THE SRV AMP - 1964 Fender Vibroverb in the flesh
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2024
- Hear how it sounds now that it's done :) • Playing the SRV amp! -...
What a treat we have here! 1964 Fender Vibroverb on the workbench, complete with a JBL SPEAKER! In this video we inspect the amp, tally the work needed, and give it a quick play test. In upcoming videos we'll be working on the amp making sure it's dialed in, and then I'll do a proper mic'd demo with one or two guitars. Stay tuned!
Fender Vibroverb Series: • 1964 Vibroverb
00:00 - History of the amp
02:53 - Inspecting the front
04:04 - Inspecting the rear
06:36 - 3 elephants in the room
10:44 - Under the doghouse
11:52 - Inside chassis reveal
14:49 - Signs of fire exposure?
15:23 - Last remaining possible issues
16:27 - Power on w/ current limiter
17:20 - Note on the current limiter
18:13 - Note on the rectifier
18:45 - Bias check
19:42 - Oh it makes a sound!
23:32 - Not too shabby!
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Hear how it sounds here: th-cam.com/video/zAJeCHnkLVQ/w-d-xo.html
I scored this amp for a friend of mine whom I told to bring it to Tanner when it started acting up. I had it for a few months before my buddy picked it up. Instant SRV tone and of course I had to play a tube screamer through it. Best Stratocaster amplifier I’ve ever heard. Just magical sounding. The amplifier came with an extra homemade baffle board for a 12 inch speaker. I can’t imagine running it like that the 15 JBL sounds fantastic! When I got it it had some bad tubes and that’s my Telefunken in there I believe! Put some random ones in there to get it to work from my stash. I have the back plate over here. can’t wait to play it through this thing and hear it when it’s done! Looking forward to part two of the video series!!!!
Hope you're recovering ok man! Whenever you're ready to get together and have a little Vox fun just give me a ring.
@@YeatzeeGuitar Thanks man I am! Getting better every day! yeah definitely sometime soon! I’ll give you a ring!
Yowsa !! Love seeing those old D-130's. I am lucky to have some D131's to play with....such a great sound.
@@Lu_Woods nice!
Wow wiring. Looked great . Clean work. 70s craftsmanship.
1964 was my favorite year of the 70s
That is a nice sounding amp.. the owner should enjoy the tone on that beauty.
It sure does, sounds outstanding man.
Proper demo coming in the future mic'd, but yeah it's a sweet sounding thing already
Here is how to tell if the JBL is original to the amp: If the bolts/studs holding it in the baffle have 1/4" or more showing after the nut has been tightened down, then its most likely original to the amp. If when the nuts are tightened down, there is little to no bolt showing, then they definitely are not factory original. Back in the day, when a JBL was special ordered, Fender would install longer bolts in the baffles to accommodate for the thicker frames that the cast JBLs had. For example, my 67 blackface Twin Reverb which is sitting in front of me on, right now, has the longer bolts and no signs that they were ever modified, so the JBLs are original. Of course... It is possible that someone could have installed longer bolts after market in to the original baffle, but you'd probably need to remove the grill cloth and take a look at the front of the baffle to know for sure.
Interesting, I'll check it when I'm back home
@@YeatzeeGuitar Also, you may already know this...if the staples holding the grill cloth on are black, then they are probably original. If they are not black there is a very good chance that the grill cloth was removed at some point, to install longer bolts....if the bolts are indeed longer. Fender used black staples back in the day on grill cloths, never silver. Ive been looking all over to find black staples that are similar, for accurate restorations, but nobody seems to carry them online.
@@ErikThomasMusic wow great info
Good to know. When mine comes in, I will check that. To be fair, the Dealer said he didn't know if it was original or not, but was period correct. So many were changed to the JBL, it is hard to know. But now..... we have something to go on.
@@Winterfell1066 Either way I don't think the value would change much. It's a sweet amp! Hear how it sounds in my most recent video
Cool video! One correction: the estimate is 100 or less of the 1964 AB763 configuration were ever produced.
I am the second owner of the third one made in January 1964, which I acquired in 1992 and have been speaking with Fender amp experts and consulting all the books since then. I've seen the 1.500 number before and believe that is an estimate of all the Blackpanel model year 1964 amps produced in total (all models). Remember, this was pre-CBS and Fender Fullerton only had a handful of folks assembling amps.
Last weekend I stopped into a local pawn broker shop.
In the far corner I saw an amp with a Fender badge. Curious, I walked closer, it was a Vibroverb. Same era as the one in the video. The tolex was lifting in places, but nothing too bad. Ran a guitar through it - sounded glorious.
