Opportunity to buy an old valve guitar amp

[tiv48]

I have found a picture of the under chassis. it seems if you can get one for less than $400 its a bargin
rob t

[tiv48]

This may be interesting.
http://vibrochamp.org/
Rob T

[Bushbaby]

Thanks Rob,
I do hope its far less than $400 as the import tax is related to the sale price.

Regards

Rob

[Yorkie]

How odd that the valves are mounted upside down.

Looks an easy enough amp to duplicate, (almost a 'spares box' project) but of course if wouldn't be a 'Vibrochamp' then!

Interesting how - what in their day were low end budget priced items - gain iconic status over the years. (Think Dansette).

[ed731pdh]

How odd that the valves are mounted upside down.

Not really, I did watch a piece on the box a few months back concerning Marshall amps and all their valves are mounted sideways, hence the main jist of my reply, that for quality sound it has to be a valve amp and none of that fancy semmy conductor stuff. All of the Marshall kit, although built on modern PCBs, all had a valve or series of valves doing the business.

Nothing else will do for sound quality.

[camallison]

How odd that the valves are mounted upside down.

Looks an easy enough amp to duplicate, (almost a 'spares box' project) but of course if wouldn't be a 'Vibrochamp' then!

Interesting how - what in their day were low end budget priced items - gain iconic status over the years. (Think Dansette).

Don't forget David that most of these amps were mounted such that the control knobs faced upwards, and so the valves would be laid on their sides. That is, if my memory serves me right (mostly practice amps that I "fixed").

Colin

[Yorkie]

Yes, it's evident from the gallery at the link in post 22 above that the Vibrochamp control panel is at an angle of about 60 - 60 degrees (20 - 30 degrees from the vertical):

http://vibrochamp.org/gallery

Still seems a bit eccentric that the valves and chassis are mounted not just at an angle, but upside down and I wouldn't have thought that would aid ventilation and cooling, but if the chassis had been orientated in the usual manner, with the cabinet designed the way that it is, there would have been little clearance above the valves so no doubt the wooden cabinet top would have become hot. It might be highly collectable, much loved and much sought after, but really, I don't think it would win any design awards other than for aesthetics pehaps, though the same could be said for Dansettes and no-one takes those to landfill any more!

In it's various guises the Vibrochamp certainly stood the test of time from the early 1960s through to 1982 and from a performance angle, the sound clips on the website sound good.

[camallison]

That's strange - the ones I "fixed" had the knobs truly vertical and a hinged "lid" just over those controls - maybe a different model? I agree though, quite eccentric design, although I do find a lot of American design in many fields is eccentric! No accounting for taste though.

Colin

[pwdrive]

The Fender Vibrochamp looks a nice little practice/bedroom amp, another popular one was the Fender Bassman, it was favoured by many of the old time blues harp players using the Shure Green Bullet microphone.

Good luck if you get it Rob.

Lawrence.

[Bushbaby]

Another reason why these small amp are highly desirable is the fact that they still have valve rectification. Because they can be driven hard due to being low wattage, the power sag with the rectifier can also have a dramatic effect on the overall sound output. Where audiophile want a 'pure' sound with respect to sound reproduction, most guitarists are seeking the rich harmonic overtones that can be achieved using valves.

It was small amps like these that started me into radio repairs in the first place to learn more about electrical repairs with valve circuits. It will be nice to focus on what I set out to work in the first place (assuming I win the amp).

I do agree with Alan B too - it has always been my design to build small amps so its good to own a commercially made one (albeit somewhat expensive) and I've always wanted a small 60's Fender amp. The main difference of course is when you have time to construct it yourself, labour costs for building are free. This is much more difficult if you are working full time work too. I'm slowly working towards my retirement hobbies but I've a few more year to go just yet.

Regards

Rob