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Topic: 73 Fender Vibrosonic ---Written guarantee |
Sonny Miller
From:
Lino Lakes, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2004 11:36 am |
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This amp is in wonderful condition for its age.
It has a fantastic Big sound for any steel guitar that you want to use.
It is about 90 watts? With about 10 tubes with 4 6l6's.
Has a very nice Tremolo or Vibrato.Reverb is real quiet and is excellent for any guitar or Pedal steel. Have used it for years with no big problems.
It has a 15 inch Emminence Speaker,that has tone and more tone.
It is about a 8.5 in condition. And a 10 in sound.Have you tried a Fender Vibrosonic Tube amp for your steel? Wow!!
I guarantee you will like this amp, if not you may return it for your money back. You would have to pay the shipping back to me for this option.
I just had it gone thru and other than a reverb loose solder joint all was excellent.
The price is 750.00 and the shipping is extra of course.
Because of carpal tunnel and a past stroke, I must eliminate some of my equipment. |
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Gary Preston
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Posted 28 Jun 2004 12:36 pm
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| Are you sure this amp is 90 watts ? I have one that i bought new in 1976 with a 15'' D-130 J.B.L. And it is 100 watts . I really do'nt know if they changed them or not but that is what mine is . And you are right they are a sweet sounding amp and also heavy !! That is why mine is set up in my music room . It does'nt travel any more . Good luck and hope that you feel better soon . Regards,,,Gary . |
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Buck Dilly
From:
Branchville, NJ, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jun 2004 5:31 pm
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| I would bet $ on the fact that these run more powerful than 100W. With way more punch than Solidstate W's. I love my Vibrosonic and can bearly manageto play without it. But man they are heavy. [This message was edited by Buck Dilly on 28 June 2004 at 06:32 PM.] |
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Earl Erb
From:
Old Hickory Tenn
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Posted 29 Jun 2004 5:19 pm
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| I would like to set the record straight. I own a 72 Vibrosonic. Fender made these amps from 1972 to 1981. The early models were 100 watts until 1977. The power went to 135 watts.If your amp has an Emminence speaker its not factory. Fender used four different brands in its ten year history. PF15 Fender was used, which is a Cerwin Vega speaker from 72 to 74. JBL D130 from 74 to 79 then from 79 to 81 you would have seen either an Electro Voice or a Gauss,all 15in speakers.I have owned a lot of amps over the years and this is the best amp I have ever owned even though this amp weighs 85lbs. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 29 Jun 2004 6:43 pm
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Check out the technical stats here: http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/
The neat thing about the Vibrosonic is that it was built to deliver its full volume with a single 8 ohm speaker - so you can put the classic JBL D130 F, all of which were 8 ohm, right in it. The '90s Vibrasonic (spelled with an "a" in the middle) was built for a 4 ohm load, and so would deliver only about two-thirds power to an 8 ohm D130. The same is true for all Twin Reverbs. To get full volume with these, you have to put a more recent 4 ohm 15" speaker in, or run two 8 ohm speakers in parallel. Also there was more hand wiring in the '70s Fenders and more PC board in the '90s Vibrasonic. The '70s Vibrosonic was a real gem. |
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Denny Turner
From:
Oahu, Hawaii USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 6:31 pm
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The Vibrosonic is without doubt the best all around guitar / steel amp I have ever owned. It kicks major butt with tone to die for, ...especially with a JBL K140 bass reflex extension cabinet (my preference) in addition to the amp's JBL D130, and the amp sitting on top of the K140 cab (with the amp and extension cab directionally offset slighty to prevent any wave-phase problems) when good acoustic coupling is called for.
