don't match (98-99db vs 95db)? What's your feeling about using hemp cones with alnico, which seems rather unusual on its own, never mind using such a combo with a Vibrolux-type tone. Then again, I'm only going to be using the Bassman side, which does make me wonder. When a person replaces the speakers on a Bassman or Super, both of which traditionally feature Alnico speakers, why wouldn't Alnico speakers be the logical go-to choice for the replacement drivers? Nearly every time I see talk of replacing the speakers on a Vibrolux, which has always been known as the "little Super Reverb," all the chatter seems to focus on the usual suspects among ceramic speakers.

For the moment, I won't worry about Fender's usual cold bias, or any tube swaps. I've done enough tube swapping to last a lifetime. I think I'll leave this one alone for a good long while.

Anyway, that's where I'm at with the '68 CVR. As long as everything works correctly on the next one, it will be a definite keeper. It will also likely replace my Bogner as my main amp. The only question then is, which speakers?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:04 am
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Hi stevieraygovan,

While I don't have any input on speakers, I just wanted to say welcome to the forum and that your first post was terrific. I usually don't like long winded posts, but yours was a very easy read, interesting, and well put. Great job!

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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:40 am
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Ive tinkered with my custom 68 Vibrolux quite a bit as I was not happy with the bass and treble flatulence, cold dynamics (although still pretty damn good tone) and early fishy break up from the ten 30's, I swapped in two broken in Jensen C10Q's, replaced V1 & V2 and Phase inverter with JJ 5751 tubes and upped the Bias from 58 mv at the test point to 68 mv....... all I can say is..... its a totally different animal. its awesome!


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:32 am
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Studying up like crazy on my speaker choices, I think I've narrowed it down a bit. Other than the Celestion G10 Gold and G10 Greenback, which remain frontrunners, I'm leaning towards going with hemp cones. So, that likely rules out the Warehouse speakers. In addition to the Gold and Greenback, I'm now looking at the Tone Tubby 40/40 or Alnico Red, the Eminence Lil Buddy, and the Weber 10A150H or 10F150H. The question of alnico vs ceramic, that's my primary dilemma. I'm not worried about alnico for cleans. My concern has to do with distortion pedals and how they will sound with alnico speakers. I never really liked that combo with the Super Reverb, which has alnicos. The top-end brightness was fine with my Tube Screamers but not with distortion pedals. A lot of people seem to think that ceramics are better for higher-gain things.

And that's just it. Everyone seems to have a different take on the subject of alnico vs ceramic. Some say alnicos are brighter, to the point that they don't work well with OD/distortion pedals. (Even though Bassmans and most alnico-equipped tweed amps sound great with any and all pedals.) Others say alnicos are smoother, more compressed and warmer, with less strident highs. I know they compress more, but it's the high-end treble question that most concerns me.

I think I need to call Weber, Eminence and Celestion and see whether there's any real consensus on this issue.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 4:49 pm
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I put a pair of Eminence Ragin' Cajuns in my 68 CVR. I had one that was about a year old, having installed it in a Fender Frontman 25R. When I got rid of the amp, I put the stock speaker back in and kept the Ragin' Cajun. So a year later I have this sweet new 68 CVR but only one Ragin' Cajun. Ordered the second one from Amazon, then went to the Eminence web page and noticed that they had changed cosmetics on all of their speakers. So I emailed Eminence and asked if they would send me the new RC decal, in case the old one didn't match the new one (OK, so I'm anal :lol: ). Upon arrival, the new speaker had the old cosmetics, so I didn't need the decal, but Eminence sent it anyway.

Long story to support the fact that I have been dealing with Eminence for many years. Their products are all top notch and every time I have had questions in the past, they have been most helpful. If you do have questions, no matter how technical or trivial, I'm positive they will be glad to help you.

After replacing the very soft 6L6es in my 68 CVR (the amp came with GT 4's) with JJ 6L6es and biasing the amp properly, my Vintage channel really sounds very close to that of a Twin Reverb. But cranked above 7 or so, it's got a very cool SRVish growl. And the Custom channel has a nice Bassman quality to it. This one's a keeper.

BTW, from your story above, it sounds like you've been around the block a few times. I'm 67, had prostate cancer, and have COPD. So as much as I love the sound of the 65 TRRI (I've hade 2 of em), they weigh a TON! This 42 lb "Baby Twin" is much easier to lug around, though I don't gig with it. I've also go 2 Mustang III V2's and a Mustang Floor.

