Fender Vibrolux Reverb Reissue

I bought this vibrolux in the fall of last year, and I believe it was made that same year. Pretty straight forward tube amp. Two channels, normal and bright (I generally play through the normal because I'm not super into super bright sound)... The versatility for me comes from the effects I use- a lot of delay and reverb... It does its job of sounding loud and full (like a tube amp) extremely well. It's 40 watts are plenty for me in live settings (I use an amp microphone). The vibrato is pretty useless. Reverb is a typically wonderful Fender spring reverb. Very uncomplicated amp.

Brand new amps generally need some fine-tuning, but not having the money to do so, I neglected to look at the tubes or anything. I agree, there is a small hiss. To me however, it's not a big deal. I use this amp live only so the hiss is very unimportant. What is important is how great this sounds when cranked like tube amps are supposed to be. The vibrolux takes effects extremely well and just colors the tone beautifully.

So far, it's been six or seven months and all is good. Takes bouncing around in the car and playing weekly just fine. Although I just bought an ATA case to protect it a little. Seeing as I have sold all of the other amps I own (except a little Fender Frontman 25Wattt), I always gig without a backup.

I don't know. There is a warranty for 5 years maybe? I'm guessing Fender is rough to deal with.

I have been playing for six years live shows and such, and going through three previous amps (solid state junk), this is the best by far. If lost or stolen, I would buy this or save up for an AC-30. I think it's better than the other Fender amps in its class. I have played a Deville 410 and 212 and also a Twin Reverb when amp shopping, and while the are all wonderful amps, the Vibrolux impressed me the most. It's a great amp.

made in 2007 in the Fender Custom shop. single handedly the most versatile amp in my collection. features have already been listed. i have upgraded the speakers to Jensen Reissue C10Q's and the preamp tubes have been changed to vintage RCA 12AX7A's for the gain, JJ Tesla 12AX7s for the reverb and vibrato and an Amperex 12AT7 for the phase inverter. nothing i wish this amp had that it doesn't and it more than covers all my bases in the bands i play in and the places we play out at!

currently i use 2 Gretsch Electromatics- a G5129 that i swipped out the Dynasonics for P90's and an orange G5120 that i put in Firebird Minihumbuckers into, a parts telecaster (Duncan Firebird Minihumbucker and a Dimarzio Pre B-1 bridge pickup that i usually down tune to D or C), a Les Paul Special (2 P90's, a wraparound and a giant neck) and a Danelectro six string bass (really a baritone geetaer tuned an octave below a geetar)

i have used Fenders all my life (i'm going to be 27 in 2 weeks and been playing professionally since i was 13) and have had others very similar- a Silverface Pro Reverb, Silverface Twin, both of which i sold due to being too much power and too big for most of the stages i play on, then played Voxes almost exclusively for 4 years, then fell in love with the tone of a DRRI 2 years ago, got that and that just sounds too thin for most applications, although will rebias that one for 5881's in the power tube secion, then played through the Vibrolux last September and it has been my amp of choice since then. it isnt any louder than the DRRI, but it is WAAAAAYYYYYY thicker sounding at the same volumes as i play my DRRI at, which is very thick indeed.

i play in a psychobilly/merseybeat/old school rock n roll/50's style R&B/surf band called the Arkhams (please check us out at www.myspace.com/thearkhams) and we play with an upright player, which is somewhat finicky to get the volume perfect with on some stages. i dont need all that much volume, but it is necessary to get the amp just on the edge of break up and not past that. that goal is accomplished with the Vibrolux more than any other amp i have played through (although i am going to try out some 5881's in my DRRI to compare)

when i got the Vibrolux, it was VERY noisy, but that usually happens with some of the crappy tubes that they make these days. the day i got it, i put in the good tubes, and have been gigging with them 2-3 timers a week, and did 2 tours since i got it and not one tube failure in 6 months. i have a pair of reissue Tung Sol 5881's for this on the way. i shall compare them with the Sovtek 5881's that came with it. Reissue power tubes are usually not as much the problem with new amps as the preamp tubes that come shipped with it.

since i got the new tubes in it, it is as quiet as a mouse.

for outdoor venues, i have a 2x12 cabinet with 2 Jensen C12N's ran in 4 ohms that i can put this through. i rarely need to use it, though.

