The Deluxe Reverb Club

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-owners-clubs/166569-deluxe-reverb-club.html

I'm in. The DR is my favorite amp.

 

Always wanted a DR, but still using the old '69 SFTR.

 

YIKES!

I tried every search option I could find, but nothing came up.

I'll go with the other Thread.

 

Yes, of course there is. You'd just have to search this forum for threads with "Deluxe" in the title, but here it is. I've merged your new thread with the existing one. Thanks, CS

 

Thanks, Cris!

Now I have 600+ posts to go through and enjoy... and learn from!

Haven't been to the studio over the holidays, but I'll post a photo of the new amp with my other new acquisition, a Gibby ES-335, this week at practice. It's a 'cheap' satin Custom Shop model but very much to my liking so far.

I tried all the key words, but still didn't ring up the right forum - even though I clearly recall reading some of the recent posts, so I must be crazy.

Yup. That must be it!

 

Deluxe Reverb Love

This is my baby!!!

 

O/D pedal suggestions?

I'm in since last September. Got a Wine Red reissue made in May of 2015. Absolutely LOVE it! It came stock with GT labelled JJ6V6, and a Jensen P12Q. I just bumped up the bias to 24 and warmed it up a bit. The stock speaker is nice and vintage sounding, but I wanted something more efficient to sound fuller at lower volume dial settings, so I went on a speaker quest. Tried the WGS g12C: nice speaker, but a little bright; also tried a Weber California with the H dome. A beautiful, speaker that really sounds bell-like for cleans, for dirt=fair to middlin'. I also wanted to see if I could still get better efficiency, closer to the stock black face ones in the stores. So, I had the brilliant idea of trying the Jensen C12K. Bingo!!! Noticeable volume increase compared to all the others and it didn't need any breaking in to sound good. It was really nice right out of the box! I've heard some major dissing on this speaker, but it sounds absolutely great, I actually like it so much, I haven't looked back. I'll keep the P12Q alnico around, because it has its uses too.
I mainly use a baja tele with vintage 58 pups in it, superb match-up clean, and with the amp's own overdriven tone but I'm having trouble finding O/D and distortion pedals that go well with this amp and guitar combo for lower volume playing. To tell you the truth, if I could just play this amp at its sweet spot (5-7) and use the volume knob on my guitar, I think I would only need something to goose it a little for sustain. It almost seems a heresy to use pedals, as this amp has one of the best natural overdrives I've ever heard and just walks all over the pedals I've played--OCD, Timmy, Sweet honey, TS9. But 5-7 on the vol knob is just plain too loud for most of my playing. It's a shame, really, cause with this amp and a good guitar, you really have all you need to cover a ton of different styles.
Luckily, it sounds rich and full at lower volumes too...I just need to find the right pedal for it for mild break up and crunch. Any suggestions?

 

Wampler Black '65.

Said it before, and I'll say it again...

I play BF/SF amps at home. I use the pedal nearly always on, gain on zero, as a tone shaper. The amps sound great on their own. The pedal makes them sound as if amp volume is up around 4 (still clean, but 'breathing'), instead of the 1.5-2 I usually set them at in the house.

If I want some grit, I do like some other pedals, depending on the flavor, but if I want natural sounding Fender overdrive, the Wampler nails it.

 

Thanks, Moosie! What other pedals do you like for grit?

 

I've owned over 60 dirt pedals at one time or another. So, no guarantees that what I like today stays on the board. But I do seem to be slowing down, finding the sounds I like.

For single coils mostly, playing clean to low gain (rockabilly, Bakersfield, jazzy blues), roughly in order of preference:

Rockett Archer (silver). Klon-like? Who knows. I like it better than the other Klones I've tried.

Maxon OD-9. An AnalogMan TS, with their Silver mod, which opens it up a bit. Not as nasally/compressed sounding. Hard to find a bad setting.

BYOC Yellow (Boss OD-1 clone), with Raytheon RC3403AD chip. I put their popular mod on a switch: 'Replace C3 and R5 with a .33uF film capacitor and 3.3k resistor. This will give it more available gain, restore low end, and a flat EQ response.' The pedal has a chewy texture, almost tweedy. I use the mod for single coils, and stock for humbuckers.

While mentioning BYOC, my son has had their Overdrive 2 on his board for a couple years now. Loves it. It's a combination boost + TS, with several of the most popular TS mods switchable. Compared to my real TS, I don't think it sounds like an actual greenie, but it's still a great pedal.

