Deluxe 85?

ajgus · March 20th, 2008, 02:06 PM

Hey gang.
My brother-in-law has a Fender Deluxe 85 circa '92. I am not familiar w/ this amp. I know its a solid state, not tube. Does anyone own or have experience w/ one of these? I'm wondering how my Tele would sound through it. I may have to kidnap it

. I would appriciate any info. Thanks.

giogolf · March 20th, 2008, 03:02 PM

The 85 is a solidstate amp like you said and a loud one at that. The amps claim to fame is that Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead used it for mostly all of his work. The amp has a nice clean sound, the distortion is a brittle, and buzzy. They tend to sell for $250 on eBay which I think is a good since it probably cost that price new in the 90's. The singer in my band uses one to play mostly clean rhythm, and his acoustic through.

ajgus · March 20th, 2008, 03:18 PM

Thanks fo the info. I did't know that about Johnny. To bad about the distortion, though. I play a lot of classic rock & dirty blues. Does this sound like an amp that I might be able to pull some desirable tones out of?

3 Chord · March 20th, 2008, 08:41 PM

I bet that amp would be great with a Bad Monkey or similar pedal in front of it for classic rock / blues tones. Good clean amps with lots of power usually like pedals.

ajgus · March 21st, 2008, 12:48 AM

Great point, 3 Chord. I've thought about that. I'm going to play through it this weekend. We shall see how it sounds. I'm (personally) not a huge fan of the RED knobs, but I'm much more concerned about TONE! I have a BUNCH of pedals still in "storage". I have been meaning to break 'em out to see if I can re-kindle some old sparks...

Tim Armstrong · March 21st, 2008, 09:04 AM

I had one back when they were new, not a bad little amp. Loud as snot if you crank it. The best thing about it was it was about the size and weight of a Princeton...

Cheers, Tim

ajgus · March 21st, 2008, 09:14 AM

Yeah, I've heard that its a pretty loud little amp.

ajgus · March 21st, 2008, 09:15 AM

Also, apperently, the reverb unit no longer works. Is that something that is easy/cheap enough to fix?

RomanS · March 21st, 2008, 02:07 PM

I've played that one a few times, and found it unbearably bright and ice-picky with a Tele for my taste.
A friend of mine uses one as his main gig amp (he's the singer in a band, and just strums along to songs), and he gets a useable sound, but he's only playing humbucker-guitars.

ajgus · March 22nd, 2008, 08:37 PM

So I played through my Bro-in-Law's Deluxe 85 today. Roman, you are right. It is very "icepicky". I tweaked knobs all day & I just couldn't find a tone that I was happy with. So as opposed to what I said earlier, I won't be kidnapping this amp any time soon. But, I am in the market for a great Blues/classic rock amp to compliment my Tele. I've thought Fender, Vox & Marshall. Whats the answer..?

Tim Armstrong · March 22nd, 2008, 09:02 PM

My classic rock/blues band's guitarist (who's my brother as well) plays through a VOX AD30vt and it just plain kills. And they're quite inexpensive!

Cheers, Tim

RomanS · March 23rd, 2008, 11:38 AM

Well, what price range are you looking at?
Of course a Peavey Classic 30 would always be a good choice, and could probably found for little money; I personally like the Carvin Vintage 16, which should be great if you mainly need slightly dirty, bluesy tones (but won't have enough headroom for playing with completely clean, twangy country tones in a band situation); and that new Kustom Defender looks like another interesting inexpensive choice (haven't had a chance to try it myself yet, but read a few favorable reviews).

ajgus · March 25th, 2008, 12:27 PM

RomanS, I suppose I'm looking to spend somewhere in the $300-$400 range.

March 20th, 2008, 02:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
ajgus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 1,650	Deluxe 85? Hey gang. My brother-in-law has a Fender Deluxe 85 circa '92. I am not familiar w/ this amp. I know its a solid state, not tube. Does anyone own or have experience w/ one of these? I'm wondering how my Tele would sound through it. I may have to kidnap it . I would appriciate any info. Thanks. __________________ "Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?!!!"

