Fender Vibroverb 63 Re-issue

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I don't understand that - you mean that you need to re-bias it (whatever that means....) every time you change the valves? Even if you replace the valves with the same type as before?
 
Every time you change the output valves (the big ones) you should rebias, the amp will work but won't sound it's best and the valve life could be shortened if you don't.

You can change the pre-amp valves without rebiasing.

It'll only cost you ?30 and means your amp will sound it's best!

This guy isn't far from you and looks like he knows his stuff, you can get your valves from him too!

http://www.stevesamps.co.uk
 
JohnA said:
This guy isn't far from you

Well he's South of Watford, if that's what you call close! That's a long way John. :roll:

I have 2 good places I can take it to, but I was checking whether I needed to, or whether I could simply buy a new set of valves and bung them in myself. Sounds like I can't.

:(

Oh well, never mind.
 
Mike,

I have one of these amps. I picked it up here in Oz last year for $425 (about ?250). A steal and in pretty good nick too. Of course if you want to get picky, the layout is on a circuit board and they lack the tube rectifier of the originals but generally I'm happy with the tone considering it was a pretty expensive amp when new I believe. Celestion 10's in there too. Was wondering what it would sound like with a pair of Weber "Blue Pups".

In fact, I use it for rehersals only and it does the job ok. In addition, I intend to use it on the "dust" gigs my band does. Any Aussie will tell you that doing gigs up bush plays havoc with the gear. The dust gets everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE!! Us Poms have no idea what a gig is until you've done a dust gig (Deni Ute Muster anyone?). The plus side is the gigs are normally an absolute HOOT!

Attenuators - Used to have a Scholtz Power Soak. noticed the amp started sounding ***** after a while so I sold it. Haven't used any since. Know a guy who over used a THD with a Bogner Ecstacy and his Tranny blew. Be careful...I don't trust em.
 
?250? Now that's a bargain! Yeah I remember they weren't cheap when new in the early 90s.

Celestions? I though the speakers were Oxfords? These are what I have:

142_4284.jpg


Can anyone identify what that is?

You're right, dust isn't a major problem in London!
 
Well yours look like Oxfords but are probably made by eminance or the like.

The mounting nuts are sealed on my speakers and the wiring looks untouched. Can only assume that Celestions were available as an option.

No idea how to load a photo up here so I'm stuffed.

By the way, same voltage as UK here in Oz.
 
I finally got to try the Vibroverb out at a decent volume today at rehearsal. First impressions are that it's very nice. :p Probably a bit less volume than the Blues Deluxe, but that's not a bad thing. Just need to try it at a gig now.

8)
 
Well I managed to blow both the speakers at last night's rehearsal. :-? Any suggestions for replacements? It seems that it's cheaper to get a new set of Jensens than it is to get the originals re-coned, which seems crazy to me.
 
stratman323 said:
Well I managed to blow both the speakers at last night's rehearsal. :-? Any suggestions for replacements? It seems that it's cheaper to get a new set of Jensens than it is to get the originals re-coned, which seems crazy to me.
OMFG You crazy mixed up shredder you...tried to play more than two notes per second didn't you?
A set of Jenson will keep more of that Fender tone..the new range of Eminence speakers are voiced like Celestions these days and have a break up better suited to loud metal/hard rock.
 
stratman323 said:
Well I managed to blow both the speakers at last night's rehearsal. :-? Any suggestions for replacements? It seems that it's cheaper to get a new set of Jensens than it is to get the originals re-coned, which seems crazy to me.

Get the Jensens - Special Design (made in Italy). Get the originals reconed and box them up in case you ever decide to sell the amp.
 
Hey, are you proud of me Oz?

:lol:

It was all fine till I started using the ES130 - maybe the amp only likes Strats & Teles?

I'm now really confused about which speakers to get. So far, I've had the Jensens:

http://www.hotroxuk.com/c10r-jensen-speaker-ceramic-magnet-7397-0.html

and the Eminence Copperhead

http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=EMIPATCOP&product=Eminence_-_The_Copperhead

recommended to me. The Eminence seems to have the advantage of being more efficient, but if they're voiced in a more rocky way, that might not suit me.

I'm also trying to work out the whole ceramic versus alnico debate. It seems to be agreed that alnicos have a softer break-up than ceramics, so I'm trying to work out why the Vibrolux has alnicos while the Vibroverb has ceramic Oxfords:

"The Vibrolux & re-issue Vibroverb are similar conceptually, with the Vibrolux having blue Alnico speakers instead of ceramics found on the Vibroverb.......... The Alnico speakers should make it inviting to fans of the brown Vibroverb"

from "Fender Amps - The 1st 50 Years".

So maybe I should get alnico speakers? I'm confused....

:-?
 
Speakers have a big impact on the tone of an amp, so it's really goint to come down to personal preference, the problem being you don't know which you prefer 'til you try them.

I do know the new Chinese Jensens get slated everywhere, so if you go for Jensens, Marcus' suggestion of the Italian ones sounds like a good idea.

A lot of Fender amps come with eminence speakers, so they must suit Fendery sounds, certainly the sound samples on the eminence site don't suggest the Copperheads as being rock voiced.

