NAD: Sorry. No Brutal Gain Here

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scottosan

scottosan

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I figured if I’m going to be winding pickups, I need not be so 1 dimensional gear wise. So, I decided to get a clean amp for PAF demoes and single coils and to be honest, I just didn't want to build one this time. Mainly because I wouldn’t know which circuit to build since I’ve never been a fender guy. This was quite the tiring undertaking since there are so many fender models and reissues of those. To my ears, the reissues sounded dead. I heard a real 65 vibrolux and it was pure mojo, clean and pushed. It made the Deluxe Reverb reissue next to it sound like a toy. Most reissues are around 800 and that’s mainly for deluxe Silverfaces are getting pricey unless you don’t want reverb or want a higher power twin. I decided I’d track down a silver face and restore or convert it, but ran across this beauty. It’s was a 75 Bandmaster Reverb Converted to a 64 Vibroverb AB763 circuit with all of the cosmetic appointments Original PT and reverb tranny, but the OT was changed to a Mercury Magnetics. The speaker is a Weber California, which seems to be the collective choice when the original is not available. Pricing is really all over the place. Full clones go for more than what I paid and would have cost me as much for a kit with average parts and people are weird about modded silverfaces, but I think at some point you need to go with your ears. The conversion was done professionally and I know the guy that did it, so I can vouch it wasn’t a hack job.

 
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That I don’t know, Bob St John (the engineer for all the albums and the producer for some of them) never mentioned that in the Gearsluts thread about Nuno. He said one of the tubes in the amp was slightly microphonic and contributed a LOT to that sound, then the tube gave up the ghost and the amp never appears again AFAIK. BTW, Nuno’s amp had a 15” speaker, which I think also helps a lot to get that sound.

The fender guru site has a ton of great info to change the gain/tone of Fender amps in non destructive ways (adding a mid pot on the back of the chassis in an existing hole, pulling the normal channel 12AX7 to boost gain in the vibrato channel, etc) which I think would work killer with the right player and pickups etc to nail that tone.
 
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Bet you $20 that most of the metal heads have a Princeton or some other Fender combo tucked away somewhere.
Those tones are in our DNA whether we like them or not.
 
I have a Superchamp, Concert II, Concert “III” (for lack of a better way to ID it), a Pro Reverb with 2 12s and a Vibrolux Reverb (the last two were Blackfaced). The Vibrolux is in a custom cabinet with an old 15” Alnico Jensen pulled from an old organ and it kills (it’s like a poor man’s Vibroverb).
 
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paulyc said:
I have a Superchamp, Concert II, Concert “III” (for lack of a better way to ID it, a Pro Reverbwith 2 12s and Vibrolux Reverb (the last two were Blackfaced) and the Vibrolux is in a custom cabinet with an old 15” Alnico Jensen pulled from an old organ and it kills (it’s like a poor man’s Vibroverb).
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Got to play a buddy's old blackface (forget what) for a weekend. Had a killer Strat at the time to go with it.
Just flat out glorious.

I imagine some of those tones are what ya hear as the pearly Gates open when it's your time. :rawk:
 
Donnie B. said:
Got to play a buddy's old blackface (forget what) for a weekend. Had a killer Strat at the time to go with it.
Just flat out glorious.

I imagine some of those tones are what ya hear as the pearly Gates open when it's your time. :rawk:
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I agree. Love old Fenders.
 
I don't have a fender combo stashed away, as Donnie suggested, but I damn sure have a unicorn 6sh7/6at6 Matchless Clubman head sitting on a homebrew 1X12 with a 55hz Scumback.

Between it at my larry, I can truly do anything I would ever want to do, as far as guitar tones.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Matchless Clubman
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Donnie B. said:
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Yup. its a 1993, and it is absolutely magical. It's the best vox style boutique amp I've ever heard. The sampson era 6sh7 Clubman is one of those amps that isn't really made anymore and really, really should be. If you check out matchless owner forums they are always described as a unicorn and a holy grail, and theres a damn good reason for that.

The only annoying thing is sourcing non-microphonic 6s_7 TV tubes. I have a stash now, but it wasnt fun sifting through the chaff.
 
Never got to own one of his Matchless amps but had a Star for a while.

Boutique tone is really the only way to describe it.
 
Had a Vibroverb '64 of a friend to try. Nice cleans for sure, but can't get a crunch out of it. I think it had a JBL and NOS tubes.
Very loud.

I think Nuno used Soldano and Greenbacks
 
Luca79 said:
Had a Vibroverb '64 of a friend to try. Nice cleans for sure, but can't get a crunch out of it. I think it had a JBL and NOS tubes.
Very loud.

I think Nuno used Soldano and Greenbacks
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I didn’t really buy it for clean, but it starts to give up the goods at about 5 for a smooth compressed breakup.

Was it a reissue? All of the reissues had the Cesar Diaz (SRV)mod, which is a different beast and not it a good way IMHO. I don’t know why fender hasn’t release a RI of the Vibroverb with the standard blackface circuit
 
scottosan said:
I didn’t really buy it for clean, but it starts to give up the goods at about 5 for a smooth compressed breakup.

Was it a reissue? All of the reissues had the Cesar Diaz (SRV)mod, which is a different beast and not it a good way IMHO. I don’t know why fender hasn’t release a RI of the Vibroverb with the standard blackface circuit
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It was blackface from '64. Not a reissue.
 
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