Bought it for the New Zealand equivalent of U.S. $350 (that’s after they discounted $50 on account of it’s age)
Deal of the century
Love it 👍
The Vibroverb is a great amp, however it is overvalued due to its rareness and the SRV connection. Its a straight AB763 circuit in a 1x15". In the 70s, the Silverface Vibrosonic was a 1x15".
Like pretty much all things that were built in limited numbers, comes with the territory! The SRV connection just amplifies that x10. The 15" does change the tone quite a bit though, for fun I was comparing my Vibrolux Reverb 2x10 cab to this 1x15 back to back and yeah big difference. My personal preference is the VR setup, more my speed, but I get why SRV would like the 15" JBL.
@@YeatzeeGuitarI remember you saying you didn’t like 15 inch speakers ! 😂
@@mohamedtlass3842 yeah not a big fan, don't like the mid range (or lack there of). The balance of the tone just isn't my cup of tea
@@YeatzeeGuitar. Play that with an another amp that has 12. Perfect
@@YeatzeeGuitar there’s a lot of variety in 15 inch speakers as well as the amps running them. I have an early 60s Ampeg « Big M » with a celestion greenback 15 inch with pulsonic cone just like the much more well-known 12 inches versions and it had mids (as well as bass of course) in spades, like a darker Marshall when driven
I owned a museum quality BF Vibroverb - cleanest one I ever saw flawless inside and out. It sounded fantastic and I did take out the original Jensen and put in the JBL D-130 15” speaker with aluminum dust cap. Gave it a deeper throatier tone. The problem is - the original trannies are not going to get you into SRV territory sonically. He had beefier Bassman trannies which, along with the JBL and a good Tube Screamer would pretty much give your avg blues player a big smile so long as they can play and they owned a fairly decent Strat. It was a joy to own and I held on to it until I had my fill. On its own merit, a very good amp from Leo.
Hello great video. What ever SRV touched or used, tone came out...... His Vibroverb was modified by Cesar Diaz. Transformers ,speakers and ect were changed out. At the end of his career he was using Dumble and Marshall amps. thanks you......
I have had the great luck to service two of these. My all time favorite Fender amp.
@@ryanintopeka nice!!
I commented on Facebook, but here for your youtube viewers - I checked your replaced OT with the stock one in my 2003 Vibroverb 64 Custom Reissue. It's the same part number. I'm guessing that the OT got replaced while these were in production. Tech ordered an OT replacement directly from Fender, and got the beefy one that they used in the Diaz Modded reissue amp vs the standard bandmaster size one that would have been a stock choice in the 60's.
JJ tubes... that's like Walmart tires on a Maclaren
😂
Hi great video that amp sounded so good I was gonna leave a snarky comment about the amp,s problem being that it had a baby stuck inside (amazing what you can hear with headphones) instead I liked and subscribed can,t wait to watch your next video.
😂 Thanks 😆
For dating those Sprague Atom filter caps: if they are made after '99 the first 4 digits are year and week (YYWW), so the three 20uf caps are from '02.
@@testing1two547 yup, time for a change!
I was going to reply with the same advice. Good call!
Never played one. Did hear one in the studio in 66, in LA
All tube amps sound great.
JBL' Speakers gets that sound
I just got one of the 2003-2008 reissues! Ptp wired with diaz mods on a switch with a switchable diode rectifier. Less than 1000 made, so even fewer than the vintage amp.
Nice! What speaker did they use?
@@YeatzeeGuitarthey used an eminence made 15”. They don’t specify if they tweaked the voice coil or ribbing, so most folks figure it’s the eminence 1518. It sounds great. I’m not tempted to replace it
@@ericjenks9596 no modern ev? Interesting, isnt that what he used for a while after the jbl? I'm not a big srv guy so not super informed on the amps history
@@YeatzeeGuitarearly 2000’s, Fender had a contract with eminence for putting speakers in their amps (not sure if they still do). It would have been easiest and most cost effective for the company to just roll with what their partner already made. Their reissues back then weren’t meant to be as spot on to originals as they are today.
SRV used JBL e130’s, from what I’ve read online. No idea the veracity. When they were discontinued he switched to EV 15L speakers.
Personally, while I love SRV, I fell for these in normal mode and before I learned about the connection. It just checks all the boxes for me in a black panel style Fender amp. Handwired. Bright switch. Combo with 1 speaker. Not as mushy as a deluxe, not as heavy as a super or twin. It’s a goldilocks amp for me.
To improve the original "Mojo" of this amp I think it would be bettre to replace alle the 100k anode resistors with 1/2W carbon comp. I always put carbon comp in the signal path where it have high voltage (anode). It gives more harmonics. By chance all the blue molded are still there ! But sorry for the modern OT.
