Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue 112 Combo

This amp has almost everything that matters..but some separate tonal control over the 2 channels would be a damn good idea - even just dedicating the presence control to the overdrive.
Of course, reissuing the dumb ideas (like an upside down, hard to see panel) along with the good bits beats me.
There's a usable amount of overdrive I reckon and so far it seems like good overdrive. For a person who has evolved away from distortion that may be a big comment.

Sound was the big reason I bought this amp. (I've only had 1 gig in the 2 weeks I've owned this amp - and it didn't go along, so my perspective is only from home so far). BUT, I reckon its the most perfect sounding amp I've ever played through - and you know, THAT EMINENCE SPEAKER IS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THAT. I had developed the opinion, with some reason, that Fender/Eminence speakers were just about the nastiest things money could buy. I was A/B-ing the Celestion Vintage 30 and Celestion G12 Century Vintage to choose a replacement before I even left the shop and (I play clean most of the time) the Eminence bowled me over. Never had I heard such effortless space for every note - even stupid chords had 'air' - NO intermodulation - like an acoustic guitar. If you're throwing the speaker away can I have it?

I have had Fenders give trouble in their first weeks of life but thankfully not this one.

My favorite guitars are old Gretschs.. so I'm an electric player who likes acoustics (I even use tweeters) and when I heard this amp sound better than my favorite Dual Showman through my favorite JBLs I bought it.
I ain't young anymore and I can lift this amp, it fits in a car, it's loud enough for any gigs I'll do and no other Marshall or Vox could impress me like this thing does

I don't have any pedals or anything, just the included overdrive and reverb stomp box. Everything works great on this amp. Not too mention its loud.

I play clean country stuff, some rock with an American Tele. Great tele sound. I gave it a 9, because there are so many boutique, moded, and customized amps. Hard to give a stock amp a 10.

Havent had it long enough to know

Haven't ever had a problem with any of my Fender items, but I hear they can be hard to work with.

I love this amp, great for small gigs, but its not a twin. Also, its very loud, but the volume can be turned down and played in the bedroom and still sound good. I know the Line 6 I replaced this with only sounded decent at higher volumes.

This is my third version of this amp. I owned an orignal tweed in the early 90s; and a Hot Rod Deluxe briefly in early 2002. This amp is US made (made in Mexico new, I believe), blonde from, I'm guessing, 2001. Although I used the tweed out and absolutley hated the HRD, I find that I really love THIS Deluxe. Where the first two versions seemed timid, this blondy sounds HUGE even at low volumes. I didn't like the More Drive on the HRD, but I do use the Drive channel of the latest Deluxe. I like reverb and this amp has enought for my tastes. I don't use effects, so I cannot comment on the effects loop. I play mainly blues music with Fender guitars and this amp sounds quite nice at 3 as well as 9. We rehearse in a big shed and this 40 watt amp gets plenty loud. It may actually be too BIG for small room gigs. It has the features I need: standby switch, volume, reverb, master, drive, presence, and a foot switch that plugs in from the top!

Again, I LOVE the sound of this amp. Sure, it's a Fender and they can be a bit noisey when using single coil pickups, but that's part of the fun. I play mostly clean and use the OD channel with a slight bit of drive to be a bit louder for solos. I gave up Rock n Roll, but think this amp would foot the bill for all but today's "deeper" rock sound. There's a reason Fender calls this amp the "Blues" Deluxe. That's probably the best use for this amp. I mainly use a Strat, Tele, or G&L with humbuckers; and cheapy import guitar or Custom Shop, they all sound really good to me: rich and ballsy. Push the volume past 5 and the amp really sings. Even cranked, the OD doesn't sound too phony like most OD pedals, or, as I call them, tone killers, do. I use the treble at 6, mid at 5, and bass at 4 and i am pretty happy at this eq. The 1x12 amps seem to be "middy" sounding but each player likes what he likes. I have not changed a thing on this amp (speaker, tubes, etc.)--a trade--nor do intend too.