the sounds i get out of this amp are the ones i been hearing in my head- big and bold enough to hold their own, but arent overbearing and have never been thin sounding, as other amps i have had were. at almost any setting, this amp can go from clean to drive and fit that nice seat between them very nicely. theres not that much 'variety' but that is what i like about it. variety comes from my song selections and harmonies that i orchestrate, not necessarily the tone of the geetar, which the tone of this amp can shape for me with any of my instruments.

the actual distortion is not really 'distortion' at all- just a warm blend between clean and overdrive. the inherent 'note' never disappears wtih this amp. with P90's or my tele bridge pickup, it snarls and gets very warm sounding. with firebird pickups, its thinner, cleaner and twangier. i play .13 gauge flatwounds (with a plain .22 G string) and they are VERY responsive to my pick attack- I control how im going to sound with this vibrolux, not the amp.

as stated before, since i got this amp in October (7 months ago) i have played well over 100 gigs and not once did i have or need a backup. i do not neglect my amps. i keep them running well for a long time.

never dealt with Fender. dont need to. never tried to get it repaired and i dont need to. i got a warranty on this, but so far so good.

i have been playing for almost 21 years (professionally for 14) and have owned most types of gear at some point or another. right now, i own 6 amps- a Fender 79 Champ, Silvertone 1482 (comparable to a lower power (about 10W) Princeton that distorts WAAAAYYYYY quicker. a 90's Vox AC15 with the Celestion Blue Alnico Speaker, DRRI, this one, and a 1966 Bassman head that i use the Avatar 2x12 (2 Jensen C12N's in) this amp covers all my bases and all i need to do is hook up my 2x12 Avatar cabinet and i got more volume and low end if i need it (although that is rarely the case with my Vibrolux) i dont need to use any pedals with it, as i get all the tones i want with just this amp.

Made in 2006. Nice Clean Amp sound with an okay reverb. The Vibrolux is effect nice. Fender doesn't even try to throw in distortion with this amp which is a good thing as they don't do it well. It is pretty versitile as it takes pedals well. Very Loud.

This has more Hum than any amp on the market! I brought it home and plugged it in and it just sat and hummed. I unpluged it and moved it and still hum. I plugged it in with no guitar chord (so signal going in) and it was the same hum. Terrible. However, it does not hum when playing through it and it sounds very good then.

That being said, I couldn't take the Hum and took it back to G Guitars in New Haven, CT who were very good to deal with.

Seems to be reliable. Made in the USA

Don't know.

I took it back and got a Hot Rod DeVille. The DeVille is a much better amp for about the same price. The DeVille is a 2x12 vs. the Vibrolux 2x10 so the sound is more full. The Reverb is also much better on the Deville.

With the Hum this amp produces (as seen by all of the other reviews) don't bother with this amp.

Bought my Vibrolux Reverb in 2008, mainly because of the size and the weight.

I'm playing Blade R4 and Strats. I really don't like the noise, it's much to high. The volumen is hard to ajust at lower settings, and the sound is much to thin.

It's noisy, bad and cheaply buildt, and the sound is much to thin.

1996 fender vibrolux reissue, has a custom shop sticker? changed speakers to vintage 10s. i think this early model was a little better made, but i could be wrong.if anyone knows please post up.the tremelo is very good and reverb is good.this is a good country amp, i use a mister squishey compresser with thing and it's great..

strats, nighthawks, les pauls.country blues some rock, does it all good

96 still works

dont know

like it dont love it....

These reviews are completely mislabeling this amp and creating an unnecessary amp model review category. It is not a "Re-Issue" series amp at all like the 65 Twin Reverb or 65 Fender Super Reverb re-issues, but it is a Fender "Pro Tube" series (Custom Shop) design, called the "Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb". The idea was that it incorporates some of the better features of past Vibroluxes over the years in a more "modern interpretation." Also, the word "Custom" was added to the name, indicating the new design came from the Custom Shop and has some new ideas. Here's the Fender product link:
http://fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0215100000

Please put your reviews under Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb, to minimize confusion and give these amps their proper light. They are a "too" well kept secret due to all the confusion, ha.

