Oh, baby

[<Randy.Lilleston@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 As many of you know (and probably are sick of reading
about), I've been looking around on and off for a harp
amp for a few months now. I've gotten a number of good
suggestions and was within hours of buying a Peavey
Classic (which I auditioned extensively and can
recommend) when I saw an ad in
the local paper for a reissue '63 Fender Vibrolux,
the chocolate brown kind with the two 10" speakers,
not the black kind with the single 15" speaker.

 Since the Vibrolux was being sold in the want ad for $150
less than what the music store wanted for the Peavey, I
went to check it out. My report:

*WHAT AN AMP!*

 Just an absolutely lovely tone, nice, crisp-yet-
distorted. This has a little to do with the antique
English tubes the last owner got a hold of and stuck
in the thing, but I tried it out with the original
tubes and it's almost as good. Wow! Honkin' heaven.
My neighbors are complainin'. I'm a happy man.

 If you're looking for an amp, here's a few notes
about this one:

 ---First, a low-impedence mike (i.e., a Green Bullet
wired for low impedence) is a big help. The reverb
*only* works in the bright channel, not the normal
channel, and a hi-z crystal mike has a tendency
to feed back in the bright channel. Bummer. The
hi-z mike seems to work
just dandy in the normal imput, but there's no
reverb, of course. Solution: A reverb pedal or box.
I think the reverb's the weakest thing about this
amp anyway, so you may want to consider a plug-in
reverb even if you have a low-z mike.

--The looks are really cool. The chocolate brown
isn't a color you see much in amps, and the amp is
covered in Tolex, not tweed, so it should be able
to take a little banging. It has the "flat" Fender
logo on the front and an off-brown tweed speaker
cover. Size: About the same as a Super Reverb. Sound:
Mucho better than a Super Reverb. Better than damn near any-
thing, as long as you crank it up to "5" or so.
 It should be loud enough for stage work in small
bars without being miked to a PA. Doesn't have a tendency
to feed back at loud volumes as long as you don't
stand directly in front of it. Fender added the
tilt-back legs in this reissue model; I really like
this feature.

---Has a built-in vibrato (who uses that?) for you guitar
guys. Also has unusual tone controls for a Fender. When
the treble is set at "5," the sound is flat. This is not
typical Fender policy...usually, flat is "0" and you go
from there. This is a nice feature for a harp player. Note:
Has bass and treble controls, no midrange. Seemed satisfactory
to me. Might not be to you. Perhaps an equalizer to go
along with the reverb unit?


 --Don't bother to look for the original. Fender only made
about 600 and last I heard, they were selling in the
neighborhood of $5,000 or more. I believe Stevie Ray Vaughn
owned a couple of them. I'll have to bum a guitar so I can see
what one of those sounds like through this baby.

 --This is a nicely done reissue, better than most reissues
I see. Fender even copied the design of the original speakers, and I think that
really made a difference. Only
changes: One tube replaced with solid state rectifier;
breadboard wiring replaced with printed circuit board (worth
noting because in some amps, this'll change the sound); RCA jacks
for foot pedal replaced with 1/4" phono jack; swing-out legs added to sides;
three-prong grounded electrical plug used now (who's complaining about that?!)
 I think it sells for $650 or so at music stores new.
Worth a glance if you come across one. Buy it and annoy your
neighbors.