Something even more portable and yet more powerful is in the works. I've got this 1x12 cab with an Eminence 12" Texas Heat in it that is capable of handling 150 watts. So, I've ordered a Quilter Tone Block 200 (200 watts RMS and in this dinky little 4 lb. box). I'm planning to drive the Tone Block into the 1x12 cab with the Mustang Floor. Reviews on the internet are very impressive, so I'm hoping to have this killer, very portable, powerful rig! We'll see :wink:


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:43 pm
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Lynn, I just got off the phone with Eminence, and yes, I have always enjoyed dealing with them. Being able to pick up the phone and immediately talk to the guys at the factory is a very good thing. I used to be able to do the same with the folks at Weber Speakers, but with Ted's passing I guess things have changed. When I called today, all I got were voicemails. Dave at Avatar Speakers was always great, too.

In any case, I learned quite a bit from talking with Eminence. I learned the reason for the nearly all-pervasive confusion on the interwebs regarding topics such as the supposed tonal difference between ceramics vs alnico. I also learned that I was guilty of some of those same misconceptions. I learned a lot about the construction and tone of hemp speakers, as well.

Yep, I really appreciate the way Eminence runs their business. Good people.

I likely will swap the tubes and increase the bias, but not before I do the speaker swap. I don't want to do everything all at once. I want to be able to isolate the difference each change makes. Also, I have a strong suspicion that the speaker swap on its own will accomplish what I want. I used to spend far too much time swapping tubes, usually to no appreciable benefit. Swapping speakers, however, always resulted in far more obvious, immediate improvements.

It looks like I'm down to these few choices:

1. Eminence "Lil' Buddy." Every clip I hear of that speaker sounds like the exact tone I want in order to reduce the treble and fill in the relatively scooped mids of the Ten 30s, and it's significantly less expensive than the Tone Tubby equivalent.

2. Celestion G10 Gold. While not as dark and smooth as the Eminence, it is darker, smoother and fuller sounding than the Ten 30, with no icepick on top. I fear that the Eminence could end up being too dark for my OD pedal, and I have no similar fears regarding the Gold. Similarly, I also don't fear any excess of piercing treble.

3. Celestion G10 Greenback. I love the Greenback in my Bogner, and in nearly everything else, so why not here, too? Also, it's the same tiny size and weight as the Ten 30, thus maintaining the '68 CVR's manageable portability.

4. Tone Tubby 40/40. More expensive than the Eminence, and possibly no better, I don't know, but it's a Tone Tubby. For hemp speakers, they're the gold standard. It couldn't be any worse than the Eminence, right, and perhaps it's even better.

5. Tone Tubby Alnico Red. Same thing as the 40/40, with the sweetness and cache of alnico. Insanely pricey, though.

My replacement '68 CVR is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully this one will be good to go, at which point it will be time to pull the trigger on some new speakers.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:52 pm
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stevieraygovan wrote:
My replacement '68 CVR is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully this one will be good to go, at which point it will be time to pull the trigger on some new speakers.


Great choice!
The 68 CVR is a very sweet amp, so good I decided to keep it and the 68 CDR.
Running them in stereo, dual mono, makes for a very sweeeet tone.
The mid warmth of the CDR and the tighter, a bit compressed, and brighter CVR blend very well.

That makes 3 of us that agree Fenders only mistake/let down is not using better speakers in the CVR.
Surprising really considering it's a bit more expensive than the CDR.
The 12" Celestion in the CDR is a really nice speaker and costs more. 2 of the 10's is a minimal cost vs the single 12".

BTW, when you get your new fully working CVR let us know how you like the reverb.
I think the CVR's reverb sounds better than the CDR's.
CDR's reverb is nice but not as good as the CVR, DRRI, and TRRI that I've played.

Your right that speakers make a MUCH bigger difference in tone change than do tubes.
Still, I was pleasantly surprised at how much Fender amps respond to tube changes.
There is a more pronounced and more noticeable difference when swapping pre tubes in the 3 Fenders I've had compared to the truck load of other tube amps I've had, and I LIKE that a lot.

I too am considering a speaker change in my CVR.
My one wacky option is to try a single 15" in there instead of 2-10's.
A 15" should make for a much greater difference between my CDR and CVR.
I also plugged my CVR into my 2x12 cab with Celestion V30's and that combo sounds excellent, especially if you like distortion tones. With the CVR's slightly more compressed quality high gain distortion tones sound awesome.

I too like that the CVR has a higher clean volume compared to the CDR as the CDR starts to break really early, sooner than even the DRRI.
I want to adjust the bias on the CVR to give me as much clean headroom as possible especially since the CDR's tube breakup/distortion sounds better to my ears compared to the CVR.
6V6's just have that sweet distortion, and the 6L6's have sweet and tight clarity.

Now, I want to find a way to stop that excessively loud POP when I turn the standby on on the CDR.
Leaving the standby to off and turning off the power mitigates the pop, but that's not the recommended method to shut off a tube amp. :)
I just deal with the pop for now, until I find a way to stop it.
I wonder if I can a Fender authorized tech to figure it out under warranty?
I'll have to call Fender and see if they know how to fix this problem, and it is a problem imo.

