Vibrasonic new vs old
Moderator: Dave Mudgett
-
Paul Brainard
- Posts: 654
- Joined: 6 Feb 2000 1:01 am
- Location: Portland OR
- State/Province: -
- Country: United States
Vibrasonic new vs old
What is the consensus on an older silver-faced Vibrasonics vs. the 90's reissue black-face ones? I gather the new ones have a few features designed for steel. Thanks.. .
-
Mark Herrick
- Posts: 1154
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Bakersfield, CA
- State/Province: California
- Country: United States
Standard preface: I'm no expert...
I do have a '90's "Custom" Vibrasonic and a '74 Twin, which (I believe) is the same circuit as the Silver Face Vibrosonic.
The "Custom" is a PCB based design whose specs are supposed to be more like the Black Face amps. It is rated at 85 Watts. The reverb circuit is not as "hot" as the Silver Face. Channel #1 is supposedly "voiced" more for Steel and is labelled as such on the control panel. The bright switches are labelled "Sweet" and "Fat" respectively and I can't tell any difference when I turn on the "Sweet" switch. (Maybe it doesn't work...)
The '74 Twin is an eyelet board wired design and is rated at 100 Watts. Has a master volume that I leave full on.
I have both of these amps tubed almost identically and I can get them to sound almost exactly the same. I use JAN GE or Phillips 12AX7WA preamp tubes, Mullard CV4024 for reverb driver and phase inverter and JAN Phillips 7581A power tubes at 35.5mA.
I think they both sound good. The Twin may have a slight edge with the stronger reverb.
------------------
I do have a '90's "Custom" Vibrasonic and a '74 Twin, which (I believe) is the same circuit as the Silver Face Vibrosonic.
The "Custom" is a PCB based design whose specs are supposed to be more like the Black Face amps. It is rated at 85 Watts. The reverb circuit is not as "hot" as the Silver Face. Channel #1 is supposedly "voiced" more for Steel and is labelled as such on the control panel. The bright switches are labelled "Sweet" and "Fat" respectively and I can't tell any difference when I turn on the "Sweet" switch. (Maybe it doesn't work...)
The '74 Twin is an eyelet board wired design and is rated at 100 Watts. Has a master volume that I leave full on.
I have both of these amps tubed almost identically and I can get them to sound almost exactly the same. I use JAN GE or Phillips 12AX7WA preamp tubes, Mullard CV4024 for reverb driver and phase inverter and JAN Phillips 7581A power tubes at 35.5mA.
I think they both sound good. The Twin may have a slight edge with the stronger reverb.
------------------