Fender Blues Deluxe

This is a review for the Fender Blues Deluxe tweed from Mexico.
I had the blues devil and this is also a hot rod.
I love hate this amp, Its sitting on level TWO and above that is LOUD ASS.. Im not sure how accurate the 40 watts is because its plenty loud. Now that I got my complaints off, I LOVE this thing. Its super DEAD *** SEXY TWEED. Most good looking amp I ever had. They really got this thing to look vintage and arguable better looking then a real vintage..

All the Reverb and distortion is great, effects loop is handy. I opened it up and it looks like a SOLID STATE amp with tubes. Much different from my twin and my sovtek. That said I like it plenty.
Iv had these hot rods going on 4 years and I don't have any idea what the presence knob is yet every so often I give it a turn for good luck? Perhaps its an audience knob that makes more people show up to the gig? Appears to work 50/50 lol..

Lets see, don't try to mod it or screw with the tubes and you will be fine. Have an amp guy do it. Mine was gigged quite a bit and the old owner said he has a real amp tech go over it and keep it working for his gigs, new tubes and bias. I think if you want to make this a Boutique amp get your head examined its near solid state and get a better effects or vintage EQ for your own tone. New Webber and some new custom tubes if you wish and it wont break. Its very hot where we are and the thing hums along near silent. I think being mine is 5 years old or so and looks NEW might explain how/why I give this a 10 on reliability, DON'T mod unless your a guru, thats why we make amp gurus because they don't even play music they just repair amps in little dark apartments and they need food and water so take the amp to them, they will appreciate it.

I never used fender for anything, I have a tech do things for 1/10 fenders price.

lets see mine is from Mexico and this will mark my first mex gear, I have no china or Korean anything but its holding up and the construction is top quality. I LOVE how it looks and the over drive and Reverb are pretty good being this is NOT A Boutique amp! I like the light weight and sold my 2x12 twin and blues devill and got this. Its a perfect amp for small clubs, back of your trunk and week end events when you dont want to lug your 4x12. Hay i ts got a really sweet tone and fit and finish and reliability is nice. Just the correct amount of controls, not to many! Did I say its near solid state on the inside? All Tube Preamp and Power Amp, Tube Complement 3 X 12AX7, 2 X 6L6, SS Rectifier. Im surprised how expensive this amp is now on ebay. But its a fender and they are the best factory amp and you can get parts and service in every town, gotta love that if it blows on tour you can get a replacement anyplace but guys this wont be as high quality durable as a black face twin so take care of her, she has plastic crap on the inside and the outside looks better then Elvis coffin.

I'm sure you've seen the features on other reviews; a clean channel, a dirty channel, no fancy stuff. I have an original 1993 production model that was made in the Brea, CA plant. I had the overdrive channel modded that was a mistake, don't touch it. It's perfect for classic rock and blues. Definitely not for high gain applications, but it does sound great with a good overdrive pedal in front of it. I use it with a 2x12 lopo cabinet with vintage 30 copys instead of the speaker that's in it. Without a doubt more power than you would ever need for a small bar and even larger venues. Very loud considering the 40w power rating. 3 12ax4s and 2 6l6s, very simple.

I play mostly guitars with humbuckers in it except for a 86 esp with emg active single coils and an 81 and a jay turser 335 copy with a gfs dream 180 and a mean 90 in the bridge. This amp is loud, the most I have it turned it up in the bars I play in is 3 and that's out of 12 not 10. As I stated I've had it modded which I do regret so my tone controls are changed to replicate an old bassman. Even so, using the right stomp boxes, I can get about any sound I want out of this amp. The modded overdrive channel is about unuseable so I keep the amp clean all of the time and use a behringer vintage overdrive pedal as my main overdrive sound. Of course, it has the well hearlded Fender clean sound, clean as a whistle. Oh and the reverb is smooth as ever. Great overall sound, just wish I kept it stock.

I use this as my only amp every show. It has been in the shop a couple of times. This was due to my putting power tubes in it and not getting it biased. It blew the output tranny and eventually killed the low power supply in the amp. After these repairs it has been perfect, never lets me down. The amp tech put in a stronger output tranny after the original blew and supposedly had a power output of over 50w now. So, it's almost a super blues deluxe now.

Never have talked to Fender, I got the amp after the warranty ran out.

I've been playing for about 13 years and playing in a band for 8 years (I was playing in bars since I was 17). Not saying I'm an expert but I know what sounds good and this amp has it. If you play metal, beware but for everything else, it's great, especially for clean sounds. If someone stole it, I'd give them 12 varieties of hell and then get it back. If you can find a good used one, buy it. I doubt you'll regret it.

This review is the the 1990's USA made amp.

This amp has everything you need to play a guitar and really enjoy your sessions. It's not complex, there's no computer, no chips, no DSP. It's just you, your axe, a nice set of tubes, and a great looking amp.

Control tonal control via the standard knobs. There's 2 channels, clean & dirty. The tweed material can get dirty if misused, so don't rest your coffee on it. The tubes used & features are elaborated everywhere on the net if your interested. I understand the power supply is more reliable electronics but all other areas are tube powered.

The fender site has a pdf manual that describes all the features. The design of this amp is based on the famous & sought after vintage & rare bassman. They say it sounds similar. I never heard a bassman so can't testify to that.

Tone.

I pump noise from a 2004 US fat strat, a 90's standard strat, & a 90's Tele. You may have heard, there is nothing quite like a Fender Guitar through a Fender amp. You can consider that a truism. The amp really opens up with the fat strat on the dirty channel. I can't think of a better combo. The tone is just sweet. Think anything from Ventures, Jimmi, et al. Wow.

There is this chime you hear when the treble is set above med that just grabs your heart and doesn't let go.

I also use an assortment of pedals which expand the sonic range quite well.

In 10 + years she hasn't let me down.

PS: All ratings on this amp are 10's --- do ya see a pattern? :-)

The best kind: never needed - it's a Fender :-)

Been playing on and off 35 years. If I lost her, I would immediately go go out & buy a used US made 90's amp. The Mexican amps are probably the same, but there's something about a U.S. made Fender.

Brand New in September 2008. Came with a foot switch and a decent cover from Sam Ash. It has 2 channels but the overdrive channel is not very heavy sounding. Thats fine with me. I use a Tonebone Classic pedal for more gain on both channels. I like the reverb. I kept everything stock on it. At first the speaker is harsh but after one month it is finally broken in. So it sounds pretty good.
It is loud. At above 2 the sound is very loud so this is for playing live with a band, not for playing at home unless you live far, far, far away from neighbors.

Ok. It takes about 10 or 15 minutes to fully warm up. From that point on you will get killer tone from this for another 2 to 2 1/2 hours. After that it begins to fade a little bit probably from the heat. I noticed this when we played a 3 hour show. Nobody listening to the band noticed this but I did so I'm just saying.
I use a Gibson 2002 Les Paul Studio and a Montoya Strat copy. Both guitars are stock. I have a Tonebone Classic for more gain when I need it. Thats it. Guitar to Tonebone to the low input jack on the amp.
The clean channel is loud and clear. Gets tweedy with the bright switch on. Otherwise it is clean, clean, clean till about 7 on the Strat and 5 on the LP. Believe me when I say that 5 is about as loud as you ever need. After about 5 or 6 you get a little bit of OD from the clean channel. It's pretty nice sounding. The volume knobs go to 12 but after 7 there is no more volume to squeeze out of it so it just gets a little more compressed
The overdrive channel sounds exactly like a slightly overdriven tube amp running at full power, with the drive knob at 6 or above 6. Forget about distortion sounds on the drive channel because it doesnt get heavy distortion. It's a little bit of overdrive and maybe a little trebly boost but that's about it. It does have the authentic overdrive sound of a old Fender amp so Fender gets a tip of the hat for staying true to that sound, which is what I wanted when I chose this amp.
With the Radial Tonebone Classic Distortion OD pedal things heat up to the next level. I have the pedal set for a medium overdrive gain. It makes the clean channel sing and sort of gives that old time TS9 boost sound to the OD channel, with a lot of sustain and harmonics. The Tonebone is not really a distortion pedal. Its really a overdrive with a tube for the gain and tone. I tried a few other solid state pedals with this that I borrowed from a friend. A MXR distortion pedal was good. A Metal Zone was heavy and made a lot of feedback (I don't play that kind of music-yuk). A BBE Green Screamer was good but the BBE Crusher distortion pedal was muddy. I tried a boss chorus and a Keeley compressor. Chorus was sweet. Keely was the best sounding pedal of all because it completely focused the sound of the OD channel. For me the Tonebone classic is a real good matchup but the Blues Deluxe takes pedals with no problems.
I rate the amp as a ten because I wanted the classic Fender sound when I bought it and thats what I got. This amp will make you happy for country, classic rock, blues and rockabilly because thats what its made for. Hard Rock and metal guitarists probably wont like it much but it isn't made for that. I rate it a 10 for what it is.

I looked at the reviews for this amp and in my opinion it is liked by players who like more clean sounding stuff but the heavy music players dont like it because it isnt brutal enough. All I can say is dont buy a blues amp if you want a Mesa Boogie or Peavey 5150. But if you want to play clean and a little overdrive, and use pedals for harder sounds then this is a good amp for that.
I own a Peavey Classic 20 and a few SS amps too. I highly recommend the Blues Deluxe Reissue and if I had it to do over again I would buy this again. I hope it lasts a long long time.

US made, 1994, tweed, owned since new. 40 watts, nice size, very gig worthy. No idea what the Presence knob is for, twirling makes no difference in sound. Otherwise, great amp when it's working (see Reliability section).

Nice, clean, tubey Fender sound. Plenty loud. A little fussy when it comes to pedals. Stays clean all the way up. Sweet, full tone. Just wish it was more reliable.

Totally unreliable. It has crapped out in the middle of more gigs than I can remember. I've replaced input jacks, tubes, circuit boards, you name it. Other people swear by their BDLs so maybe the guys at Fender were high when they assembled this one. I keep fixing it because it's a great amp, but then something else craps out. Gives "Made in the USA" a bad name. Maybe the Heche en Mexico version is more reliable.

