After chatting with The Dear Hunter singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Crescenzo, Gearwire got the amplication scoop from guitarist/co-engineer Andy Wildrick. Wildrick uses a Fender Vibro King.

"I stumbled upon the Vibro King at random, at a show in New York in April 2009. I was using an Orange AD30 for the show, and by the third song, my Orange, which I had always taken perfect care of, stopped working. It was extremely frustrating, and the show basically stopped for about 10 minutes," he says. " Someone from another band grabbed the closest amp and brought it on stage. It was a Vibro King. I plugged into it, and played one chord and knew instantly that this amp sounded so much better than the Orange. I literally didn't turn any knobs...just plugged in and it was amazing. I've never experienced that with any gear before in the past."

The next day Wildrick put his Orange AD30 on Craigslist and tracked down a Vibro King.

"I love my amp. I've used Hiwatts, Marshalls, and Oranges, and this is the best amp I have owned." he says. " I like knowing that the Vibro King is one of Fender's most expensive amplifiers. Sometimes, I get more security from knowing that Fender considers it one of their finest products."

He says the best feature is the reverb unit.

"I love how it allows you to adjust the tone of the reverb rather than just the wetness and mix level," says Wildrick. "This is a great feature for recording and fine tuning a unique and spacious guitar tone."

Wildrick says the amp is mostly a blues amp.

"Stevie Ray Vaughan used one for years. If the situation calls for a good amount of volume, I feel that the distortion on this amp is one of the finest tones produced by any Fender." he says.

As to guitar that work best with the amp, Wildrick singles out his Les Paul classic.

"It is a very reliable guitar, and I know exactly what characteristics it has. My backup is a First Act Lola. This is a beautiful guitar that sounds a bit like a Les Paul junior," he says. "It is much less bass heavy than the Les Paul classic; and has less overall output, which allows the amp to color the tone a bit more."

When you have an expensive amp--hell ANY amp--out on the road, durability is a concern. But so far so good for Wildrick's Vibro King.

"In the past, I have seen my share of broken amps on the road. So far, this amp has never ceased to work. But it takes multiple years to really trust a piece of musical equipment. I loved my Hiwatt amp and my orange amp, but I ultimately decided to sell them because of durability issues," says Wildrick. "It is the worst possible feeling when you're in the middle of a song at a packed venue and your amp starts to sputter out and die. There's usually no quick solution when that happens unless you have stagehands and a backup amp all wired up...we don't have that luxury yet. The Vibro King showed up on a whim and saved me that one time in New York, so I'm showing it my gratitude by using one every single night now."