Timmy. I love the transparency. Okay with single coils, and fan-f*ing-tastic with the 335.

AnalogMan Prince of Tone. Good all round low gainer. Unlike the bigger brother KoT, it has the three-way clipping switch mounted externally.

Rockett Blue Note. I can't think of words for the tone at the moment, but it's a good one. Not going anywhere.

Wampler Paisley. Great pedal, but quite a bit of overlap. If I were to simplify, this one goes early. I suspect if I were to sell it, I'd find myself repurchasing it some day, which is why I still have it.

 

My 68 CDR loves the newer version of OCD.

 

With my '68 DR, I'm using 2 dirt pedals, both Digitech Hardwire pedals - the CM-2 "Tube Overdrive" and the SC-2 "Valve Distortion." They both work really well the DR.
I got the CM-2 first and set it up for slide - smooth gain with just a touch of compression and beautiful sustain. Picked up the SC-2 when Sweetwater was blowing them out at $50 and I actually have it set up for lower gain with bit of edge - kinda the opposite of what you might expect for the 2 pedals, but I already had the CM-2 dialed in and didn't want to mess with it. Plenty of control with mode switches and separate Bass/Treble knobs on both - very versatile.

Unfortunately, Digitech discontinued both pedals (which seems crazy to me), but you should be able to find them on sites like Reverb or eBay.

 

Thanks guys for all the great suggestions, I really appreciate it! Looks like I'll need to do some wheeling and dealing and start auditioning some of these pedals. I have tried the OCD, it just doesn't seem to work all that great with the DRRI, sounds too scooped/hollowed out--I think what I need is a pedal to compensate for the missing mids in the amp, at least for crunch. Has anyone used a Rat with their DRRI?
As far as overdrive goes, I checked out some clips on youtube and the 65 Blackface seems pretty awesome. I also like what I heard of the EHX East River Drive--seems like a little more transparent than the TS9, and yet has some mids to it--and it's just under $70.00. I would also be interested in checking out the Hardwire pedals, too, if I can find any locally to try.
I'll post back when I find something I like.

 

My favorite DRRI upgrades, accessories and mods

Just joined the forum and already digging it. I'm a gear junkie, a tone chaser, and an experimenter by nature. So....thought I'd share MY favorite accessories, upgrades, and mods I've made on my '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue:

1) Tilt back legs: Because the Deluxe Reverb is a great little "clubbing" amp, it makes great sense to add these. You can buy them on Amazon for under $40, sometimes under $30. They are relatively easy to put on if you have basic handyman skills. Very helpful if you play at jams, small club gigs, and even at home. Want directions on where to drill the holes to get a good fit/proper tilt? Amazon.com: Johnny Guitar's review of Fender Pure Vintage Amplifier [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@41e6frpdWpL

2) D2F Cover - These are nice foam padded canvas covers. If you bought a DRRI, it probably didn't come with any cover at all. And the Fender stock covers are cheap unpadded fabric. A few bucks on a D2F cover pads your amp from dings. I know mine have saved me in a couple downpours too when I had to carry the amp from truck to venue. These run about $75 shipped if I recall correctly. See ebay or Reverb and search "D2F Cover for Fender". Here's a current listing on ebay, while it lasts. http://www.ebay.com/itm/D2F-Padded-...419161?hash=item5682aacd19:g:pl8AAMXQhuVRV4fb

3) Speaker Change - First I'll say I actually like the stock Jensen C12K that is in the normal '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue. But I'm an experimenter so I've tried several different speakers - in a band situation. I finally settled on a Celestion Creamback G12M-65. This is a highly subjective topic subject so trust your ears but I preferred this speaker to Celestion Greenbacks, Eminence Legends, a Jensen P12Q, Eminence Cannabis Rex, Swamp Thang, and more. I'll also add that I prefer to buy used speakers instead of new ones because they are usually broken in already and cost a lot less. Never had an issue - so far. New the G12M-65's are about $160-$170. I found mine for $100 used in great shape. Another speaker I heard and liked a lot was a Weber Jensen knockoff. Not sure of the model number but it sounded good in a 68 DRRI with a bright cap mod.
Amazon.com: CELESTION G12M-65 Creamback 12-Inch 8-Ohm 65-Watt Guitar Speaker: Musical [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@51U2FDuk4XL

4) Rubber Feet - God Bless Fender for their wonderful amps but the metal feet they put on them suck the big one. I hate those and always replace them with rubber feet. I buy mine from Carvin for about $5. But i can't find them on their new segmented web sites. Mojotone carries several styles, so does parts-express, and other places. The ones I like are about 1" tapering to .75 in diameter, and about 3/8 or 1/2" high.

