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Topic: Where to set controls on Fender tube amp? |
Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 5 Mar 2009 1:24 pm |
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I have a 1996 Fender Custom Vibrosonic tube amp rated at 130 watts. It has two channels and I am assuming the channels, and controls, are basically like the Fender Twin. The amp works just fine, but I can't get a sound out of it that I like. Can some of you guys who are in love with Fender tube amps tell me the settings you use on all the control knobs? I would like to know 3 different situations:#1 The settings without any effects fed to the amp? #2 The settings if you feed a Boss DD3 delay to the amp? #3 The settings if you feed a RV3 delay reverb to the amp, with the RV3 set on 6 or 7? Please no distortion settings, I only want clean and clear. Wonder why Fender never put a send or return on those amps for effects? To me, nothing sounds better than a Fender 6 string standard guitar played through a Fender tube amp. I never heard a steel played through one that did anything for me, with the exception of Ralph Mooney. It very well could be that I am probably adjusting the controls wrong. For you guys who love those old Fender tube amps with steel--HELP? Thanks!  |
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Bari Smith
From:
Spartanburg SC USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2009 5:01 pm Fender
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The best advise I've received is to turn everything cept volume and Fx wide open ..then back off til ya get whatya want.Works on my Vibrosonic and on my MB Pre....kind of a "Rule of thumb"on Fender style amps....or so i'm told...but good advise!
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SHO-BUD LDG(Cooperized),MULLEN RP SD-10,Webb 614E,'73 Vibrosonic,Mesa-Boogie Pre,Stewart 1.2,TC Electronic M-300,JBL's,Black Box,Walker Seats'84 Dobro,'69 Martin D-28,and assorted other goodies! |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 5 Mar 2009 6:43 pm
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Keith, you must actually have a Vibr"A"sonic, right? Those were circuit board amps made by Fender for only a few years in the mid 90s. I believe they are 100 watts. They won't sound as warm as the Blackface and early Silverface Fenders, which were point to point. But they should sound at least as good or better than the new Twin Reissues. A good place to start is rolling off the mids, at least that's what works for me. Give yourself a lot of headroom and bass (5-6), and add treble to taste (probably 3-3.5). Still, it's hard to say; all amps are different. As far as effects go, I don't think they would change the amp settings a lot. You just have to set the amp tone-wise before you kick in the pedal, and then see where you are after you engage it. The Boss pedals sometimes add a bit of high end, so you may need to compensate. This is all my opinion, of course. Here is a link to some specs. Good luck!
http://ampwares.com/amp.asp?id=121 |
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Gary Preston
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 11:11 am '' Vibrosonic'' Reverb .
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Hi Chris . I think Keith is talking about the right amp . I also have one of them . Mine is a 1976 Vibrosonic with 100 watts . Mine has the original D-130 J.B.L. Keith i hate to say this but i have never heard a 130 watt version that i liked the sound of ! I don't know what the difference is but my 100 watt amp sounds better than any of the 130 watt amps do . My friend bought a new 130 watt version that had the ''E V '' 15 '' speaker in it and it didn't sound good at all . We put a new ''E'' series J.B.L. in it and it didn't have the sound of my amp . He wanted to trade me but that didn't happen ! I hope i didn't upset you with my opinion . By the way i love the Hilton electronic volume pedal you make . Feel better ?  |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 11:23 am
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| Gary, Keith said his was a '96, and Fender stopped making the Vibr"o"sonic in '81. That's why I was assuming it was a Custom Vibr"a"sonic, which was made in 95-96. The older Vibrosonic did not have "custom" attached to its name, nor did the original Vibrasonic of the early 60s. This amp has a normal channel and one marked "steel". It features an Eminence 15", I believe. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 11:43 am
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| Volume all the way up. Mids all the way down (or nearly so). Bass at least 6-7, and then set your tone with the treble control (somewhere between 2 and 5 will usually work). |
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Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 8 Mar 2009 5:29 pm
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| Thanks to everyone for the information. I will try the different suggestions, as soon as I quit hurting from a visit to the Dentist last Friday. Chris is right, it is a Custom Vibrasonic made in 1996. Sam Marshall of Fender told me it was made in Oregon for Fender and that only 150 of them were made. Chris, from your post I see the amp is 100 watts not 130 watts. I am going to keep tinkering with it, as soon as the dental implant the Dentist drilled into my head quits hurting. |
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