Congrats again, and enjoy!


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:13 am
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Rverb, one of the main reasons I swapped the CDR for the CVR is a talk I had with my authorized Fender repair technician, who informed me that there is no way to fix the CDR's 'popping' sound without voiding the warranty. "It is what it is. They all do that. It's how they're designed," he explained. Same thing, regarding the CDR's excessive white-noise hissing. Knowing I would always remain annoyed by those issues, and having read your glowing reports of the CVR being blissfully free of those same issues, I made the decision to do the swap.

Along those same lines, I have little doubt that your idea of replacing the baffle to accommodate a 15" speaker would also void Fender's warranty. Having recently dealt with an amp that twice broke down while no longer under warranty, I have no desire to leave myself in that same position with this new Fender. Good luck with your experiment, but I'll stick to the 2x10 thing and the five-year factory warranty.

As far as the CDR vs CVR reverb comparison goes, I'm not the right guy to make that call. Reason being, I never turn my Fender reverb units up past, oh, 2.5. I'll go as high as 3, tops. I don't play surf music, or David Gilmour covers. Even when I had the stand-alone '63 Reverb tank for use with my Bassman, I used only the slightest bit of 'verb. Same deal, with my Vibro-King and its built-in '63 tank. I do a lot of soloing with high-ish gain, and too much reverb of any flavor turns things into a muddy wash.

Speaker-wise, I probably would have also swapped out the stock Celestion in the CDR. Among 12" drivers, there are simply too many better choices out there. I agree with you that between the two amps the CDR's Celestion beats the CVR's, but to my ears both amps would benefit from fuller, darker, smoother-sounding speakers. The nice thing about the CDR is that one need only spring for a single new speaker. Opting for a pair of Celestion Golds for the CVR? Or, even worse, a set of Tone Tubby alnicos? Now you're talking fifty-percent of the cost of the amp.

Eeash.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:01 am
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Rverb,
In order to not void your warranty, this idea is a bit more spendy, but you could buy/build a 1x15" cab and install a 4 ohm 15" speaker in the cab. Then you could easily switch between the 2x10" in the CVR or unplug them and plug in the 1x15" cab.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:35 pm
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Lynn Nicholson wrote:
Rverb,
In order to not void your warranty, this idea is a bit more spendy, but you could buy/build a 1x15" cab and install a 4 ohm 15" speaker in the cab. Then you could easily switch between the 2x10" in the CVR or unplug them and plug in the 1x15" cab.

you find the vibro as warm as the deluxe or more like the twin? I played one for briefly. My 68 twin maybe too bright for my pedals.Dont really need the power too. The deluxe takes pedals pretty good.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:05 pm
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My only experience with the 68 Custom series amps is the 68 CVR that I own. After replacing speakers and 6L6 tubes and rebiasing, I would say that my CVR is fairly as close to a "Baby Twin" as I'm going to get. It is neither identical to the 65 DRRI or 65 TRRI. I have owned one DRRI and 2 TRRI's and wish I still had a TRRI even though they are too heavy for me to have as my main squeeze. I'm really happy with the 68 CVR just the way I've modded it. I would gig with it in any venue and know the sound is superb.

Having said that, you were questioning the differences between the 68 CDR and 68 CTR. If I were going to choose only one of those it would be the Twin. I was disappointed in Fender's idea of soft power tubes and very cold bias current. It really causes early breakup even on 6L6 power tubes. So, from my experience with the CVR I'd probably expect the same on the 68 Custom Twin and would have to replace the tubes and rebias. As far as Celestion speakers that come on the Twin, they are probably superior to the cheesy Celestions in the CVR, which I replaced. In general the 68 Custom series seem to be warmer than the 65 AB763 amps. The circuits are a bit different.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:46 pm
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Lynn, in defense of Fender, the '68 Custom line is intended to sport earlier break-up. This isn't merely the result of cold biasing or any '68 Custom-specific choice of power tubes; rather, it's a built-in design feature centering on reduced negative feedback and the addition of a Bassman tone stack on the "Custom" channel. Nearly all Fender amps come from the factory with a cold bias, and they also tend to use the same GT-branded, Russian-made Sovtek tubes that came stock in our '68 CVR. The difference between the '65 Reissues and the '68 Customs isn't about tubes and biases, it's about intentionally different voicings.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:14 pm
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My replacement '68 CVR arrived a few hours ago, and it almost gave me a heart attack. When I opened the box, the first thing I saw beneath the plastic covering was the usual Fender model-info placard they affix to the top of each amp, and this one was for a '68 CDR.

Crap, they sent me the wrong freaking amp!

