the Brown Fender Amp Club

any love for brownies out there? i've got a '62 Pro-Amp with a long, weird story ... my ace buddy and i bought it with band funds in about '79, and when the band split up, he got it as part of his share. over the years, he backed away from electric music and the Pro sat under his house in the mountains for about 10 years.

finally, he said, "aw, just come up here and haul it away — i'll never use it!" ... so i jumped on it before he changed his mind. at that point, it was far from collectible any more, so i decided to mod it as a gigging amp to suit my needs.

a cap job was first priority, then i converted it to cathode bias to get rid of the stiff sound (made it sound a tad tweed-like). i didn't like the solid-state recto and had my tech punch out the empty hole in the chassis and install a tube socket and a copper cap. later on, i had him mount a small rectifier transformer and am currently running a GZ34 ... it's almost too hairy that way, might go back to the copper cap at some point.

it's running a Weber 15A150 and chock full of NOS tubes. great amp, but too much beef for small clubs ... great on concert/festival stages, though!

This is one club I really want to join! One day I'll score that brown Deluxe or Princeton!

I built an Allen Hot Fudge/w Nuts which is based on the 6G3 Brown Deluxe. I have since sold it and built a Brown Homebrew in an Allen Encore cab and chassis I got used from David. My amp started out very similar to the Hot Fudge/w Nuts. I am running lower B+ with 6L6s like the original Brown Vibrolux. I am using the single knob tone control as used in the Brown Deluxe but the rest is the Brown Vibrolux 6G11 with original voltages in the 9 pin tubes. Its a lower power 6L6 amp. At one point I had a regular Fender tone stack but went back to the simplicity of the single knob. The amp is very easy to dial in and sounds good in a wild range of volume and tone settings from low to high.
I would highly recommend building/buying a 6G11 Brown Vibrolux. I'm very pleased with my 'almost' Brown Vibrolux.

Mark

2718927188


I'm in. My 62 Super.

Kin I jine ya'll

Do reissue vibroverbs get to hang out?

PJ, i had a Concert like that in '69 ... but i know that's not the same one, cuz it doesn't have cigarette burns all down the front!

This one is almost perfect,very small burn dear the handle.I bought it in the late 70's for $75.00.The power supply caps were all cooked and I upgraded the power supply curcuit to BF specs..The rest is stock except for a reversible mod on the norm channel for more mids.I used it as a back up and only giged it 5 or 6 times..Tell ya what,it really marries up nice with a Tele..

I got 'ole Brownie in '83.
She's a '61.

JJ

Man, I'm gettin brown GAS! LOL Those look delicious! Especially the ones with the darker aged grille cloth. Got me thinkin brown is the new tweed. :O

I have a '62 Vibrolux (one 12" speaker), and it's perfect for me. Beat to sh*t, but it sounds gorgeous and really proves that you don't need reverb. I bought it for $300 back in the late 70s from a pedal steel player who said it "had no character."

Yeah, right.

OK it's black on the outside, but on the inside it's a brown Super - transitional export model from '63 with black tolex, but brown circuit with the bewitching harmonic vibrato that makes me go all runny and gooey. That's the main reason why I will never sell this amp.

Previous owner had it since new and traded it in on a modern Fender acoustic guitar amp. Yeah, I know ...

Had been under a house for years, paint stains on the tolex. I cleaned it up (before and after pics herewith). After these pics were taken I also replaced the fugly knobs with Fender RI period correct knobs (incredible what a difference they make to the look), replaced the broken handle with RI Fender handle, tarted it up with NOS tubes, Weber 10A125s, FRED diodes. She's now sweet as bro ...

Still haven't got around to replacing the back panel yet.

My brownie sounds a lot like a Marshall.
Brownies are cool.Part Tweed,part Blackface.

JJ

Here are my two brownfaces,and two honorary brownfaces-12/62 Tremolux,3/64 Bassman,5/62 Concert,11/61 Princeton.

Here's mine;

http://www.pbase.com/cwilliamrose/image/103647366/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/cwilliamrose/image/103647440/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/cwilliamrose/image/103647428/large.jpg

Wow!!! A brown Vibroverb!!! I've owned or played hundreds of old Fenders but that's the first one of those I've ever seen.And so clean.I'm turnin' green!!!Or is it a RI?...

I love brown Fenders. Cosmetically beautiful & some of the best amps ever
to come out of Fullerton.

:smile:

'62 Brownfaced, Oxblood Grill, Bandmaster
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd153/BobHirsch/81830.jpg

Does my 6G2 count? It's black on the outside...

