The Best Amp Ever? The Fender Deluxe Reverb...

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00:00 intro
3:22 what's nice about the Deluxe Reverb
4:00 great gigging amp
4:13 what you shouldn't expect
5:23 amp on 3 Normal channel with a zendrive
7:13 if you were intending to run it Driven - Princeton?
10:50 other candidates for Best Amp?
11:20 Ibanez SD9 into Normal channel

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

[Francis]

I love tube amps
The sound will never be replicated

[trigliderider]

I have several amps, both solid state and valve. My DRRI is my go to. Perfect for me.

[trevorjohnson]

Great video! Love all of the tones you're getting, especially with the Zen Drive.

I'm from the US, so I don't know about the UK music scene, but if you're a reasonably high level band, you can get quite a few outdoor shows at fairs or amphitheaters here.

I have a Tone King Imperial MkII, which is one of the best amps I've ever played, and I'm able to completely turn off the attenuation on outdoor gigs. For indoor gigs, I still have to tame it down a bit.

I know Jake used a Tone King for a bit as a stand-in for the Bella. If it's ever possible, it would be super cool to do a video comparing the Suhr Bella, Tone King Imperial, and the Fender Deluxe Reverb.

[AnkurWow]

If you have a good pedalboard, a Pro Junior (IV or IV SE) all the way. Only 23 lbs in weight, portable, punchy classic Fender tone, and has kept up great in every live situation I've used it (unmic'd indoor and outdoor gigs with full drum kits and other guitarists and keyboardists), and can even use it at home.

[clayteasouth]

I liked mine so much I bought another. Running with stereo fx. Sounds even better now. Very happy!

[Jeffcatbuckeye]

1: the regular deluxe reverb is quite loud with the Jensen C12K, which is why I bought the Sweetwater wine and wheat special edition as it has the vintage rock voiced Jensen P12Q alnico speaker in it. It’s quieter with a speaker sensitivity of only 94dB. It has a chimey top end but breaks up much earlier, but as you noted, it can maintain plenty of clean head room up to 4, which is still pretty loud.

2: tone and emulating other amps is easy….just throw an EQ pedal in front of it.

3: if you want lower volume, gainy overdrive, there is a cool trick for that if you don’t want to use a transparent overdrive like a wampler belle or Nobel ODR1. All you have to do is utilize either your guitar volume and crank the amp OR use any form of a buffer pedal with a volume control or volume step pedal. You can crank the amp to 10, yet play at whisper quiet volumes, with tube overdrive. Attenuators are needless.

4: you want an additional gain stage and more volume….jump the channels….instantly gives Marshall sounds. I prefer using an ABY box into the normal and vibrato channel, but you can just as easily use a pedal patch cable and jump the vibrato and normal channel to create more volume and additional gain stage. You can also jump the vibrato reverb and tremolo over to the normal channel that way.

5: a lot of people find the 2 channels to be unnecessary…and they are….but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with them. You can do some neat stereo effects running A into the normal channel and B into the vibrato channel simultaneously. I also have a type C to 6.35mm tip sleeve input jack cord, so I can plug my phone into the normal channel and play isolated drum, bass, etc tracks from YouTube, adjust the EQ accordingly, then plug my guitar into the vibrato channel and literally play together.

[loopie]

Johnny should have stuck with the Tone Master. 🙂 The reverb tank is a physical device that generates tone and has small wires. They often fail, especially if you move the amp around a lot, causing the tank to bounce and the spring/connections to break. Most people use external tremolo and reverb pedals, so don't worry if it stops working. It's funny how this amp used to be the right size to get a hot, overdriven sound. Now we use it with less volume and create the overdriven sound using pedals.

[RamonZarete]

I use mine with a Tone King Ironman II Mini Attenuator and it work very effectively. For me, (mainly tele and Les Paul) setting volume at around 4.5-5.5, treble around 7 and bass around 4 (ish to all of those) works wonders. Without the iron man, I agree, it would simply be too loud for pretty much any venue I’d play. At 4.5, it is on the cusp of breakup and it is just the sweetest sound.

[danielcgomez]

I have had my '76 Deluxe Reverb for almost 30 years, and it ain't going anywhere! I figured that at some point the tube sockets may loosen a bit allowing the Power/Rectifier Tubes drop out, so I installed some KT66/88 hold down spring clamps, which go up over the tube tops.

[indigos]

I never owned a deluxe reverb. But I've always chosen it as a amp model in my multi effects. It just works.

[Molnboman]

I was always under the impression that it would break up at lower volumes than it does. You are bang on about the volume…..for 22 watts it’s mighty loud and has bags of headroom….sparkly high stuff. 😉 i tried the new ltd edition Princeton Reverb with the 12” speaker and it sounded way loud enoughfor me. Mesa comparison is valid but when they need repairing….that’s when you wish had bought an easier to repair amp. A cheap Mesa is cheap for a reason!

[robinr.]

I put tube retainers (bear trap style) on most Fender amps that visit my bench. They are super easy to install and much less work than replacing/ reworking tube sockets. I most often gig w/ tweed Deluxe (5E3) amps but recently used my ‘67 silverface DR (blackface specs) and was surprised how much louder it was. We tested the real ‘67 against a new reissue, the original DR had more depth on tone, but the DR reissue with better filter caps and maybe a different speaker gets very close. Unless you tried them side by side as we did, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.

[Simbosan]

Friend of mine, respected Blues player down under, played Deluxe Reverb for decades. He used my Marshall at a jam session, now runs a Marshall JTM45 stack. Jussayin

[bluebuspilot]

I went to buy the Deluxe reverb and while at the shop I tried the 68 custom deluxe reverb and I was surprised to find that I liked it a little better. But yes, I think this is the amp for all occasions. Great video!!!

[normcote]

I love my Roland Blue's Cube... at 30 watts.
It's great for mid-size shows and super dependable.
My Fender Blues Jr. previously owned was NOT reliable!!!

[taylornutt]

I don't think you can go wrong with a Deluxe Reverb. My favorite Fender Amp is probably my 1979 Vibro Champ but its a very small amp. I picked up a used '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb with 2x10" speakers at 35 watts. It pushes the headroom up more than a Deluxe Reverb but the amp operates the same. I am actually trying out some vintage Gibson and Epiphone amps to see how they compare to Fenders.

[valendis]

Delxe reverb with the SD-1 in the HXStomp is my go to sound, I even bought a real SD-1 because I love it!

[joemiller]

Ugh.. I just got human nature out of my head from Martin Miller’s cover. Now it’s back. But… this is quite well done and chill

[jeffreylane]

I use a '65 Reissue Del Reverb with an attenuator (Tone King in my case) which works great and allows you to get those great DR tones at a manageable stage volume.

[wozabrown]

I own a mesa boogie express 5/25 watt which has been my best friend the fact you switch it to 5 watt helps with home use