Deciding to make lemonade out of lemons, I figured I'd check it out anyway and see whether this one also had the same hissing/popping issues as all the other '68 CDRs. If it didn't, hey, I could A/B it directly against my CVR and pick a winner. So, I set about unpacking it.

Hmmm. A separate power cord, instead of the Deluxe's usual attached cord? Also, the power cord wasn't in its usual padded yellow bag. Instead, it was sitting uncoiled in the back of the amp, beside the padded bag. So, someone had obviously opened the box, unwrapped and removed the cord, and plugged it into the amp before shipping it.

'Okay,' I thought, 'since they know the last one had a problem, hopefully all this unwrapped power cord means is they checked the amp out to make sure everything works correctly before shipping it to me.'

Pulling the amp the rest of the way out of the box, I saw the usual blue 'Deluxe Rev-'...wait. That's not what it read on the faceplate. It actually read, 'Vibrolux Reverb-Amp.'

'Huh? What's up with that?'

I flipped it around and took a look in the back. Sure enough...two Celestion Ten 30 speakers. The front has the two Bright switches. Haaa! They simply included the wrong info placard!

~whew~

So, anyway, I proceeded to line it up directly alongside my faulty '68 CVR with the missing reverb and give it a thorough test drive. That was rather fun, having the opportunity to A/B two identical amps. And, as it turned out, they really are identical. The broken reverb on the first one notwithstanding, there isn't the slightest bit of tone/volume/overdrive difference between the two. Good job, Fender. Consistent build quality. Oh, and yes, the reverb definitely works on this new one. It's essentially the same deep, splashy 'verb I heard on my '65 TRRIs and DRRIs. I would also say it has much more available reverb than the '68 CDR. It goes quite a bit deeper, well into full-on Robert Rodriguez movie-soundtrack territory. As always, 2.5 on the dial is as much as I can handle.

One curious thing I noticed is that when I turned the Volume up to 8 I again wondered whether Sweetwater sent me the wrong amp. I thought I'd bought a Vibrolux variant, with a bit of Bassman flavor. As in, a quasi-Blackface/Tweed Fender. So, why was I hearing a 35w, 2x10 Plexi? Who's the joker that snuck Angus Young into my amp?

Wow. Too cool. And no scratches or other cosmetic blemishes, either.

This one's a keeper.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 12:40 am
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2014 2:07 pm
Posts: 303
Lynn Nicholson wrote:
Rverb,
In order to not void your warranty, this idea is a bit more spendy, but you could buy/build a 1x15" cab and install a 4 ohm 15" speaker in the cab. Then you could easily switch between the 2x10" in the CVR or unplug them and plug in the 1x15" cab.


Yes, that is an option and cool idea. But I want to get away from the "head + cab" thing as I prefer the combo's.
I have a 2x12 cab with Celestion V30's and they are a "darker" speaker and pretty smooth compared to either the stock CDR and CVR speakers.
I've run both amps into the V30's and the tone is very nice from each amp.
I still like the Celestion in the CDR. It's very comparable to the V30's and I think Celestion intended the V-type to be that way. The 10" Celestions are fair but not really good.

As for the warranty I'm not worried about it. My brother is an electronics tech so I've got that covered if need be. Also seems Fender can't fix the "pop" anyway so warranty is useless for that.
My CDR doesn't have a loud hiss at all. Could be I got a good one and/or it's the combination of pre tubes I'm running. There is a very little amount of hiss but nothing out of the ordinary at all and compares favorably to my CVR as far as hiss goes.
My Egnater Vengeance is the quietest of the full tube amps I have and it's a very high gain amp, good design. I'm selling the Vengeance though as I don't need it now that I have the Fenders and excellent distortion pedals.

I'm looking into replacement 10's as well.
Way too many options out there.
I'm drawn to the Webers and Eminence.
Celestion Golds are quite nice but pricey for a pair.
With the CVR I'd like a bit more mids to counter the slightly mid compressed tonal quality.
There is plenty of high end and even more with the bright switch engaged so no need for more high end.
More low end would be nice too.

I'm going to try recording the 10's to hear how they do with that.


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Post subject: Re: '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb: observations and questions
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 12:50 pm
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Hobbyist
Hobbyist

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

Day Two with the new amp, and now it's giving off a static-y crackling sound when I let a note or chord ring for a few seconds. It doesn't happen immediately, it takes a second or two before this transient crackle kicks in, but it does do it every time. It seems to do it the most whenever I'm somewhere in the middle of the fretboard, and it does it regardless of which guitar I'm using.

Time to start swapping preamp tubes, searching for the likely culprit. Hopefully it's a preamp tube and not a power tube, since those power tubes can't be accessed without removing the protective cage, which is attached to the back panel.


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