Help me pull the trigger - Deluxe or Twin

First, a 1981 Deluxe may have been blackfaced, but it didn't come from the factory like that.

You didn't mention if you're gigging, jamming or playing at home only. Either amp will serve up the Bakersfield sound. Obviously the Twin has a lot more headroom, but it sounds different...different circuit and 2x12s. You should play them and decide for yourself, that's what I did, played them side by side. I went with the Twin, it just had the sound I wanted. Not worlds apart, but they definitely sound and play different.

 

The 1981 Deluxe Reverb could well be original but the term "blackface" can be confusing. The last year or two of the DR Fender reverted to the blackface cosmetics but the circuit of the amp was the same as the silverface model of the year before. That amp could be original and untouched, it's just not a "blackface" as far as circuit and collector's terminology are concerned. There was nothing wrong with the silveface DR so don't let that change your opinion of the amp.

The new blackface faceplate had slightly different graphics than a 1964-1967 so you should be able to find a few pics to check out the difference.

I agree with playing both if possible, or at least similar amps. If you don't need a Twin Reverb the amp may not sound exactly like you want it to if you're sitting at home and can't turn it past 2.

 

I'd recommend carrying both of them up two flights of stairs and then giving them a play test.

 

D-LUX gets my vote! but if you play them both (assuming you have) i think your ear and gut will guide you, it all comes down to what you want... and the actual amps... i have heard two seemingly identical SF amps that sounded VERY different. point being that not all d-lux or twins were created equal.... how do those specific amps measure up against YOUR expectations for that model, not just against each other.

 

buy the deluxe. it will hold value better... it will sound plenty bakersfield, smaller, lighter....

I love twins... but, I think the deluxe is a better value in this deal.

 

THAT'S the real test right there!

$600 for a real point to point Deluxe is a good deal even if it's been "messed with".

 

for me... D-Lux no matter what... i never want to carry another twin, plus i prefer the D-lux.

 

That sounds right...

I think there is a good delta in the value between the two. I recently got a silver faced twin for south of 400.00

a silver face deluxe would usually go for 800.00 or better around my neck of the woods... the price and build quality of the deluxe is substantially better than the era of twin you are looking at.... for me, no brainer unless you had to have a twin (big stage etc) which it sounds like is not an issue....

A deluxe is kind of a 'everyone should own one' kind of a thing.... that looks to be a fine specimen and will probably serve you well for many many years... then you can keep an eye open for a GREAT deal on a sf twin and have both.

 

if weight isn't an issue, get the twin

 

I love my DRRI. It's PCB and i know it will hold decent value.

I played a bud's Twin RI. It's a great amp and sounds fantastic.. Not only is it HEAVY. It's LOUD.... L-O-U-D! It's too loud for my situation, but it did sound awful good! He sold it... cause it was heavy and loud.... but it did sound good! LOL

The handwired Deluxe is a great price and I think a much better value as well as a better investment. I ahve watched the price son Twin RI's for about a year now and they don't really seem to be going anywhere. 6-8 bills seems about the going rate, give or take. Handwired Deluxes of any vintage seem to be getting agood bit more.

I love me Deluxe. Last year I paid 550 for it and walked away smiling. Take the good handwired one for 600 and know you got a steal of a deal on a great amp. And if a couple of months from now you don't like it, contact me and I'll see if I can scrape together 6 bills to buy it off your hands! LOL

 

+1

I wish someone would have given me this sage advice several years ago when I was debating between the two.

 

That sounds correct and it's what I was trying to say in my post above. That amp should be of hand wired and hand soldered tag board construction and would have been the same circuit as the last of the silverfaced DRs. Fender just switched the cosmetics back to blackface because it was the very beginning of interest in the older gear. For all practical purposes it's part of the original Deluxe Reverb era and isn't a reissue of anything.

Even if it was "blackfaced" as far as the circuit it concerned it would be minor component and wiring changes.

It should be a great amp at a decent price.

 

tcast

We just don't hear how Twin Reverbs are HEAVY and LOUD quite enough around here. This is a "small amp" forum for sure, and I gather weight lifting isn't one of the popular hobbies among the "in crowd" hereabouts, but since everybody already knows that Twins are:
1. bigger (the original ads in the sixties called them "compact" I think)
2. heavier
3. yup, 80-100 watts is louder than 20

what have we learned?

If you want to sound as good as a Twin will sound, you have to carry the load.
Michael Bloomfield to Kenny Burrell, I see lots of Twins at concerts and lots of Deluxe Reverbs at amateur jam sessions.

Want to sound LOUD and FULL, get a bigger amp, want to lift a lighter, smaller sounding amp, Deluxes are very good little amps. This is how I make my living, so I have big and small amps. Pick the one that'll do the job for you.

House amp at every great Burbank studio in the day- (at least where I recorded)
Twin Reverb
House backline at the big Vegas casinos in the 70s-
Twin Reverb
House amp at the Lighthouse jazz club-
Twin Reverb
House amp at the Blue Note Jazz club, Las Vegas (now a memory)-
Twin Reverb

What I'll see next time I have a few days off and go to an off night blues jam at a sports bar-
Lots of DRRIs

Twins are HEAVY!
Like my old buddy Floyd Turner said, "I lift more than that when I take a leak."

 

So, these "house" amps of which you speak--they are amps that stay in one place and don't get moved from stage to green room to car to apartment by the musician?

I guess weight wouldn't really be a factor in that case, but I've yet to see a post here from a club owner asking what the best house amp to buy for the next thirty years would be.