Brownface Fenders are (comparatively) UNDERRATED - 1962 Fender Vibrolux

Picked up a new amp. It seems to me that brownfaces don't get nearly as much attention as other Fender amps do and so figured it might be useful to make a video about mine. For the recording, I used an Electro-Voice RE20 in front of and an AKG C414 behind the amp.
Thank you much for watching.
Instagram = / thisisbridger

[@fow8780]

That turn to the left was hillarious dude 😂

[@danielkroha5440]

I owned a '59 Bassman and now have a '62 Bassman (I also had a blackface Bassman for many years). To my ears, the brownface Bassman is closer to the tweed version than it is to the blackface. Both brownface and tweed amps have that articulate hi-fi sound in the cleans, super sweet and very usable treble, complex and even harmonics, Marshall like overdrive when cranked, and they also stay very tight in the bass frequencies when cranked. I found none of these properties in my blackface Bassman. In short, agreed! Brownface Fenders are underrated.

[@darwinsaye]

Harmonic Tremolo splits the signal into two separate treble and bass frequencies and then alternates turning one up then the other, so on one cycle of the tremolo pulse, you get a more treble tone and on the next pulse you get a bassy tone. The result is considered to be similar sounding to a Univibe effect.

[@spumpstein9374]

Great amp! Thanks for the cool review. A small clarification...this amp, the Vibrolux 6G11 or 6G11-A, does not have the harmonic vibrato circuit, it has the output tube bias modulation design, which is closer to the tweed tremolo circuit. Unlike the harmonic vibrato circuit, which flip-flops between high and low audio frequencies (post preamp, and pre-phase inverter), offering an approximation of a doppler effect, this one modulates the bias of the output stage, basically turning the power amp on and off at the rate of the Speed pot setting. Pretty rough on output tubes and rumored to be one of the reasons why the effect was moved into the preamp in all subsequent Fender designs after around 1962-63. Another note about this amp - the blonde 6G9 or 6G9-A Tremolux is nearly identical to this brown 6G11 or 6G11-A Vibrolux. They each have similar breakup characteristics. Great for crunchy rock and roll rhythm playing. Both use 5AR4/GZ34 rectifier tubes, and usually have killer blues and rock lead tones when driven.

[@paulcowart3174]

So which tremolo is in a 61 Princeton?

[@mr.e1220]

I am buying a 1960 fender Vibrasonic and going to add a 63 reverb tank separately

[@michaelwoods9005]

@@paulcowart3174 output tube bias tremolo.

[@paulcowart3174]

@@michaelwoods9005 thank you sir

[@markstowe9011]

Been on a chase, looking for that perfect brown panel sound and happened upon your video. Immediately noticed your HeyDay shirt and got excited to see some Asheville love. Gonna keep searching for a (more) affordable Super clone, or Vibrolux clone if I can’t find that.

[@thisisbridger]

Yeah! Asheville is a great town (I might posit Allen Amps for brown panel clones)

[@BladeDoomer86]

It has a VERY vintage tone... Sounds wonderful in 2021 imo 😁

[@MrEddie-gf3yg]

Give yourself a pat on the back for using a Goldtop Les Paul with P-90s!

[@feedbackbro]

Excellent. A very underrepresented amp judging by the paucity of KZbin reviews. This is my new favorite model in my Fractal FM9. Props to you for having the actual amp. Great playing and demo. Thanks!!

[@blbeats5789]

Nice! This kind of amp was used on “Sultans Of Swing”

[@aleks2194]

thhis is the amp mark knofler recorded sultans of swing with, and still has it

[@kendallcovell9386]

Awesome playing my dude. Digging the sound of the P90s in that LP. I came across a 1960 brown face Fender Super Amp. It wasn't quite the "mid-scooped" Fender sound I was originally looking for. But, these brown face amps have a certain characteristic to them that is special and organic. Plus the "harmonic vibrato" is something that can scarcely be replicated. Thank you for sharing!

[@pyroman6000]

Not to mention, that when pushed hard- they sound amazing! They don't break up like any other Fender amp I've heard- they have a drive sound all their own- one I LOVE. With these and the tweed style amps, the combination of them and a brand G guitar is magic! So much so, that I often wonder if the engineers have a Les Paul or SG hidden in a back room to use when voicing amps, lol. P90's or buckers- it doesn't matter- both sound great. Warm, bluesy cleans and compressed sounds, and to die for overdrive tone. Johan Segeborn did a demo with a whole selection of them, dimed, and with him playing an LP- I immediately added one to my must have bucket list. Esp the PRO amp. My P90 equipped SG would love to have a go at one. As would the Jazzmaster, the Firebird, the... etc. Fender FINALLY re-issued a brownface amp: the Chris Stapleton Princeton. I believe he uses a pair of them, onstage. His tone always sounds fantastic. Totally agree with you, about the Tremolo. The trem on these vintage Fenders was fantastic. Them, and Vox- nobody had better tremolo on their amps.

[@christianjimbomb8204]

I have never under rated my 63 fender vibrolux. Well once when a bad man worked on it, but I managed to put it back together correctly. I plan on keeping this amp even after uncle joker turns off the elec. Hey i will plug into a car charger

[@jonathanhorne6503]

I have a ‘63 Brownface Bandmaster in a 2-10 combo cabinet. It’s an awesome sounding amp, especially with P-90 guitars. I record bass through it too.

[@jegr3398]

Brownface Fenders rock!

[@Guitarooster52]

Nice find!