@@schmolly75 I'm thinking about doing an A/B comparison with this amp to see if you can detect that change or not. Always been curious
I had an OG on my bench a couple years ago. It did NOT sound like SRV, due to the mods that were performed on Stevie's amps. Beefing up the rectifier had the expected results, but only shifted it towards a slightly cleaner, less compressed, and punchier tone. They are LOUD AF!
Am I misremembering, or did he replace the OT with something beefier too? Maybe this one had the OT replaced going for that 🤷♂️ it sounds big and it sounds clean. Little breakup at any level I'd be comfortable pushing it with an old jbl
@@YeatzeeGuitar I vaguely remember it being a Bandmaster OT, but it was definitely something beefier for sure. Additionally, Cesar Diaz switched it to a Solid State Rectifier, as well as disconnecting the trem to bump up the gain and volume a little bit.
@@bryangarcia662 It wouldn't be a Band Master OT, because that is effectively the same as the original OT ignoring impedence. Yeah I do remember the SS rectifier. I think it had something to do with the extra filtering he did.
@@YeatzeeGuitar Maybe a Bassman then? For whatever reason my brain is saying it was something with a "B" lol. But that could also be July 4th induced mania.
Great vid btw! Been gassing for a Vibroverb or VibroClone for the past month, so this is great timing haha.
@@YeatzeeGuitar I don't recall all the mods that were done. I think most of significant ones were added to the re-issue that was done 10 or 15 years ago and widely discussed during the promotion for them.
Liked and subscribed 👍🇺🇸
🤙
Regarding the smoky appearance you found inside the amp. I have an early 1964 Super Reverb (early, no white line around bright cap switches), and the inside of this head is also a very dark smoky color. It does not rub off with alcohol and is not corrosion. All that I can assume is that it is just a natural patina the metal takes on in the environment in the conditions it is placed in over time: dark, relatively neutral humidity, not subjected to wild temperature swings, and not heavily used. Most Fenders don't seem to show this, maybe it appears on just some 64 amps.
@@clarkeblacker interesting!
I think the production total (based on a lot of online research) was 1500 for both 1963 (Brown Tolex) and 1964 (the only year of Blackface Vibroverbs). I searched and searched for Fender production numbers by amp type/code, etc. It is not to be found. For instance there are many references to Gibson Production numbers of guitars by model and year. However, I can't find the same for Fender amps. I just bought a 64 Vibroverb out of Canada with all original transformers, only changed power cord, death cap removed, Filter caps, and a few caps changed in the Trem section. It also has the JBL D130F 15" speaker. Been looking for one for a long time. Carter Vintage in Nashville has a 64 Vibroverb listed now for $5k, but it has a changed Output Transformer, reverb tank, and several other changes. I bought this sight unseen from Canada from a dealer that I have done a lot of guitar buying in the past. I have never seen one in person before. If anyone has more information on the production numbers, please post. Thanks.
@@Winterfell1066 huge congrats on the purchase!
@@YeatzeeGuitar Yikes!, my wife does not yet know!
From a player's standpoint, I don't mind a changed OT transformer or power Transformer as long as the replacements are good quality and appropriate for the amp. However, for an amp as collectible as this, I think the investment in one that has original iron is worth it. Great video. I enjoyed in very much.
@@Winterfell1066 agreed! And thanks!
I remember buying one of these for 700 bucks back in the mid 90's. Ended up trading it for a blackface super. Most people would probably groan at that but that super just always sounded magical to me and the Vibroverb wasn't really my thing.
@@cajunfid big super fan here!
I feel blessed to own one I found in 95.
very expensive at 1,200 bucks!
Has original D130 F reconned.
I LOVE its mellow tone.
I HATE its weight...
I broke a sealed mason jar in the next room on gosh ...8?
Thats original speaker for sure. Mine is identical.
Also blessed to play a 56 Strat thru it. refinished but otherwise original Lucky with gear....unlucky with women......
I think my transformer is original.
@@garyssimo Very nice!!
i recommend a vintage mullard i63 at v1, the beefiest low mids great for single coils and drive ,they say srv used a 5751probably rca
Old Fenders need to have allot of things replaced, they arent that hard to work on, basic Electronic ability will do it.
I own a 70s fender vibrosonic that have a 15'' speaker aswell.
Great playing!!! youve got the touch man! A little like James Wilsey of Chris Isakk fame. My tremolo is way weaker than this.
i think the showmans are 1X15...dual showmans are 2X15 (beasts!!)
@@sempercompellis yeah speaking combo's specifically here
I just scored a late 60s jbl d120 in museum quality... threw it in my 67 deluxe reverb and its that sound to a T
Rad!!
