After a long summer filled with a heavy dose of the stupids it’s finally time to write about some repairs. This pristine Vibrolux Reverb was purchased at a local music store that will remain un-named. The sales tag sang sweet songs about how “original” and “complete” it was… Right down to its ungrounded two prong cable and failing power filter capacitors. As the buyer soon discovered this is about as helpful and exciting as contracting the “original” strain of syphilis. Both will kill you if left untreated, but hey, it’s original! Just like Cortez gave the Aztecs! The saddest part is that the store’s tech had gone over the amp and included a list of vague “repairs” that had been done. Things like “troubleshot vibrato circuit.” No description of a vibrato malfunction. No description of a vibrato repair. Just a billable labor line. Maybe he thought about it really hard? Said some magic words? We’ll never know, but someone paid for it.

Since the customer wasn’t thrilled about being electrocuted I replaced the AC cable and all of the electrolytic capacitors. Some new power tubes had been installed, but not biased, so I did that too. The good news was that the preamp section was full of lovely vintage USA made tubes that were all still working just fine. The thing I most appreciate about these vintage Fenders is just how quiet they are at idle. No hum, hiss, or buzz. Just solid smooth tone with verb and vibrato to die for. Or in this case, not die for.