63 Brown Deluxe.I have had it since 1972.Oxford speaker reconed in 73.new transformers in 2005.I have played guitar and harp through it for well over 30 years and have just introduced it to a Lee Jackson Mr Springy reverb pedal.Love at first sight.for any non reverb Brownie owners I have to recommend Mr Springy.

Or is it a RI?...

Not a reissue.

I've had it since '66. Mostly original but the OT was dead and the speakers were toast. It now has a MM OT and reconed (by Weber) speakers alomg with a three-prong plug and various normal maintenance items. It was stored for years, sometimes in hot and humid places and that probably did the speakers in. It has never been played hard since I owned it, never been played out. The exterior is the original grill cloth and tolex, etc.......Bill

Brownie update: played an outdoor concert down east last night ... after our soundcheck, the two guitarists in the opening band and the sound crew were all over that amp! it was actually funny, five guys standing around that battered old warhorse making comments and asking questions. but i couldn't blame 'em, the dang thing sings like a bird.

Does my 6G2 count? It's black on the outside...

I thought about cheating and posting my boutique. It has brown (fake ostrich) tolex and the brownface vibrato circuit, but it's technically a blackface, so I'll refrain :twisted:

CWilliam; Nice Vibroverb! I had one years ago and you know the rest, (dang I've knocked my head against the wall many times pining for gear long gone!) Does yours have a 4AB3C1B or a 4BB3C1B reverb tank? I saw one on the toronto craigslist recently but need a new car first!

When I had the tank out to clean the cabinet and tank cover I didn't photograph the parts. I don't know which tank it is but it is the one that the amp came with -- unless it was changed before December, 1966.

Thanks......Bill

I love my 6G3! :)

Only by proxy...the oter guitar player in my new band plays a '62 Pro with an outboard reverb.
The tone KILLS me.

I have a shot at a '63 Vibroverb locally. Expensive but not crazy like they were before (well sort of crazy).

Are they real tone monsters or do they just live off the rarity hype.

I'm probably the wrong guy to ask as I have nothing to compare it to. I only know what I've heard other, more experienced people say and it's mostly good. The reissue amp may be close enough to give you an idea of the tone of the real thing and they can be had fairly cheap (by comparison anyway). If you don't like the RI at all you probably won't like the vintage one either..........Bill

It's a reissue but it's brown. I've had it since '93 and have only since retired it after getting a Blues Junior which is easier to cart around.

Hi guys, here is my 1962 original Fender Brown Pro Amp with matching extension speaker cab, this rig is gigged constantly is a fantastic and reliable amp, this was recapped and grounded power cord added, re tubed and aligned, work done by Bruce Egnater in Detroit Mi. http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/ellwood1/proext003resize.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/ellwood1/proext12004resize.jpg

I bought this 1961 Princeton back in August, played it for a couple of days and took it to a great local shop (Earheart Electronics) for a three-prong cord installation, pots and jacks cleaned, couple of capacitors and resistors changed, new handle (has the original cover!) etc. The amp tech was blown away by the condition, and said he believes the speaker is original (no sticker or markings that I can see without taking the back panel off, and I'm not screwing with it.)

I just got it back on Friday, and it's been on a good four hours a day since arriving home. I play a 52 AVRI through it, and just last night plugged my squareneck reso into it via my Baggs DI, and it sounds way better than through my Acoustasonic Jr.

This thing does it all. I don't find I miss the reverb all that much, but still, would be extra fine to have a brownface outboard reverb tank, no?

http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt223/chileseason/DSC00437.jpg

http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt223/chileseason/DSC00447.jpg

And hey, these two pics looked focused on the camera, but fuzzed when I transferred them to the computer. Eyes going.

I've had a couple of Brown Deluxes.

Kept the best one.

Love the warm tube bias Vibrato.

Put a Weber VST 12A125 in, and boxed up the original Oxford.

Like to bridge the channels to fatten the sound.

jamie

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/NE4TT/AMPS/FENDER/DLXD01226aa.jpg

I'm looking at a Brown Super very soon any ideas about them?

I was wondering mostly about how they sound overdriven with their harmo-modu-tremo thingy, looking for Bo Diddley type rythm sounds?

Does my Acoustasonic Junior qualify?

http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww183/telechamp/AcoustasonicJrfrontPB.jpg

http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww183/telechamp/AcoustasonicJrsidePB.jpg

http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww183/telechamp/AcoustasonicJrrearPB.jpg

This isn't mine but look at what's on my bench today.....gorgeous cherry 1963 Super. The cab is beaitiful too and packed with original Jensens which I'm replacing with Weber Alnico 10's. I'm performing a cap job on it right now.
And yes....those are all original Astrons throughout.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y183/jogman/supppy.jpg