I got the amp in a trade situation, so it may have had a couple owners. I don't know. It's a little worn in, but it's only going to get more use. I have owned Fender amps for YEARS and other than an occasional cold solder joint, I have had great luck with them. I would not hestitiate to take this amp without backup to gigs far from home. I have friends gigging with Fender amps that are 40+ years old without backup and feel this amp is made just as well.

I'm sure this amp is out of warranty. I know several, close, authorized Fender amp repair men, but doubt that I'll have to use them.

I have been playing guitar for about 33 years, and I have been through a bunch of amplifiers; old new, botique. The Blues Deluxe joins good company with a Carr Rambler, Supro Thunderbolt, Fender Blues Junior, and a Fender Champion 600. I have too many guitars to mention. If the BD were stolen, yeah, I would try to find another US made one. It's a great amp I don't have to worry about beating up or being too old, and it has plenty of wattage for me. It's the perfect amp for what I'm playing right now. It's not too heavy, covers the bases and didn't cost an arm and three legs. It has the features I need and seems to make all my guitars stand up an bark.

Easy to use, simple layout.

this amp sounds great with my Gibson historics reissue 57 LP Custom through it. I'm playing blues/rock and fingerstyle. I am planning to purchase an overdrive pedal for more gain. I find the drive channel on this amp is fine for rock as it is not supposed to be a high gain amp.

Seems fine so far. I have had to return Fender amps to the retailer in the past as they do tend to rattle at any decent volume. This one seems to have a resonance when playing an open A, however it is not to bad and I don't beleive it will be picked up by the mic in front of it. I am wondering if the 57 classics in my guitar are a bit to full on.

No probs

This amp seems to be fine so far. It sounds pretty good with my guitars (Les Paul Custom, 76 SG Custom) I will be buying a tele soon and I'm sure that will sound fantastic through it. I can't see why people are so unhappy with this amp after reading these reveiws. I beleive that a lot of the trouble is probably due to poor selection and matching of guitars to this amp.

This is brand new 2007 Fender Blues Deluxe. 40-watt all tube (SSR) tweed 1X12" combo amp. 2 channels - clean and medium-crunch (ala Doobie Brothers/SRV). Efex loop, standby switch, ext.speaker jack.
two 6L6 power tubes and three 12 AX7s

I only give it a low rating just because it doesn't have a ton of features or options. That being said, it still suits me just fine! :) Some people just like more bells and whistles...

This amp has two sounds (channels) - clean and medium crunch. If you the high-gain "brown sound" you're gonna have to put a crunch pedal in front of it. But the clean tone is fabulous, really full and round. The bass response seems a little much, you really have to tweak this depending on your liking. The kicker is this amp is really warm and responsive. It responds well to both touch and dymanics of your own playing, as well as with effects/pedals. You'll be surprised!

N/A only owned it a few weeks. Played a 5 hour gig with it weekend before last with no issues though...

I may put audio-taper colume pots in mine. The stock ones are linear pots and when you turn the volume to "2" it automatically sounds like "4" and doesn't get any louder really. This is a bummer.

haven't needed it yet. But my experience with Fender on other stuff has been pretty solid.

Best amp and tone in its price range. Fender amps are just classic stuff. I've been playing for 25+ years and have owned several Fender amps. I always come back to them.

Hmmm...features. Tubes, speaker, reverb....everything I need-nothing I don't. If you want 32 "classic" amp models with DSP and cabinet emulation...then this amp is not for you. It does warm, shimmering clean. It does smooth growly breakup. It will hit any point between those two. If you want to go from jazz to blues to country to searing high gain shredder death metal then I would look elsewhere. Not a one trick pony but it is called the "BLUES Deluxe" for a reason. I like the effects loop....nice touch. I give it a 9 (trem would be nice)

As I stated earlier, this thing gives warmth, shimmer, growly breakup, plenty of "knock" in the low end. It is representative of that classic fender sound. Quite smooth in all respects. Some reviews here call it brash, but I'm not quite sure what they're hearing. Maybe something wrong with there amp, cables, stomp boxes, setup, guitar? Maybe this kind of amp is not what they are looking for in comparison to the tone they hear in their head? I don't know. To be fair, let me explain my setup and how I use this amp:

I run a '96 G&L Legacy straight into this thing. Using the drive channel (set to max) I use my guitars volume knob to go from clean to dirt. I ALSO USE THE TONE KNOB ON MY GUITAR. Quite important folks. Most volume pots are brightest full out and thinner wound down, but there is also a darker spot in the middle somewhere (on the G&L it's from about 6.5 to 9. Also, the hotter the guitars signal, the more highs the preamp tubes will show. I setup the EQ on the amp so that with my guitar tone up and the volume knob at it's darkest I have plenty of brights, then I EQ on the fly depending on volume position and pickup selection and the sound I want for that song. In my playing I tend to bring some blues, rock, light jazz, country, and a touch of R&B to the table and I get every sound I need (warm to shimmering, clean to growly dirt) using this method. What's more, I don't have to river-dance on a bunch of tone robbing pedals. Nothing wrong with pedals (I occasionally throw an echo box in the FX loop) but I have been learning to appreciate a more "old-school", simpler aproach to my tone. It's not limiting at all and is in fact quite liberating!

OK, returning to the topic. This amp gives plenty of sparkly smooth cleans, articulate chords no matter what sound I choose, and that lovely, smooth, growly breakup that I adore. Chords and notes blossom nicely and I get plenty of sustain. I really love the punch of this amp. Very touch-sensitive, responsive, and most importantly a very musical sound. The sound I get from this amp really inspires me. The amp is not noisy (as tube amps go), takes to humbuckers well, and absolutely loves single coils. The blues deluxe excels at blues (as one might expect) but really will cover any classic kind of sound. By itself this amp is not designed to do hard rock, heavy metal, death core, and the like but would make a great platform for those who prefer OD and distortion pedals for more agressive tones.

Owned about a half dozen fenders over the last two decades...they have all stood up well. Some took a severe beating and liked it. It is, however, the nature of man-made things to break so I guess it is as reliable as one can expect. It's a valve amp so it will have it's own issues inherent to the design. That's to be expected. I'll give a 7. Time will tell.....

5 year warranty. No need as of yet to deal with customer service from fender.

Overall, I have to give this thing a 10. I can't imagine finding a better amp (for me) at this price. I have been playing for over 20 years, getting paid for the last 12 and worked at a couple of music stores along the way. I have had the opportunity to try out, own, or perform with most of what's out there and 99.9% of the big name/big production stuff. Sure there are somewhat better products out there for about 4 times the price but this amp is a great deal more than respectable. The boutique stuff is a bit nicer... but not $1800 nicer. One day I'd like to own Dr. Z's and Two-Rock's and Dumble's and all the other goodies, but there is always a place that really only fender will fill. Those amps do what they do...this amp does what IT does, and I love it for that.

07 blues deluxe
not that versatile but i bought for a rock a billy amp and does a great job for that.
2 channels reverb on and off on the footswitch
dont use fx loop
i use it bars
loud amp too. it has the features i want which is very little.

sounds fantastic, crank the clean and get dirty or turn it down and use the drive channel. the drive isnt high gain but didnt buy it for that. i use les pauls and a strat all USA and runs quiet.

i dont hear that ice pick sound or shrill folks talk about. i dont hear it on my HRDX either so what ever.

i think folks should let their amps fully break in. sometimes it takes awhile so be patient.

in fact i recomend this eminence speaker. very good.

remember, i bought this amp for rockabilly music only.i use other amps for other types of music.

dont know, dont care, i'll get it fixed if there is a problem

i think folks will just say it sucks for the hell of it without experience or blame FMIC instead of their local store for bad service.

ive had nothing but A+ support from Fender in my years.