5) Always On Shunt Plug turns on Reverb/Tremolo - I don't like the stock footswitch and didn't want the extra cable running to my pedal board. I also prefer to just turn on a touch of reverb and a touch of tremolo to fatten the clean tone -- and I don't care to switch them on and off. So instead of having to carry the footswitch and cable around to gigs, I just have a shunt plug inserted. Works great! Search Ebay or Reverb for "Always On Plug" http://www.ebay.com/itm/Always-On-P...035204?hash=item3d12b7b844:g:FbEAAOSw14xWJIW3

6) Dr Z Brakelite Attenuator - If you want to save your ears, an attenuator can be very helpful. But it's also helpful for helping you get the breakup you want in your sound at the right volume. That's how I use mine. I like this attenuator because it is mounted right inside my DRRI cabinet in back. Nothing extra to carry or hook up - it's just always there. I can adjust from no attenuation through 4 different levels of attenuation. There are better attenuators out there - and I own several different styles. But for a gigging musician, playing through a DRRI -- this is really a great option. Not cheap for what it is at $229, look for a used one first on Reverb or E-bay - but make sure you get the one that mounts in your combo, not the standalone - if that's how you intend to use it. http://drzamps.com/product/brake-lite/

Hope some of you find that useful in your amp journey!

 

Well, I auditioned a bunch of pedals and found a couple that work pretty well (for now:>):
Mild overdrive: Xotic BB preamp clone (Caline Orange Burst-$30.00)--has active treb and bass eq, and a bit of a non-annoying/non-nasal lower "mid-hump" that sits right in the sonic pocket on the DRRI with my tele. No harsh/raspy high end fizz, even on the vibrato channel--gives it a kind of nice Voxy feel for chord work, and sounds great for single note solo stuff. All in all a very responsive and musical pedal.
For Crunch and distortion (and all the way to fuzz, if you want it): a Rat2 clone (eno brand -$30.00). Similar to an OCD, of course, but has a mid-emphasis that the Fulltone lacks. It's able to hang in the mix better and I can get it to respond the way I want it to, without too much fuss. Run the Caline OD into the Eno rat and it is sustain and bloom city!--super smooth and musical--I really like it. So, for now, I'm all set. Thanks for your comments all, I really appreciate it!
BTW Moosie-the other day I ran into an old friend at a music store and he told me about his absolute, all time favorite pedal that he's discovered--the Black '65. Maybe after I sell off some of my other pedals, I'll need to check that out.

 

Back in the DR club. I just realized that this is my third SFDR in the past 15 years.

This one is a 1976, it apears all original, I pulled the chasis when I got it home last weekend and it looks untouched. I did not look under the dog house.

Sounds great and everything works.

 

Hello everyone, I hope this is the correct place to ask this question !

Did Fender make a transistor Deluxe Reverb in the 70's ?

I owned a Fender amp in the mid to late 70's, from what I remember it was a transistor amp, I always thought it was a Deluxe Reverb, but it may have been another model, it was relatively light compared to the valve amps, it was a silverface & definitely a reverb amp.

I do remember buying it second hand partly due to the Don Felder association, but being disappointed with the sound, the cleans were good, but I don't think there was an overdrive circuit in that amp, my memory is very vague.
At the time I also had a 50 watt Marshall, so I used both amps with a splitter box, the Fender for cleans & the Marshall for the dirt & grit, it worked very well for a period, but due to finances & lugging both amps around, I eventually sold the Fender.

I hope someone can help my misty memory.

 

Like this, right?

 

That's both cool and ugly at the same time!

 

Yeah, it's not mine (thank goodness). I just figured it might jog the requester's memory a bit.

I read somewhere they sounded like crap (big surprise). Oh, it was probably Richard Smith's Fender book, where he talks about some of the dumbass things CBS did after taking over. The idea here (and this was a popular concept at the time) that tubes were unreliable, big, fragile, etc. This was appealing like the little transistor radio... and sounded similar.