Fender 68 Vibro Champ

ditchboy

I’m trying to sell my PG Spark in the classified and just looking for a smaller living room amp. The PG is very good but I’m not one for fiddling too much which has eventually dawned on me. Do any members have any experience of the 68 as this was what I was possibly going to replace it with. Or maybe a 57 champ but the 68 looks more versatile. I’d appreciate any input. 

GoFish

Almost every valve amp will be a clean amp at living room volumes. If that's okay with you, I'd try a 68. Digital verb + trem and  sweet clean sound.

The 57 champ is in Tone King Gremlin price territory - that's got the ironman attenuator attached.

Don't discount the Supro Delta models. The 8" baby one is one loud watt and has a gain knob too.

For drive some bigger models with gain and  volume controls can work very well, and be cheaper too - Laney Cub12 or Marshall DSL40 are reportedly great for this.

Winny_Pooh

The 68, nice amp, is much fuller than the 57.

Supro is nice too.

munckee

If you are into a clean sounds my opinion was the 68 vibro champ and 68 princeton and the tone king gremlin for that matter can't compete with the 65 princeton or the original silverface champs.  If clean isn't what you are after then any would be a good choice.

ditchboy

Thanks @munckee I have a 64 Princeton upstairs. Looking for something clean with a small footprint as it has to fit into a small space. 

GoFish

If you really like the sound of the Princeton, I'd find it hard to look beyond the 68, if only for the complementary black and silver panels.

You could go for a 70s champ, as @munckee says. Smaller than the 68. Nicer, imo, than the  57.

munckee

Get a 70s vibro champ!

benecol

This seems like an apt time to mention that I'm selling a lovely sf Vibrochamp in the Classifieds at the moment.

PAL

I have a 68 Custom Princeton Reverb which I like. I wanted a smaller version so ordered the Vibro Champ.
  I wasn't impressed it wasn't like one I hade tried out before I think Fender made a cheaper version it didn't have a cover
  the silver panel looked dull by comparison most importantly it sounded dull. I question Fender on the issues and they weren't
  helpful. I returned the amp and I'm done with Fender now.
  If you like the Fender sound I would buy a used Blues Junior or an early 68 Custom Princeton reverb.
  The only thing is make sure to change the voltage to the UK 240v and with the Princeton do the R34 Mod.
  Hoe this helps.

munckee

PAL said:

I have a 68 Custom Princeton Reverb which I like. I wanted a smaller version so ordered the Vibro Champ.
  I wasn't impressed it wasn't like one I hade tried out before I think Fender made a cheaper version it didn't have a cover
  the silver panel looked dull by comparison most importantly it sounded dull. I question Fender on the issues and they weren't
  helpful. I returned the amp and I'm done with Fender now.
  If you like the Fender sound I would buy a used Blues Junior or an early 68 Custom Princeton reverb.
  The only thing is make sure to change the voltage to the UK 240v and with the Princeton do the R34 Mod.
  Hoe this helps.

I asked before if you could do a similar mod to the vibrochamp and no one seemed to know.

ICBM

PAL said:

  If you like the Fender sound I would buy a used Blues Junior or an early 68 Custom Princeton reverb.

If I wanted "the Fender sound" - ie the classic mid-cut blackface/silverface sound - then just about the last thing I would buy is a Blues Junior, especially a used one which will most likely be one of the earlier versions. The MkIV is better.

munckee said:

I asked before if you could do a similar mod to the vibrochamp and no one seemed to know.

They were too new out at that point - yes, they can have the voltage swap done.

munckee

ICBM said:

PAL said:

  If you like the Fender sound I would buy a used Blues Junior or an early 68 Custom Princeton reverb.

If I wanted "the Fender sound" - ie the classic mid-cut blackface/silverface sound - then just about the last thing I would buy is a Blues Junior, especially a used one which will most likely be one of the earlier versions. The MkIV is better.

munckee said:

I asked before if you could do a similar mod to the vibrochamp and no one seemed to know.

They were too new out at that point - yes, they can have the voltage swap done.

So do the voltage swap, throw the speaker away and put a jensen alnico in and you'd have a decent amp.

ICBM

munckee said:

So do the voltage swap, throw the speaker away and put a jensen alnico in and you'd have a decent amp.

If it's the Blues Junior, replacing the cabinet makes a bigger difference than the speaker, surprisingly - although doing both is best. I haven't tried the Vibro Champ yet, but the stock speaker doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm...

Epsilon

ICBM said:

munckee said:

So do the voltage swap, throw the speaker away and put a jensen alnico in and you'd have a decent amp.

If it's the Blues Junior, replacing the cabinet makes a bigger difference than the speaker, surprisingly - although doing both is best. I haven't tried the Vibro Champ yet, but the stock speaker doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm...

Best tonal upgrade you can make to a Blues Junior is to replace the cabinet, speaker and all other components with an entirely new amplifier. Such a boring amp.

ditchboy

Epsilon said:

ICBM said:

munckee said:

So do the voltage swap, throw the speaker away and put a jensen alnico in and you'd have a decent amp.

If it's the Blues Junior, replacing the cabinet makes a bigger difference than the speaker, surprisingly - although doing both is best. I haven't tried the Vibro Champ yet, but the stock speaker doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm...

Best tonal upgrade you can make to a Blues Junior is to replace the cabinet, speaker and all other components with an entirely new amplifier. Such a boring amp.

  it’s never been on my radar tbh. A 68, a Supro, one of the Cornell’s (traveller probably) or a dragonfly was what I’d been looking at. I should have just kept the Mustang LT really.  

ICBM

Epsilon said:

Best tonal upgrade you can make to a Blues Junior is to replace the cabinet, speaker and all other components with an entirely new amplifier. Such a boring amp.

lol

I used to think that was true until I heard what they sound like in a 5E3-size pine/tweed cabinet with a Jensen speaker. The problem isn’t actually in the amp circuit.