Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My "Vibroclone" come home today. All I can say is "WOW!!"

I have been acquiring the "bits and pieces' for this project over a few years time, and I figured it is time to put it all together.

The project started off as an "unmolested" 1968 Bandmaster Reverb head [the one with the aluminum "drip rail trim] which was "backfaced" to the original AA-763 Vibroverb circuit.

New electrolytics and an "orange drop" treatment, together with a few caps and resistors to get her back into spec were installed. The RCA black plate 6L6s that came in the amp head were retained as they were in good shape and still pretty closely matched. The amp sports a vintage repro "Vibroverb / Fender Elect. Inst. Co." faceplate done a while back by Larry Rogers [I don't believe Fender allows him to do this any longer]. The combo cab was custom made by "Crusty" who is now affiliated with Weber VST, I believe, and lastly the amp is equipped with a 15" Weber "California" speaker, custom wound to 4 ohms impedance, to keep the original output tranny intact and allow the use of a Bandmaster enclosure as an option.

My tech was Craig Mueller, of Powerage, in Oakland, CA. Craig did an excellent job on the amp, with great attention to detail.

Needless to say, I am "stoked"! The amp sounds great, with a lush, deep reverb that is hard to come by in the "Vintage re-issue" amps available today.

Just had to share...

JR

That's really cool, JR.

Congratulations to you and the other experts who put it together with great attention to detail and quality. I'd love to hear a sound sample.

I can't believe the prices they're getting now for gear just like what I used to have

Kira, we need to add Craig to our Bay Area amp tech list.

CrestingWave wrote:
My tech was Craig Mueller, of Powerage, in Oakland, CA. Craig did an excellent job on the amp, with great attention to detail.

Excellent idea and well noted. It sounds like he did a great job.

Where is your amp tech list at? I could add a few in my area if they aren't on there already....

Greg

Our "list" doesn't exist yet, but I had asked Paul earlier if he knew any good tube amp techs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

But, hmmmm, you may have something there ...

kiramdear wrote:Our "list" doesn't exist yet, but I had asked Paul earlier if he knew any good tube amp techs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

But, hmmmm, you may have something there ...

I founds Craig's name here:

http://www.webervst.com/techreg/techreg.htm

And then I did a little reference checking; Craig is an authorized service facility for Mesa and knows his tube amps well.

There were quite a few BF and SF Fenders in his shop when I made my initial visit. One thing I will say about Craig is that he will not counsel the customer to spend money needlessly; he also has a great respect for the tube amps of Fender's "golden era". [Before CBS totally messed them up with ultra-linear transformers, etc.]

CrestingWave wrote:he also has a great respect for the tube amps of Fender's "golden era". [Before CBS totally messed them up with ultra-linear transformers, etc.]

That is one of the great things about Princeton Reverb amps made before the mid '70s, they are exactly the same as the BF era amps. Mine certainly sounds wonderful.

jps wrote:

CrestingWave wrote:he also has a great respect for the tube amps of Fender's "golden era". [Before CBS totally messed them up with ultra-linear transformers, etc.]

That is one of the great things about Princeton Reverb amps made before the mid '70s, they are exactly the same as the BF era amps. Mine certainly sounds wonderful.

Agreed, the fine folks at CBS left the smaller, lower powered amps alone [save for silver face cosmetics] for a long time after their take over from Leo Fender.

Early S/F Princeton Reverbs, and Deluxe Reverbs are excellent amps.

JR

kiramdear wrote:Our "list" doesn't exist yet, but I had asked Paul earlier if he knew any good tube amp techs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

But, hmmmm, you may have something there ...

Ahha.

Well let me know if I can be of help if and when you do get a list together.

Greg

Knowing how forum members like pics, I have added a few...

Front:



Rear:



The speaker placement was offset to allow for the mounting of a Twin Reverb output tranny [if desired], which I decided to against when I went with the AA763 circuit.

Rear Panel [with period correct send/return wiring for the reverb and "F" style speaker connector and cloth covered wiring]:



Front Panel:



Enjoy...

JR

Looks great!