N/A

Playing 20+ years. Love the sound, size, look of the amp. Don't like having to keep repairing it. Would not be seriously upset if it were stolen because I'd know the thief would soon have a non-working amp on his or her hands, which would serve him or her right. Again, other people don't seem to have the same reliability problems I've had, so mine may just be a dog.

It's all been said.

This amp represents the truest "art" of guitar signal amplification. It's not an amp built for some specific job like a Mesa Rectifier or a Marshall JCM 800. No...this is a true signal amplifier without all the bells, whistles and useless, tone sucking ******** that modern amps have become infamous for.
Yes, it has tone controls but turning them full up eliminates them from the circuit. On this amp, tone controls are a waste. Unnecessary. I suppose Fender puts tone controls on this puppy because no one would buy an amp without the ubiquitous "3-BAND EQ" on it. Good tube designs are extremely dynamic and operate best without tone controls. Some of the greatest amps ever made had a single on-off knob that doubled as a volume control. Old Harmony amps come to mind.
The Blues Deluxe is all that. For experienced players who can still remember what sonic nirvana sounds like : THIS AMP IS THE ****! I'm blown away.
I'm playing through this amp with a Les Paul standard. Pickups are SD 59 types. Talk about co operation between fingers, wood, strings, pickups, guitar electronics, cable, pedal and amp! The Les Paul sounds like a Les Paul is designed to sound. Unbelievable clarity, every nuance revealed. The lows are crisp as hell...not one ounce of mud in the low end. If you can really play the instrument, this amp will make love to your guitar. Beware, there is no place to hide with the Blues Deluxe. It accentuates every touch of the hand to the fretboard with clinical precision. Legendary execution. If this amp doesn't make you cry with joy and appreciation, the problem is YOU.
My signal chain is: LP Standard, 10 foot ProCo cable, Barber Tone Press, 10 foot ProCo cable, Blues Deluxe. I wet myself every time I hear the heavenly tone of my Les Paul through this diamond. Maximum pro quality sound.

Get rid of the pre amp tubes. They are chinese garbage-pure and simple. Use JJ ECC 83s tubes and you'll be satisfied. This is a PC board amp but that doesn't mean it's a piece of crap. Take care of her and she'll take care of you. Talk to Bob at Eurotubes when the time comes for replacing your output tubes. Keep quality components in this puppy and she will sing for you. With the UL approved plasti-jack inputs and outputs you'll need to be gentle with her. She will reward you with the voice of an angel.

Started playing semi-pro in 1968. I'm a Les Paul player, period. This amp lets the TRUE sound of a Les Paul come through. It lets the guitar's tone and volume knobs tell all sorts of different, interesting stories. I love the blues, modern country and classic rock. It's a miracle that sound this good can still be bought for 700 bucks, off the shelf. This is the best amp that Fender had produced since the 60s.

This is the reissue version made in 2007. It's a very simple amp that just sounds great on either channel. Shared 3 band with bass, mid and treb controls. Presence and reverb. Effects loop and standby switch. Two preamp tubes, a 12AX7 inverter/driver and a pair of 6L6 / 5881 power tubes.
Very cool looking tweed on chrome with a brown grille. LOUD. Compared to the "modern" amps out today it is a lightweight for features. That's what it is SUPPOSED to be, a simple amp like those of yesteryear. Nice poly dust cover with silkscreened Fender logo. Two button footswitch included (channel switch and reverb switch) Weighs about 45 pounds.
This is my gig amp. I practice with a Peavey Bandit with 80 watts. The Blues Deluxe is just as loud, no problem..by the way, volume setting 1 is mute. No sound until you move to volume setting 2 on the dial...just like the really old time Fenders, and all knobs go to 12, Nigel!

Mine came with GROOVE TUBES 12AX7, V1 and V2 preamps. I replaced only these two tubes with JJ preamp tubes because the Groove tube 12AX7 tubes are crap. They rattle like all hell is breaking loose. Totally microphonic. I knew this when I bought the amp and ordered the JJs to cure the sicko Groove tubes. I left the stock tube in the phase inverter slot and kept the stock output tubes and stock speaker intact.
I have several Gibson Les Pauls. Some with ceramic pups, some with alnico pups and a couple with p90 pups. I don't own a guitar with "traditional" single coils. I plug straight in to the BDX and use the Fender footswitch when necessary. I set the clean channel to 7 or 8 and the OD channel to: MASTER-10, CHANNEL VOLUME (gain) at 3 or 4. So the overdrive is at higher volume than the clean but not very much distortion going on. I let my volume and tone controls CONTROL this amp. One thing about Gibson Les Pauls is that they are wired right. With just the volume pots on the guitar, I can move the clean channel from squeaky clean to that edge-of-breakup sound. On the drive channel it works the same albeit with more crunch on the sound. I have all the amp's tone knobs on 12. I never use the tone controls on the amp, only the presence and reverb to affect the sound. Everything else comes from the pickups, my hands and the amp. The BDX is not noisy at all beyond a slight (less than most tube amps) hum that is inaudible when playing. I always plug into the low gain input of the BDX. Never used the loop-no comment on it.
The BDX was created to capture that essential old-school Fender sound that is low gain, luscious, round and chimey sounding. I play the blues, some old-school rock (Stones, Zeplin, BTO, Credence, Southern Rock) and jazz-blues styles. The BDX is spot on for these styles. Really it is delicious and amazing for it's price. Right out of the box it produces a killer old-school Fender vibe. No question that you are playing a Fender amp.
The BDX is not meant to use in your bedroom. At its lowest volume setting it's tolerable but your apartment building neighbors will be calling the men in blue uniforms if you play this thing on volume setting 2 or above in your apartment. Unlike a lot of tube amps the BDX sounds really, REALLY good at low volumes. I give it high marks for that, alone.
Real quick let me say that I have played Strats and Telecasters through this at the same settings mentioned above. These guitars kill through this amp. I also tried out a Barber LTD, Digitech Bad Monkey, BOSS Metal Zone. Fulltone Fat Boost and Fulltone OCD with the BDX. I'm not a pedal guy but the BDX will do your pedals right-I can vouch for that.
In a nutshell, the BDX will cop otherworldly tones once you get rid of the bad preamps and allow for a reasonable break in period. It is easily capable of giving the high end, high priced amps in its class a run for the money. Of all the Fenders, VOXs and Boogies that I played while searching for a new gig amp, I always came back to this as my benchmark amp. It was the right size, lightweight, came with footswitch and cover and I honestly couldn't find anything that else that sounded superior to it in the sound category that I like, so I bought it.
From beautiful, shimmering cleans to light, crying, bluesy OD to old school rock tones this is the amp to have. I played and owned many many early 60s to late 70s Fender amps through the years and I can vouch for the authenticity of this amp. The Blues DeVille models are nice too-just bigger than i need. Nothing beats this amp in the "under $1500 bucks" price range. Honestly, it's a steal at 600-700 bucks, brand new with a 5-year warranty period. It looks cool as hell too. Awesome good tone on a beer buget, in my opinion.

I have had it for 7 months with no major issues. I'd say I have gigged with it about 30-40 times at shows where I could open her up to "loud as hell!" volume settings. Not one hiccup or problem. She holds together damned well at high volumes and sounds killer. Gig without a backup amp? NOT SMART. I bring the Bandit along because you never know but so far no problems at all with the BDX. It's a shame that the groove tube preamps are so lousy but the replacements cost less than 30 bucks and they'll last for years and years.
Irritants? Yeah, there are a few. The lettering on the chrome practically wipes right off! C'mon Fender, what's up with that? The tweed cloth covering stains and tears and is more fragile than thick tolex coverings so there's something to be careful of as a trade off for the retro looking cabinet.. There are no corner protectors on the stock amp. I bought some silver ones and installed them. If I had it to do over I would get black ones and paint them dark brown to match the grill. I read somewhere that you can remove the amp from the cabinet and apply a protective polyurethane or lacquer finish over the tweed. I've seen this finish on other Fender amps and it really mellows the look.
I'm taking off 3 points for no corner protectors, ****** preamp tubes, lettering rubbing off and lack of lacquer. But I will say that there have been no major problems at all. Hey, it's young at 7 months old.

5-year warranty. Tubes are warranted for a couple of months.

Played my first gigs in the 60s. No ****. I have played Fenders all my life and i am dyed in the wool as far as the Fender sound is concerned. I have owned Princetons, Deluxes, Twins, Supers, Pros and Champs-blackfaced, silverfaced et al. Always played Gibby guitars.
Fender disappointed me in the 80's but came through in the 90's with the Blues Reissue amps-which had some quality issues, I admit. When my Showman rig died of old age I was either going to buy a "vintage" setup or a reissue. Vintage cost mucho bucks-so that option died quickly. I looked at VOX amps (way too heavy and way too expensive) and Mesa combos (WAY too expensive and didn't have the sound I wanted) and finally came back to the Fender Hot Rod (don't like them at all) and Blues combos. Can't fault the Blues Deluxe..it was just what i wanted. like I said the 60 watt DeVille models are very nice too...just too big for an old 60+ player to haul around at my age.

Purchased new in 2006, 60th anniversary edition Blues Deluxe Reissue.
Two channels. Clean and drive. Effects loop. Fender long-spring reverb. Special-design Eminence speaker, Chrome toggle witches, glass gem light, chicken-head knobs, tubes, lacquered tweed covering, nice duty dust cover, two button foot switch, chrome panel with white letters in the reverse-view mode, like yer standing BEHIND the amp when you adjust the knobs. Good idea, here.
Use this amp in my studio. It has the 'powah.'

I've read many of these reviews here and naturally there are a wide spectrum of opinions about this amp. Since I demoed this one at a dealer, got to see and hear it first, there were no surprises about its abilities or lack thereof. In its price range, this amp darn near puts 'em all down. I took my Telecaster and Stratocaster in for the amp demos, and after playing through a dozen amps, I preferred this one to almost every other in the store, except the Fender Hot Rod and Vibrolux. These amps really like my guitars.

