well, this isn't a review, per se, just some thoughts, questions, et al:

i took my 69 DR to a friends house for repair work (thanks dave!)- i keep blowing fuses, and have burned-out 2 recto tubes in 2 months. anyhoo, my bud loaned me his Vibroverb while he checks out the DR, and i gotta say that i like it much more than i expected.
after being fully indoctrinated into the point-to-point, boutique world, i was pleasantly surprised at the Vibe's tone: my bud claims that with new speakers in it, it would be a very fine amp, and i gotta agree. it gets a nice grind as the volume increases-sounds pretty good with my strat and various ODs & fuzzes. plus, the trem and reverb are quieter than my DR.

so, since he is into building amps of his own, he's looking to sell it for 5 C notes, which seems kinda tempting. any thoughts on this amp? all input would be greatly appreciated!

Well...this is just my opinion... but having owned one I did change out the speakers (Jensen RI C10Q) and the amp never did it for me...I didn't go for the tubes or try other speakers as I didn't want to invest more in this amp...it was fools gold...sounded great at low volumns in my living room...on stage at gig volumn...it was harsh...had no cut...no sustain... no balls...the only other thing I thought about doing was ripping out the chasis and rebuild it with one of the Hoffman-amps PTP kits but that ran about $250 and was always backordered...I'll say this though it was one cool looking amp and it was this amp that caused me so much frustration that I called up Fargen Amplification and had my dream amp built...


Chow,
Seegs

Man I love my little '63 RI Vibro, one of the top bang for the buck purchases I've ever made. I have what some would consider *better*, and certainly more expensive amps, but none has logged in the gig hours of the Vibro. Perfect amp for bars, just right. I can't gig with a Deluxe Reverb or AC15, I get lost in the mix, but this one has been a solid workhorse for me for around 10 years. The natural breakup on this little PCB amp is extremely sweet to my ears, and is just the right brand of spongey at around 6 on the volume. Back the volume down to 4-5 for tighter character without huge loss of volume. I recently played a Victoria Victorilux PTP amp at about thrice the cost. Stunning up to the verge of breakup, but quite ratty past that point, as compared to my Vibro. If I need a bit extra, I run a '64 brown Deluxe in tandem with the Vibro, sweet combo. Totally dig this amp, and it loves pedals.