Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

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Surfysonic
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Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Surfysonic » Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:59 pm

I've been on a 10" speaker kick lately, so I've got a 3x10 Fender Vibro-King, a 4x10 Fender '59 LTD Reissue Bassman, a 2x10 Fender Pawn Shop Vaporizer, and a 1x10 Fender Princeton Reverb. While I've modified as best I could to make the Vaporizer a decent amp, it's never going to be a gig-worthy amp (unless mic'd). It's fine as a home amp.

However, I missed having my old used '90s Fender '63 Vibroverb Reissue, which I sold some time back. They've really blown up on Reverb as they are now more than double the price of what I paid for mine 7 years ago. I thought about going the Mojotone Vibroverb kit route but I'm too inexperienced for amp building. OK with pickup removal/installations and wiring mods for guitars, but that's about it.

That's when I thought about getting a still reasonably priced 2x10, 40 watt Fender "Custom" Vibrolux. I understood that it had a number of production issues such as loud hiss/hum, and non-working reverb. I found and purchased a used Fender "Custom" Vibrolux with 2x10 Jensen MOD speakers off of Guitar Center's used section a few months back. I then sent the chassis off to John Fromel to fix the problems with his Fromel Mod work. He fixed the hissing/humming and brought to life the non-existent reverb. John was great to work with - highly recommend.

I just got the chassis back the other day and it sounds great on the Bright channel. John let me know I have a bad preamp tube before he shipped it out to me. I ordered a complete set of Svetlana preamp tubes and I'll keep the old working Fender preamp tubes as backup. The new preamp tubes should arrive on Monday (hopefully).

Unfortunately, the Normal channel is DOA - I'll investigate tomorrow if it's either a tube not seated properly, another bad tube, or if the chassis took some damage on the way back to the east coast from Seattle. John mentioned the Normal channel was working fine at his shop, so hopefully, I'll get it sorted. I'm likely to use the Bright channel more often but I like to use the Normal channel every now and then. If anyone has had a similar issue, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Image

Here with it's cousin, the '64 Fender Princeton.

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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Surfysonic » Fri Aug 13, 2021 6:48 am

Turns out a second preamp tube was bad. Glad I ordered a full set of Svetlana tubes to replace the old preamp tubes. Normal channel is back in business (tested with another amp's preamp tubes temporarily). :)
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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Scout » Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:20 am

Great amp! I also have a thing for 10” speakers, I lucked into a Vibrolux inspired Alessandro amp
that checks every box. Have fun!

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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Surfysonic » Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:40 am

Thanks, Scout! Congrats on the Alessandro amp, I hear they're great. :)
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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Veitchy » Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:15 pm

10/10 for all those 10s. New one looks great too - hopefully those new tubes bring it back.

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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Powdered Toast Man » Sun Aug 15, 2021 5:03 am

So, you shipped the amp to Fromel and he sent it back to you with a dead channel? Was that not addressed in the run down or was his scope of work limited specifically to the mods?

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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Surfysonic » Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:19 pm

Powdered Toast Man wrote:
Sun Aug 15, 2021 5:03 am
So, you shipped the amp to Fromel and he sent it back to you with a dead channel? Was that not addressed in the run down or was his scope of work limited specifically to the mods?
The Normal channel was tested and working while he was in possession of the amp. While doing his work, he let me know I had one bad Fender preamp tube.

Fairly sure it was during the shipping back is when the the 2nd Fender preamp tube died, which caused the Normal channel to be non-functioning when I tried to use it here at home.

Looking forward to my new set of preamp tubes to replace all 6 old Fender ones. The ones that still work, I'll keep as backups. :)
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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Ursa Minor » Sun Aug 15, 2021 7:25 pm

Congrats! I'm a big 10" fan. These are great amps as-is if you can live with the hiss but once they've had a few of the recommended mods they're even better. I have a nice black 6G2 as well. :-* Killer little amps.

I did the mods myself on my late 90s CVR about 10 years ago. It was my first real foray into amp modding and eventually turned into quite the passion. The mods I did basically made this into the 90s Vibroverb. Better reverb, and no hiss and more headroom. Currently have an alnico blue frame and a Jensen alnico 10 in mine. I could probably get better speakers but those tend to work well in that amp, imho. I tried a couple weber ceramic 10s but it was way too loud and heavy for my tastes so one of them went to my PR and i sold the other. Might try another pair of lower wattage ceramics some day but not really in a hurry. :whistle: These days I mostly play out of my Princetons but when I want something bigger the CVR is nice to have around. I'm holding on to mine.

Also had an issue with a dead normal channel, but turns out there was no tube in V1. :unsure: :whistle: :fp: :blush:
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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Surfysonic » Mon Aug 16, 2021 8:52 am

kosmonautmayhem wrote:
Sun Aug 15, 2021 7:25 pm
Congrats! I'm a big 10" fan. These are great amps as-is if you can live with the hiss but once they've had a few of the recommended mods they're even better. I have a nice black 6G2 as well. :-* Killer little amps.

I did the mods myself on my late 90s CVR about 10 years ago. It was my first real foray into amp modding and eventually turned into quite the passion. The mods I did basically made this into the 90s Vibroverb. Better reverb, and no hiss and more headroom. Currently have an alnico blue frame and a Jensen alnico 10 in mine. I could probably get better speakers but those tend to work well in that amp, imho. I tried a couple weber ceramic 10s but it was way too loud and heavy for my tastes so one of them went to my PR and i sold the other. Might try another pair of lower wattage ceramics some day but not really in a hurry. :whistle: These days I mostly play out of my Princetons but when I want something bigger the CVR is nice to have around. I'm holding on to mine.

Also had an issue with a dead normal channel, but turns out there was no tube in V1. :unsure: :whistle: :fp: :blush:
Thanks! Great to read your good experience with the CVR as well! 8)
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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Ursa Minor » Mon Aug 16, 2021 10:22 am

Anytime! Its not too often a discussion happens about these amps. 8)
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Re: Fender "Custom" Vibrolux

Post by Surfysonic » Mon Aug 16, 2021 1:01 pm

My Svetlana preamp tubes arrived today and now everything works fine. OH MY GOODNESS this amp sounds amazing. Well worth the effort and expense to get the Fromel mod work done.

I'm in the process of putting on the market a number of my amps and barely played guitars to pare down a bit. In my enjoyment for hunting cool gear, I often lose sight of the old adage, "quality over quantity". Also, need to pay down the gear debt, lol. :whistle:

While I'm going to make some painful choices, the CVR is a keeper. 8)
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