The sound is good, even at low volumes (had to keep it low inside the store) Very clean clean channel, decent bass, great overall tone. In the studio, at higher volumes, it gives fairly well-rounded tube and speaker breakup for a nice, rich tube sound. The drive channel, though slight does distort some, but not much, until you set it at 12 and crank that sucker up. Then you've got your distortion. A little too much. It losses a lot of distinction in the mid and treble-end whilst the speaker is flapping about in it's frenzy.

I felt the speaker was perhaps a little light-of-magnet, or soft-of-cone for the extremely high volume levels, so I put in a heavier Eminence-recomended 'Swamp Thang' just to see how it sounded compared to the original. Uh, now we be talkin' about driving! Though I really like the original speaker's overall sound at lower volume levels, the 'Swamp Thang' does a better job when things heat up. It has the same basic voice, but it is more pronounced, more spacial, and definitely handles the high volumes with better articulation and clarity. A separate cabinet with both speakers in action would be the ideal here. I'm on it.

The overall sound of this amp as I bought, though, is very good. I have heard few that please my ear more. One could figure Fender know what they are doing.

I've had Fender products for years, decades. They are pro-grade tools of the trade, not to be mistaken for light-duty junk. I depend on their reliability and get it.

Best used by not needing it.

Beautiful amp. Well made. The vintage tweed looks don't hurt it either, but it's not indestructible. Use a little TLC when hauling it around, if that's what you do. It has no corner protectors and can be scuffed and stained, so let no one put stuff on it. It's an amp, not a table.

For the money, and let's face it, at this price you can buy some pretty good transistor amps, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better sounding, nicer looking forty-watt tube amp. And it is a Fender, after all, which is iconic to begin with. You want Fender sound, you buy Fender. This part requires little imagination or brain powah! It matters not, really, where an amp must be manufactured in order to be competitive in the market. If you must buy American made Fender Tweed amps, look to spend three times as much in the onset. This one has ultra-value. Oh, another thing; all the knobs go to . . . not eleven, but twelve!

made in mexico 2004

2 channels (normal and drive)

spring reverb

brightness switch

3 12AX7 pre-amp tubes

2 6L6 output tubes

Use the amp for band practise and live

I use a two eastwood guitars:

* classic 6 (gretsch country gent. copy) with filtron style p'ups
* nashville 12 (epiphone riviera 12 string copy) with NY Mini HBs

both sound great thru it but my tele thinline sounds the best with this amp.

I play in a 60s guitar pop style band

the clean channel breaks up quickly so humbuckers are a bad idea if you want articulate cleans. a tele works great tho. the brightness switch can be a good or bad thing. great for giving humbuckers bite.

I had problems with this amp regarding the sound quality. up until yesterday i was never satisfied with any tone. i replaced all the valves with sovtek and electro-harmonix ones and now it sounds great and alot louder. i think my amp originally had dodgey pre-amp tubes.

I'm going to buy a matching tweed 112 cab with the celestion vintage century speaker (80w) and i'm sure i will love the increased clean headroom and bass response. i will also replace the stock speaker to a vintage 30 or vintage century. the stock speakers sound too harsh.

i wont rate this amp a 10 because nothing will ever sound "perfect".

it has never died on me....

like i said before, the stock valves were shit and once i replaced them it has been great. touch wood. I was going to sell it and buy a deville but now i'm sure i'll keep it.

i've heard that these mexican blues deluxes and devilles are second rate incomparison to the US made ones of the 1990s. I've heard that alot of people have had problems with this amp.

*****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fender are awful.

considering the problems i couldn't give it a 10 but its soooo very pretty and i love it.

I will be hopefully be buying soon a new vox AC50 head so i'll let all you folks know how that goes.

Hi, This is an updated review on the amp that I have had for 2+ years.

I'm going to re-rate the amp based on the changes that I have had made by Ben Fargen at Fargen Amps.
The issue I had with the stock amp was that it sounded OK, but did not sound GREAT.
What was lacking was BLOOM and Fullness, and it would sound thin and harsh at times when pushed in a live gig.
Now, after Fargen's work, swapping out the speaker for a Weber, which I had done years ago, the amp sounds GREAT!

No problems

I've been playing 40+, and now performing out again on a weekly basis with a great blues band.
The stock amp and I had a sort of love-mmmmmmm relationship.
What Ben Fargen did was upgrade the caps, installed a Mercury Transformer that was twice the original size Fender put in the amp, and added some of his special touches.
Believe me, and I play, I can be very focused on what the amp is doing, and these changes that were made make a world of difference in what this amp can do.
The headroom has been improved, bloom and clarity are there, and over-driven tones sound fat and rich.
Cost of the changes, around $300, but I have an amp that sounds outstanding.
I also play a Fargen 30 Watt Blackbird for my Blackface tone, and now this for my 57 Twin Clapton sound.
Ben can be contacted at www.fargenamps.com
He does great work .... enjoy

Well I am new to the guitar market...and at 46 decided to learn the acoustic and electric, Bought a Line 6 spider valve to go with my Fender power strat HSS(Mexican), well the salesman said it was the best happy meduim between all tube and effects etc...well ater a week i was having great fun until i got bored with trying to sound like the 100 or so artists the pile of crap comes with so i decided to bypass the plastic effects and go straight through the tubes...my good i would have got a better sound plugging me axe into a half filled specimen tube...
Well as luck would have it the thing started popping and breaking down after a week...took it back and they asked if i wanted a replacement..after the salesman got back off the floor and spat out a couple of teeth he realised the error of his ways...dammit I thought got a fender guitar give me amp to go with it and i liked the retro look of the Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue.....yes I bought it on its retro looks....well i am new to this game....
No point telling you what its got just read below what other guys have said...I rate it a seven for features because being a novice what the hell would i know

Well loading into my car the salesman said plug it on and leave it to stand for a couple of hours on standby before you first play it otherwise it will sound to harse...then it will take about ten hours all together over a month to get the real musical sound out of the tubes.....i now had it about a week and have clocked up about 17 hours...the smell of warm tubes still fills the room like my grandfathers sweet smelling pipe tobacco....and the sound well everytime i turn the thing on i know its going to get just better and better...Ive heard its to loud to play it at home...well i have it turned down and i love it ........i dont want the thing cranked up...lets be honest most people only if they gig need to turn the volume up and i dont i bought it for fun.....and this will last me for years.....

havnt had it long enough to test realiabilty.....but reading other reviews this baby should live longer than me..so i am not going to test fate and give it a rating

never had to deal with them

Well i am still grinning from ear to ear....this amp CAN be used at home a give a lot of please for the hobby guitarist....however if Dave Gilmour does ring me for his next tour by any chance maybe i will have to consider a slightly bigger wattage but until then i am very happy.....
It goes to show whilst using this amp at home i know i am not cranking the valves up to ful potential...but frankly i dont care because i know the harder they are pushed the better they sound..but i would much rather potter along in the slow lane and replace tubes every 1000 years...but still grin from ear to ear..

Made in Mexico 2006?

1x12" combo in tweed

All valve (2 6L6 'groove tubes'and 3 preamp tubes)

2 channels, bright switch, presence, reverb, 40 watts...footswitch

At first i didn't think it had enough power but then i bought a gretsch copy and the amp seems to work well with single coils and lower output humbuckers (filtron etc.)

I use this amp live/practise/studio.

I use a eastwood classic 6 (gretsch copy) a indie two-tone (335 copy) and a modified squier tele thinline with seymour quarter pounder pups.

Sometimes my rhythm guitarist uses it with his lovely hagstrom viking.

If you have a les paul/335 or anything with humbuckers you will have to use input 2 as it'll break up almost immediately and you wont achieve a sparkling clean tone as it mentions in the manual. I didn't realize this at first. My favourite setting is clean at 3 with my eastwood classic 6 using the neck pickup. Its sounds reminiscent of the early rolling stones. real dirty. You need to keep the presence and treble back if you want to keep your hearing. Playing around with the EQ doesn't seem to do much. This amp is not responsive. The overdrive channel is good for blues but thats the limit. perhaps some alternative rock. I sometimes add a tubescreamer for more sustain.

From the moment i turned it on, the 2 power tubes were blue and in time the amp was behaving strange with the red light dimming and eventually going off completley. I took the amp back to fender where they repaired it apparently and it is exactly the same. they didn't even change the 2 blue valves. Also, they didn't screw the damn thing back together properly and it now rattles like a bitch!

Saying that, the amp has never died on me and i have been using it at high volumes at least 3 times a week for just under a year now.

I wouldn't buy another mexican made fender.

shite!....

i foned up and got nothing
I sent an email and it was sent back

unless you're trade i don't think they give a s**t.

I have spent almost a year trying to get this amp to work for me and if i had another 500 for a new amp i would buy a laney VC30 2X12". What i really need is a new vox AC30 or AC50. much more responsive. I will never buy another mexican made fender amp or any fender for that matter. There are so many better amps out there for less money and better reliability. I'm now saving up for a new Vox AC50 CPH and vox 2x12" cab that i'm putting in 2 alnico gold speakers. I might even buy a laney VC30 as they are only 400 and sound brilliant.

US made. I don't know how old it is, got it used, but it seems to have a few years on it. The serial number is 058578 if anyone cares to look up what that means, im too lazy.

As far as "features" goes, if you want to play Blues or even jazz this has all you need right out the gate. If you want to play Rock, get ready to buy a few pedals, but it's definitely worth it.

This amp completely fits in with my philosophy of "start with great tone and work everything else out later."

The sound is just great: smooth, warm, creamy tone. Dripping wet reverb, and if you play a strat like I do, it really compliments that twang.

However, this amp takes a little dialing in to tame. First of all: it's incredibly loud.

I'd say you're definitely going to want to add a compressor to your signal chain if only for volume control alone. The amp's very responsive, and has a huge dynamic range...but it's a bit much, and the sound gets alot less schizophrenic with a compressor to smooth it all out and add sustain.