Really the only way is to bite the bullet and buy some, if you don't like them sell them and try some others, if you liked the sound of the amp with the oxfords, take the safe option and buy some the same or get yours re-coned.
 
I don't think buying new Oxfords is an option - I've only ever heard of Oxfords on this amp, most other Fender combos seem to use Jensens.

How do I tell which Jensens are Chinese and which are Italian? It's not something that gets mentioned in the ads I've seen.
 
stratman323 said:
How do I tell which Jensens are Chinese and which are Italian? It's not something that gets mentioned in the ads I've seen.

If you enlarge the images from the link below, they all seem to be labeled "made in Italy"

http://www.hotroxuk.com/jensen-speaker-ceramic-vintage-series-c8r-c10r-c10q-c12r-c12q-c12n-c12k-7371-0.html

Just noticed there is the C10R and the C10Q the Q having a 70W power handling, might be a better option as 2 25W speakers is pushing it a bit.

I recently bought some new valves from hotrox, they seemed really knowledgeable, and happy to chat on the phone about the pro's & cons of different brands of KT66, and I ended up with a pair that sound exactly how I want.

Give them a call and talk through how you want your amp to sound and they should give you some good advice.
 
that sucks about blowing the speakers... :(

i agree with john, speakers are a bit like pickups in that you're likely to end up having to take a chance. even if you get to try them, they might sound different in your cab/combo (much like pickups in a different guitar)...

the couple of times i've emailed eminence for advice, they've replied really quickly and with a lot of in-depth info, they seemed keen to get you the speaker you want, and didn't mind answering several back-and-forth emails. though i've never actually got as far as ordering an eminence (yet!) :oops: so i have no idea how accurate that info is, but it did *sound* like the guy knew what he was talking about. :lol: if you want american-voiced speakers, i think the patriot series (or some of the legends) are the ones to look at? best bet is to email eminence though for advice (that's if you decide to go for eminence- obviously any time you email the company directly you're only going to hear positive things from them).

never really tried too many jensens, can't really help there. :(
 
Dave_Mc said:
never really tried too many jensens, can't really help there. :(

I pulled and stored the original speakers from all of my 60's Fender blackface amps (Super Reverb, Pro Reverb and Princeton Reverb) and put Italian Jensens in all of them. They sound fantastic and don't cost an arm and a leg.
 
stratman323 said:
marcusnieman said:
and put Italian Jensens in all of them.

Ceramic or Alnico? And did the new speakers affect the tone or volume much?

I put P10 Alnico's in the Super, C12N ceramics in the Pro Reverb an a C10R in the Princeton Reverb.

Sound wise, they are all alot fuller than the old ones (old vs. new maybe?). I play pretty clean thru my amps - usually play an amp on the small side for the room I'm in so that I can crank it a bit (6+) for natural overdrive. Most significant is the Princeton - really fat with great bottom and mids.

Here's Jensen's recommended replacements for vintage amps - I simply followed their recommendations:

http://www.jensentone.com/replacement.php
 
Thanks Marcus, that's good to know. One more thing was that I checked the speaker in my Blues Junior, which I don't rate at all - thin, scratchy tone. It has a Fender speaker - made by Eminence!

Yes, I've had a good look around the Jensen website, & their recommended replacements for my amp are the P10R, C10R or C10Q. I'm bothered that I would lose power & headroom with the Alnico P10R, so that leaves me with the two ceramics, which have 25w & 70w power handling. The amp is 35w or 40w (depends what you read), & as there are two speakers, I understand that I need to divide the power by 2 - so I need each speaker to handle 20w. Is that right?

So that means I should be OK with the C10R, which can handle 25w. Am I right in thinking that using a speaker with a higher wattage than the amp would lower the overall amp output, but may increase the low frequency response?
 
stratman323 said:
Thanks Marcus, that's good to know. One more thing was that I checked the speaker in my Blues Junior, which I don't rate at all - thin, scratchy tone. It has a Fender speaker - made by Eminence!

Yes, I've had a good look around the Jensen website, & their recommended replacements for my amp are the P10R, C10R or C10Q. I'm bothered that I would lose power & headroom with the Alnico P10R, so that leaves me with the two ceramics, which have 25w & 70w power handling. The amp is 35w or 40w (depends what you read), & as there are two speakers, I understand that I need to divide the power by 2 - so I need each speaker to handle 20w. Is that right?

So that means I should be OK with the C10R, which can handle 25w. Am I right in thinking that using a speaker with a higher wattage than the amp would lower the overall amp output, but may increase the low frequency response?


I think your math is right - each speaker needs to handle a 20watt load but I don't think you're going to lose much in the 5watt difference in terms of output. Might be different if it were a 50watt rated speaker.

On the Blues Juniors, he pickups in stock Blues Juniors are crap. The Tweed Limited Edition Juniors have the Italian Jensen C12N loaded in them (in addition to an upgraded birch ply cabinet) and that's a 50watt speaker - BUT they also put the 35watt C12Q in them. 'll have to check what mine have in them when I get back in town (I have 3 of them now)

LOTS of headroom in it - particularly with the master volume. I can play medium size rooms without puting a mic on it and the tone is sublime. Fat, kind of crunchy but clear as a bell.
 

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