New Old Amp Decision

corpse · Dec 14, 2018

So I called my "connection" with the basement full of wonderful old Gibson and Fender amps. To-date I bought a 63 Brown Deluxe and a 61 Brown Vibrolux from him. He has just about everything. They don't get played much, but he fires them up slowly with a Variax at least once a year so the electrons do get moving thru the caps periodically. There are others, but I have it down to 1) '61 Brown Super- all original, little play time on it, 2) 59 Vibrolux- also electrically all original- well the speaker is 'period-correct' at least, recovered or 3) a '66 Blackface Vibrolux Reverb. All have been checked by a tech, and will be rechecked before they ship- I can't play them as it is way too cold to even think about going up there in Dec.
The seller has been very fair price-wise and I have been rewarded with great working, great sounding amps. He loves that these will be played on a regular basis. I have put these up in order of my preference- all of them could fit with the stuff I play. I have become such a brown fan, and having a presence knob is my idea of heaven- I had one on my 63 Bassman and found it added some cool texture when needed.
Interested in hearing your experience with these amps.

akstrat61 · Dec 14, 2018

Hard to beat a BF VR in my humble opinion. I too have a '66 and it has been my main gigging amp for years. It provides a great platform for pedals and just the right amount of break when you need it if pushed.:dude::jim:dude:

Don · Dec 14, 2018

I agree. I have a '66 VR that I bought around 1990. I have a lot of amps and keep going back to the VR!

corpse · Dec 14, 2018

61 Brown- Oxblood grill- more blond than brown

59 VL

66-67 VLR

Wally · Dec 14, 2018

Congrats on finding a mine, corpse. Regarding the VR, if I only wanted to have one BF/SF Fender, that one would be the one.

deytookerjaabs · Dec 15, 2018

A clean Super like the one in the pic is what I'd go for if there was a choice and money wasn't an issue, plus if you're more careful with stuff than I am it should be a good get.

The Vibrolux's are easy to come across and still sound pretty darn good going into the 70's so I'd base my choice more on having something a little different around versus worrying about the tone. You can always get a good Vibrolux down the road. I was out east a few months back and ran into a blackface Vibrolux w/original Jensens & iron for a hair over 2k, had I had the dough!

I know a fella here who plays keys in a big touring band and he has quite the impressive vintge Fender amp collection as well, he's got a great sense of humor about it too.

RAB · Dec 15, 2018

corpse said:
61 Brown- Oxblood grill- more blond than brown

59 VL

66-67 VLR

Noting the BFVR faceplate says Fender Electric Instument Co inatead of Fender Musical Instrument it might be a 1964-65...

sonar · Dec 16, 2018

Vibrolux Reverb was my first “good” amp and still have it. I tried to replace it when the Matchless/Tophat/Dr. Z stuff was the rage and spent a lot of money. Ended up going back to the same Vibrolux Reverb. It’s been such a great sounding and dependable amp for so many years. Volume constraints and a bad back has moved me toward playing more smaller amps (remember when Vibrolux’s were considered small amps?) in the 15 watt and under 40 lb. range, but I still consider the Vibrolux Reverb an essential amp.

If I knew I was going to lower wattage amps later in the game I would have invested in more Brown and Tweed amps. You can get or build pretty decent clone Tweed varieties, but less impressed with the current Brownie derivatives.

A Brown Deluxe is one of my all time Fender favorites. :dude:

corpse · Dec 16, 2018

I spoke to the seller yesterday and I am going with the Super. They are just too compelling for me. More than I was planning to spend, but not much more. He is throwing in an extra pair of period Jensen’s as he is rather certain these would pop if pushed.
Eventually I will own the VR. Thanks for noting the faceplate script RAB.
He says the Super’s color is definitely not brown, but not blond either. Side by side with other browns it is much lighter.
Anyway- I am going to wait until after the holidays to ship it so it doesn’t get lost or damaged in the maelstrom.
And I do love my Brown Deluxe. It is a little monster.

akstrat61 · Dec 16, 2018

Congrats on a cool amp! Your choices were all very stellar amps!:salude Please post another series of picts of the amp when you get it!:dude:

renderit · Dec 16, 2018

Wow! I wish I had a contact like that!

Excellent array.

Buy them all!

BurstWurst · Dec 18, 2018

corpse said:
I spoke to the seller yesterday and I am going with the Super............

Excellent choice! You will not be sorry! I played for years with a fellow who played through a similar Super-Amp, and it was a wonderful amp!

Don · Dec 18, 2018

sonar said:
(remember when Vibrolux’s were considered small amps?)

I do! I remember someone 20 or so years ago calling mine a nice little house amp.

Don · Dec 18, 2018

corpse said:
I spoke to the seller yesterday and I am going with the Super. They are just too compelling for me. More than I was planning to spend, but not much more. He is throwing in an extra pair of period Jensen’s as he is rather certain these would pop if pushed.
Eventually I will own the VR. Thanks for noting the faceplate script RAB.
He says the Super’s color is definitely not brown, but not blond either. Side by side with other browns it is much lighter.
Anyway- I am going to wait until after the holidays to ship it so it doesn’t get lost or damaged in the maelstrom.
And I do love my Brown Deluxe. It is a little monster.

Very cool! I saw J. Geils play one with the Gerry Beaudoin Trio at a little place in Boston many years ago. He had the channels jumpered and it sounded awesome.

CoyotesGator · Dec 23, 2018

Slightly off track...

corpse · Dec 23, 2018

Tonalicious

ourmaninthenorth · Dec 23, 2018

CoyotesGator said:
Slightly off track...

I remember thinking "wow" when Steve first posted that, thanks for the reminder Pal.

Fantastic.

:salude

corpse · Dec 24, 2018

It just sounds like 60's R&B doesn't it? It's the mercury and depleted plutonium in the transformers.

JPP-1 · Dec 25, 2018

Congrats on the Super. You can't go wrong with any of those amps.

If you decide to buy another amp later on, I highly recommend the Vibrolux. It's really in some ways the perfect Fender amp. I like to think of it as a Deluxe Reverb with 6L6s and 2x10s, capable of those BF glassy shimmery cleans yet can still break up beautifully when pushed past 7.

corpse · Dec 25, 2018

That’s definitely the next one.

New Old Amp Decision

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