Things get tricky when you want to get a dirtier sound. If you're looking for a right-out-the-box rock n roll amp that can give you more saturated gain, you might want a Marshall or Randall or something, but if you're willing to futz with a few pedals on this one, you WILL be rewarded. It really takes to tube screamers well, and when I plugged in my electro-harmonix Big Muff, I almost shit. It's just filthily distorted and fantastic. Still though: takes some tweaking.

I doubt you could get a more "modern" distortion sound out of this amp (I may be wrong), but if you're buying something covered in tweed, I assume you're into the same tones as me anyway and won't be disappointed.

My signal chain - Fender strat->Boss CS-3 Compressor->Snarling Dog Blues Bawls (wah pedal)->Ibanez TS-9->Big Muff->Ibanez AD-9->Amp

Sometimes I get the feeling this amp could benefit from a new speaker, and it's something I might consider in the future.

I'm giving this amp an 8 for that great tone and the distortion it's CAPABLE of.

I had to clean the pots when I first got it because I was getting alot of noise when adjusting them, and the "Bright" button wasn't working. I'm pretty sure this is because it was used though, and no fault in the design.

One complaint I have though, is sometimes when messing with the "Bright" button, I lose all sound and have to switch b/w the channels to get it back. Again, mine was used, so who knows, but I get the feeling this is more likely a design flaw, as I've read some similar sounding problems in reviews above.

I've had mine for about a year now and haven't had any problems aside from what I mentioned.

Haven't had to deal with them.

For me, this amp is a subjective 10, because it fits my tastes perfectly. But for recommending it to others, I'm gonna give it a 7 just because there are EASIER and more versatile amps to deal with out there.

I already know I'm keeping this amp as long as it's humming. I love the tone, love the retro look, love Fender in general. Just wish I didn't live an an apartment so I could really open her up more often.

Not a great variety of features if you're just playing straight through the amp, doesn't offer much distortion/overdrive for heavy metal but channels can be changed via a footswitch.

I have played my Les Paul straight through a JCM-800 and wish I could get that sound from this but it offers a beautiful warm sound that I would never change. I use Digitech GNX3000 effects and the amp makes EVERY sound perfect. Only problem is for home practice it's hard to get a quiet volume that won't upset the wife. At the lowest setting it's still quite loud but on the other hand, you'll never run out of volume, I've never had mine above 4!

I bought this amp second hand about 3 years ago and it worked fine for the first 2. It developed a problem that caused the amp to keep cutting out at higher volumes, it turned out to be a dry joint and was quickly repaired but it did cost ??50 for the repair. Has worked perfectly ever since.

Never dealt with Fender direct.

A great amp with a great clean sound. Will do your effects and playing great justice.

This is for a 1994 Fender Blues Deluxe made in the USA...NOT the current re-issues that are made in Mexico. This is a 2 channel amp that is basically a Clean channel, and an Overdrive channel. It is based off of Fender's answer in the early 90's to make a 1950's Deluxe or Bassman amp with channel switching and reverb. It is 40 watts with a single 12" Eminence Gold Label speaker. Mine came with 2 Sovtek 6L6GC power tubes and 3 Shuguang 12AX7 preamp tubes installed. After my first couple of days with the amp, I noticed that the preamp tubes had some microphonic feedback at higher volumes, so I replaced them with JJ Electronics ECC83S preamp tubes, and now my problem is solved!
This is NOT a High Gain amp like my Peavey 5150. BUT...this amp is a tone monster! And yes..a clean sounding amp can be full of luscious TONE!
It has 2 inputs, Volume knob and Bright switch for the Normal channel, and a Drive (preamp gain) and Master Volume for the Drive channel. Both channels share Treble, Bass, Presence and Reverb controls. It also has an effect loop (power amp in + preamp out), footswitch, standby and power switch.

As I said before, if you are after a high gain amp, there are plenty of buzzy, muddy amps out there for you. If you are looking for an amp that has a warm, clean tone on the clean channel, and a creamy, thick overdrive channel, then this amp is for you! This amp was based off of the original Fender Bassman, which was the amps that the old great Marshall's were based off of. This amp can get me crystal clear clean tones, and yes...if you want a great SRV or Eric Johnson tone, this one will get it for ya! The overdrive channel is very responsive, and you can EASILY dial in a "Sunshine of you Love" Clapton tone! It is a punchy, warm, creamy, crystal clear LOUD amp! I just cannot stop playing it! This amp is very responsive to your guitars pickups, volume knob and pick attack. It can capture every nuance of your playing...even if your playing is good or bad!

So far, so good. It doesn't appear to have that "Blues Deluxe Channel Limbo" switching problem that was on the 1993 models. Apparently Fender fixed this bug by then.

Purchased my amp used. I have never had any dealings with Fender's customer support.

I have a ton of guitars (Fender American Strat with Samarium Cobalt pickups, 1988 Gibson Les Paul Standard with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups, 1998 Peavey Wolfgang American Deluxe, various Kramers, Ibanez' and other homemade guitars) and I have played them all thru this amp, although the Strat and the Les Paul just SING on it!
I hate to just give out a perfect 10, but if you want a great sounding, clean amp with a creamy overdrive (not a buzzy, muddy high gain box), then this amp is it!

Not sure what year mine is, but it's not the Reissue. Not the most versatile amp, but if you want a great sounding amp at a reasonable price, this is it as far as I'm concerned. It's plenty loud for 40 watts, and the tones are smooth and creamy. It's got some bite when you need it too. I don't care for the overdrive channel, but I wouldn't use it anyway because I use pedals.

Great clean sound, not like glass, but that's not what this amp is supposed to be. It's a great bluesy sound and get the tone set right,and you can get awesome rock & country tones also. It's probably overall the best amp I've owned. I play mostly classic rock & 70's stuff. I've been playing pretty much the same stuff for 40 years! I've never had any issues with noise, or anything else actually. Just a a good, reliable machine.

Never had any problems, so no issues here.

N/A

I've been playing about 40+ years and owned more gear than I can remember. I love this amp and would probably buy another one if the deal was right. I play my 70's Japanese Strat most of the time, but I also have an Epi Les Paul Standard. I like the Strat with it the best. I highly reccomend this amp.

This is an update to my review of 7/8/2007

Shortly after writing the review, I was getting ready to play through the amp and could not get the red pilot light to come on. Turns out it was burned out. Now it's not that this is a big deal as you can get a replacement at Radio Shack for a couple of bucks, but after only three weeks???
Just last week I was playing it and in the middle of playing, the channel select switch quit functioning. It appears that it failed mechanically as you can feel the absence of the "click" which used to occur and still does on the reverb switch. Called the nearest authorized repair center (85 miles away) and was advised to send it to them. They said it would most likely be covered by warranty, except for shipping (around $5 each way)....let's hope so. This is now only after owning the amp for three months.
So, I've had three problems in three months: Tube rattling (mentioned in my initial review), a burned out pilot light, and a broken channel select switch.
I do still love the sound of this amp, although I have added a Boss Chorus, and an Ibanez TS-9 pedal, (plus a Boss tuner) in the signal chain for more diversity.....BUT Fender really does need to address these quality issues with the suppliers of their electronic parts!!!!! It has been annoying.

I think the discussion of how the company handles warranty issues is given too much attention in these reviews. The "need" to have warranty work performed is the better measure of worth. There shouldn't be more than one incident in a hundred or more for a quality product and Fender is doing poorly in this regard. I would rather have paid another $100 if it meant the product rarely had failures.

Great sound, plenty of volume, reasonable price, good looks, not too heavy (@ 45 lbs.), but three annoying failures (costing me $50-$55 out-of-pocket to correct). So how do you rate that?

I'll be brief since it's all been said. 40 watts, 2 12AX7 preamp tubes, 1 12AX7 tube phase inverter, 2 6L6 power tubes, solid state rectifier, solid state reverb circuit, 2 footswitchable channels, effects loop, single 12" Eminence Fender spec'd speaker, printed circuit board amp, tweed covered particle board cabinet.

This is where I'm tempted to say, it sounds great, "for a cheap amp".

But the thing is, it sounds great, period.

It strikes a perfect balance between Fender and Marshall vibe, having the top end slice of an old Deluxe Reverb, the bottom end of a Twin Reverb, only much warmer, like a vintage JTM45. In many good ways, this is a very un-Fender, Fender.

The Overdrive channel is mild, putting out nice, rich, old-school, pegged-non-master-volume amp tones at manageable volumes

Plus, with the clean channel, this is the best pedal platform I've ever used, putting out true boutique tones with a Jetter Gain Stage Red and Blue, Hermida Zendrive, Ibanez TS808 and a Voodoo Labs SparkleDrive.

I've used it with a Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG, CS-336 and an Epi Emperor jazz hollowbody.

I gig with the amp regularly in a rock/funk, fusion & blues band, plus I've used it for sub and pickup work for straight blues, country and classic rock. It works well for all.

I am knocking off 2 points for the speaker, which while capable, is not as dynamic or sparkly as needed in some styles. FWIW, I replaced mine with a Celestion Vintage 30, a speaker well suited for the way this amp is voiced, and it just KILLS.

There is one problem these early Blues Deluxes were prone too (mine is a first year, '93 model). It is in the lower power circuit that causes the amp to sometimes lock up with the overdrive channel light on, but no sound. There were two Fender Technical Notes released to address this, one in '93 and one in '95. Google search for amp technical forums with "Blues Deluxe Channel Limbo" as the search criteria, print it out and either DIY if you're qualified, or take the amp and the notes to a good amp tech for some preventative repairs. This will make the amp as robust as anything out there, and beyond gig worthy. Since Fender recognized the problem early on, and addressed it, no points off - just do yourself a favor if you have an older one and get it checked out.

Never had to deal with Fender CS, so no opinion.

I have been gigging since the mid-to-late 70's. Have owned two other of these amps and would definitely replace mine if it were lost or stolen.

