Quite a difference!!

[Tele-Wacker]

Hey guys. As I posted several weeks ago, I was able to get back into playing guitar after quite a long time away due to some personal issues. When I bough t my gear this time, I bought a Vox AD50VT along with the rest of the stuff in my signature. However, after 4 weeks, I found myself more frustrated than ever trying to dial that amp in. Something was just missing. It was really stiff and cold sounding, if you know what I mean.

So tonight, I took it back to my local music store (they have a 30 day return policy thankfully). I brought MY guitar after reading that suggestion on this forum, so that I could get an idea what amp I wanted.

I tried several solid state amps... I looked at a twin (LOL - I had a budget to work within and a wife that was with me to make sure) After a while, I plugged into a Blues Deluxe Tweed Reissue. OH MY GOODNESS!!

After twisting on some knobs while listening to the sound, I was able to dial in some nice, smooth, clean and very twangy tones with my HWY 1 and Nocaster pickups. Bought her on the spot.

Got it home and was going to hook my pedals up to it. Decided to just play around with it first --- Guitar -> Cord -> Amp... 4 1/2 hours later, my wife made me stop so the kids could go to bed :)

I'm amazed at the tone I've got right now without any pedals. I'm scared to hook them back up.... any thoughts or opinions on that?
I'm also amazed at how LOUD this amp is. I play at home and in a small 150 seat church so no real outside gigging unless we have a sing or jam session. I'm not sure I can even push this amp so I'm thinking the 40 watts is going to give me plenty of headroom. (I can't even get it past 2 in my house without grimacing)

Anyone else able to get a decent 'Country' sound out of a Blues Deluxe? I'm very happy right now but I'm certainly open-minded and willing to learn from the experts..

[Tele-Wacker]

Nobody?

[beep.click]

Originally Posted by tcastlejr

After a while, I plugged into a Blues Deluxe Tweed Reissue. OH MY GOODNESS!!

I have one, too -- and that's my feeling: OH MY!!!

I'm amazed at the tone I've got right now without any pedals. I'm scared to hook them back up.... any thoughts or opinions on that?

At home, I generally play this amp without pedals, because I love the sound. With the band, I throw a few pedals in front, and it still sounds delicious. (I haven't even tried the effects loop yet, other than to verify it works.)

Hook 'em up, hook 'em up!

I'm also amazed at how LOUD this amp is.

No kidding!

Anyone else able to get a decent 'Country' sound out of a Blues Deluxe? I'm very happy right now but I'm certainly open-minded and willing to learn from the experts..

I'm not a hardcore country guy, but if you ask me, you get a great country sound by turning the amp on. Seriously; this amp just likes guitars, period!

[Telenator]

"MODERATION." Moderation is the key to using pedals effectively. Big, fat, juicey effects work well with some types of music but it's very easy to over-do it.

By all means, use your pedals and give your audience what they deserve. A night of music where the tone changes periodically to keep things interesting.

The amp is the tonal foundation. The effects and guitar are what help you build your sonic house a bit differently than others. Embrace the pedals, but use them sparingly. Have fun! It's so great when you find something that you truly dig! Good luck with the new amp!

[PRNDL]

That's the cool part about a simple tube amp - your guitar sound really shows through, and you can get tons of different tones by fiddling with the knobs and varying your fingering.

Many don't like pedals or modeling amps because most give you one and only one tone and take away all the cool stuff. There are some pedals, however, that add tonal possibilities, such as a clean boost, TS-808 overdrive, etc.

Now that you know what cool tone sounds like, you'll notice right away when something takes it away.

[91xlntS-3]

I plugged into a Blues Deluxe Tweed Reissue. OH MY GOODNESS!!

After twisting on some knobs while listening to the sound, I was able to dial in some nice, smooth, clean and very twangy tones with my HWY 1 and Nocaster pickups. Bought her on the spot.

Got it home and was going to hook my pedals up to it. Decided to just play around with it first --- Guitar -> Cord -> Amp... 4 1/2 hours later, my wife made me stop so the kids could go to bed :)

I'm amazed at the tone I've got right now without any pedals. I'm scared to hook them back up.... any thoughts or opinions on that?
I'm also amazed at how LOUD this amp is. I play at home and in a small 150 seat church so no real outside gigging unless we have a sing or jam session. I'm not sure I can even push this amp so I'm thinking the 40 watts is going to give me plenty of headroom. (I can't even get it past 2 in my house without grimacing)

Anyone else able to get a decent 'Country' sound out of a Blues Deluxe? I'm very happy right now but I'm certainly open-minded and willing to learn from the experts..[/QUOTE]

I've got one of these amps and agree they are a very sweet sounding amp!

Don't know exactly what you mean by a "decent" Country sound, I play Country, Oldies, and Classic Rock and the Blues Deluxe covers it all. Just dial in the tone YOU are looking for, and it'll all be good!
Yes, they are a loud amp and even gigging, I don't think I go over "3" on my volume. This thing can get crazy loud for 40 watts

I've used mine with a Traynor 1x12 Ext cab with a Celestion g12H-80 and with the deeper, closed back cab this thing will ROAR

After using several different processors, I don't use hardly any effects with the BDlx. A BOSS Chorus is all, and very few/sparingly times at that. I just love the tone I get from the amp. BTW, if you can find a good used Blues Jr, (one of the older made in USA models) they have the same sound (clean) as the BDlx, at least mine, to my ears. And the smaller amp is easier to control for smaller gigs. Use a DigiTech Bad Monkey O.D. in front of it and it sounds just like the dirty channel on the BDlx, again to my ears.

Good luck and enjoy your new amp. It should serve you well for many years to come!

[e-merlin]

I can't remember playing through one of those, but I can say that once I found "my tone" I stopped trying to get others and focused on playing. If you like what you hear, don't be in a hurry to change it.

[abcrelic]

Originally Posted by e-merlin

I can't remember playing through one of those, but I can say that once I found "my tone" I stopped trying to get others and focused on playing. If you like what you hear, don't be in a hurry to change it.

I second that.

[AngelStrummer]

Originally Posted by e-merlin

I can't remember playing through one of those, but I can say that once I found "my tone" I stopped trying to get others and focused on playing. If you like what you hear, don't be in a hurry to change it.

I third that.

[PRNDL]

Anyone else able to get a decent 'Country' sound out of a Blues Deluxe? I'm very happy right now but I'm certainly open-minded and willing to learn from the experts..

The Tweed Deluxe is a simple tube amp that is sensitive to the preamp and output tubes. Changing any or all of them dramatically affects the amp tone.

To do this, you'd need a whole bunch of different tubes on hand, or a tube amp tech that really knows these "secrets". Larry Rodgers showed me this trick on one of my first amp builds.

[Rumble]

The Blues Deluxe is one of the best tube amps for the money. Good choice. You're right; it's very loud. I heard one drown out a Marshall halfstack once. Beautiful sound too, very organic. I have the tweed 212 Deville and was looking to scale down, so I was searching for a Blues Deluxe. I ended up going with an AC15 because I didn't need the 40 watts and I like pretty heavy distortion without having to use pedals. But for your application, country, I can't think of a better amp than the Blues Deluxe unless you're going to spend well over a grand or lug around a 150lb Twin.