'78 Fender Vibro Champ

Looks like it just rolled off the line.

 

Great looking amp! I have a 73 Champ with a 10" Weber (and a 77 Musicmaster Bass amp). Love Silverfaces!

 

All of Layla was recorded by El Clapola and Duane Allman on a Blackface Princeton and Vibrochamp.

 

Congrats! I got a beat up one years ago. I cleaned up my 78 VC and put all JJ tubes in it. I still have all the OEM tubes except for the 6V6. I also put a Jensen P8R ALNICO magnet speaker in it. That alone made it sound outstanding. In the future I may try a TAD 6V6. Right now I'm running JJs.

 

I know you said a tech checked it out, but I would suggest making sure the old cap can was updated or changed out.

 

I’m reluctant to disagree, Dacious. You know way more about this stuff than I do. And you do hear sometimes it was a silver Champ or VibroChamp. In any case it likely can’t be settled and may be less important than the Coke v. Pepsi thing.

But I’ve looked into this some, and interviews both with the local studio guy and with Tom Dowd say 'tweed' Champ. Here's one.

http://www.angelfire.com/blues/remedy/producer.html

Still leaves it up in the air exactly what kinda Princeton it was, huh?

Now OTOH I’ve seen very credible info that in the early 70s Harrison used 'silver Champs' at the concerts for Bangla Desh and they got to be a big deal for a while so that Keef used 'em on some recordings — forget which..

 

Yeah. I've always heard it was a tweed Champ Clapton used on that recording.

 

It's attributed bothways. I've owned the EC Vibrochamp (great sound disappointing build quality) and two SF Champs - 68 and 78.

At low volumes you can tell a difference. Before breakup the two Silverface Champs could be almost any Fender clean except maybe a Bassman. The 5F1 sounds a little tetchier at low volumes (no or less NFL is my guess plus straight cone speaker).

Wound up - they start to sound more like each other. I had a Weber alnico Sig in the 78 which I sold to get the EC. Pretty similar cranked - the EC was just a little squakier. The 68 was a bit smoother through its original Jensen than I recall either of the others.

So it could be either, coupled with recording process and overdubbing, boosts etc it's hard to know. There's certainly bits that sound Princeton-ish (I had a 78 SFPR) and bits that sound Champ-like on that record.

 

I have one too!

My amp tech put a 6L6 in mine, and I absolutely love it.

 

I put a Eminence 820H speaker in my ‘79 Vibro Champ. It’s a hemp cones speaker like a smaller version of the Cannabis Rex. It’s very efficient and an stay clean almost all the way up the dial. It made a huge difference to me and I love it. But if you are looking for some break up, it might not be such a good choice.