I have also bought, sold, re-bought and re-sold almost every blackface amp Fender ever made since 1976. Also owned a '59 Champ, a handfull of silverface era Fenders, a 50 watt, Plexi Marshall half-stack, some Peavy "Classic" series tube amps, a couple of old Music Mans, a Boogie Mk IIc, a couple Fender Blues Jr's, and I'm sure a few others I've forgotten about. This amp definitely rates. With certain pedals, this amp gives off a KILLER Marshall vibe. With others, this amp is square in "D" amp territory.

I've had my Blues Deluxe for about 11 or 12 years. I play a Tele and the tone is great. When I first bought this amp I was in Blues band and used no effects. I found the reverb and the overdive was all I really needed.

The clean channel is outstanding. The overdrive is also great if you are not looking for distortion. The overdrive has just enough bite, more sustain great for solos. Recently I've been playing through a DigiTech GNX3. After much tweeking mainly setting the GNX3 to direct instead of AMP models I'm quite pleased with the tone.

After about a month I needed to replace Tubes. I was playing out when the tubes went bad. That was bad. I did get a free replacement and those tubes work until last winter. I just replaced the whole set about a month ago from Tubeworks and my Amp never sounded better.

Overall I would I not get another Blues Deluxe. Mine was made in America. Why did Fender have to start making these in Mexico? I know they sold out on guitars along time ago and some of overseas models are good. But I would pay an extra 200 bucks or more if I new Fender products were made in the U.S.A.

Just bought used - the guy thought it was a '95 or something. It's the Made in USA model and NOT the Re-issue that is made in Mexico. Not gonna list the specs as they are listed her on other reviews. but it has only two channels (not 3 like the Hot Rod Dlx.

I also have a Hot Rod Dlx. that I had sent to Omega Amps to modify. I saw this and took a gamble as it needed tubes and was kinda dirty and messy on the control board. I have tons of guitars - 8 Strats and 3 Tele's and an original '73 Tele Dlx. Les Paul and more. What I like about this amp compared to the others . . . When you engage the overdrive channel, that's just what you get - overdrive. i.e. sounds the same as clean but as if you've cranked up the volume on the clean enough to distort. Sounds really creamy. Almost not enough overdrive with the single coils but with the Tele Dlx with Humbuckers, it's got plenty! Again, sounds like it's supposed to sound! Like Stevie Ray pushing his Fender amps. I am very impressed. Plus, it's loud as hell!

Just got it but I would think that it's better than my Hot Rod Dlx. as those have some weird things that can make them quit on you.

Haven't had that experience as yet and I have a Hot Rod Deville, Hot Rod Dlx. and this amp. So far so good.

When you get this thing dialed in right, it's amazing! Not sure what they did differntly with the Re-issues or the Dlx. but they don't compare to this one. If you can find one of these old US models, snag it like I did! Most people know that the overdrive channels on the Hot Rod Dlx. and Deville sort of suck. Putting JJ Tubes in my DeVille (and re-biasing the amp as per Euro-Tubes suggested settings) improved that quite a bit to say the least. My Omega mod is great but overdrives are more "Marshall" sounding. This one sounds really good. Plus, put some pedals in front for some really juicy sound! I just bought that Fender Bassman pedal from Boss. As much as I know there are pedal snobs out there that will only go with the botique pedals . . . check this one out. It nails it pretty good. Try it with the Deville 410. Turns it into a Bassman!

Basic features for a two channel amp. Shares EQ which is a drawback.

Typical Fender sound in this price range. Actually very good. My biggest complaint is that there is no range on the volume. In fact that is why I am returning it tomorrow. I was going to use this as a second amp as a delay amp and to get a more fendery sound but it goes from off to full volume from 1-2 on the volume knob. It blew away (volume wise only) my Dr Z Maz 18 which is a loud amp for 18 watts. This is a VERY loud amp. This is coming from a guy who played out with a "evil" twin and a tomemaster. Both 100 WATT AMPS! If that aint loud I don't know what is. This amp could keep up with those for sure. Also the EQ doesn't do much for the tone. Presence does little too. I might be spoiled from my Dr Z amp.

For $650.00 this is not a bad amp or a bad buy. Out of the box it sounds good and has the quality of sound you expect from Fender. I am returning it because I traded in an "evil" twin that is 100 watts and is far easier to control the volume on than this amp. For me this is a HUGE FLAW in this product and Fender really needs to address it if they want to have a truely great amp for this price range. Still if you don't mind the volume (and theres a LOT) this did have some usable sounds even with the EQ.

The amp is new with one gig but I got a good feel for it. It suites vintage rock blues and R&B very well. the second channel is very sweet sounding with both channels having very smooth mids. Plenty loud even outside..had it on 4..stays clean longer as you raise volume
better than I thought..true fender vibe better than my dad's 65 twin.
chanel and verb switch....plenty power.

This amp takes pedals well as needed if you want vintage distortion on through to Black Crows...At about 5 with a PRS Hollow body 2 (strong buckers)it starts to breakup sweetly. Channel 2 live is far different than bedroom volumes of course. I get the VERY strong hunch this amp would benefit greatly from anew speaker..perhaps the Jensen some of the other reviewers mentioned...or tone tubby. I only use high end pedals because they have come so far..Keeley BD2..Sd1..Fulltone OCD....very quiet amp..just a nice round smooth sound...this is far from a metal amp..but woulddo it if fed the right stuff...I could probably use some tube research to see what can beat the Ruby's...but they sound good...It beats the Devilles by a mile and the bassman...Actually playing most Fenders in a very large music store huge high ceiling room this amp blew the others away. I find it very very helpful to go befor closing and have a fair player play my guitar through it and walk around the room..I do not recommend a smokin' player...

With the EXTREME exception of the new Fender Supersonic which has been a nightmare for my Dad who still plays at 75 Fender has a Boogie topnotch track record..But DO NOT touch the SUPERSONIC piece of garbage...great amp..just won't make sound.

always had fair support..but nottop notch based on my Dad
's sad 1200$ nightmare boat anchor...please spread the word..Fender dealers I have talked to do their best to stear customers away from it..but the 5 year warranty with Dad's supersonic..NOPE!!!!!!!

been playing for 40 years..I'd probably buy again..naaahhh I wouldn't either..I'd get a VHT because of the raves and friends I have heard..But for the money this is a great sounding Fender..I have learned that with the exception of low wattage botique amps..Maz 38 comes to mind..40 to 50 watts is just right as I have owned 15 or so amps or rack setups. being a Boogie guy from Mark 4 (awful amp) through many others to my now best fo show the Rectoverb (got 9.3 on sound) I am suprised how well the Fender holds up for half the $.. I will say that with an extension speaker..celestion...it really sounds huge fat but NOT muddy at all..lows are fairly tight...mids very smooth if you back them way down...very nice reverb IMUO...probably one of the best amps at $529..Another awsomw feature it weighs probably 15 to 10lbs less than the Recto.

Tube Combo
40 Watt
2 Chanels (Clean + Chrunch)
Fender Spring Reverb
Made in Mexico

This is a blues amp and I will not complain about his low gain as so many other.
If you??re looking for a high gain amp get something else!!!
Because this amp is called Blues Deluxe!!!
So I??m more a vinatage kind a guy. I only got one guitar a Gibson Les Paul and I play rock from Stones to Guns n Roses to... Whatever...
If I need more gain for maybe Guns n Roses kind of stuff, I put a distortion pedal between and it sounds amazing.
I??ve tried many amps over the years and I??ve owned a Boogie before.
This amp has the best chrunch sound I??ve ever get!!!
The clean channel is also very beautifull, nice reverb. Everything bluesy sounds amazing...
But if you put the reverb over 4 then it gets gets useless in my opinion, just to much...
My only complaint is the loudness of this amp.
If you set the amp??s controls as quiet as possible which is volumecontroll 1,5 then you got max volume for homeplaying..
2 is about three times as loud and i doubt you will ever turn it over 2,5. I??ve once gigged with a lokal rock-coverband i had the volume on 2 I was definetly the loudest. I know tube amps are loud and I ain??t a sissy man I had a Mesa before! But the volumecontrol is poor!
Ok this category is called sound so I give it a 10

Got this amp for over 6 months no, still love it, no problems at all

Never needed

I??m playing for 20 years now. If youre looking for a tube amp with a great sounding clean channel, a Stones to ACDC sounding crunch then you will love this amp.
But be carefull this amp will may be to loud...

This amp is very old, however it sounds amazing. The tubes give it a warm bluesy sound. This amp is quintessential for any blues player. I, however do not play blues, I play metal. This amp does not have much distortion, but when rigged with a distortion pedal it sounds killer.

it sounds most excelllent for blus and clean, and goes very loud but has little disortion

i bought this amp used in horrible condition with ciggarette burns all over it, i thinks its from the early 80's. however it still sounds awesome and has never let me down.

this is good

July 1995 as the serial number next to the speaker says FG
Blonde tolex,which was offered only in 1995,features Fender Blues Deluxe logo on front instead of Fender on the tweed version bought from a private seller who never took it outside his room
Still has the original set of tubes
440 euro was a good price (i am italian)considering that we can actually pay more than 700 euro for a mexican Blues Deluxe reissue
I give it a 7,would have been a 10 if an external speaker output was installed but u get what u need
Put it on the stage,turn it on and start to play

