Love the pictures Kenny. Old amps  are such "caveman" technology. Love the Vibrolux, my fav amp. A Vibrolux has it's own sound, unlike any other Fenders.

ampfixer
If you have any amp related questions post them in this thread and I'll try to answer them.

 
Cheers for the info, that was really interesting.
 

Remember, I know NOTHING about solid state. It's voodoo and I avoid it.

 
Solid state and valves both rely on electrons working their bizarre magic, it's all voodoo :-)

all i know is,
my (now vintage) Mesa Boogie Mark 2b, has been amazing.
 
purchased in 1981, it spent the next 4.5 years on the road full time, being tossed into trucks and back out weekly, in an ANVIL case, of course, and never broke a single tube.
 
it fell, from a height of about 5', face first onto a carpeted drum riser, broke off one of my EQ sliders, but worked perfectly for the next 24 years without EVER seeing the inside of a repair shop.
 
i re-capped the entire head back in 2010, seeing as to how it had been 29 years old, and the caps were only a little bit out of spec.
 
i replaced the broken fader at that time as well, and this is still my main amp.
 
60 watts, with graphic EQ, 6L6's, big big iron, that is a sweet spot of an amp for me.
 
there are wiring specs on the web, of course Randall Smith was one of the first to tout the use of PCB's in addition to fine hand wiring, and i can attest as to the lasting power of that design.
Boogies rock.

The Mark IIB is credited as the first guitar amplifier with a tube-buffered effects loop. 

As an old fart, I still call a "tube" "a tube", not a "valve".  I was in electronics in the US Air Force (1955 to 63) that was all tube as it was before solid state.  Also ham radio (General Class) and 2nd class FCC Radiotelephone license since 1961.  I also worked as an amp tech, primarily on "tube amps" in the early 70's, in Nashville (I was the Ampeg factory repair).
 
 
 
 
 

BassDaddy
Love the pictures Kenny. Old amps  are such "caveman" technology. Love the Vibrolux, my fav amp. A Vibrolux has it's own sound, unlike any other Fenders.

Thanks BassDaddy ,    
 
my Vibrolux Reverb is a 1966 and it is one of my favorite amps to play out of …
one of these days I need to take some photos of her guts …..btw it still has the original speakers 
 
a few more photo's of my amps ….
 
the Super Champ on top is a Rivera I bought it new in 83/ 84 

 

 

 
I wore the grill cloth off my Marshall so I put the ugly metal protectors up front to  protect my speakers 
BTW , most people don't realize that this 4 input model Marshall is a super lead on one side and a Plexi style bass circuit the other 

 
 
I also have a couple of other tube amps ,they are basically the newer stuff that anybody can get a hold of pretty easy …
A Marshall Class 5 combo , and a Fender Champ 600 ….
then to  round things out I also have a few non tube practice amps …A Yamaha THR5 and a Vox Pathfinder 15 R
 
I love tube amps 
 
Kenny

Hey Bat , I like Mesa Boogie a lot   
I used to play out of some of the older models  …Mark 1 , Mark 2 , and Son Of Boogie …all combos …great amps 
 
Kenny
 

Cool to see the stuff folks have stashed. Kenny, you should really be on the lookout for the 6K11 tube in your super champ. If you find a good one, buy it. Nobody is making repro's and NOS or used originals are almost impossible to find. Ampeg used them in a couple amps, but I can't think of another Fender that used them. It's a triple triode, or 1.5 12AX7 tubes if you will.
 
The Vibrolux Reverb is one of the holy grail amps, in my opinion. Good for just about any venue and real punchy with the 2x10 speakers.
 
I know a few guys with Boogies from the early years when they were still pretty simple. They were one of the first to use "board mounted" tube sockets. In their case, they drilled a big hole in the board for the power tube sockets to poke through. Then they bent the tube socket pins over onto the board and soldered them to the traces. When you see it, you think that something's missing. 

fireberd
As an old fart, I still call a "tube" "a tube", not a "valve".  I was in electronics in the US Air Force (1955 to 63) that was all tube as it was before solid state.  Also ham radio (General Class) and 2nd class FCC Radiotelephone license since 1961.  I also worked as an amp tech, primarily on "tube amps" in the early 70's, in Nashville (I was the Ampeg factory repair).
 

 
Military and industrial applications drove the tube industry, and that military training was great. I have a PDF version of one of the USAF tube training manuals and still refer to it at times. It's never going to be obsolete because nothing has really changed. Ham radio was how I got started with tubes as a kid. My dad knew a veteran that was an avid ham and arranged for me to go talk with him. The man gave me an old Hallicrafters receiver that was busted and told me it would be a good learning experience to try and revive it. I spent months fooling with it and listening to broadcasts from around the world. I was hooked.

I wonder how the new Vibrolux's will sound with Celestions. LOL, you can tell which ones were gigged by the brown grill. If they have slightly green tint that tells you something too.