Welcome To the Hoffman Amplifiers Forum

September 08, 2025, 04:37:41 pm
guest image
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
-User Name
-Password



Hoffman Amps Forum image Author Topic: easily dating/identifying an old Fender?  (Read 3333 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline markmalin

  • Level 3
  • ***
  • Posts: 827
  • Malin Sweet Loraine
    • Malin Amplification
Hoffman Amps Forum image
easily dating/identifying an old Fender?
« on: August 25, 2015, 02:30:44 pm »
Hey guys.
 
I'm going to look at what is advertised as a '69 Vibrolux Reverb tonight.  Speakers have been replaced, so I want to be sure everything else looks legit.  I guess I've seen enough BF and SF Fenders to spot anything obvious, but the fact that someone replaced the speakers with "radio shack" speakers makes me wonder if they mucked about inside.  I'll drop the chassis before purchase to see what's inside, but I need to know the transformers look legit.  Any "...make sure it looks like..." suggestions would be appreciated.


Mark.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2015, 02:35:05 pm by markmalin »
"... there are Flying V's and then there are the ones shaped like peanuts..."  - my son at age 9

Offline vibrolax

  • Level 2
  • **
  • Posts: 159
  • In a vacuum tube, no one can hear you scream
    • Jon's Homepage - DIY vacuum tube guitar amps, pro audio, original music.
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: easily dating/identifying an old Fender?
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2015, 05:42:47 pm »
I have a 1967 Vibrolux Reverb.
The attached image shows the power transformer codes
First line is part number L022723
Second line is EIA manufacturer / date code: 606 - 4- 14 which is Woodward Schumacher (606) manufactured 14th week of 1964
Third line looks like CSA 827, which might be Canadian Standards Agency registration #

It's the appropriate transformer according to the Fender transformer chart here http://el34world.com/charts/transchart.htm
It should be the same transformer for Silverface (AB568) V-R's.
According to Uncle Spot, Woodward Schumacher's year code doesn't specify the decade, so '4' could mean 1964 or 1974.

This page gives year of manufacture from chassis serial numbers: http://www.ggjaguar.com/fendamp6.htm

Hope you get a good one.  I received mine as a gift from a friend who discovered it rotting in an unheated shed in the Adirondacks.
The output transformer was blown, the filter caps were leaking, and the speakers were totally incorrect 16 ohm alnico's from the mid 70's.
It was my first real repair job, the one that got me started as a tube amp builder 15 years ago
A complete cap job, new OT, tubes, and a pair of modern Jensen C-10Q's in a new DIY baffle and grille cloth turned it into my main gigging amp.

Jon
Jon

 


Choose a link from the
Hoffman Amplifiers parts catalog
Mobile Device
Catalog Link
Yard Sale
Discontinued
Misc. Hardware
What's New Board Building
 Parts
Amp trim
Handles
Lamps
Diodes
Hoffman Turret
 Boards
Channel
Switching
Resistors Fender Eyelet
 Boards
Screws/Nuts
Washers
Jacks/Plugs
Connectors
Misc Eyelet
Boards
Tools
Capacitors Custom Boards
Tubes
Valves
Pots
Knobs
Fuses/Cords Chassis
Tube
Sockets
Switches Wire
Cable


Handy Links
Tube Amp Library
Tube Amp
Schematics library
Design a custom Eyelet or
Turret Board
DIY Layout Creator
File analyzer program
DIY Layout Creator
File library
Transformer Wiring
Diagrams
Hoffmanamps
Facebook page
Hoffman Amplifiers
Discount Program