Fender Vaporizer Retube Kits

The Fender Vaporizer.

All of our Vaporizer full Retube Kits are designed specifically for these amps. Every kit is configured to provide a specific sound/experience.

The default power tubes for all of our Vaporizer kits are the JJ EL84’s. However you can use the Power Tube drop down to select the JJ EL844’s. The JJ EL84’s will on average maintain the OEM headroom/breakpoint for the output stage.  The JJ EL844’s will drop the output power around 25% lowering the power tube breakup point.

These amps are cathode biased so both the EL84’s and EL844’s are plug and play.

The Standard Retube Kit is as close to OEM as possible. Maintaining the amps stock level of headroom and gain while providing a warm but even handed overall sound. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default, one Balanced JJ ECC83S for the phase inverter (V2, closest to power tubes), and one Standard JJ ECC83S’s for V1.

The Gold Pin Retube Kit uses the JJ ECC83S Gold Pin variants to provide a smoother, creamier, and more singing overall sound. This option is less aggressive and has less “teeth” when driven hard. If you like a classic raunchy gritty overdriven tone, we recommend looking elsewhere… If sweet, open, and more refined is what you’re after this kit will do it. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default, one Balanced JJ ECC83S Gold Pin for the phase inverter (V2, closest to power tubes), and one Standard JJ Gold Pin ECC83S for V1.

The High Gain Retube Kit uses our hand picked high gain selected JJ ECC83S’s. If you’re looking for maximum crunch and grind this is where you want to be. Sonically this setup is very similar to our Standard Retube Kit but with a little extra gain on tap. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default, one Balanced High Gain JJ ECC83S for the phase inverter (V2, closest to power tubes) and one High Gain JJ ECC83S for V1.

The SRV Retube Kit uses the JJ 5751 in the V1 position. The JJ 5751 is a purpose built low gain 12AX7/ECC83 substitute. Stevie famously used these to eek out a little extra clean headroom, and you can too. Expect about a 25% reduction in gain, which is like having an extra click on the dial before breakup sets in. Great for clean players and pedal users. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default, one Balanced JJ ECC83S for the phase inverter (V2, closest to power tubes)  and one Standard JJ 5751 for V1 (closest to input jack).

The Tweed Retube Kit uses a JJ 12AY7 in the V1 position. The 12AY7 was famously used in input stages by Fender through most of the tweed era. You can expect a noticeable drop in gain with a softer, rounder, cleaner sound, which will have more compression when pushed hard. Great if you’re after more headroom, or more of an old school crunch at high volumes. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default, one Balanced JJ ECC83S for the phase inverter (V2, closest to power tubes) and one Standard JJ 12AY7 for V1 (closest to input jack).

The Tweed Gold Pin Retube Kit is the same as above but with a gold pin 12AY7 and a gold pin ECC83S. This adds a little more refinement along with the creamier character the gold pins are known for. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default, one Balanced JJ ECC83S Gold Pin for the phase inverter (V2, closest to power tubes) and one Standard JJ 12AY7 Gold Pin for V1 (closest to input jack).

The Max Headroom Retube Kit uses one JJ ECC81/12AT7’s for V1 along with a cooler set of JJ EL84’s. This is the maximum amount of gain reduction that can be achieved before sacrifices in sonics and dynamics occur. Equally suited for jazz or country chicken pickin players, or anywhere maximum clean output is required. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default, one Balanced JJ ECC83S for the phase inverter (V2, closest to power tubes) and one Standard JJ ECC81 for V1.

The Harp Retube Kit was developed after lots of back forth with a couple of our regional harp players. This kits uses a JJ ECC81 in V1 and a JJ ECC832 for V2. The magic in this kit is the ECC832 substitute in the Phase Inverter position. The ECC832 is a dissimilar section tube which will purposely push the PI stage out of symmetry. This provides more emphasis on the even order harmonics generated by the PI and output stage which really makes the unique overtones of the harp shine. The use of an ECC81 in V1 helps tame feedback and provides a little more input headroom from the amp. The kit includes one matched pair of JJ EL84’s by default and one JJ ECC832 for the phase inverter in V2 along with one Standard JJ ECC81 for V1 (closest to input jack).