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Topic: Compared My Fender Twin & Deluxe Reverbs |
Nick Reed
From:
Russellville, KY USA
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Posted 16 Jan 2008 3:21 pm |
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While I had my big heavy Fender Twin Reverb in the house I thought I'd hear the difference between it and my smaller Deluxe Reverb. The Deluxe is an origional 1964 model and just 22 watts. My Twin Reverb is a '65 reissue model made in '92. It is 85 watts. Even though Fender says the Twin R.I. is an origional blast from the past. . . it has the newer Fender circuitry and don't sound like some older blackface Twin Reverbs I've heard in the past. My Deluxe Reverb still produces a good sound for it's age. A little muddy-er than the Twin. They both have tubes, and remember we're comparing 1964 to 1992 circuitry. The twin reverb also has a middle (mid-range pot) where the deluxe reverb doesn't. Speakers, theres 2 x 12's in the Twin, & 1 x 12 in the Deluxe. The Twin has a cleaner & crisper sound than the Deluxe. But thats the way most newer amplifiers do. The pan reverb in the old deluxe sounds stronger than the twin's. Everyone who hears my deluxe reverb complements it's great classic tone. It's small, lightweight and gives me the easy convenience a Peavey Nashville 112 does. I always like to take it on trips because it doesn't take alot of room. I love the sound of Fender Tube Amps. It was fun to compare them and hear the difference.
Last edited by Nick Reed on 17 Jan 2008 2:03 am; edited 5 times in total |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 16 Jan 2008 3:40 pm
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| Quote: |
| ...the Deluxe is an origional 1964 model (44 watts & probably was hand built and wired by Mr. Leo himself). |
Not for the sake of argument, but more for just "information"...
If it's anything like a stock '64 Deluxe Reverb, it's got two 6V6's, and isn't capable of much more than 20 watts. I also heard (from a pretty good source) that Leo himself was pretty much out of the "hands-on" amp building after 1959. |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 16 Jan 2008 4:01 pm
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| No way to get 44 watts out of two 6V6's. |
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Nick Reed
From:
Russellville, KY USA
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Posted 16 Jan 2008 4:22 pm
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Sorry Guys,
You're right and pardon me for my ignorance. I thought years ago I read in an old Fender catalog that the deluxe reverb was a 44 watt amp, guess I mis-understood it. Also I said "PROBABLY" not that Leo absolutely did the wiring. MY BAD!
Anyway, I've corrected my post. I appreciate you setting me striaght. Now you see why I don't post here much anymore. Dumb folks like me can't compete with you Geniouses!
Nick
Last edited by Nick Reed on 16 Jan 2008 6:57 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Posted 16 Jan 2008 5:22 pm
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Here is my two cents;
1. They are both excellent amps, vintage and/or RI. For the money, they are great.
2. I was born and grew up in La Habra , CA., next door to Fullerton, CA., where the Fender factory was located. We all played Fenders in garage bands, lots of twang surf music, etc. This was in the early to mid 60's. By 1964 Leo was not building anything. He was stressed and had his hands full of business decisions and sold the works in 65'.
No offence but I had to laugh when you said Leo wired your amp. If you Google around and find letters by the people that hand wired those amps in the 60's, it was a production line and some of the guys were able to wire 20 smaller amps a day!
Leo was elsewhere either cracking the whip or getting whipped by the stress of business.
You can read all about Fender history, Leo's health and why he bailed out of Fender. Google it.
As kids we used to pull pieces out of the trash and ask for discounts, etc. It was a glorious time.
I still have a Fender Mustang and Musicmaster guitar. |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 16 Jan 2008 7:25 pm
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Well I"m a New-Tuber, but I'm certainly taken with the high end anyhow.
Also, a friend of mine from the past, Richard Edge that played for Bobby Helms for a time, always used a twin. The low breakup was nice, and Bobbe Seymour has employed it very effectively on some of his GREAT Cds.
Smooth, distinctive but not raspy with an unbroken brassiness.
A real art to balance the input signal gain, etc.
My best idea of using a low wattage amp like my HRD or more specifically my Blues Junior, is to use a solid state 112 or Nvl400 for the low end. No breakup.
Actually If I still drug it around, a guy could use the Active Crossover on a Session 500 to throw the highs to a tube amp. I did that with a Music Man Hybrid years ago until I blew it up..
I've got many things to work out, and thankfully gigs where I'm allowed lots of latitude. Unless they fire me...
Just doing a "Craigslist" search, there are TONS of things like Dual Showman heads I hope I'm active long enough to try.
Great trio there Nick.
EJL |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 16 Jan 2008 10:03 pm
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I'm thinking it is not a great comparison to play that Twin at home volume. Those things don't really start to shine until you crank more out of them than would be comfortable at home. The Twin would be just coming into its own at the point where the Deluxe would be f*rtin' out.
Eric, go ahead and get that Showman. You know you want it. It'll sound great with ET or JI. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 18 Jan 2008 6:07 am
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What David said. A Twin a low volume really sounds like crap. It doesn't "bloom" until you get the volume control up into the 4-5 region Asuuming it's biased normally and in good electronic shape), which is pretty darned loud.
And more regarding Leo wiring amps - the only amps he wired were early experiments. Even the early pre-tweed amps were made by factory workers. He designed and tinkered...he didn't build final products himself.
Another "group" of Fender amps between the Deluxe (22 watts) and Twin Reverb (85 watts) models is the mid-power amp line, including the Vibroverb, Supeer Reverb, Pro Reverb, Bassman, Vibrolux and a few others. Most run in the 35-50 watt range and are much warmer sounding at medium volume levels than a Twin, with less "early breakup" than a Deluxe. These amps are far more practical for steel applications than many players realize.
Among my Fenders, my most-used stage amps are my '64 Vibroverb Custom (40 watts, 1x15) and '69 Pro Reverb (45 watts or so, 2x12). Both of these tube amps can be set up clean and will easily keep up volume-wise with 200-watt SS steel amps because of the differences in how tube and solid-state circuits produce harmonic content...and if I really need more volume I just run two in stereo.
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Jamie Danter
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Posted 18 Jan 2008 7:28 pm
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Nice examples Nick.
What's the tall lil amp in the background? Musicmaster Bass? |
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