Fender Vaporizer ( or others similar I guess?)

thecolourbox

It's been mentioned a few times to me that the Vaporizer would be right up my street - I do like old looking retro stuff (have an Airline guitar and listen to music that is stuck in the 50s & 60s) but more importantly on paper it looks like it would cover the sounds I use most often.

From what I understand it's an amp that goes from clean to driven with the volume knob, then the vaporizer puts everything on full. I generally only play three types of sound:

1. Clean with reverb, a la Jeff Buckley

2. Slightly driven sounds, a la Strokes, but for basically any indie rock or blues, for which I could use a pedal into a fairly clean amp

3. Amp boosted to buggery a la White Stripes, even better if overdriven fendery sound.

All of these it seems to do, albeit at varying volumes for which I'd have to use my Jettenuator as a faux master volume as I only really play at home. However were I to play in public, presumably this could cover it or it could also be a funky looking 2x10 cab for a bigger amp.

My questions are, for anybody that has used one really i guess, though there are other questions for those who haven't necessarily:

1. How nice a clean is it? I have a 68 Custom PRRI at the moment, I don't really use it though as in my tiny room it's a bit bassy at close quarters. Sounds nice dummy loaded into IRs though which also may be how I'd use something like the Vaporizer.

2. Are there any common reliability issues? Ie if I use it for more than 10 minutes on Vaporizer mode (attenuated or dummy loaded) is it going to explode?

3. General question really I guess - it's a 2x10, proabbly a really thick question but does that mean it's 12 watts volume into each speaker, or across the two?

4. Are there any other amps I'm overlooking that would do me for similar sounds? I do like the idea of the Tubescreamer amps but they seem to be much more money now than I recall them being before when I considered them.

The aforementioned Princeton is at risk of being transfer listed due to lack of use, so getting a cheaper amp would free up some more cash for either a keyboard or a guitar.

Thought I'd see if the crowd-wisdom of the Fretboard had any thoughts on them

bazxkr

If you like the retro look check out the Fender excelsior & ramparte too...not had the ramparte but I hear it breaks up very early. Excelsior sounds like it would suit you on looks and sound. That 15" speaker gives you a 'big' sound. Nice cleans with built in tremolo too that is nice.  Altho a bigger than 1x132 usual combo sized box it is still small enough to accommodate at home. Very basic controls but there are mods if you want to tweak. Tons of demos on YT

thecolourbox

bazxkr said:

If you like the retro look check out the Fender excelsior & ramparte too...not had the ramparte but I hear it breaks up very early. Excelsior sounds like it would suit you on looks and sound. That 15" speaker gives you a 'big' sound. Nice cleans with built in tremolo too that is nice.  Altho a bigger than 1x132 usual combo sized box it is still small enough to accommodate at home. Very basic controls but there are mods if you want to tweak. Tons of demos on YT

I did look at both of those before, although they have more of a furniture feel to them to me than the brash pawn shop trashy look I prefer. Neither of them have reverb either as far as i know?

Also was not keen on the Ramparte (despite it being by far the nicer looking of the two!) because of it breaking up early - in general if I ever play live I'll be on my own as solo so would need loud clean, but quiet drive at home as I'm ultimately unlikely to play anything overdriven live as that is more of a band scenario thing, which i wouldn't do

bazxkr

Agreed, no reverb...........but the Excelsior sounds super with a Boss ME25 cheap FX unit through it....... my excelsior is the surf green FSR pro....looks terrific especially with a surf green USA special next to it......I gone all gooey retro no LOL

Had both excelsiors.. the normal brown and the pro that I still have....for the money I reckon they are pukka

bbill335

The vaporizer is clean up to about 12-2 o'clock on the volume, then it gets hairy. Between 3 o'clock-full it goes from gritty to really snarly.

dogload

The clean sound on the Vaporizer is superb. A nice full but glassy sound which because of the 2x10 isn't as boxy as 1x12 can be and feels very 'spacious'. The reverb is good but if it's turned too far can get a bit hissy. I love mine as a home/ recording amp but haven't tried it live - not sure how it competes with drums.

thecolourbox

Cheers guys that is helpful. Keeping up a drummer is not really an issue, I'm unlikely to need to play in public with overdrive really, and I'd be highly unlikely to play with a drummer either overdriven or clean.

A hissy reverb could be a problem though as the Princeton also has this and it drives me mad

bbill335

I wouldn't bother with the vaporizer's reverb, mine used to feed back/osciallte at anything above home volume. For the price I paid, a cool 2x10 with a nice tone was good enough. Kept up with an unsubtle drummer surprisingly well.

thecolourbox

bbill335 said:

I wouldn't bother with the vaporizer's reverb, mine used to feed back/osciallte at anything above home volume. For the price I paid, a cool 2x10 with a nice tone was good enough. Kept up with an unsubtle drummer surprisingly well.

Hmm I see, reverb is a pretty important one for me if there's no fx loop and I'm guessing one can't be modded into it. Hmm. Maybe I'd be better looking for a couple of tiny amps that fulfill the sounds then getting a fryette powerstation + cab if I ever have to play of

bbill335

Well, you might get a good one with a quiet reverb (they are out there) but it isn't a normal post-preamp reverb sound. It's a bright, lofi verb that's more like running a verb into the amp's input.

I don't understand the need to put reverb in a loop, it pretty much always sounds better before a dirt pedal anyway!

jimification

The reverb on mine works fine, though it is kinda fussy and totally dependent on where you set the volume, which I find slightly annoying. The clean sound is pretty sweet actually. Breakup volume is too loud for me at home but might be ok for some. Haven't tried any pedals into it. I'm currently using mine as a 2x10 stereo cab for my Kemper (sounds fab!)

If you like 50's styling, it really is a cool looking thing too!

thecolourbox

Hmm don't think it is going to be for me then if it's touchy on the reverb, I like it on fairly high whenn playing clean and just a touch when driven but it sounds like it would have to be set where it doesn't sound bad wich is less than ideal.

I've looked quite a lot for amps that do the White Stripes style drive sound but they do seem quite hard to come by

Chris_J

Try lifting your amp off the floor? 

One of these makes a good Princeton stand... 
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/chairs-stools-benches/stools-benches/skogsta-bench-acacia-art-50305428/

bbill335

thecolourbox said:

Hmm don't think it is going to be for me then if it's touchy on the reverb, I like it on fairly high whenn playing clean and just a touch when driven but it sounds like it would have to be set where it doesn't sound bad wich is less than ideal.

I've looked quite a lot for amps that do the White Stripes style drive sound but they do seem quite hard to come by

It kind of does that? It's hard to say now coz I sold it on ages ago, I don't think it's as heavy as Jack White's WS sound, it's just not voiced with the same kind of low end. Worth trying one out, if you can.

EricTheWeary

Epiphone 1939. Can't get much more retro than that. 

thecolourbox

EricTheWeary said:

Epiphone 1939. Can't get much more retro than that. 

Lol my nan had a sideboard that looked like one of those