Up for sale, a 1962 Fender Vibrasonic in excellent condition and in perfect working order, complete with a full vintage tube set and the original footswitch. This amp was the flagship combo of Fender's Pre-CBS "Brown Panel" era, delivering 40 powerful, articulate all-tube watts through a single JBL D130 speaker. Along with the Showman, the Vibrasonic was the first Fender to be paired with the hi-fi tones of a JBL, and the Vibrasonic shares an identical chassis with the Showman too (albeit with two 6L6s instead of four).
The Vibrasonic features Fender's unique "Harmonic Vibrato" circuit, and this complex design was Fender's only true pitch shifting vibrato offered in an amp. Swampy, thick, and very Leslie-esque, it's a three dimensional, full-bodied tone unlike any other Fender vibrato. The perfect middle ground between the dynamic, saturated tones of the earlier Tweed era amps and the clarity and shimmering cleans of the later Black Panel line, this Vibrasonic has a very warm and nuanced sound, with absolutely giant transformers that keep the low end thick and focused. The 6G13-A circuit offers EQ controls that have a very wide sweep for everything from classic hollow twang to warm, sweet sounds that will delight any Jazz player. Given the JBL D130 speaker, there's plenty of clean headroom on tap, yet above 5 on the Volume dial the amp cascades into raucous, touch-sensitive overdrive. Well suited for guitar, electric piano or a Bass VI, the Vibrasonic is an extremely versatile platform.
The circuit retains all of the original Schumacher-made transformers, with the "45550" output transformer at its heart. The power transformer dates to the 40th week of 1961, while the choke dates to the 13th week of the year. The preamp retains all but one of the original blue molded Ajax capacitors which are extremely musical sounding and a crucial part of the magic in Fender's Pre-CBS preamps. The original CTS pots are all intact, and remarkably all of the smaller original electrolytic caps in the preamp are still viable. The power supply has been fully recapped with high quality F&Ts, and new bias caps have also been installed, with a small trim pot bridging the bias supply to further dial in the voltage. The amp has also been fitted with a modern three-prong power cable. The tube complement includes all vintage valves, with a pair of matched 6L6GC power tubes and preamp tubes from the likes of RCA and Phillips.
Inside the cabinet, the "LC" stamp on the tube chart translates to March of 1962. The speaker is the original JBL D130, professionally reconed. The original speaker harness is intact with cloth wire and a plain metal cap on the 1/4" jack.
Cosmetically, this Vibrasonic is a clean example with the original brown tolex, wheat grillcloth, and well-kept faceplate with all of the brown barrel knobs present. The original flat Fender logo and nickel corners are intact, and even the original molded plastic "dogbone" handle is stock (and unbroken!). The cabinet does have some added mounting holes on the bottom from two sets of removed casters.
The original one-button footswitch to engage the Harmonic Vibrato is included.