Have a bad feeling about DRRI

[RockerDuck]

Once again I'll say it. DRRI's have been in production longer than BF and SF amps combined and their reliability is proven.

[Magic Bus]

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

[B]Once again I'll say it. DRRI's have been in production longer than BF and SF amps combined[B] and their reliability is proven.

That's interesting, I didn't know that. Anyway I hope there is a happy ending Toto's Dad!

[jh45gun]

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

Once again I'll say it. DRRI's have been in production longer than BF and SF amps combined and their reliability is proven.

Sure as hell does not mean they are better! If some one gave me one I would sell it and buy a SF amp with the proceeds! Your a bit off on proven now BF and SF amps are proven. I will not be alive in 40 years to see how the reissues have fared but I would bet they will not be as dependable. Today's electronics are throw away products TV's DVD's and a few years ago VCR players and other electronics of that nature to not last that many years. Back a few years I took a class on vcr repair because it was free. The guy told us that most VCRs at the time ( When VCRs came down in price) were made to last about 2 years and most folks just throw them away and buy new. Back when the VCRs came out the old top loaded ones they would last about ten to 15 years some of them. (They should for the price paid for them. ) So with that said do you really think todays amps are made any better? You know a 200 dollar tube amp is throw away made it has to be for that price. The Fenders are a lot more expensive but that is an other story they are selling so so amps at exorbitant prices for what you get based on the Fender name. Non of the reissues as far as I am concerned are worth what they are getting for them. Thank God at least for most of us now if we want a Vintage Amp Fender sold enough of them they are not that hard to find and repair is easy as are available parts.

[Harpboy]

Originally Posted by jh45gun

If some one gave me one I would sell it and buy a SF amp with the proceeds!

Why would you buy a Silverface??! Everyone knows they're total garbage compared to any original Blackface!


See what I just did there? Someone will always be able to put down what you like by comparing it (usually with some variation of the flawed "the way it used to be done is superior" argument) to something they think is better. Many touring pros would seem to disagree with your opinion about the reissues. And your analogy to "throw away" electronics is almost laughable. I assume you would have to classify Mesa's amps the same way, being as they're made with printed circuit boards and all. Your opinion doesn't seem to jibe with reality and almost 30 years' of track record for Fender's reissues. I haved owned and played for many years, and still do, beautiful vintage amps far older than your inferior Silverface, and find your position about Fender's reissues ridiculous.

[Clinchriver]

DRRI: I played one Saturday, Some kind of SG with P-90's it was heavenly.

[JohnS]

Hi. You are in Uncle Spot territory there. He is a serious maven and might be able to help you out. Do aGoogle search.
FWIW, I had a blonde DRRI for a while that was really nice and no issues.

[Middleman]

There are two at the Lake Forest GC, one in the Fountain Valley store in Orange County. Both sound stellar. I bought mine at the GC store last year and it was used and it's still working great.

[bunny 7]

Sorry to hear of your DRRI troubles and hope your cold gets better.
If you decide to forgo the DRRI route, maybe take a look at these.

http://www.tube-tone.com/

He's one of the vendors in the vendor forum and the company is in California, might be another option in lieu of finding a SF or BF.

[jh45gun]

Originally Posted by Harpboy

Why would you buy a Silverface??! Everyone knows they're total garbage compared to any original Blackface!


See what I just did there? Someone will always be able to put down what you like by comparing it (usually with some variation of the flawed "the way it used to be done is superior" argument) to something they think is better. Many touring pros would seem to disagree with your opinion about the reissues. And your analogy to "throw away" electronics is almost laughable. I assume you would have to classify Mesa's amps the same way, being as they're made with printed circuit boards and all. Your opinion doesn't seem to jibe with reality and almost 30 years' of track record for Fender's reissues. I haved owned and played for many years, and still do, beautiful vintage amps far older than your inferior Silverface, and find your position about Fender's reissues ridiculous.

far from it there is no doubt modern electronics are not built that great and many are throw away ask any good tech. My tech friend owns a electronics repair shop they fix anything electronic and you cannot believe the newer stuff in there for repair .The funny thing is some of the stuff he repairs he has to laugh because they could go buy new for what it cost to get it repaired. As far as your comments go you can have all the reissues you want I will stick with Vintage amps that are not PCB that are modern. Some of the older PCB stuff is ok in my book because it is not so delicate as the stuff they make today.

[DeepSouth]

OK I tried mine out on the vibrato channel with vibrato on and it makes a "phut, phut, phut" noise for want of a better description. The noise varies in speed along with the vibrato rate. It does it whether or not a guitar is plugged in and I turned all the lights and computers off in the house - in case it is dimmers etc.

I've got three months warranty left (we only get 12 months here).

I'm not sure whether to take it in and ask for it to be fixed or let it go - since I normally don't use it. Still it should work properly and if I go to sell it it's not really much of a selling point is it?

Does Fender know about this problem - can they actually fix it if I bothered to take it in under warranty - or am I wasting my breath.

[Toto'sDad]

DeepSouth:

Thanks for going to the trouble to check out the vibrato channel, yes that is what I was referring to, and on the amp I had it was very noticeable, nothing you had to listen for it was pretty loud. The first one didn't phut, phut, so I don't know why one did and the other didn't. They both had reverb problems. I suppose you would just have to ask Fender if there is a fix. I have written to them asking that very question and haven't heard back from them yet. If and when they answer me, I'll let you know what they say.

