? on Fender Vibrasonic

Jay L. Taylor · From: Greer SC 29651

Has anyone had experience with the Fender Vibrasonic that was built in the late 1990's? How do they sound in comparison to a good Twin Reverb. Also how heavy are they? Thanks for any info you may have.

ajm · From: Los Angeles

Try doing a search for Vibrosonic or Vibrasonic. There have been several lengthy posts here in the last year or so.

Good Luck.

Steve Feldman · From: Central MA USA

I gots one and I think it's teriffic. They're printed circuit board (PCB) amps and not the original point-to-point (PTP) type. I don't have much experience playing through a Twin except for just recently for a brief time, so I can't really make a comparison.

The Vibra has a very strong bass response - I usually keep it on ~3 or so. The highs are actually a bit much for my taste, but I can dial things in to get a really nice, ballsy sound. Loud and clear. I prefer the steel channel to the guitar channel. There's plenty of bite even on the steel/clean channel. Reverb is great. Makes a good steel amp if you like the Fender sound.

That's all I can think of.

SF

Hamilton Barnard · From: Oro Valley, Arizona (deceased)

Jay, I had one and they are a GOOD amp. They come with an Eminence speaker which to me is a bit "brassy" sounding for steel, great for Tele though.

They say Custom on them but they were built on the main assembly line in Oregon. Their weight is very close to a twin, but they do come with casters.

Home page.

Dave Zirbel · From: Sebastopol, CA USA

Jay, I have a mid '90's Vibrasonic Custom and a '71 Twin Reverb and tone-wise I prefer the Twin, although the CV isn't bad. The Twin rated at 85 watts is much more powerful than the CV 100 watts. I would suggest a different speaker other than the Eminance for the CV. I used JBL E-130 that I'm using now with the Twin. The Twin sounds great and I'm still too loud with the volume set on 3!

Dave

Chris DeBarge · From: Boston, Mass

I have a newer Custom Vibrasonic, and although you can't compare it to an old twin, it does sound great for steel(and guitar). The downsides are weight and volume - not as heavy as a silverface twin, but close! And for me its often too loud, you can't get those tubes humming properly if you're set on "2"; so the lower volume tone can be a bit sterile, though definately still "tubey". When you get past "3" though, it comes alive - unfortunately it'll make your ears bleed too! Again, I like it a LOT, but may sell it because of these 2 issues. Feel free to post or email me any specific questions.

Cliff Swanson · From: Raleigh, NC

Hamilton...Love that Plexi! Are you wearing ear protection in the pic on your home page??

.

Cat

Hamilton Barnard · From: Oro Valley, Arizona (deceased)

No...but everybody else does!

Cat, it's like this, "I'm not too LOUD, just ever'one else is too quiet."

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Home page.

John Russell · From: Austin, Texas

Have any of you guys re-tubed one of those pups yet? I'm curious as to the cost.

I owned a silverface Vibrosonic for about 10-12 years and paid for the thing about 3 or 4 times over installing new tubes. When the tube sockets needed replacing ($150) was when I started looking for an alternative.

I was never really pleased with the tone of the Peavey amps till my current Nashville 1000, which is a decent sounding amp, most of the time. It is capable of that solid state honk occasionally, that is so unpleasant. You have to tinker with the EQ (I use a Boss EQ). I do miss the great tube sound since I play guitar too. I borrowed a Dual Showman Reverb head, about an early '90s version, with red knobs, and the sound was pretty happenin' but the weight was unreal and I cringed thinking about servicing the thing.

The perfect amp has yet to be built IMHO.

John

Jay Ganz · From: Out Behind The Barn

John,

First of all it's hard to believe that ALL the sockets needed to be replaced
on your old Vibrosonic. I've had alotta old
Fenders in the shop here, & you run into a
bad socket once in awhile...but most of
the time they just need cleaning & re-tensioning. You also don't have to replace ALL the tubes each time either. If your reverb & tremolo are working
fine...then that's 3 right there you can leave alone. If you don't use one channel
a heckuva lot then don't bother with that
12AX7 either. Some of these repair guys
pad the bill to often...for NO REASON!

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Got That Steelin' Feelin'

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Just curious, in response to Chris's problem getting good tube action at low enough volume if you've tried a power sink between speaker out and speaker. Like a Tom Sholz Power Soak or the Marshall--I forget what it's called--power brake?
Would this be a useful solution?

[This message was edited by Jon Light on 04 November 2000 at 08:09 AM.]

Chris DeBarge · From: Boston, Mass

I've never tried any of them, but I know that the THD Hotplate is the most respected one. Problem is it costs about $300! :-0

Hamilton Barnard · From: Oro Valley, Arizona (deceased)

DO NOT buy a Sholtz Power Soak; and only get the Marshall Power Brake if you have to.

The THD Hot Plate is the best - $280.

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Home page.

Greg Simmons · From: where the buffalo (used to) roam AND the Mojave

Agreed - THD Hoptlates are the s$%t for sure;

Plexi Palace
has the best Hotplate prices I've found on line - $249 plus shipping

[This message was edited by Greg Simmons on 06 November 2000 at 10:02 AM.]

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