ShortScale.org

I traded my Musicmaster project guitar today for a Fender Silverface Vibro Champ I found on Craigslist. I had to drive a round trip of almost 3 hours, but the trip was well worth it. Amp is in good shape and sounds fantastic. I will get a demo up later in the week. A little rust around the jacks and the jewel but nothing major. I need to clean off some tape. The Volume and treble pots are scratchy so I need to use contact cleaner on all the pots. The "vibrato" effect is best. I am thrilled I was able to find a good home for the Musicmaster while picking up a very nice sounding amp. Both inputs sound good. The second input is for higher output guitars, so when I switched my Mustang from input 1 to input 2, it loses a little volume and sparkle. It even came with an original owners manual and wiring schematic. It has the 3 pronged plug, but it will need to be replaced soon since you can see the wires from the plug. Overall, I am super stoked. Sounds better than the one I played at Guitar Center.

Serial Number on chassis: A984786 (Can someone help me date the amp? I keep checking it and it doesn't appear to match any of the Silverfaces from that era)

Can anyone tell me anything about the Vibrato foot switch? it appears to to be a small RCA type input on the back to turn the effect on and off.

I was able to date the amp from this website:

http://vibrochamp.org/amp-dating

Based on the Fender logo on the front, the amp was made somewhere between 1976 and 1981.


Based on the serial number on the chassis, the amp appears to be from 1979.

Nice amp! Would say it's probably late '79 at least, as they're advertising the Lead & Lead ii guitars in the docs you have scanned, which arrived late that year:
Info Link
Great score by the way....glad you've found a good home for the musicmaster as you're not using it

I knew the Lead series came out around the end of 70's or beginning of the 80's. I didn't think to date the amp based on the ads in the back of owner's manual. Good job picking that up.

I also learned last night that the Silverface Bronco Amps are exactly the same amp as the Vibro Champ except for the name on it. Pretty cool.

Anybody here on the forum have the Silverface Bronco amps?

The Vibro Champ is one of the few amps that is same wiring whether Blackface or Silverface during the CBS era.

I also located the appropriate vibrato footswitch on eBay with the RCA plugs. Could be a cool thing if I decide to gig the amp.

Besides the Vibro/tremolo effect, are there any other differences between the Champ Amps and the Vibro Champ/Bronco amps?

Demo will be coming soon....

That schematic doesn't have the vibro.

This one does. All you need is a latching SPST switch.

NickS wrote:That schematic doesn't have the vibro.

Yeah, I just noticed it says Champ. Interesting they included the Champ diagram with the Vibro Champ Amp.

Hey man, nice score! I have the exact same amp ... a 78 to be exact.

I don't use a foot switch myself ... I figure it isn't necessary, because when would you ever gig with this thing?

i've had a vibro champ for years. Best $100 i ever spent. It's around a 73, i want to say. The date is stamped inside of it, but i forget. Your link nails the date anyway. it has THE Fender sound in a small package.

go ahead and get the switch. It's just a little nice-ity to have. I did that with my Vox Pathfinder 15r just to add to the fun of a nice amp.

Every guitar i have sounds fantastic through it. Keeping it short scale here... my stock 93 Duosonic is a perfect match. Plinky sparkly rich and twangy... Enjoy.

oh.. and i haven't notie much difference between 1 and 2 and i know the amp is stock. i think it's just padded down for 2 instruments. BTW.. my Musicmster Bass amp is very close to the Vibro Champ.. Circuits are similar, though different tubes. The Vibro has a wider tonal range with the 2 tone controls over the single control of the MMbass.

I actually took the Vibro Champ to my regular gig. They mic'd it up and it was really loud. I had it right behind me and I had to turn it down to 7 because it was too loud. It was much easier to carry to the gig. 10 pounds lighter than my Blues Junior and less bulky. Nice overdriven tones out of the #1 input. Lots of fun.