Fender Vibro Champ

[nate_dennis]

I've been looking into old fender amps and I came across the Vibro Champ. Do any of you have any experience with these? How is the tone? From what I can tell they have a footswitch jack for the vibrato/trem would a newer switch work in this jack? Thanks for your input.

 

[metal_mike]

my 1st guitar amp.... that coupled w/ an old m.x.r. dist+...started my 20+ year journey with music!

if you can get one... snag it.. and pretty much any foot-switch should work the trem. channel

 

[Roguetitan]

if you can get one... snag it.. and pretty much any foot-switch should work the trem. channel

^^ What He Said ^^

 

[nate_dennis]

WORD! They're all over E bay, so I may look into. Thanks for the info!

 

[nate_dennis]

Also (sorry) do you know what the wattage is on these? I thought they were lower 5-10ish but someone said 60 which didn't quite seem right. Thanks.

 

[notCardio]

Also (sorry) do you know what the wattage is on these? I thought they were lower 5-10ish but someone said 60 which didn't quite seem right. Thanks.

I don't know anything about the silverface, but my blackface is pretty cool.

5W, but it's a loud 5W, which is why I keep looking for something quieter.

Never tried a Distortion+ with it, though. Now I've got something new to buy.

 

[notCardio]

Cranked, with no effects, mine would be similar to the opening of the Faces' "Stay With Me".

Clapton and Allman used Champs on 'Layla', so that shows you it, as always, depends on the guitar/pickups you're using too.

 

[nate_dennis]

yeah of course. I'll be running a deluxe players strat with stock "noisless" pups to start. I may upgrade later. I just noticed that they aren't usually that expensive, looks like they can be had for about $300 and I "know" that old fender amps were usually pretty good. Thanks for the info. What is the difference b/w black face and silver face? Are the circuits really that different? I thought it was just a cosmetic thing. (I guess that shows how new to this stuff I am.)

 

[Anfontan]

I don't know anything about the silverface, but my blackface is pretty cool.

5W, but it's a loud 5W, which is why I keep looking for something quieter.

Never tried a Distortion+ with it, though. Now I've got something new to buy.

Hey NC, lately I have been using a Boss Blues Driver (BD-2) for a great overdrive for my small tube amp (15 watt Peavey Classic 20). The BD-2 has a Level, Gain & a Tone control and by cranking up the Gain while lowering the Level I can give the amp a smooth distortion with more characteristics of the guitar.
My Distortion+ always has a gritty tone that messes with the sound of the Strat or Les Paul or whatever guitar I'm using at the time-the blues driver gives you the natural tone as well.

 

[notCardio]

Hey, man, long time no see!

I gotta clean out my pm box.

Anyway, if you saw my BD thread, I haven't tried it on my VC yet, just a clean little Champion 110 that I got for practically nothing. Maybe I'll do that now. I've been playing with a Crate V5 lately that I'm kinda liking, too. Haven't tried it on that yet, either, or my Valve Jr. I still need a cab for it. Gotta buy a replacement speaker for a Carvin bass cab, too. Jeeze, there's so much stuff I need. Speaker, cabinet(s), mic(s), cases, drums, guitars and basses of course...

And somebody recommended a Distortion+, so I was going to get one and see. You're saying no?

I honestly don't know much about the silverfaces, other than the CBS takeover, except that at some point they went to solid state, which is a whole different animal. I doubt if you'll find an original blackface anything very cheap, but I'll never sell mine.

 

[pohaku]

My understanding is that the circuit for the BF and the SF Champs remained the same until 1982. So, aside from the cachet of having a BF Vibro Champ, there shouldn't be any difference in the sound between a BF and a SF, assuming the speakers and tubes are the same. Many older Champs have had their speakers changed out, so I'd check and see what is in any older Champ that you are interested in purchasing. Obviously better tubes are always better. I don't have a Vibro Champ, but I do have three other vintage Champs from different eras. None of them sporting their original speakers at this point (all upgraded with Weber or Kendrick - the originals are boxed up for posterity). Great little recording amps.

 

[notCardio]

My understanding is that the circuit for the BF and the SF Champs remained the same until 1982. So, aside from the cachet of having a BF Vibro Champ, there shouldn't be any difference in the sound between a BF and a SF, assuming the speakers and tubes are the same. Many older Champs have had their speakers changed out, so I'd check and see what is in any older Champ that you are interested in purchasing. Obviously better tubes are always better. I don't have a Vibro Champ, but I do have three other vintage Champs from different eras. None of them sporting their original speakers at this point (all upgraded with Weber or Kendrick - the originals are boxed up for posterity). Great little recording amps.

Really? I thought they went solid-state long before that, but you probably know better than I.

What Webers are you using? And are they 8 ohm? I've been thinking about putting an alnico Jensen in mine. Got any recorded samples I could hear?

 

[pohaku]

Really? I thought they went solid-state long before that, but you probably know better than I.

What Webers are you using? And are they 8 ohm? I've been thinking about putting an alnico Jensen in mine. Got any recorded samples I could hear?

Fender may have also put out a solid state version of the Champ at the time, but AFAIK, they still made a SF tube Champ with the same circuit as the BF until then.

Weber 8A125 4 ohms 20 watt speaker in a 70s SF Champ.

Weber 10F150T 8 ohms 25 watt lightly doped speaker in an 83 Super Champ.

The speakers were the models recommended by Ted Weber for these specific amps.

Kendrick 8" Black Frame Speaker in a 64 Tolex transitional Champ (tweed circuit in a tolex covered box - only made in 64 when Fender changed from tweed Champs to the BF Champ).

 

[nate_dennis]

Wow thanks for all the info! i really appreciate it.

 

[notCardio]

Kendrick 8" Black Frame Speaker in a 64 Tolex transitional Champ (tweed circuit in a tolex covered box - only made in 64 when Fender changed from tweed Champs to the BF Champ). I'll have to look for the model number and specs.

Mine's an early '65, with pre-CBS parts.

 

[pohaku]

Mine's an early '65, with pre-CBS parts.

Yeah, the model has usually been described as a 64 transitional tolex, but there were apparently units produced from 63 to 65 as Fender ran out of Tweed covering. I've only ever seen 1964 units. You may have one of the last ones produced.