Fender Twin and Vibrosonic Reverb Comparison.

Jim Cooley · From: The 'Ville, Texas, USA

Are vintage Twin Reverbs and Vibrosonic Reverbs basically the same amp except for the 15" speaker in the Vibrosonic vs. two 12s in the Twin? Thanks.
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Hey, mister, how do you pedal that thing anyway?

"The worst an honest man can do is make an honest mistake" - Augustus McCrae
"From the sweet grass to the packing house, birth 'til death, we travel between the eternities" - Prentiss Ritter

Too many steels, amps & other stuff, and an open mind. I have tube amp bias.

Ken Pippus · From: Langford, BC, Canada

Rick Johnson · From: Wheelwright, Ky USA

Looks like I'm first to comment. I've heard
40-50 of these amps over the years and I would
say maybe 10 of them were keepers, there could
be dozens of reasons that contirbute to this
some players use tons of gadgets and compression
and it sounds muddy.
So thats not to say that one of these amps
can't be bought and tweaked to sound great.
I personally like a 15" speaker for steel guitar
and the 2/12's never worked for me but I like to
hear some Tele through them.

Rick

www.rickjohnsoncabinets.com

Jim Cooley · From: The 'Ville, Texas, USA

Rick,

Are you talking about Twins, Vibrosonics or both? I know several players who love the sound of their steel through Twins. Mine isn't too shabby. Dicky Overbey plays his LDG through a Vibrosonic.

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

Vibrosonics are 8 ohm. Twins are 4.

Brett Lanier · From: Madison, TN

I have a '77 twin. I wasn't crazy about the sound but I went out on a limb and poured some money into it. Had my tech work through the whole thing, put a 15" JBL k130 in a new cab for it, put NOS preamp tubes in, and new tung-sol kt66's. I was lucky and it turned out to be well worth it. With the KT66's it's as clean sounding as you'll ever need. The reverb sounds incredible too. I love that I can just plug straight in with two cables and a volume pedal.

The Black & Tan is actually the twin.

Chris LeDrew · From: Canada

I've owned a bunch of older Twins and loved them all for steel and double-duty. However, my most recent acquisition (1975 Vibrosonic Reverb, pictured below) is by far the best of the lot for pedal steel. I'm in the midst of doing some sessions with it this week. Sounds incredible. Has a JBL, which I'm sure doesn't hurt. Smile

Interestingly, it has a bit more mid-range honk than the 212's I've owned. But that just makes it all more nasty when it's dimed. I'm running it at about 6.5 volume-wise on these sessions. Hardly any breakup at all. Reverb is lush. It still has the original RCA's in it, unbelievably.
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Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com

Ken Pippus · From: Langford, BC, Canada

Chris, yours looks like a brother to mine. While a Twin may have the edge for Telecaster twang, an L5 sounds mighty righteous through that big, orange JBL!

KP

Richard Rice · From: Illinois, USA

I've owned vintage and modern Twins, they were great amps- but- my '72 Vibrosonic loaded with an EVM 15L is the keeper. No Twins left over here. Works great for guitar and for PSG. I run the Vibrosonic in stereo with a '68 Dual Showman, through a a EVM 12F and a Celestion Modern Lead (2X12). Headroom until the cops come. Reverb to swim in.
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'84 Marlen Custom D-10, 8X4
Oahu Tonemaster 6 string lap steel
Rice Custom 6 string lap steel
Republic Squareneck Tricone
Homebrew 6 string reso
10 string Melobar- Rice modified
Rice Custom 8 string reso (under construction)
Hohner 6 string lap guitar (acoustic)
Kustom K-500 tuck & roll
Peavey Century
Peavey Vegas 400
Peavey CS-800
Bag End custom 1X12 & 1X15 cabs w.EV drivers
Steelin' thru a '72 Vibrosonic Reverb and a '69 Dual Showman Reverb (Stereo)

James Morehead · From: Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.

The only electronic difference between a Vibrosonic and a Twin Reverb, (given they are of the same year for comparison sake), is the twin has a 4 ohm output transformer and the Vibrosonic has an 8 ohm transformer.

The schematic for the Twin, Vibrosonic, Dual Showman Reverb, Quad Reverb, Super Six, Bassman 100 is the same chassis and schematic--infact, all these models are listed at the bottom of the schematic, with *notes* of any minor differences. They are one and the same, except the schematic *notes* the vibrosonic has an 8 ohm output tranny.

Beyond schematics, differences go to speaker/cabinet configurations and the name on the face-plate.

Then another difference is "era" changes. For instance, Twin Reverbs were of different eras, such as the 85W blackface period, then the 100W silverface nonmaster volume period, to the silverface master volume period (still 100 W), to the silverface 135W ultralinear period, blah blah. These are all Twin Reverbs, but they are all different, depending on what Fender changed about a particular production period. After that, I lose interest, as these that I mention were still of the handwired models, before Fender leaned more toward PCB circuitry.

The other models changed right along with Twins, as they morphed into the next era(s), some joining the line-up, others being dropped from the line-up.

Vibrosonics joined the line-up in '72 with the introduction of the mastervolume. (No one I know has ever seen OR heard of a Vibrosonic that is a non master volume amp--pre '72.) They were in the lineup through the ultralinear period. After that, they got the pcb board treatment.

I have a nonmaster Twin Reverb('71) and a mastervolume Vibrosonic--both in head cabinets made by forum Brother Rick Johnson. Much easier to lift. I play either head with my 15" K 130 JBL's. These heads sound slightly different from each other, due to the difference in capacitors and tubes. I mean VERY slight difference--you couldn't tell them apart if you were blind folded. I can tell the difference only because I play them all the time. Maybe 1% of tonal difference. Forum Brother Ken Fox went through and serviced them both with steel guitar in mind, and they both sound awesome for steel guitar. Works for me.
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"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
shobud@windstream.net

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