Thanks again,

TD

[DeepSouth]

Originally Posted by Toto'sDad

DeepSouth:

Thanks for going to the trouble to check out the vibrato channel, yes that is what I was referring to, and on the amp I had it was very noticeable, nothing you had to listen for it was pretty loud. The first one didn't phut, phut, so I don't know why one did and the other didn't. They both had reverb problems. I suppose you would just have to ask Fender if there is a fix. I have written to them asking that very question and haven't heard back from them yet. If and when they answer me, I'll let you know what they say.

Thanks again,

TD

Thanks very much I'd appreciate knowing how you get on too.

I'll ask some questions from my end as well and will let you know what I find out.

Problem is the public aren't supposed to contact Fender Australia - we are supposed to go through the retail outlet (where I wouldn't trust what any of them say). Fender Australia are distributors/importers here so to speak - but they do have in-house service facilities and luthiers - so I might get lucky if I get the right person on the switchboard

[Warren Pederson]

mmm

[jh45gun]

Originally Posted by Harpboy

Why would you buy a Silverface??! Everyone knows they're total garbage compared to any original Blackface!


See what I just did there? Someone will always be able to put down what you like by comparing it (usually with some variation of the flawed "the way it used to be done is superior" argument) to something they think is better. Many touring pros would seem to disagree with your opinion about the reissues. And your analogy to "throw away" electronics is almost laughable. I assume you would have to classify Mesa's amps the same way, being as they're made with printed circuit boards and all. Your opinion doesn't seem to jibe with reality and almost 30 years' of track record for Fender's reissues. I haved owned and played for many years, and still do, beautiful vintage amps far older than your inferior Silverface, and find your position about Fender's reissues ridiculous.

Where do you come up with 30 years of reissues> The 65 twin came out in 1992 that is a 20 year old amp. And we have no idea how many have had issues or from them early ones are still being used. The Super Reverb came out in 2004 that is a now 8 year old amp. From what I can tell the DRRI came out in 2005 so 7 years and this one evidently has issues. The Princeton Reverb reissue came out in 2008 so it is only 4 years old. So until these amps can show they have the staying power of the originals you cannot say they are as dependable. A friend bought a twin reissue a couple of years ago it lasted a year and then needed to go to the shop it quit on him.

[Green Lantern]

To be honest, I'm wondering if those amps were really broken. Fender amps making a "ticking" sound with the tremolo turned on is normal. However, if it is very loud, then there is some problem. As for the amps having reverb problems, what did the reverb do to make you believe there was a problem, OP?

Why settle for a cheap imitation that has given you countless issues and problems.

One reason, among many, why one would settle with these so-called cheap imitations is that they can get them new with warranties, so if problems pop up, they're not up the creek and with a repair bill, as they likely would be with an old second hand amp. I've come to learn that warranties are quite valuable.

[RockerDuck]

In 2009 and later amps. Fender fixed the tremolo ''Tick".

[PsychedelicTrip]

If Fender is the issue I'm sure there is someone out there making a "copy". While you'll have to have it shipped and you wont get to try it, chances their attention to detail will be greater. You could also just look at the basic amp design and find something similar that is hand built. More costly? Sure in some ways and not in others. If you just get the basic amp you can add Trem/vibrato, spring reverb etc. Check out someone like Dr. Z. He makes many flavors and many sizes. He also has heads so if you already have a cab lying around there's a few bucks saved. I'm sure others can come up with other amp manufacturers to get the basic sound. Thing about a custom amp is if it turns out to be something that's not quite your cup of tea chances are you can flip it on Ebay and get most of your money back. I know I could if the amp was constructed well.

[jh45gun]

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

In 2009 and later amps. Fender fixed the tremolo ''Tick".

Sounds to me like the OP is buying new amps and having issues

[dan1952]

Reliability issues or not, the Fender Reissue amps do not sound like the originals. Not better, not worse, but not the same. My experience is that the reissues are brighter, edgier, and generally have more of a "square wave" sound. I've played through dozens of reissues and originals alike, and they are different animals, tonewise. (And I didn't even address cheap jacks, MDF cabinets, or any other construction differences).

[Captain Bb]

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

In 2009 and later amps. Fender fixed the tremolo ''Tick".

Okay, this is what Fender did:

They removed one component from the amp (the LDR) and replaced it with a digital circuit to control the Vibrato intensity instead.

So, they replaced this:


with these (two PCBs containing a total count of 106 components!):


After that, they found the new digital circuitry made the amp noisy in this otherwise all tube amp. So, they decided to then load all of the preamp tubes with a 10K resistor on the grids in an effort to kill the digital noise - which worked okay but caused the amp to then hiss and hum.

I've since had all that digital crap removed from my 2010 DRRI (including the 10K resistors) and the opto-coupler put back in ('vintage spec DRRI' if you will LOL). Yeah it ticks a little (I hear it at home when I'm sitting next to the amp but not in a gig situation) but the amp is a lot quieter now in all other respects, which is more important to me. I have tried different tubes in the V5 position which can convert the 'tick' to a 'whoosh' instead but it's no different to any other Deluxe Reverb (proper vintage or otherwise) in this respect. I've also read about a mod that puts a cap across two of the legs of the opto-coupler and uses a shielded wire from V5 but have yet to try that (...can't actually remember where I read it now).

I've also had a cap job done on my DRRI, a new set of glassware (out of the box I had microphonic issues) and recently put a Celestion Gold in it. She sounds glorious and I'll never part with her!