Fender Brownface Vibrolux and Reverb Unit Build: PCB Design Process

Fender Brownface Vibrolux and Reverb Unit Build: PCB Design Process

June 18, 2023

For the Vibrolux portion of this build, the PCB build was fairly easy. I simply coppied the board layout off of the Fender schematic, which I have posted below.

https://schematicheaven.net/fenderamps/fender_vibrolux_6g11-a.pdf

Below is my EAGLE board design:

I also had to design a cap board and a bias board, which you will be able to see in my finished pictures of the amp.

The reverb design process was much more difficult. Because Dumble had a few reverb design circuits and almost none of them (that I could find) had reliable schematics, I had to draw my own schematics off of verified layouts. After I drew them, I compared them and found the differences between them.

SSS#002 reverb section schematic
Two Rock JM Sig reverb section schematic
SSS#004 reverb section schematic

The main difference I was able to find was the NFB loops around the tubes in the Steel String Singers. In my final schematic, I added local NFB loop switch using a relay to determine wether or not there would be local NFB loops in the circuit. Here is my layout for the reverb unit.

Reverb unit layout

During the PCB design process, I also had to build a relay board. I also had to account for a different, lower output power transformer that had a 5v tap.

Reverb unit PCB

Because i designed these PCBs, they are of course available for purchase! Let me know if you would like to purchase a PCB, or just get the .brd files so you can order them yourself.