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Topic: Nashville 1000 or Vibrosonic? |
Rex Thomas
From:
Thompson's Station, TN
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Posted 1 Feb 2002 7:45 am |
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I'd like to get some feedback & suggestions on this: I'm (on & off) shopping for a steel amp as I'm getting back into playing. Presently, I like the Nshvl 1000, but back when I was constantly playing, the Vibrosonic (silver face, of course) worked for me. I had looked around at used ones, haven't seen any I like yet (either over modified or VERY road worn, some on eBay as well). Also, about a year ago, I saw a Vibrosonic reissue with restyled blackface, heavy, but managable. To this day, dealers I've talked to can't find record of this amp, & some don't believe that a Vibrosonic reissue existed.
Summing this part of it up, I would like to locate a fairly decent silverface Vibrosonic, or the reissue.
Now at this point I'm perfectly ok with giving up the Vibrosonic idea for the Nashville 1000 as the sound is good enough & weight IS a factor. I also wouldn't mind finding one of the older (& smaller) Nshvl 400's (? did I get that right?) but I understand they're getting harder to find, no?
So, I'm interested in finding the amp that (to my ears) worked, but would be happy with the standard, off the rack, workhorses. I'm not necessarily closed to the boutique amps like Webb & Evans, but as mentioned above, I can get this done with the readily available Peavey. No components, just combo. Thank you in advance for your suggestions, Folks! |
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Larry Bell
From:
Englewood, Florida
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Posted 1 Feb 2002 8:08 am
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How much clean volume you need is the key. A Vibrosonic -- or a Twin for that matter -- will not provide the undistorted power that a Peavey steel amp does. Any of the Peavey Session, Nashville, or Vegas amps will deliver clean, undistorted power with what Jimbeaux Cohen would describe as 'acceptable tone'. If you're a tube tone junkie, it may not be what you're after.
I was not aware of a Vibrosonic reissue, but I only dabble in Fender amps. I have a BF 59 Bassman I use as a guitar amp and sometimes in a stereo setup with the Session 400. Dave Van Allen and some of the other 'tube heads' may have more info. By and large, most steel players switched to solid state, mostly Peavey, in the 70s and never looked back.
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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Emmons D-10 9x9, 1971 Dobro
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
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Posted 1 Feb 2002 10:00 am
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I get most of my info from the Fender Amp Field Guide"
From 1972-1981 Fender produced the SilverFaced
"VibrOsonic Reverb"
In 1995 and 96 they made the Custom VibrAsonic... not a Reissue per se, but a revisiting of the "Twin With A 15" concept. One of the inputs was even labled "Steel"
I Know there was a VibroVERB reissue a while back, and several folks with time and $$ on their hands have turned old Bandmaster heads into VibroCLONES [This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 01 February 2002 at 10:01 AM.] |
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Rex Thomas
From:
Thompson's Station, TN
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Posted 1 Feb 2002 10:00 am
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Thanx, Larry. That's pretty much steering me in the direction I was probably going to go anyway. Thinking back on it, the reason the Vibrosonic (read; Twin /w 15") worked for me is because I MONITORED with it, close to my head with the amp miked, so I didn't need the power to fill the room. I have listened to the 1000 straight on & it definitely sounds fine for my application, & concerning tubes, the 1000's tone is definitely acceptable, as far as my BACK is concerned.
I'm still curious if someone out there can verify that a Vibrosonic reissue does indeed exist. I should've scarfed it up then, but the timing wasn't right.
Thanx again for your time, Larry. |
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2002 10:10 am
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| There was not a reissue but as above a Custom Vibrosonic was first issued in 1993. It is currently out of production. I have seen a few for sale on this forum and Ebay. It is a 100 watt tube amp with a 15" speaker similar in concept to the Vibrosonic of the seventies. It has reverb on both the "Steel" and "Guitar" channels. Tremolo works on both channels. The power amp and the Steel channel preamp are almost exact replicas of the reissue '65 Twin. An unbypassed cathode resistor reduces the gain a bit, which reduces distortion caused by the higher output of a steel guitar pickup. |
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Rex Thomas
From:
Thompson's Station, TN
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Posted 1 Feb 2002 10:14 am
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Yep, you nailed it, Dave. It was a Custom Vibrasonic with the "steel" input as you described. Must have been a slow mover since you said this amp was manufactured in 95-96, & the one I saw was brand spanking new less than 2 yrs. ago. What was tempting was that it was somewhat lighter than a Twin, but now that I've received some good input, it's not worth chasing it down. Nshvl 1000 it is!
Thanks for the help, guys!
Please close this thread. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 1 Feb 2002 12:08 pm
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| Good choice. I'll close the thread. |
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