Guitars: 2xStrat Am.Standrad 2005 rosewood,Strat Vintage 62 maple,Tele Am.Series 2005 rosewood,Gibson Les Paul Standard 1999 -none of these guitar have been modified in the elctronics
0.10 mostly Ernie ball on every guitar
My fx chain is: Boss SD1- JH1 Dunlop wah- E.H. metal muff- Danelectro coolcat chorus- Boss DD6 - Vox volume pedal
George L'S cables and a warwick pedalboard with internal power supply
If u want to hear the real sound of a Fender guitar,no matter if Strat,Tele,Cyclone or Jaguar ... and u have a budget of 300-500 euro...no choice but this amp
Beautiful clean channel even at high volume,lots of bass and definition
I read about a useless overdrive channel...not true
Stop complaining about the drive,and start understand how to use the equalisation on a amp and how to set your guitar
Drive:7 Master:6 Bass:6 Middle:7 High:3 Presence:2
Try this on the neck pu of a Strat...rock it
Sounds real good on the Les Paul also,obviously more round but that's the Gibson and his humbucker
Tried it with many guitars...when it was sounding bad it was the guitar,not the amp :d
Reverb is nice and not noisy at all,after 4-5 is useless in my opinion
My speaker is a gold label Eminence,and it's very loud and clear
I don't use fx loop a lot,when i tried it sounded cool and not noisy even though i think is -2/3 dB on the output
When it comes to using your stomp boxes...surprise is coming...this amp with a good equalisation on the clean channel turns a good pedal into an awesome pedal
With the Metal Muff i can have from a nice 70's classic rock tone to a 80's hard rock and when pushed to limits u get the tallica with a bridge single coil am.st. pu believe it or not
With a nice overdrive u get anything in the between...from SRV to Eric Johnson
Try different settings on the drive channel and the overdrive will perform real good,keeping dynamics
For those of you complaing about noise...change power supply for ur pedals and buy good cables...and switch off ur mobile phones when playing (and old tvs :d)

12 years so far,stock tubes,never had a problem,built like a tank,never let me down
If it ever will,i would spend 2x to get another one

Never contact Fender,no need

For those of you guys out there playing old school metal...can u read it?It says Blues not Metal Deluxe...BUT...withthe right pedal u can do it!For classic rock and blues this is the combo
Been playing for 15 years,29 years old now...lots of gigs...they will hear u,for sure,and the drummer will kick your ass if u wont turn the volume down to at least 5-4
No need to use a microphone in small clubs
Not an amp to buy if you practise at home,40w tube amp is loud
It will become a classic

2 channel tone machine.

I'm a bassman guy & this amp is killer.

For 2 channel amp this thing cooks!
I play Hard Rock/Punk Rock.
The Clean channel is nice. Not Bassman or Bandmaster tone, but
very good for a 2 channel amp.
The Dirt Channel is Killer. I usually can't deal with Master Volume
Amps. I have owned a Hot Rod Deluxe & for great tone the Blues Deluxe
Kicks Ass all over the Hot Rod series amps. The Gain is smooth & the low-end doesn't fart out.

Well built!

Fender could have much better customer service.

It doesn't suck, yet it could be better.

If you're looking for an amp to nail down some Classic Rock tones,
look No further! This amp my have the best (Low-Gain) Drive channel I've ever heard. It will not do New Metal without a pedal.
In fact, unless you're playing Blues, Rock, Hard Rock or Country don't buy this amp. Fender should have spent more time dialing this amp in & less on the Hot Rod series. Is it the perfect combo? Nothing's perfect! Is it a great amp to take to rehearsal & to live shows? Hell Yes! The Overdrive on this Amp Rules. I'm not going to take a Matchless combo out to play in clubs. This amp has nice big transparent tone that you won't find in most combo amplifiers.

I would buy it again. I wish it had only One Kick Ass channel.
Still a Killer Amp!

The only channel I use on the amp is the clean channel so I don't have much use for all sorts of other features. It's got two channels with independent volume controls for each channel. Reverb, bright switch, effects loop, etc. The amp I own was made in 1997 and came with an Emminence Speaker (not the fender special design made by emminence although it did sound rather simmilar). 40w

Anyone who owns this amp should do themselves a favor and put a Jensen P12Q speak in this amp. It turns the amp from an ok amp into a GREAT amp. I can use this amp for ANYTHING. Some of my other main amps are are a 65 Twin Reverb RI, Marshall JCM 800 combo, Mesa Dual Rec Head w/ 1x12 Mesa Cab, and a notable competitor of the Blues Deluxe, a Peavel Delta Blues 2x10. I might get some localized shining moments out of these other amps, but they're nowhere near as diverse as the Blues Deluxe with the Jensen speaker. Blues, country, classic rock, hard rock, jazz, even Metallica. I'm not kidding, this amp is good for anything. Only reason I bring a different amp out to a show is just to get the cobwebs out of the ones that are sitting.

Also, the amp's distortion is now worth of using with the new speaker and its actually quite a good overdrive.

I had to have it repaired one time which cost me about $150. Apparently there's a known problem with some of these amps and Fender had gotten a shipment of some bad capacitors and maybe some other parts. Sound cuts out and the overdrive channel light comes on. No problems since the parts were replaced (about 2 years ago).

Been playing 17 years and I'm a bit of a guitar gear junkie. I have some decent overdrive pedals and primarly play a PRS McCarty and a 1989 Fender Strat (my first guitar). Les Paul sounds great through this thing as well.

My is a Blues deluxe Tweed from 1994.I Paly mostly Stones/Berry style old rock&roll and for it it??s a very good amp I think.It have 2 well balanced channels you can swithc by panel or a 1 button footswitch included with the amp.I would like that it have a switchable reverb but i don??t use it often.For me it have enough power to use with a rock&roll band in any situation

Clean channels is a nice classic fender type channel.I also like the drive channel it??s perfect for the drive i want "ala Richards".I play with a mexican Tele Custom 72 with SD Broadcaster pickup on bridge and I get the sound i was looking for years

I would use it without backup cause i??m not rich and only have this amp....it broke down but only one preamp tube...it??s not related with amp only with use...

Never deal with them...i changed it from other guitarist for a Marshall JCM2000 DSL401

I been playing now for 4 years.I used Peavey Clasic 30(great amp for money),Marshall JCM 2000,Valvestate,JCM900...and i think that Fender gives me vintage sound similar to old Tweeds

This is a typical two channel amp - clean channel and a drive channel. Both channels share the EQ, Reverb and Presence controls, but have seperate volume controls. Comes with a footswitch to control the channel switching (can also be done on the amp itself via a button) and a reverb on/off. Also has an effects loop and a bright switch and two inputs (hi and lo).

The amps has 40 watts of pure tube power, which is more than enough for gigging even large halls if you mic the amp. This is an ideal club amp for country, rock or blues...

This amp really has two distinct channels.

First the clean channel. This channel has a rich, beautiful clean tone with a shimmering high end and a warm. tight low end. When you push the volume you get a great smooth tube breakup. This channel also works incredibly well with pedals to get a tube breakup at a lower volume. I usethis channel almost exclusively.

The drive channel I am less than thrilled with. When you switch channels the EQ of the amp totally changes and you get less low end and more high end. The drive channel is great for the SRV'ish blues, and does some good rock with humbuckers, but it sounds too thin and anemic as compared to the clean channel to my ears. I rarely use this channel at all. Since I use single coil guitars 90% of the time, the OD is not to my liking. It does work better with humbuckers..

The amp is really quiet, which is a major plus! I play modern country in the band I'm in (ie - 70's rock with a twang), and I play a wide variety of music when I play at church (folk to near metal...). The Blues Deluxe works well with everything up to metal stuff, and you would be looking at this amp if you wanted to play metal anyway.

Guitar wise, I play a Robin Ranger Pro (Tele, Strat, and Humbucker pups) and a Fender Strat. Both sound great through the BD...

So - a 9 for the clean channel and a 7 for the OD - overall 8..

I've had it for a few months an no problems yet. Usually any manufacturing issues would have surfaced by now. I may gig with this w/out a backup, but only because I don't have one right now. I need to get a backup option because this is a tube amp...

My only dealings with Fender were with a different amp, and they got the problem taken care of with no hassles at all...

I've been playing for quite awhile. I've owned dozens of amps from well respected (Dr Z), to fairly obsure (Lab Series). I love this amp. The drive channel isn't the greatest, but I don't need to use it. I use pedals and use the Bluyes Deluxe as a one channel amp. Killer cleans, takes pedals very well, fairly light (45 lbs). Everything I wanted in an amp at a very resonable price.

I play mainly my Robin Ranger Pro and a Fender Strat through this amp and it shines with single coils and humbuckers. I played a bunch of amps prior to buying this one, and it really stood out in my mind. I would not hesitate to buy this amp again...

Basic features - it is what it is. Two channels, but if you're looking for the Gain channel to give you anything other than "mildly overdriven", keep shopping. Personally, I use only the clean channel and step on a pedal for overdrive.

I bought this amp used and baddly-beaten at a guitar show. It sounded awful, but I've owned these amps before and gambled that with a little TLC, she could be brought back to life. I replaced the power tubes with Winged-C, formerly Svetlana (The Svetlana name is currently owned by a different company - if you liked the old Svetlanas, you want Winged-Cs now.) I replaced the preamp tubes with some NOS JAN Sylvanias.

Next I pulled out the POS Eminence speaker and dropped in a Celestion Vintage 30. Finally, I had a local amp tech go through her. While he was giving her a checkout, I shellac'd and laquered the tweed cabinet.

Price breakdown: $300 for the amp, $60 for tubes (good source for those NOS Sylvanias), $80 for the amp tech, and I had the Celestion Vintage 30 in the garage and had already taken full depreciation on the amp it originally came with. Total price: $440.

Result: Boutique tone for 1/4 the price of the lowest priced comparable new boutique amp on the market, or less than 1/3 the price of that same boutique amp used.

Holy S**t, I use this amp for all kinds of tones, with all kinds of guitars, and a combination of Voodoo Sparkle Drive and Ibanez TS808 Tubescreamer. I regularly gig with it, and it's never let me down once (knock on particle board).

See for yourself if you'd like. There are MP3s at guitardavetaylor.com and also at myspace.com/guitardavetaylor.

The one downside the amp has that I've found is it is NOT A GOOD HOME PRACTICE AMP, unless your home practices regularly involve a full live band. This amp is for live playing, either in studio, rehearsal or onstage, all of which it does an amazingly good job at a great price point.

Had some issues that a good tech and I addressed when I first purchased. Since then, it goes in for a checkup once a year, and has been 100% reliable.

Have owned 9 older Fender blackface era amps, a couple of Fender silver faces, a 1959 Champ, a handfull of newer Fender circuit board amps like this one, and have never once had any need to or interest in calling the factory for support.

Just picked this up today. For blues and rock this amp has everything you will need in a tube amp.

