SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

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rooster
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by rooster »

Yeah, I've read all of this before and I also talked to Cesar directly. Oddly enough I never asked him about the OT thing but I always thought he was trying to fuck with ppl. I'm thinking it was a Twin OT. He was a free spirit and I liked him but my impression was that he thought he was taken advantage of by various ppl. He was always on guard, keeping an eye out for ppl taking advantage. Plus his health and education background made him a bit salty at times.

OK, two stories from Cesar....

I asked him about the chicken wire Faraday cage at Kiva Studios that Jim Gaines built. He said Jim was an idiot and, when he got the call to go down there, he walked in the room and threw that f'n thing out (he cussed a bit). Here I asked him how it might have been grounded (because the Farady cage needs to be earth grounded), and he said it wasn't grounded - it was just sitting in the middle of one of the rooms. I laughed and then asked him about the jumper boxes that he made to hook up all the amps (33?). I was curious because I know about ground loops and you either have to cut one end of the ground sleeve of every cable but one (and this one goes into an amp that needs to be grounded via a three prong AC cord). (Or you can lift all the multiple amp grounds except for one - or make the multi box out of plastic so that the grounds are not connected and then don't wire the grounds from the jacks together.) Anyway, here was what he said: I didn't lift the grounds, I just drilled out a BUD (metal) box and put as many jacks in as I could fit. ......?? So basically the amps were producing 60 cycle hum, even after Cesar got done with them. I know, I was amazed to hear this from him because I know better and I never worked for SRV. :) And if you listen to In Step, you can hear 60 cycle hum throughout the recording. True.

OK, the other story...

Cesar had loaned SRV his very clean, original Tweed Bassman for recording (and there are magazine articles about this loan). Stevie loved it, but make note, Cesar did not GIVE SRV the amp - it was just a loan. Fast forward to Stevie's untimely passing when Cesar eventually calls Jimmy Vaughan to get the amp back. (Jimmy was the main Trustee of SRV's estate, that's what Cesar told me.) OK, this is what Cesar said - and you will probably do a double take when you read this but these are Cesar's words to me. He said, 'I called Jesus's brother to get my Bassman amp. I told him it was mine and I wanted it back. Jesus's brother told me it was being 'held by the estate until a time when things could be sorted out'. Cesar expressed his thoughts on the subject to Jimmy (some profanity), but Jimmy stuck to his guns saying there was nothing he could do. Obviously Cesar was incredibly mad about this and felt betrayed. I get it. And in fairness to Cesar and the Jesus comment, I understand this too. He was saying that to him, Stevie was a normal person, a friend, someone Cesar helped along the way, and then suddenly he was exalted to god status. Imagine you loaned a friend your prized amp (and Cesar played with Bob Dylan on the road among others - he could have used the amp) and then you discover that you have no way to get the amp back. That the friendship that existed was not being honored. It would vex me, too.

OK, chew on that for a while. And if I didn't say it, I enjoyed my exchanges with Cesar and miss him. He was very unique.
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Bombacaototal
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by Bombacaototal »

@rooster: thanks for sharing such interesting stories

I am trying to identify the actual pots used on a vintage 64 Vibroverb

This is what I gathered so far but not sure it is correct. Are the bass and treble using the same pot?

Volume: 021832 1MEG AUD-1377326
Treble: 021857 250K AUD2-35-13773
Bass: 021857 250K AUD2-35-13773
Reverb: 021873 100K LIN-1377323
Speed: 021865 3MEG-CCWA-1377310
Intensity: 032367 250K-A-1377451
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rooster
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by rooster »

Those are correct values, yes!

Did you ever read that story from ToneQuest (I think?) about the guy who rescued one of SRV's Vibroverbs from a storage theft? They opened it up, took a look inside, and played it before contacting the SRV estate. I'm a bit vague on the particulars but they said the amp was fairly bright overall, I think I remember that correctly. If you haven't read this, google around, it's an interesting read. And yes, a storage locker that the estate was keeping some of SRV's gear in was robbed.
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Bombacaototal
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by Bombacaototal »

The schematic of the 63-64 vibroverb seems to indicate that only the treble was 2-35 250ka and the bass looks like a normal 250ka

Any idea on the correct part number of the bass pot?
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ToneMerc
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by ToneMerc »

Bombacaototal wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:08 pm The schematic of the 63-64 vibroverb seems to indicate that only the treble was 2-35 250ka and the bass looks like a normal 250ka

Any idea on the correct part number of the bass pot?
You have already answered your own question in a previous post!

TM
Bombacaototal
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by Bombacaototal »

ToneMerc wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:25 pm
Bombacaototal wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:08 pm The schematic of the 63-64 vibroverb seems to indicate that only the treble was 2-35 250ka and the bass looks like a normal 250ka

Any idea on the correct part number of the bass pot?
You have already answered your own question in a previous post!

TM
My previous post does not have the correct pot number for the bass. You can see it's same as treble which is not correct based on schematic
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ToneMerc
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by ToneMerc »

Bombacaototal wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:05 pm
ToneMerc wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:25 pm
Bombacaototal wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:08 pm The schematic of the 63-64 vibroverb seems to indicate that only the treble was 2-35 250ka and the bass looks like a normal 250ka

Any idea on the correct part number of the bass pot?
You have already answered your own question in a previous post!

TM
My previous post does not have the correct pot number for the bass. You can see it's same as treble which is not correct based on schematic

Look at your post and where you referenced 032367 250KA.

TM
Bombacaototal
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by Bombacaototal »

ToneMerc wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:10 pm
Bombacaototal wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:05 pm
ToneMerc wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:25 pm

You have already answered your own question in a previous post!

TM
My previous post does not have the correct pot number for the bass. You can see it's same as treble which is not correct based on schematic

Look at your post and where you referenced 032367 250KA.

TM
Ah ok, thanks for the help. So its the same code I had as the intensity although the intensity should actually be 50k
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ToneMerc
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by ToneMerc »

Bombacaototal wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:05 pm

Ah ok, thanks for the help. So its the same code I had as the intensity although the intensity should actually be 50k
Yes, 032367 is Fender's part number for the smooth shaft 250KA pot.

TM
Bombacaototal
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Re: SRV Vibroverb - Cesar Diaz Mods

Post by Bombacaototal »

SRV in 1984 playing what it looks to be just the vibroverb https://youtu.be/AedzqHGAuUA

Great sound reference of his mid 80's Vibroverb
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