Fender Deluxe Reverb-reissue

KENNY KRUPNICK · From: Columbus, Ohio

Does anyone use one of these reissue amps for guitar?Or any other reissue Fender tube amp? It's my understanding that these reissue amps are not handwired,but incorporate circuit boards instead.I think Meas-Boogie amps are made this way too, but are they similar to the newer Fender reissue amps?How is the tone,and sound of these reissue amps compared to the hand wired amps of the 60's,and 70's?
I have seen alot of these reissue Fender amps listed on e-bay. Just wondered if folks may have bought these amps,and didn't like them for what ever reason.

thurlon hopper · From: Elizabethtown Pa. USA

i have a reissue 65 D/R blonde model and love the way it sounds with my Telecaster.
Also get pretty good results with psg when i use the JBL E-130 in the ext. spkr jack.
Never owned an original, but i would think
that the newer technology available today
would make the reissue more reliable. Love
mine. TJH

Mark Metdker · From: North Central Texas, USA

I have a couple of '59 tweed Bassman re-issue amps. They both sound great! Both have been very reliable so far. One of them is a first year re-issue. (1989) I have dragged this amp through every club in Dallas/Ft.Worth. It is stained up and been beaten up terribly over the years. Most people think it is an original '59 it looks so rough. But it sounds really good!

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Zum U-12 w/True Tone pickup thru a Nashville 112

Strats thru a tweed Bassman

Band Pics
http://community.webshots.com/album/176544894AuXSmi

Alex Piazza · From: Arkansas, USA

Hey kenny, Ive been looking at that same amp. I want something I can play my guitar and psg through as well. Let me know how it is if you get one.
Does anyone have a comment on hoe a strat or tele sounds through a 400?

Drew Howard · From: 48854

Mark Metdker · From: North Central Texas, USA

I have used a Hot Rod Deluxe for both guitar and steel on occasion. The Hot Rod does fine for steel at low volume. It is a 40 watt amp with a single 12. Just used it in the studio with great results also.

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Zum U-12 w/True Tone pickup thru a Nashville 112

Strats thru a tweed Bassman

Band Pics
http://community.webshots.com/album/176544894AuXSmi

[This message was edited by Mark Metdker on 05 May 2005 at 08:50 AM.]

Jon Light (deceased) · From: Saugerties, NY

I have an early 70's Deluxe Reverb. I use it for small rooms. It is a beautiful, warm sounding amp. It has been modified somewhat--tubes, speaker, rectifier, tone stack have all been messed with a bit. Maybe that's more than "modified somewhat".
I plugged into a backline DR reissue a couple of weeks ago. Although it didn't approach the magic of my amp, it took no time at all to get a workable sound. If I owned one, I'd probably change the tubes, the bias, and the speaker. Some people think it's crazy to buy a new amp only to start changing out parts. Some don't. I definitely fit into one of those categories.

Steve French · From: Roseville CA

There has been a tremendous amount of discussion and disagreement on this topic over on the Fender Forum. http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.htm. The reissue amps use a printed circuit board, and there is a spirited debate as to whether or not and how much the PCBs affect the overall sound quality. One thing that people do seem to agree on is that the reissues are harder to work on. My personal opinion is that 90% of the difference between the reissues and the originals is in tubes, speakers, and correct biasing. I have a reissue Twin and a reissue Deluxe Reverb, and both have been extremely reliable. Your mileage may vary.

Steve

[This message was edited by Steve French on 05 May 2005 at 01:46 PM.]

Ian Finlay · From: Kenton, UK

Slightly off topic, but anyway....

I have an original '59 Bassman in good, recently serviced condition. I gig with it (mainly guitar) all the time. Sometimes at festivals I use a "house" '59 reissue, and there is NO comparison. The reissue is a good amp, IMHO, but not the same. It's much grainier at lower pick attacks (i.e. when playing softly) - the sustain dies into a sort of noisy mush. There's much less punch on harder pick attacks for single string playing, and for Freddie Green style comping it has a looser bottom end too. I use Gretsches (with DeArmonds), a custom Tele with hotter pickups and a Gibson 295 with P90s.

I believe a lot of the problem is the speakers. Apparently the Alnico magnets used have a fairly rapid decay of magnetism (I was told maybe 50% in 50 years) so the moders repro speakers may sound more like a new Bassman would have sounded in '59. I would guess decent tubes would help, and I have one Kendrick repro 10" in mine that sounds exactly like the originals.

So, maybe you could upgrade one to sound better. But I'm not getting rid of my '59 anytime soon!

Ian

John Lockney · From: New Market, Maryland, USA

The Deluxe Reverb re-issue is a great amp for (6-string) guitar. It sounded OK at very low volumes but, when playing with guys who play Boogies and like a “hot sound” I would turn it up to 7 or 8 and found that it would just "honk" until I replaced the stock Eminence speaker with a Weber California:
http://www.webervst.com/comment.html#C12CA

…which is supposed give a bit more volume and headroom. It has a rounded cone which is not as inclined to break-up. The Eminence cone has some slight "serrated" bends in it to help it break up earlier, which is fine if you want a crunchy sound for guitar.

With a more sensitive speaker I found that some of the NOS pre-amp tubes were microphonic, replaced them and moved them around. It ships with Groove Tubes biased pretty low… After adding “balanced” NOS 6V6 and a NOS rectifier, having it re-biased, it sounds killer.

I took it to a vintage guitar shop and played it back-to-back against a real black-face Deluxe Reverb with "point-to-point" wiring.

The guy told me in confidence "Dude. When I want someone to buy a guitar, I plug them into THIS amp." (Which is probably what he says when he wants to sell an amp!) At moderate volumes it was hard to tell a difference between the two. The original was a bit more "alive" but, not $1000 better on top of the trade-in.

Plenty of Fender tone. It makes a great amp for practice or recording at low volume. If I had it to do over again I would buy a Twin.

[This message was edited by John Lockney on 14 May 2005 at 07:31 AM.]

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

Kenny,
I don't have a re-issue but I do have the REAL DEAL! Pictured below is my 1964 Fender Deluxe Reverb. It's an oriinal Pre-CBS model. My dad bought me this amp used when I was 15 years old, and I'm turning '50 in October. I've had it a long time. It now gets used as a practice amp at home with my Steel. I don't gig with it. My main amps now are a Webb 614E, Peavey Nashville 1000, and a Fender Twin Reverb (65 reissue). I played Rock n' Roll with the Deluxe Reverb back in high school using a Gibson SG electric guitar which I also still have. Ahhhh the memories! BTW, that other amp in the picture is a smaller '67 Fender Princeton Reverb. Both have been re-tubed, re-capped and work great. They're sweet little amps and I've never wanted to get rid of either.

Nick

[This message was edited by Nick Reed on 15 May 2005 at 09:45 AM.]

KENNY KRUPNICK · From: Columbus, Ohio

Nick, those are 2 NICE amps!

thurlon hopper · From: Elizabethtown Pa. USA

Just replaced the two 6V6's in my '65 D/R for the firts time since it was new (1994)
and like the sound of the JJ 6V6's i just put in it. They semm to have more headroom
and are slightly larger thatn the tubes that came with the amp. Also the pins on the new tubes are somewhat longer. So far, i think it (souped) the amp up a little and
it wasn't half bad before.

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