If your looking for that SRV tone and distortion or any other 'blues' sound and tone this amp is a bargain! Great clean and over drive. You may not need that tube screamer (well...)

Its a tube amp from a tried and proven manufacturer. If something breaks replacements are easy to find!

Buy it. If it gets stolen buy another one.

The amp almost has too many features. I just use volume, mid, high & bass with a bit of reverb. 40 watts may not sound like a lot of power but remember the old Fender Bandmaster & Super Reverbs where 40 watts. There is plenty of power for most gigs. Also you get tube saturation (distortion) with out breaking your ear drums.

I use a Guild Starfire IV and a Modulus G1. This is a rock and roll or blues amp. It does an excellent job at that. It's a bit too gritty for Jazz or Acoustic guitar. You can use different tubes that have less saturation if Jazz or acoustic is your thing.

No opinion yet.

I have been playing for too many years... I also have a Roland Jazz Chorus JC120 with JBL speakers when I want a clean sound.

The Deluxe Blues is a rather specialized amp. It's excellent for what it was designed for. But it's not for everybody. I think it's an excellent buy. I think it would hold it's own next to a Messa Boogie !

Made in 2005. 2 channels - normal and drive. Has mid, bass and treble, reverb, presence, bright switch etc...all tube amp. These features are listed on the Fender site as well as numerous guitar storefront websites. The features are very basic and that's why I bought it. I was looking for a kind of basic/modern/blues type amp and the Blues Deluxe meets all the requirements for blues. Plus the vintage tweed look is definitely makes it an attractive buy. If you want more features like 4 channels and effects you should really look at other brands and models like Mesa Boogie or Marshall or buy a bunch of pedals.

This amp fits the kind of music that I play - a lot of early British and Chicago type blues and classic rock like Allman Brothers.

40w is indeed enough for gigs unless you play arenas and gigantic venues for a living. In my opinion 40w is enough for all of my normal gigs as well as at home practice and sessions. And if you really need extra volume and power just mic it up.

I use a Gibson Les Paul Standard w/ Burst Buckers, Robert Cray signature Stratocaster and a Jerry Donahue Tele with hot rails in the bridge.

This amp is suprisingly quiet. The only thing that I found annoying is the rattle of the tubes when I crank it up full blast. I suggest playing around with the settings to dial in the sound you want. For my Les Paul I put the bass at 4, Treble at 6 and mid at 5, reverb at 4, presence all the way to 12 and put it on the drive channel with the drive all the way to 9 for that Clapton Bluesbreakers tone. The sound of humbuckers are rich and full on the clean channel and when on drive it gets gritty and breaks up nicely with a very creamy warm kind of sound. The single coils are great as well for that classic Strat and Tele clarity and that distinctive cutting distortion when cranked on the drive channel.

When you crank this amp past 6 it still retains great sound quality but past that I find it to shatter hearing. I rarely crank it past 8 and this is during gigs as well.

The distortion is not for metal heads and wasn't made for that kind of playing in mind - hence the name. But for all other kinds of playing mostly rock, blues, country and others of that ilk it works like a charm.

I found the presence feature didn't really change the sound dramatically. More subtle than anything.

I uselly had to use a tube screamer for more musical distortion on my other amps but with this I just plug straight in.

Very reliable unless you don't know how to take care of your equipment like pulling out the tubes while the amp is still on (don't ever do that), messing with the chassis when you don't know what you're doing.

I've gigged with it and its great. Always carry a backup amp and extra tubes and fuses. Thats like a standard procedure for musicians. Easy for carrying around and loading into my car.

I haven't had the amp that long to change the tubes yet but it seems as if it can handle my gigs. I usually change tubes every 6 months or so.

Gaven't had any problems that needed dire assistance.

I've been playing for a little over 5 years. I consider myself still inexperience in the world of guitar gear (according to the standards of gear geeks and tone snobs) but I usually know what works and sound good for me and my playing.

I would definitely buy another one if it was lost or stolen.

I just love the classic sounds of plugging straight in and getting that chicago and british blues sound. People always try to chase these old classic sounds from the past and its rather simple to obtain unless you're looking for something else. I find plugging straight into this amp is what works for me because that's what the old blues players did and I think that its a tried and true method to those classic sounds that most players seem to be throwing pedals onto.

So if you're into classic Fender clean, and classic blues distortion then this is it! There are other amps that are twice as much such as the Twin and Super which I've own but I find that I didn't really need it for my gig requirements. Don't get me wrong those amps sounds awesome but the Blues Deluxe sounds great as well.

But this review is just my opinion. I suggest you get out there and try it out all the amps that sparks your interest and see which one is right for you. That's the only way because all of us have our own preferences and opinions on what a "good" amp is.

After a hundred or so reviews, the features should be listed by now. Doesn't have a reverb on/off switch. I tried buying a footswitch with one and it still doesn't work.

This is why I'm here. I've never written a review before, but I thought anyone interested in the Deluxe might want to know this. I previously owned the Blues Deville, and the amp is simply TOO LOUD for any conventional club playing. This is, if you want to get the most from this amp without a power break. So I bought the 1x12 Deluxe. It was a good decision. You can get the tubes warm and driven at a relative volume without the engineer/bandmates complaining. *NOTE- Groove Tubes are CRAP. Anyone who buys a Fender amp should replace these as soon as possible. I replaced my 6L6's with Svetlana "Winged C" tubes (about $40.00 a pair), and Electro-Harmonix 12ax7's. I'm sure you can find better preamp tubes, but for the price, EH makes pretty decent ones. Now this is KEY....replace the phase inverter preamp tube (it's all the way to the outside) with a 12AT7 tube, instead of a 12ax7. The difference is pretty phenomenal. Before the overdrive was just too brittle and had some unpleasant biting tones at the top no matter what I did to the EQ. Now it's a smoother gain, I can crank the pre up a lot higher and get an exact match of the Angus Young sound. This is with a '78 Les Paul Custom straight to the amp. You won't get any kind of palm mute "chunk", though. But that's not what I play. GREAT chord definition, doesn't get muddy. I HIGHLY recommend this change because I've been dealing with these amps for a couple of years now and this is the best I've heard from them so far!

No problems so far. Haven't gigged with it yet.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I've been playing hard rock for 10 years. You CANNOT BEAT THIS SOUND FOR THIS PRICE. I think the value will go up eventually like all great Fender amps once they discontinue them. For a few easy tube modifications, you can't beat this deal! If mine were stolen I'd definitely by another because of the value!

As discribed in other reviews. I hardley ever use the drive channel. I changed to speaker to a pair of Jensen P10R's (10"), see below. Let's see if my review can add something new to the countless other reviews.

I play blues (check my band at www.hiptwist.tk), jazz, soul (www.souled.tk) and more. I play mainly an old Framus archtop through it, with P90-like pu's. The amps sounds just great: punchy, warm, very responding, sensitive and bringing out the best of your instrument. This applies especially when played at relatively low volumes. It has a very good usable sound at higher volumes, but: a tendency to sound (too) bass-heavy, even with the bass-control all the way down, and it sounds somewhat "small" (no big wonder of course) and clinical. I always liked the sound of it as it was, but I recently changed the 12" Emminence speaker to a pair of 10" P10R Jensens (4 Ohms, lined up in series for the 8 ohms it needs). I'm glad that I did. Now the amp is a lot less bass-heavy and has a sweet singing "brown" tone. At high volumes, when the Jensens are realy crancked, the break up very nicely! It did loose a little funky-punch though, because of the Jensens responding somewhat slower. For me that's no problem, considering the styles I play, but if you only do funky rythms, the P10Q or the ceramic Jensens might be a better choice.
I never experienced much with the tubes, although I prefer to use Sovtek 6L6WXT+ (matched pair) for the power-tubes. The sound differs with different tubes, presumably because of different rates (the one pair running hotter or colder than the other). The pre-amp tubes I never changed and are still the factory-originals.

A few years back I experienced the same troubles as some other users described: the amp cutting out and switching channels randomly. This problem is described at http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/. Cause: broken solder-joints around the pot-meters and around the ceramic 470K-resistors (the resistors still intact). Solution: re-flowing the solder-joints (touching them with a hot soldering-iron). Never had any problems since, but I check the joints and resistors regulary and transport the amp in the back-seat (not in the trunk) of my car.
One of the jack-inputs screw-threat is worn, so it is kept in place with some tape now. I'll have to replace it sooner or later. The cabinet and chassis seem very well constructed though, but I regret Fender didn't point-to-point wire this amp, however understandingly form economical point of view. All in all some points off in this category.

Never dealed with Fender.

I like the Fender-tone (never cared much for Marshall). Love this amp, played it for over a decade now. It's relatively small and easy to handle, which is why I prefer it over a Twin Reverb. I played a lot of amps over the years and this amp always pleased me most (except maybe for some very expensive vintage or boutique-amps). With the recent speaker change it suits my playing even better than before. The reliability could be better, and is a result of Fender's choice to use PCB-boards and a wrong way of soldering the 470K resistors (see at http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/). Nevertheless I love it and it will probably stay in my set-up. For me, it deserves an overall 10-rating, now that I know

I am rating a 1997 modelyear limited blonde BDX.
I won't list all the features, as you all know already.
Just want to tell you, what is missing, to give it a 10 for the features:
The overdrive is not a separate channel, but more like just an additional effect.
The "effects loop" is not switchable and not perfectly matching all different types of gear.
The reverb is not switchable.
So I give it at 7 - that's more than enough

I am exclusively playing Strat-type guitars, as there are: a 2001 JB Strat, an early 80ies Squier JV-Series Strat (equipped with Texas Specials), a Squier '51 and a Starfield Altair SJ Custom.
For effects, I am a lot playing around with my gear, as there are a Boxx GX-700, a Tubescreamer, an old Ibanez chorus and a Treble Booster. But most of the time, I just play the guitar right into the amp and I use Weber MiniMASS powerbrake.
I play mainly Blues with sometimes some Rock or even Jazz mixed to that. My sonic heaven is the sound of SRV as well as of Eric Clapton.
That said, I have to tell you, that I am quite dissapointed by this amp. Bought it via eBay and I am currently selling it again via the same way. It lacks sparkle and depth. I checked out wether this is due to the speaker by cross-checking the BDX with the speakers of my Concert Reverb and vice versa - it is to blame on the amp.

