From collins_ji–(at)–andem.com Tue Oct 18 11:03:11 CDT 1994
Article: 26391 of alt.guitar
Newsgroups: alt.guitar
Path: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!pipex!uunet!tandem!NewsWatcher!user
From: collins_ji–(at)–andem.com (Jim Collins)
Subject: Re: Vibro-King Amps
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Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1994 23:51:03 GMT
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In article
wrote:
>
> Has anyone out there tried Fender’s Vibro-King Amp? I think it’s 100 Watts
> with 4 12’s and was wondering if you have to turn it up to 8 before you get
> any tone (not sound) out of it.
>
> The ususal arguement is: 45-60 watts with 4 10’s have good tone a low
> volumes but not enough bottom end. 100 Watts of 4 12’s have good bottom end
> but you need to blow the windows out before you get any tone.
>
> Comments?
I have a Vibro King. I is not 100 watts, nor does it have 4 12-inch
speakers. It is 60 watts, and it has 3 10-inch speakers. It has an
incredible reverb section, with the same reverb controls as are found on
the Fender reissue reverb — dwell, mix, and tone. It has a good tremolo
section, if you are into that sort of thing, though the speed control does
not have the range of an old blackface amp’s tremolo. By that I mean the
Vibro King’s speed control is not as smooth — there is very little
variation of speed in the first one-third to one-half turn of the knob,
then there is a lot of variation.
This is a single channel amp, with no drive or lead mode. It does have a
fat switch which is now footswitchable. (According to an early review I
read, the fat control was not footswitchable. It is on mine.) The fat
switch is a nice touch. I generally use it with single coil pickups, and
turn it off with humbuckers.
This is a loud, clean amp. It is not as loud as an old Twin Reverb (85
watts), nor is it as bright as a Twin. It is clean. It is a very nice
clean, though. The 10-inch speakers really punch out the sound, and it
seems to respond very well to varied pick attack. Dig into the strings,
and you’ll hear it. I think it has plenty of bottom end, though I wouldn’t
play bass with it.
You don’t have to push this amp up far for it to sound good. I usually
set it below 4 for gigs. (The band would neuter me if I turned up past
that.) I also turn the bass, treble and mid controls all the way up. The
guitar I use most often is a ’52 reissue Tele, though I also use Strats and
Les Pauls. (A Les Paul with P-90s is really nice through this thing.) The
Tele gives a great, full sound.
You might think that an amp set at below 4 won’t give you much in the
line of full-bodied sound. This is not the case. A ’62 reissue Strat,
with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups roars with the volume on 3 1/2,
tone controls pegged, fat switch on, and generous reverb. A Les Paul with
humbuckers on this setting will overdrive very easily.
I really like this amp, but I’ll tell you the truth. I wish it were a 40
or 45 watt amp. Most of the places we play couldn’t take this bad boy at 7
or 8. It would be easier to grab that Roy Buchanon screaming Tele bridge
pickup sound in a lower powered amp. But still, this has all the sounds I
want, even at a low volume. (I’ve never even tried putting a distortion
box between my guitar and this amp. The clean sounds are too nice.)
Jimmy
