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Author
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Topic: ? on Fender Vibrasonic
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Jay L. Taylor
Member From: Greer SC 29651
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posted 24 October 2000 09:43 AM
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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
Member From: Los Angeles
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posted 24 October 2000 12:24 PM
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Try doing a search for Vibrosonic or Vibrasonic. There have been several lengthy posts here in the last year or so.Good Luck.
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Steve Feldman
Member From: Millbury, MA USA
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posted 24 October 2000 03:01 PM
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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
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Hamilton Barnard
Member From: Huntington Beach, CA
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posted 24 October 2000 09:28 PM
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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.
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Dave Zirbel
Member From: Sebastopol, CA USA
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posted 25 October 2000 08:29 AM
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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
Member From: Boston, Mass
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posted 29 October 2000 05:45 AM
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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
Member From: Raleigh, NC
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posted 29 October 2000 06:04 AM
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Hamilton...Love that Plexi! Are you wearing ear protection in the pic on your home page??  .Cat |
Hamilton Barnard
Member From: Huntington Beach, CA
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posted 30 October 2000 01:38 PM
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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
Member From: Austin, Texas
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posted 03 November 2000 08:03 PM
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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
Member From: Out Behind The Barn
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posted 04 November 2000 08:02 AM
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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! ------------------
Got That Steelin' Feelin' |
Jon Light
Member From: Brooklyn, NY
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posted 04 November 2000 08:09 AM
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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
Member From: Boston, Mass
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posted 04 November 2000 03:39 PM
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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
Member From: Huntington Beach, CA
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posted 04 November 2000 07:13 PM
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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 - $280.
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Home page. |
Greg Simmons
Member From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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posted 04 November 2000 07:43 PM
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Agreed - THD Hoptlates are the s$%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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