March 20th, 2008, 03:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
ajgus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 1,650	Thanks fo the info. I did't know that about Johnny. To bad about the distortion, though. I play a lot of classic rock & dirty blues. Does this sound like an amp that I might be able to pull some desirable tones out of? __________________ "Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?!!!"

March 21st, 2008, 12:48 AM	#5 (permalink)
ajgus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 1,650	Great point, 3 Chord. I've thought about that. I'm going to play through it this weekend. We shall see how it sounds. I'm (personally) not a huge fan of the RED knobs, but I'm much more concerned about TONE! I have a BUNCH of pedals still in "storage". I have been meaning to break 'em out to see if I can re-kindle some old sparks... __________________ "Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?!!!"

March 21st, 2008, 09:04 AM	#6 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Berlin, Maryland, USA Age: 49 Posts: 8,391	I had one back when they were new, not a bad little amp. Loud as snot if you crank it. The best thing about it was it was about the size and weight of a Princeton... Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

March 21st, 2008, 09:14 AM	#7 (permalink)
ajgus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 1,650	Yeah, I've heard that its a pretty loud little amp. __________________ "Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?!!!"

March 20th, 2008, 03:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
giogolf Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: NJ Posts: 196	The 85 is a solidstate amp like you said and a loud one at that. The amps claim to fame is that Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead used it for mostly all of his work. The amp has a nice clean sound, the distortion is a brittle, and buzzy. They tend to sell for $250 on eBay which I think is a good since it probably cost that price new in the 90's. The singer in my band uses one to play mostly clean rhythm, and his acoustic through.

March 20th, 2008, 08:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
3 Chord TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Billings MT Age: 42 Posts: 86	I bet that amp would be great with a Bad Monkey or similar pedal in front of it for classic rock / blues tones. Good clean amps with lots of power usually like pedals.

March 21st, 2008, 09:15 AM	#8 (permalink)
ajgus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 1,650	Also, apperently, the reverb unit no longer works. Is that something that is easy/cheap enough to fix? __________________ "Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?!!!"

March 21st, 2008, 02:07 PM	#9 (permalink)
RomanS Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Vienna, Austria Age: 36 Posts: 2,671 14 Photos	I've played that one a few times, and found it unbearably bright and ice-picky with a Tele for my taste. A friend of mine uses one as his main gig amp (he's the singer in a band, and just strums along to songs), and he gets a useable sound, but he's only playing humbucker-guitars. __________________ http://www.pbase.com/romans http://www.myspace.com/romans212 Last edited by RomanS : March 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 AM.

March 22nd, 2008, 08:37 PM	#10 (permalink)
ajgus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 1,650	So I played through my Bro-in-Law's Deluxe 85 today. Roman, you are right. It is very "icepicky". I tweaked knobs all day & I just couldn't find a tone that I was happy with. So as opposed to what I said earlier, I won't be kidnapping this amp any time soon. But, I am in the market for a great Blues/classic rock amp to compliment my Tele. I've thought Fender, Vox & Marshall. Whats the answer..? __________________ "Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?!!!"

March 22nd, 2008, 09:02 PM	#11 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Berlin, Maryland, USA Age: 49 Posts: 8,391	My classic rock/blues band's guitarist (who's my brother as well) plays through a VOX AD30vt and it just plain kills. And they're quite inexpensive! Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

March 23rd, 2008, 11:38 AM	#12 (permalink)
RomanS Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Vienna, Austria Age: 36 Posts: 2,671 14 Photos	Well, what price range are you looking at? Of course a Peavey Classic 30 would always be a good choice, and could probably found for little money; I personally like the Carvin Vintage 16, which should be great if you mainly need slightly dirty, bluesy tones (but won't have enough headroom for playing with completely clean, twangy country tones in a band situation); and that new Kustom Defender looks like another interesting inexpensive choice (haven't had a chance to try it myself yet, but read a few favorable reviews). __________________ http://www.pbase.com/romans http://www.myspace.com/romans212

March 25th, 2008, 12:27 PM	#13 (permalink)
ajgus Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: chicago Posts: 1,650	RomanS, I suppose I'm looking to spend somewhere in the $300-$400 range. __________________ "Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?!!!"