Vintage Tube Amp

Up for sale, a 1974 Fender Vibrolux Reverb in excellent condition and in perfect working order, complete with a two-button footswitch. With good reason, the Vibrolux is one of the most desirable Fender models for its ideal size and power, well-suited to both stage and studio applications. The amp delivers sparkling cut and muscle, and a surprising amount of headroom, cascading into lightly compressed tube overdrive when pushing towards 10 on the Volume dial. Offering 35 tube watts through the original CTS alnico magnet 10 speaker pair, the Vibrolux is the perfect platform for getting the most out of a variety of guitars and stompboxes. Clean and sweet up til about 5 on the volume knob (with a perceived volume that’s loud enough to keep up with an aggressive drummer), the Vibrolux has clear note attack and sweet tube rectifier sag, not to mention lush tube-driven Reverb and percussive Tremolo. All of the transformers are manufactured by Fender’s primary transformer supplier in this era, Schumacher, dating between late 1972 and the first weeks of’74. Fully serviced, all pots, switches, jacks and tube sockets have been thoroughly cleaned, and the amp boasts a professional recap of the power supply, with smaller modern Sprague electrolytic caps in the preamp. The preamp retains a full complement of original blue molded caps, and all of the original CTS pots are intact, with visible date codes from the 2nd week of’74. The tube complement includes a properly biased pair of Groove Tubes 6L6 power tubes, with a 5U4 rectifier and mostly modern valves in the preamp The CTS alnico magnet 10 speakers are the original matched pair with black frames and blue Fender foil stickers on the alnico magnets. The date stamps on the edges of the frames date to the 5th week of’74. These are also the same speakers seen in Super Reverbs of the era. The tube chart is intact inside the cabinet as well. The original smooth black tolex and silver sparkle grillcloth with orange stripe are intact, exhibiting some scuffs and a couple bald corners. The hardware shows light surface patina on the original handle caps, chassis straps, corners, and sphinx glides (feet). The faceplate, in contrast, is particularly well-kept with a full complement of witch hat knobs. A modern Fender two-button footswitch is included.