Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Is there any easy way to use a Vibro Champ as a pre-amp into a larger cabinet?

I may be dumb in other categories, but in this one, I am Dum.

You can add a line out to the amp, basically a slave off the speaker output. One of the tube gurus here should be able to give you the details.

Gurus?

I assume you are talking about using the Vibrochamp as a preamp to drive the input of a larger amp? If so, adding a line out and doing it that way is really the only safe way to do what you want. You need to have a speaker load on the Vibrochamp at all times so you can't just plug the speaker output of that into your bigger amp or the Vibrochamp output transformer will blow.

If you want to run a bigger speaker cabinet with the Vibro Champ, that is a different story and you should be able to plug it right in assuming the speaker in your amp isn't hardwired to the amp itself, and assuming the speaker cabinet you want to plug it into has the same speaker impedance. Just always make sure to have a speaker load on the amp when it is on so you don't blow something.

As far as how to add a line out to your amp if that is what you are after, I have no idea from first hand experience as I haven't done one of those yet. The Gerald Weber amp books have some info on it but I'm not sure how in depth you would want to get. I'd suggest to take your amp to a local repair tech if the line out is what you are after.

Keep in mind that if your amp is a nice vintage example, modifying it in any way can lower the value of it, especially if holes are drilled into it to allow what you are after.

www.netads.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Kalamazoo/Mods/ezlo.html

Here is a tutorial on adding a line out.

ohm, ohm...

Thanks, Gents. I just love the tone and wished I could expand the volume without simply miking it into a PA. But I don't think I'll be permanently modding this one after all.

I had a line out added to my Princeton Reverb replacing the ext. speaker jack with it. Another mod I had done was when the two wire power cord was updated to a grounded three wire one, the ground switch was removed and a bias pot put in it's place.