I’m just thankful some aspiring SRV fan turned amp tech didn’t butcher this thing.
I'm wondering if the OT swap was for the srv thing
@@YeatzeeGuitar I would say no seeing the rest of the amp. The small 35 watt OT wasn’t exactly the most reliable part Fender ever used. It’s not the worst OT one could use in a vintage Vibroverb.
@@matthewf1979 probably just the cheapest, most expedient and/or available part at the time of replacement, maybe in the 90s or early 00s with less gear forums and boutique replacements
@@mohamedtlass3842 Exactly. It’s a Schumacher, has the right impedance and says “Fender” on it. Good enough.
It’s not a bad OT at all, but it’s not exactly the “right” part.
@@matthewf1979it’s the same OT that they used in the. 64 Vibroverb Custom from 2003-2008
Installing a GZ34 rectifier tube would improve this amp. It is more efficient, provides higher supply voltages, and its indirect heater startup makes a standby switch unnecessary. They’re readily available, so for an amp of this caliber, might as well use the best. Were you able to verify that the installed output transformer has a suitable winding? As for smoke evidence, blowing an output transformer typically causes a lot of smoke. Maybe the previous owner was trying to drive an external cabinet when he blew out the original tranny, and decided to upgrade to something that can handle a lower impedance.
You might want to lift the heater center tap and install a virtual center tap to protect the power transformer in the event of a short in a power tube...
@@SuperShaunM yep, on the table. Did exactly that on the super recently finished on the channel
A lot of the vintage Traynor amps I've had , had a very large resistor on the speaker jack to save the OT if you run it by mistake without the speaker.
I wonder if some of these.old., valuable amps should have them installed as a future protection from brain farts???
I think they were 20 watt 150 ohm ?
@@soapboxearth2 the output jack is a shorting jack so it actually helps save the OT with no speaker connected already. The real issue is when you have a head and it's connected at the amp side but not at the cabinet side.
@@YeatzeeGuitar yes that's what I think the traynor's resistor protects against. It's wired off of the tip to ground
今から20年以上前にレイボーンに憧れてオリジナルのヴァイブロバーブ買ってスピーカーをJBLのD130Fにかえて使ってたけど、凄く生々しく良かったけど、手放してしまいました。もう今じゃ高くて買えないな。その頃も50万ぐらいだったけど、後悔先に立たず😢
70's Vibrosonic was a 1x15 JBL
There was a vibrosonic in the late 70s that was a 1x15. Fact check me of course but I think that’s accurate.
@@huddyskiba1 I forgot to mention the vibrosonic from the brownface era too. But yes I think you're right, 1x15 was discontinued for a while but didn't die completely
You are correct sir!
@@YeatzeeGuitaroh I didn’t know they had an vibrosonic in the brown era. I’ll check that out tonight. 🍻🫡
There was a 1x15 Fender 75 as well...
The silverface era Vibroverb is identical to the Twin Reverb, except 1x15" speaker configuration.
YEATZEE< why is that vibroberb 64 output transformer so big? is this a replacement or after market output transformer
Hey, yeah covered in the video it's from a Fender deville. A lot bigger than the original would be
@@YeatzeeGuitar Why did they use a fender Deville output transformer? most deville output transformer is for 4X10inch speakers right?
They came in 2x12 too didn't they? They're multitap so 4ohm and 8ohm
@@YeatzeeGuitar Even if the OHMS are correct or the same ohms, its meant for either 2X12 or 4X10 NOT 1X15 this is a major problem
As long as the speaker can handle the output and the impedance matches more or less it's fine
Gawd
The Vibroverb only appears in the 1964/1965 catalog, and does not appear in the 1965/1966 catalog. The catalog says 1-15" heavy duty speaker, without specifying whether it's a JBL or not. Unfortunately, I could not find a price list from that year. The price lists would specify the price with the standard speaker or the considerable cost of an upgrade to JBL's. At least in later years, the factory installed JBL's came with a JBL badge on the front panel. So it's hard to say on this amp whether the speaker is original or not. The schematic for the AB763 Vibroverb does not specify the ohms of the speaker, like many of the Fender schematics do, but it does give the OT part number as 125A7A. If they used that OT in any other amps, one could probably find out the impedance.
AB763 pro-reverb and Vibrolux reverb
Those are 125a6a. 7a I believe is 8ohm, 6a 4ohm but I'd need to confirm that before stating as fact on video.
@@MichaelSmith-rn1qw yeah the jbl badge to my knowledge was a later thing, like drip edge into 70s era. Lots of original JBL amps without them. No clue if it's original, but honestly I'm not sure it matter or affects anything either way. It's the right speaker with the original cone. It's a very unique sound!
