Fender Deluxe Reverb

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:00 pm

Hi guys, after the thread about smaller valve amps I tried a couple of low wattage amps out and although some of them sounded great they just didn't have the headroom I need. So I've started looking at the Fender Deluxe Reverb.

Now what models should I be looking for secondhand? I've tried and really like the 65RI but should I keep my eye out for a silverface model? How much do the silverfaces normally go for? I know the silverface twins don't cost too much but I haven't seen many Deluxe Reverbs come up for sale.

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:08 pm

I can't help you as far as second-hand gear's concerned, but I do own a '65 DRRI.

When I bought it I did an A/B test in the shop between that and the Supersonic 22, just to see if the SS22 is a 65RI with an additional drive channel. Long story short, it isn't. They're both really nice amps, but they sound noticeably different aside from the DRRI having built-in tremolo and no distortion channel.

The only reason I'm saying this is I wanted the same thing as you: *that* Fender clean sound at sensible volume from an amp that was portable (i.e. not a Twin Reverb) so they were the two that were at the top of my list. The Princeton reissue is a really nice-sounding amp as well, although the 10" speaker might not work for you.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:35 pm

if i remember from my searches silverface deluxe reverbs are spendy in the UK die to not many of them being around. Also their size makes them more than desirable compared to a twin. I think there was not many model changes throughout the 70s. Also there is a mod that will make them similar to the blackface ones.

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:27 pm

I was recently offered a second hand 65 DRRI for $600... I should've jumped on it. If it sounds half as good as my original 67, it will sound amazing.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:11 pm

I've got a '73 silver face Deluxe Reverb. Cost me loads in 2006. Expect to pay Â£800-Â£1000 because they sound so much better than SF Twins and don't weigh a ton. Even though it's 22 Watts, I've never played it anywhere where I could crank it loud enough to break-up naturally.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:30 pm

$600?? Fuck. I bought my Twin for less than that, and I can pick up RI Twins for $600 easily. WTF is with that price?

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:35 pm

Pens wrote:$600?? Fuck. I bought my Twin for less than that, and I can pick up RI Twins for $600 easily. WTF is with that price?

Some things hold their value here. New Fender Amps are wicked expensive if you buy locally.

There's a SF Twin for $750 that tempted me a while back, but I'd rather keep my moneys.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:39 pm

Shit you guys weren't kidding. The only ones I see locally on CL are asking $850 for the Deluxe RI. What the actual fuck.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:01 pm

Pens wrote:Shit you guys weren't kidding. The only ones I see locally on CL are asking $850 for the RI. What the actual fuck.

That's about what I was looking at when I was buying back in 2005. With a few months of hunting and waiting, I snagged a '72 Twin for about $750... which was a good price.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:14 pm

Ankhanu wrote:
Pens wrote:Shit you guys weren't kidding. The only ones I see locally on CL are asking $850 for the RI. What the actual fuck.
That's about what I was looking at when I was buying back in 2005. With a few months of hunting and waiting, I snagged a '72 Twin for about $750... which was a good price.

I meant the Deluxe RI. There's currently no Twin Reverb RI CL posts that I can compare to, but last time I was searching for one I found one right away for $650. I bought my own Twin Reverb RI for $550. I'm just shocked at how much people want for a "Baby Twin", it's stupid how expensive they are.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:31 am

Deluxes maintain their value way better than Twins because Twins are huge and tough to sell, whereas Deluxes are a perfect size for many working musicians and offer a good volume and weight and offer users the option of possibly getting power tube distortion once in a while.** Twins get punished on the resale because really, who needs one?

** Though, really, if you're using a DRRI and getting power tube distortion and you're at an average sized gig, chances are people are wincing every time you play a note. Whether you like that or not is up to you.

luciguci · Post by **luciguci** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:55 am

honeyiscool wrote:Twins get punished on the resale because really, who needs one?

DICK DALE

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 2:53 am

Eh, I've played plenty of shows where I had to turn my TR up to around 7 or 8 to be heard over the drums. After a certain point, from my own trials of cranking the fucking thing, is that it doesn't really get much louder past 7, just dirtier.

There's no way I could play with a baby Twin like that.