For folks that might not know, ...the 4 6L6's are actually (practically / generally) 2 separate power amps of half the total power running together in mono. The outer pair and inner pair of 6L6's run each of the two amps. A standby switch can be installed to turn off the operating juice to either the inner or outer pair of the 6L6 power tubes cutting the power in half for smaller rooms (the tube filament heater juice should stay on ...thus the standby said). (Or a standby switch for each pair is even better, to allow rotation of amp pairs for even wear over time which keeps the paired amps in balanced condition). I've never gotten around to installing the switch(es), and simply pull either the inner or outer pair of 6L6's to accomplish the same results, even for larger rooms when I desire to push the power amp headroom, ....but without the quick switching a tube-pair standby switch would afford.
I think the earlier models came without master volume ...and don't recall what year the master volume appeared. Because I also play allot of blues and rock, I HIGHLY prefer a master volume so that the pre-amp gain / headroom can be pushed at lower power amp volumes when desired; Which also gets those old "pushed-amp" tones for Steel way back when amps were small and whose amp gains were thus usually pushed; ...although using something other than a JBL extension speaker often works better for those tones (even plugged alone into the the main speaker jack) since the JBL is so efficient and honest and doesn't have the same vintage tone of the old speakers (although a person who knows / learns an amp's tone controls well can get darn close ...usually around Bass8,Mid4,Treble3. Of course with 100 or 135 watts, careful attention must be paid to a cab's power handling capabilites! ------- If a Picker desires clean tones, then the master volume is of less importance.
IMHO & SWAG: It is a good idea to have an amp tech tune up the amp every 2 years or so, particularly if clean tones are desired. It is also important to turn the amp on for 30 minutes or so at least every 6 months or so ...every 3-4 months even better, to keep some particular capacitors charged / alive; And if an old tube amp has sat in storage for over 6 months, it is a good idea to have it brought slowly up to operating voltage on a Variac, to help slowly recharge those capacitors and extend their integrity and life; And this is imperative if the amp has been in storage for over a year, ... although some techs contend it takes longer than that to become unreasonably critical. I'm just a dummy pseudo-tech that tries to follow good guidelines, ...to help guard against Murphy who seems to all-too-often be close by.   
There is also a good article somewhere on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association website about proper use of an amps standby swith to greatly preserve tube integrity and life.
Aloha,
DT~
[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 30 June 2004 at 07:47 PM.] |
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Sonny Miller
From:
Lino Lakes, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 8:31 am
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It has a Master Volume on it, which i use regularly.I sets the gain to a more acceptable level depening on the size of the room that we are using.
I play Harp also and the master lets me get the sound i want to hear.
I had the Reverb Fixed (I thought) but it went out again. I can hear it when i slap the amp, but not without the slap? Any ideas? I have checked the two tubes and they look all right.
I also have a D130 JBL which i hooked up and it seems to have more presence with that speaker, and a better country sound for sure. Of course it ought to as i paid 200.00 for the speaker.
Guess i have to take it to the tech again.
Or lower the price to 600.00 again. Any takers. |
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Earl Erb
From:
Old Hickory Tenn
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 4:19 pm
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| Sonny, you will have to take the reverb tank out of the amp to repair it.It's very easy. Inside the tank where the springs are,at each end,are 2 small transformers.Each has 2 wires soldered to terminals on the reverb tank.One of those wires is broken from a terminal.A soldering gun will fix the problem.I have to do it on occasion usually when my amp gets bumped or not set on the floor carefully. |
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Sonny Miller
From:
Lino Lakes, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 2 Jul 2004 2:25 pm
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| THanks Earl, I will try that and let you know how it comes out. Thanks, Sonny |
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Sonny Miller
From:
Lino Lakes, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 6 Jul 2004 2:21 pm
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I checked the reverb springs , and found out they worked ssometimes , and then tried a twin reverb spring in the amp, which worked a lot better,
Then i ordered one frome Accutronics in Illinois, so it will work real good, after i get that 3 string reverb in there.
I am going to put a D130JBL in there instead of the Emminence, as it seems to have a brighter country sound, then i intend to keep it for steel and harp, So it is not for sale at this point so close this thread please. Sonny |
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