@@YeatzeeGuitar I looked at a few schematics from that era for amps with two 6L6 tubes, and didn't find any that used the 125A7A OT. You may be right about the 7A being 8 ohms, since that amp only had the single speaker, and 4 ohm speakers aren't that common.
The length of the bolt determines if the JBL was factory installed or not. In 1966, a stand alone 15" JBL from Fender was $102. The 12" was $96. If you ordered them with the amp, there would be a discount. The JBL badges started with the silverface amps.
it’s a shame there weren’t many 1x15 combo amps that Fender made. 15s are awesome speakers, especially when paired with other speaker sizes. As for how many amps has 15s in them:
Tweed Pro
Brown Pro
Brown Vibrasonic (also had JBLs as standard vs the Pro having Jensens)
Black Vibroverb
I’m fairly certain that’s all of them. Of course the 15” speaker was an option for the Brown Bassman and Showman and then the later iterations of both amps, but those combos dude.
@@cactus-mcjacktus the earliest Bassman combos were also 1x15
@@YeatzeeGuitar true, you’re right!
I've heard Stevie blew the JBL's so often and they were out of production so he changed to EV's. I think in this amp it would be an EV15L.
@voyxu143 he started with the d series jbl like this, then moved to the E series, then eventually the ev. Im not sure it's because he kept blowing them, he switched to ev's in everything pretty much at once iirc
@@YeatzeeGuitar EV's have a smoother sound IMHO. I've been playing since the mid sixties. JBL's are great for PA and Bass but I've always liked
Electra Voice. JBL and EV's to me are both top notch. Los Angeles
They did a Vibrasonic in the 70’s that was 1x15
Indeed!
Used to be a Vox guy but now I am more an old school Marshall and Fender guy.
Marshall is the last frontier I haven't dabbled in yet
@@YeatzeeGuitar despite sounding different they are not that far removed from the vintage fenders
@@mohamedtlass3842 Got a little DSL-1 and Origin5c. The 5c I like better and might get a SV to replace both. On the Fender side the 68 CVC I like and even their solid state amp sound impressive (Champion 50xl and up).
Recent video by another TH-cam tech states Sprague Atoms are not great quality. Expensive, but recent years have not fared well.
Those in the doghouse are 20+ years old so they're getting swapped
@@YeatzeeGuitar I have a couple of those D-130Fs.. trying to decide what to do with them. Former college days stereo speakers.
@@briansilcox5720 they are like gold! And they can be re-coned, if necessary. You just need the right tech to do it.
Awesome amp, course it’s an early Fender and wasn’t even anything close to them.
44th week of 2002. Those caps were nice but they're old now and probably should be replaced, ideally NOT current production Sprague Atoms
@@jakegarber2758 check out the vid uploaded yesterday 🤙
Nice Amp but your video is a little dark, like the show
@@steve56hemi59?
Amp more likely made it thru a few pot party's and not a fire, has that purple haze smoke on the bong water look to it, plus tobacco infused.
Would know nothing about that 😆 good to know!
thought he lov'd his Dumble?
That'd be a lot later in his career.
I saw srv in salem mass he had 25ft poles bolted to the. Stage with i shit you not 2 stacks of 10 so 20 vibro verbs bolted to gether and some how monted on poles on top of each other i dont know if they were all on but thats what was on stage.i couldn't beleive they stayed and didnt tople over. I think best fender ever made hands down why they dont make exzact cloes is just stupid of fender make the exzact amp no short cuts no changes fender wake up you dummies
😮
Usually when you see multiple amps on stage like that they're just cabinets for the effect, and not played through. I saw him a couple months before he died, it was a blues festival and he followed an awesome set by BB King and his big band (what a class act he was!), Stevie had to play good after that BB set.
The originality of the JBL is moot. IT probably is and has "F" for Fender. It is by far the best speaker for that amp and would be seen as positive addition to the value either way.
Agreed
Click bate... this is not Stevies amp at all- it's a Vibroverb- but not one of either of Stevie's Vibroverbs. I thought we we're going to get to see the guts of one of Stevie's actual amps that Cesar Diaz modded- this isn't that.
Cool amp otherwise. I owned a reissue with the supposed Cesar mods and it was great- but loud as hell and insanely heavy!
Go get one, you won't sound like SRV...stop chasing.
@@nasticanasta who's chasing?
Bu-but, I've already put 13's on my Strat and bought a scarf... 😥
@@testing1two547 no hat?!?! Poser
Kinda cool I have the Joe Bonamassa twin and it’s perfect