You can read my review there under Nealix. Thanks for getting it right in the future.

reverb and vibrato with a normal and a bright channel

I have heard much better sounding amps!! the cleans are really good at lower volumes. it breaks up too soon for me, when I play blues this is ok and I mean just ok. i play strats,teles and les pauls, this is not a point to point amp. it doesn't even come close to a 60's or 70's vibrolux.The speakers are mediocre at best. I would recommend some webers or even celestions just about anything would be an upgrade. fender seems to sacrifice quality for mass production and this amp is no exception. like alot of others rewiews the amp is noisy, it hums, a little annoying but when playing you dont notice.I have heard great amps do this too.for me this amp lacks something.the tone is not great it is just ok. if you have a grand and you are thinking of buying a new one, I would spend my money more wisely and get someting better used.

I have used it several times at gigs it hasnt ever stopped working

fender is generally good in this area. they have helped me several times not with this amp though

been playing 20+ years and I play blues,rock,country.a blues or hotrod deluxe is a better value and it only has 1 speaker which is an easy upgrade the you can get one used for 400-500.if I had it to do over I would spend a little more and get a 70's vibrolux or a DR.Z . thank goodness I didn't pay 1000.00 for it. I would be angry. torres does mods where you can send the chassis in and they gut it and replace the circuit to pre CBS specs this would be the way to go with this amp http://www.torresengineering.com/ and upgrade the speakers.

I bought my Vibrolux Reverb (brown tolex) used and it was made -95 or -96. I play in a rock/country band and the amp suits very well for that kind of music. The reverb and the vibrato (included in both chanels (normal/bright)) are just brilliant. For the rehearsals the amp may be a bit too loud but for the gigs it's perfect. With louder volumes the sound brakes very nicely.

The clean is so good. Pure Fender sound! And as I said with the louder volumes the sound brakes up very nicely. With the max volume on your guitar you'll get a great fuzzy sound. And if you turn the vol of your guitar a little bit down you will get a cool crunchy sound out of it. I have used mainly Fender Stratocasters and Les Paul type guitars with the amp. With humbucker pick-ups the sound brakes maybe with a little lower volumes than with stratos single-coils. Sounds good with both!

My Vibrolux is over ten years old. No problems this far!

I have been playing for years and I own a couple of Marshall amps too. Before I bought this one I tried many other Fender (+some other companies) amps at the local stores and the Vibrolux sounded the best to my ears. Lucily I found it used so I got it with much lower prise than a new one would have cost.

Vibrolux Custom made in 1998.
Two channels, one normal tone and the other bright. This is a simple amp, and Fender makes no claims to it being anything other than that. This is enough for me. My stompboxes do the rest. Despite its simplicity, you can dial in a lot of different tones by just switching channels and turning the dials. Quite a novel idea, ay.

Plenty of power for small venues.

I play both single coil and humbucker guitars through this amp. My guitars range from an Eric Johnson Strat, PRS custom 22, Les Paul Custom 1975, Gibson ES 175. They all sound great through the Vibrolux, but the single coils have a fair amount of buzz. The humbuckers are really quiet.

I play both blues and jazz (a la Robben Ford/Jon Scofield) and I feel equally at home with both the Strat and ES 175. The vibrolux gives an extra ring and liveliness to everything I plug into it. I never reach for distortion and high gain, but I do play some U2 covers and it sounds great with a couple of Maxon stompboxes.

Fenders are traditionally reliable. I have a 1964 Twin that still sounds incredible even with garage storage.

If you are into jazz, blues, roots rock, this amp is for you. It's light, versatile, and simple. It's equally at home with single coils and humbuckers. This amp won't make you an SRV, but it will certainly make your playing a bit more fun.

bought this new in 1999 - 2 10s, reverb, vibrato, etc. Used for medium sized rooms - a few large rooms over the years. Has enough power. I mostly bought it because I was always a sucker for black-faced fenders ( I had a 64 DR when I was a kid ). points off for being so heavy for what you get.

Strats mostly - no humbucker guitars. Clean strat tone has always been what I go back to after I try other guitars. The over-all tone is a 7/10 - warm but loses big time for lacking sweetness if you know what I mean. The reverb - ok vibrato - nice.

heavy use until I sold it in 2004 - no problems

don't know

40 yrs - past 10 in a party/dance style cover band - lots of 60s - present. What happened a couple of yrs ago is that I heard a tweed bassman re-issue and it was all over - vibrolux sold. bassman bought. I had no idea how special tweed tone is compared to black-face. The cleans are sweet - woody. Also actually weighs less. I learned to stay away from amp reverb. I get better 'spring reverb' out of my E-H pedal compared to any real amp reverb I have ever owned ( go figure ) I love fender stuff - always will - but the amps need to be light-brown colored instead of black.