30 years experience

yes i would again

not to heavy, its plenty loud, only five tubes, looks great and great tone for the right type of music you are using it for. hate nothing about it.

save your money, dont buy a new speaker and tubes and such. buy a good guitar or good pedals and such. it will sound better on its own in time.

be choosy on where you buy any amp or guitar. shop for the good people who give a crap and forget about the ones that just want your money only. ask questions about how to get service if needed.

does the store do in house repair or not? how reputable is the tech at the store? if they send it out, who do they send it too. what about turn around time. if you dont like the answers then ask around town who is good.

I am doing this review after one year of gigging with it.Two channel from really warm Clean to blues..That's what it is! Start with great clean and put some trully highly modified stomp box preamps and now you have a versatile tone MONSTER. I have owned many Boogies, racks back to MP1 days and many others..still have Boogie rectoverb.
Mark 4 Boogie was 3 channel piece of crap actually.

Ok here's what I have discovered in 40 years and a lot of $. TONE COSTS MONEY!!! There's a novel idea for so many reviewers on many amps here on Har. Cent. Not the kind of money a botique amp costs, but custom KEELEY FULLTONE stomp box preamps etc. are IMUO absolutely the answer for the so called "illusive almighty tone". With this amp or any really decent tube and some solid state amps put a fulltone OCD and a DECENT guitar '87 PRS or my '53 tele my Dad bought new and OCD is instant Marshall tone drop dead! Barber, and Keeley bules driver are absolutely KIller for tone. People seem to expect all tones from one amp and that is botique $...Period. This amp really sonds awesome for vintage rock, r&b, Gary Moore, Santana etc. I haven't found a tone yet I can't get..ok Robin Ford's tough.. How does one test for tone? in a bedroom most of the time?...not accurate. Gigging and brutally honest top shelf musician's ears are my 'reviewers". I ask my band mates which amp they want me to bring.THIS ONE !! everytime..Better still recording one's amp will tell the story. This amp is the best Fender makes to me. I do take the Boogie (1200)for a big gig for volume.

Rock solid so far.

Have no idea

Been playing 40 years and have owned far too many amps. The Victoria 35210 is much sweeter but not worth the money for gigging I do. That said I do feel a 'bedroom amp' and a gigging amp are completely different animals. I do intend to invest in a Victoria or Bogner Metropolis later for recording and playing at home. I am using a Fender tweed 15 watt blues junior at home and really happy with it.For gigging put some really sweet high end stomp boxes and go do the friggin' gig..."this tube...that tube...this speaker...that speaker"...dam!...seems one could spend more $ on all that trial and error than a botuque. Tone costs money..this amp is the best for the $ available.

40 watts all tube.
2 inputs
2 channels: normal and drive.
controls: normal channel volume, drive for drive channel, treble, middle, bass, master volume for drive channel, reverb and presence, and a bright switch
footswitch incuded for reverb on/off and channel switching.
nice looking tweed.
amplifier cover also included.

when i first got the amp i was completly in love with it. but that was mainly because i have always wanted a real Fender. later i found out that this amp is not so versatile. you cant play hard rock with this amp. And still today i dont use the drive channel, because when you switch from normal to drive you lose a lot of bass and the sound gets brighter. so all whats left is the normal channel.

Untill here, you might think that i dont like the amp. NOT TRUE. The normal channel is where its al about. Maybe it is not as good as a bassman but this amp definitly has a legendary fender sound. i play a richwood lespaul (i will have a 62 stratocaster in about 3 months). this guitar has a realy high output so i can only turn the volume up to 3 before it gets distorted. on 3 it is allrealy realy loud. going above that level it gets more distorted and not realy that much louder. its a real fender break up. on 4 the overdrive reminds me of the ventures. on 6 or higher the sound get muddy. but i dont need that much distortion anyway. FOr a gig i would turn him up to 3 to get my sound.

i realy love the tone of this amp. realy warm tone. i mainly play surf, indorock, blues(rock) and pop. the reason to choise for fender is the dynamic and responsive sound. it makes a good player sound even better. but a sketchy player will sound bad. i have bass, treble mid and precense all around six or seven and reverb on 3. the reverb is realy good.

this amp is a bit too loud for home playing but i dont mind.
the reason why i give it a 9 is because no amp is perfect.

this is my second blues deluxe. the first one had one output tube who did not light up. so i went back to the shop and got a new one.
i would use it without a backup. (this the only gig amp i have)

this amp can be the perfect amp for anyone who play the right style and know how to use this amp
im 16 and i play guitar for 6 years
in the future i will allways stick to fender amps.