[@Skoora]

Passed on one of these a few years ago and it has haunted me ever since. It seemed a little too pricey back then but of course in just a few years it is now a steal…lol

[@ryanfulldark2775]

Subbed, I just did my first vid on a Brown Deluxe. Great vid! I see you’re a person who knows a great amp when they see one!

[@thisisbridger]

Thanks a ton! Happy to match the energy and give you the sub as well

[@paulcowart3174]

I had a brown deluxe but didn't know enough back then that it probably needed maintenance and a new speaker so sold it Now I have a 61 Princeton that had restored caps and a new speaker Super happy plus it sounds so good plugged into two old Oxford 12's from 73 I bought a pricey new amp and it croaked in a matter of months No more new for me

[@valvetones7344]

This amp does NOT have the harmonic tremolo that people in the comments are droning on about. It have the bias shift tremolo setup, same as the Princeton and 63 vibroverb, the 6G16 circuits. Now I will say, tgat the bias shift tremolo is preferable to the optocoupler set up of later fenders, because, the tremolo effect happens after you play the notes, after you pick the note. The optocoupler photo resistor setup has the pulsing tremolo that is constantly present , so the chords and picking is muddied by the pulsing tremolo. The bias shift tremolo sounds much better. As for the harmonic tremolo , you need to buy a different fender for me to comment.

[@socialdef3]

7:15 you are totally in focus, of the important thing in this video: the amp. Nice tones, playing, guitars and amplifier. You have great taste. I have always preferred these tones to the less clean Bassman and overpowering Twin Reverb. This is also much mellower than the Deluxe, which everyone seems to love.

[@Tonetwisters]

Most players nowadays -- especially youthful players -- like treble and sparkle. The Deluxe/Reverb excels at those characteristics. I like them too, but enjoy the warmer tones of the brownface amps, as well.

[@snorrevonflake]

Underrated ? They are the holy grail and everybody knows that.

[@thenewmedic]

I didn't. I do now I guess.

[@nebanuk]

What are you talking about? The Brownface Amps, by comparison to their Tweed and Black Panel counterparts, are not heralded. They are beginning to be, but why don’t you go look up the price of a Tweed Vibrolux and then a Brownface Vibrolux.

[@thenewmedic]

Oh my goodness I'm so glad I didn't have anything in my mouth in that first 12 seconds 🤣🤣🤣

[@Tonetwisters]

ANY of the brownface amps are quite spanky. This is a bias-trem model, where the tremolo is on both channels because it works on the output tubes, not the preamp tubes. A wonderful setup, would be one of these sitting next to a blackface Vibrolux/Reverb with 2X10 and an amp switcher! Actually, I believe that Leo just used whatever speaker he could get the best price on ... back then, people were not as much "tone nuts" as we are nowadays, and of course, everything sounded good, especially those US made tubes. BTW: I was there back then. People just bought Fender amps because they sounded great and lasted ... they knew very little about what was inside of them. The browns kept some of the tweed midrange, which was dumped (scooped) in the blackfaces. This amp and that Paul, sound WONDERFUL! You are very fortunate. Nice playing. Couple of mighty nice mics you used to capture this guy, by the way. I have a C412 from the early '70s ...

[@strangher11]

loves mine ...

[@miekgenklefin9616]

Don't forget to jump the channels.

[@AndrewBeveridge461]

Nice playing! A lot more interesting voicings going on in there than the typical blooooze wank you get on most youtube demos.

[@mikeault]

Does this amp have the original speaker? Thank you for a great video!

[@bernhardnizynski4403]

I used to have a 1963 brown face Deluxe - 1 x 12" with p/p 6V6s. The Vibrolux had 2 x 10' speakers with p/p 6L6s. The Deluxe was wonderful, however, in retrospect I would have preferred the Vibrolux - a bit more power!

[@spumpstein9374]

A small clarification. There were no brown 2x10" Vibrolux amps. The early 60's brown Super has 2x10". Early 60's brown Vibrolux amps have 1x12". Later, from 1963 on, the Vibrolux Reverb had 2x10".

[@Chango_Malo]

the vibroverb has bias shifting tremolo, not harmonic trem.

[@zeekhernandez9419]

What are these going for in todays market? Do you an idea or range?

[@Rhythmicons]

Is that a Rhodes back there?

[@AZCobraman]

Not underrated....well, by anyone who's heard or played one...just comparatively rare. I love my '62 Deluxe One question, why the bright channel on everything?

[@mattier3030]

Where’d you scoop this up? I just missed one at an estate sale today for 1,800(;

[@russellesimonetta3835]

What speakers and how many?

[@StandbyCymbalist]

underrated? these are 3-7 grand on Reverb

[@danielkroha5440]

Tweeds cost almost twice as much and don't sound better to my ears.

[@sunsetjunior9313]

ssssshhhhhhh....dont tell anyone or the prices will increase even more....

[@michaelwoods9005]

They're already out of reach..

[@ix-Xafra]

Struggled to listen to your monologue due to the background music and especially when you turned your head off-axis to the mic...

[@theuserthatishere]

imo not enderrated, hard to find and pricey. i converted a black bandmaster head to a brown combo look. mather cabs are as good as they get

[@kellygrant3074]

Your stool sounds like 6th grade tenor sax.

[@solerso68]

underated ? LOL by who ?

[@danielkroha5440]

Compared to tweed Fenders.

[@solerso68]

@@danielkroha5440 I t also might be that they were only iin production for about a year..there never were very many of them