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:28 pm

I don't know how many players require the sound you get from a blackface-style Fender combo distorted - Deluxes and Twins are supposed to sound best when run clean, aren't they?

Besides, if you can't hear a Twin cranked to 7 or 8 over the drums, the drummer's propably playing louder than what's appropriate for the venue anyway. Although Dale's godly guitar sound makes me question that rule of thumb a bit...

Post by **Mike** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:18 pm

They're great amps but I'll never own one, they're way overpriced in the UK and getting worse every day.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:38 pm

Mike wrote:They're great amps but I'll never own one, they're way overpriced in the UK and getting worse every day.

Prices seem to have shot up since last year, I remember seeing DRRI go for Â£500-600 when I bought my Rivera and now all the ones I'm finding are Â£700+. I'll just have to be patient and see what crops up.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 3:38 pm

Have you ruled-out a Princeton? I may have a line on a SF Princeton (no reverb), but reckon it's Â£500-600.

I got my Deluxe Reverb from the USA, attempting to get one fer cheaps. It was an export model with the red voltage selector. However, someone had hard-wired it to US voltage so I had to pay a guy to do Â£200 of work on it before I could even use it. It's not a course of action I particularly recommend (obviously) but you may want to look out for export models.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 3:41 pm

timhulio wrote:Have you ruled-out a Princeton? I may have a line on a SF Princeton (no reverb), but reckon it's Â£500-600.

Not particularly yet, I'm just not quite sure it'd have the headroom. But I might be interested actually. I do need to shift my Rivera first though.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:22 pm

Concretebadger wrote:Besides, if you can't hear a Twin cranked to 7 or 8 over the drums, the drummer's propably playing louder than what's appropriate for the venue anyway. Although Dale's godly guitar sound makes me question that rule of thumb a bit...

For real. If you're really cranking a Twin to 7 or 8, I really worry about your health. I just quit a band for many reasons but one of the reasons was that I just got sick of a guitarist who regularly played a Twin at 4 or 5. It was just unpleasant and drowned out every other instrument. Of course, he probably couldn't hear that as well because the amp was always pointed at his feet, but 6 yards out, it's a different story. And having been in the audience of bands that play with Twins, yeah they sound good, esp. for surf (which the band was playing), but seriously? There are spots in front of the stage where it's more painful than good, and you can tell it's the case, because the crowd gathers elsewhere. I'm sure most bands that play with a Twin could sub for a Deluxe Reverb and absolutely nobody in the audience would complain.

As for Dick Dale, that tone is good recorded, but people who've been in his audience live say that it's quite painful. Maybe in the old days, they needed that kind of stage volume, but he still plays at a volume that ignores that PAs exist.

Gabriel wrote:Not particularly yet, I'm just not quite sure it'd have the headroom. But I might be interested actually. I do need to shift my Rivera first though.

You could get a super efficient speaker on a Princeton. Maybe something Alnico.

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 6:26 pm

Absolutely.

After typing my last reply I wondered that maybe the drummer in question was from the Gar region of Central MANLAND and/or Pens was the only guitarist in the band, which could cause some issues. Still, there are a few other things to try - extension cabs, mic'ing up to the PA, setting it back on the tiltback legs, even lifting it off the floor using a couple of chairs or beer crates.

The Deluxe is in its sweet spot between 3 and 5 on the volume dial I reckon; I'm guessing they're like Twins in that going higher than that just creates more dirt and compression. From what I've read, the 2x 6V6 power amp stage gets a bit flubby and unfocused when it's running full throttle. I wouldn't be surprised if a Bassman is a totally different beast in that regard.

I just don't understand why anyone would want to use a black- or silver-face Fender combo as a 'dirty' amp - it's like using a screwdriver to hammer in a nail!

Yes, it works up to a point but it's an inefficient way of doing things and something's liable to break. iirc Dale had those big amps made because his old ones blew up, but I'm not sure if those Stagemasters have 15" speakers...but as you say he did start out before the days of decent PA rigs. A good example of the power of a Twin is the dual guitar setup of MONO. One guy switches between a Twin and a hundred watt Marshall half-stack while the other uses two Twins. The Twins have most of their control knobs set around four or five...their guitar sound is fantastic, but they're also one of the loudest bands I've ever heard.