Purchased June 2007 new. Two channels, shared eq., reverb. This is a "retro" tube amp and by it's nature does not have a large number of features. The rating of 5 is not meant to be degrading, but rather to compare it to all other amps, including solid state or tube amps with some solid state features. Feature-wise it is very plain, it would be nicer if each channel had its own separate eq, and the reverb is just OK. As stated in most of the other reviews, this is not a high gain amp and I do not have a need for high gain in my choice of music, but I would prefer to have some more gain on the lead channel.

It has the typical crystal clean sparkling sound Fender is known for on the clean channel. The drive channel could use just a bit more gain, but still sounds very good. (I play with the "Drive" knob max'ed out.) The amp is LOUD! Other reviews have commented on the fact that volume knobs are far from linear. Increases at the lower settings make huge differences while increases at higher settings make far less differences. It's something that Fender should improve upon, but is still workable as is.

When I received the amp, I noticed 'tube rattling' on the drive channel at slightly elevated volumes. I had this same problem with my Fender Blues Jr. and corrected it by moving the offending pre-amp tube to the first position. I tried moving the pre-amp tubes to varous positions in the Blues Deluxe Reissue, but this did not correct the problem. Fender told me to take it to the nearest authorized repair center to be evaluated/repaired. Since that would have involved an 80+ mile trip one way and the fact that it's likely I would have had to leave it and return for it (making the total driving 320 mi.), I opted to order three new pre-amp tubes from Musician's Friend. They were helpful in that they gave me a good discount do to the circumstances. Changing out all three pre-amp tubes (to Tung Sol 12AX7) corrected the problem totally. Reviews of the Tung Sol tubes indicated that there would be an improvement in tone, but I didn't notice any difference other than elimination of the 'rattle'. Besides, the tone didn't really need improvement in my opinion.

As mentioned above, reverb is just mediocre. The amp is very quiet as far as background noise is concerned.

I've only owned this amp for two weeks now. Too early to tell, but this model has been around a while and so I expect it to be good. It's the third Fender amp I own and the others are reliable. Just the 'tube rattling' issues mentioned suggests that Fender should work on their tube suppliers quality control.

I'm very big on Musician's Friend. They do everything possible to help their customers through problems.

Fender was responsive when contacted- it's just that living in a very rural area as I do makes it annoying to have to get service. But, that would be the case with all amp manufactures.

I've been playing electric guitars for 8 or 9 yrs. now; acoustic for many years prior to that. I own 3 Fender amps (Blues Jr., Princeton 650, and the Blues Deluxe Reissue), plus one Crate GLX212. I play an Ibanez AS83 (a Gibson 335 wannabe), a Samick Avion AV-6 (a Gibson Les Paul wannabe), and an Epiphone Wildkat.

When playing the Wildkat, the drive channel is somewhat grittier than with the Ibanez. This is probably due to it's P-90 pickups.

There's nothing I hate about this amp, but I do wish it had an additional amount of gain. I play mostly oldies rock and roll, some country, and a little blues so the need for very high gain and distortion is not there. If the amp were stolen or lost, I think I would try to visit a store that had one in stock plus a hot rod deluxe and compare the two side-by-side. Of course, you can always use effects pedals for more gain. I do own several pedals that I got for the Blues Jr. since it is a single channel amp with only reverb, but I was hoping not to have to take the additional equipment (pedals) to gigs.

Overall, it's a very nice amp and priced reasonable for a tube amp. Plenty of volume too for our four piece band as we either mic the instruments or run a line out to the PA mixer.