For anyone, looking for some sweet BF tones - this amp is NOT for you. It reminds me more of some Marshall-type sounds and it sure has a nice Rock-attitude, but it is not what I expect from a Fender.

I am still unsure about the rating, because I don't want to blame the amp for not meeting my personal expectations - but I cannot give more than a 7.

Anyone who brakes this one - it's your own fault.

I am not happy with the European local support - but the HP with all those user manuals and circuit schematics is really nice.

I am playing electric guitar since 13 years now and always sticked to the Stratocaster and Fender-Amp formula (despite a 3-year romance with a Vox AC30).
I will not buy a BDX again.
Originally, I thought, this might be a cool alternative to my Concert Reverb - but related to price and weight, the BDX does not do the job.

At least, build quality and the good reputation let me expect to not loose any money due to selling it again.

This is a real tone machine!A Blues or Rock Players dream.The amp is a USA built version and not the Made In Mexico reissue.This is the most warmest sounding tube amp I have ever owned.At 40 watts I have more then enough power for any gig I may play.

I use the amp with both my Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster.I use an Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer in front of it.Thats all you need.The prices of these amps will go up in the future now that the Made In Mexico reissue is out on the market.

I have never had any problems with this amp.Tube amps can be quirky sometimes but this one semms to be very reliable.I play it 4 nights a week and have had no issues with it.

Never had to deal with Fender.

I have been playing 25 years.If I lost this amp I would buy another one in a minute (but not the reissue).The amp was worth every dime i paid for it.I am lucky to have found one in mint condition and I did not mind paying the price I did because of that.

This is a tweed amp. Built somewhere between '93 and '95 I believe. They stopped making these for awhile but they've been reissued now. It's a 40 watt all tube amplifier, with a 12" eminence speaker, driven by three 12AX7 preamp tubes and two 6L6 output tubes. It has a normal channel which includes a "bright" switch, and a drive channel. There's a footswitch for going back and forth, but there's a definate hiccup as it kicks in to the next channel, I assume because it's an all tube amp. That doesn't bother me at all personally. It also has an effects loop, which I never use, so I'm unqualified to say if it even does the job. It's got 2 inputs.

I mainly play with an American Telecaster through this amp, which has had all of the paint sanded off it and a Little '59 Seymour Duncan put in the bridge locale. I love the guitar, it has a little more beef and warmth than a normal American Tele, and I think it sounds really excellent through this amp. Having said that, the amp is a little noisy, which can be a problem if you record like I do. I don't really mind a little noise on a track though, I think it adds a more life-like quality. It may bother you though.
When you consider this amp, really consider the name, Blues Deluxe. It really is a blues amp. In my experience with it, it stays clean for a very short while. Put the volume up to 4 (on the normal channel mind you, not the drive) and you get a really sweet tube driven distortion. SO TASTY! Even at 3 it will start to break up depending on your pick-ups and attack. I think this is great personally, because I really like a natural overdriven sound, without having to make my ears bleed. Down at 2 or so it's pretty clean sounding, but never clean like some of the fender black-faced amps. This amp really colors the sound of your guitar in a bluesy way (for lack of a better word), so if you want the clean sound of your guitar to really show, I would look for something else. I plan on getting a Twin Reverb soon for that purpose, because I do play a lot of clean stuff and this amp isn't the best for it. But for blues, classic rock, etc. it sounds really, really cool. It's just not an all in one amp. Who wants that though, then you lose the excuse to buy more gear!
The drive channel on this amp is good, but not great. There's a reason you don't see metal and hard rock bands with tweed amps on stage --- it's not meant for that. Don't try it with this amp.

I haven't had this amp for that long and it's mainly a studio amp, so I can't really be the judge of it's reliability.

Never had to deal with Fender.

I've been playing about six years. I own a few guitars and another amp that's solid state (which I never use anymore). I play out a few times a month, but I use acoustics when I do, kind of a solo, folk review type thing. I really like this amp, it sounds really cool. Rich and Warm and Naturally dirty. Not muddy, that's not what I mean by dirty, but very colorful and sweet when driven a little bit. If it was stolen I would probably get a Twin Reverb instead, and then eventually get another one of this. I like this amp a lot, but I'm not married to it. It's clean sounds leave something to be desired, and it's a little noisy, but it sounds classic and unsterile and I like that. I give it an 8 overall. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, I would go check one out.

Few options, but most vintage enthusiast like it like that. All tube with a SS rectifier and SS Reverb unit. I agree that seperate equalizer would be nice for the two channel, or omit them at all. It's really a cross between the old tweed amps and the modern channel switchers.

I'm using a stock '81 Gibson Les Paul Custom. The amp had a great break-up, there is one catch though. A trick I learned with all master volume amps is the just throw the master all the way up, thus elimating the volume cut-off from the circuit, then use the drive or gain control as a traditional volume. The amp is very loud this way with a break-up that does sound much like an old marshall (albeit a little thinner on solo passanges, but this could be my stock pick-ups. Gibson pick-ups from this period onwards are horrible.)

I did notice some scratching when the pots when adjusted, but once you leave the thing alone this problem disapears.

By running the reverb really low and a high drive I got a great marshall like sound. By turning down the drive and cranking the reverb I got this snappy little country sound, good old chickin' pickin' at its best.

I think the distorted tone is much better than reported by others, but again I am eliminating the master altogether. Never ever crank the gain and hold off on the master, this chokes the tubes and gives a buzzy solid-state sound. Tubes are meant to roar, so let them

Amp feels solid.

Some hissing and scratching on the pots when adjusted but this isn't a problem once you stop fiddling with it

No comment

This is a great all around amp. It has the right amount of features to get the job done. A reverb tube would have been nice, but the difference is almost inaudible. If you like to messy around with the control during a set then you might want the have the pot looked at, but if your a player with good dynamics, good controls over your guitar, and a good playing style then this little devil is great. I highly recommend it (especially since most of these amps I've seen run under 500 used). If it was stolen I'd hunt the bastard down and beat him for daring to steal this lovely amp.

Very straight forward and simple to use. Basically a single channel amp with a variable gain boost that is foot-switchable and functions as a quasi drive channel. Other controls are: Bright Switch, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence and Reverb. Single 12" "Fender" speaker, 2 x 6L6 tubes + standard compliment of 12AX7 preamp tubes. Nice real tweed covering with a brown grill cloth.

Not a lot of extra bells and whistles, but I see that as a plus and not a minus. The only thing of would have done differently would have been to use a metal toggle switch for the "Bright" selector instead of the plastic pushbutton, (A very minor complaint)

There are several other things that could have been upgraded, (like speaker type), but then again it might have defeated the cost effective nature of this amp.

First let me say that I am NOT a huge Fender fan. I bought this amp to serve as a small, portable, practice amp that I could leave in our rehearsal space, and maybe use at smaller non-critical gigs.

My two main amplifiers that I use for live performances at least 3 times a week, are a Dr Z Maz 38 Senior 2x12 and a Soldano Lucky 13 2x12. Both of these amps are incredible in every way and are certainly deserving of 10's in every category. I really did not expect the Blues Deluxe to be even remotely in the same league as these amps, but I must admit that it is a lot closer than I would have thought.

I mostly use a Tom Anderson Cobra Special, Don Grosh Hollow Flat Top Custom, and PRS McCarty Goldtop, all with P-90's. My effects chain varies a lot, but a typical setup is as follows: Pete Cornish Line Driver > Teese RMC1 Wah > Analogman Bi-Comp > Maxon OD-820 > Fulltone Fulldrive TR100 > Fulltone Fat Boost > Keeley TS-808 > Analogman Clone Chorus > Fulltone Supa Trem > Maxon AD900 Analog Delay.

I usually find Fender Amps to be a bit too bright and a bit thin, but this little guy is quite warm and really leans to the dark side. For once I actually use the bright switch on a Fender amp. There are a lot of review in this section that talk about changing the speakers, tubes, etc., but I find this to be a solid performer as is. It will never replace my other two amps, but it is a great lightweight portable tone machine.

Seems fairly solid. I have not had any problems at this point.

No experience with Fender, but I assume that they are like the other big companies, which is why I generally steer away from the mass market gear.

I have been playing for many years and have used a lot of different gear. In a world of over-hyped advertising, this amp is more than worth the price of admission. I am always surprised every time I use this amp, at how good it really does sound. I would replace it without hesitation if it were lost or stolen... If I could find another one used around the $400 to $600 range.

in terms of features, not too much. but, if you're considering this amp, you're really not looking much for that.
2 ch, 1x12 , od channel and bright button. reverb....

my setup: dano 56 u2 to a bunch of pedals to amp. i play anything from alt. rock to shoegaze, garage rock , grunge, you name it. although i'm not a blues player, it's easy to get an assortment of great tones through this amp.

it's awesome. i bought this after literally playing it for 5 minutes. it can crank out the power for a 40 watt amp. i have to put the drive up all the way, and it's a good sound(not really for you if you're into hi gain, but just get a pedal, like i did.....)

i love the reverb on this.

i bought this used, and i'm sure this must be one of the 90's versions. i have researched, but i'm not sure how old it is. mine just has some light tolex scuffing/ dirt for an older amp.

don't know... never had to contact fender over the years..

a damn good amp. i got it used, for what i thought was a good price, so i had to jump all over that deal.

it's certainly gig worthy. i think this amp will be very reliable.

i've been thinking about changing the speaker to a celestion v30.i saw one of these amps that had a lot of mods- rec. tube installed, all nos hi end tubes, and a new speaker.

1993, still 100% original.
400 usd from drunk Fender dealer (11 PM)

My stuff: Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster AM Deluxe...Cry Baby...Pro Co Vintage The Rat Distortion...Fender Blues Deluxe Amp.
I am playing alternativ rock. Something like Radiohead, Blur, Coldplay(but better then coldplay:). But I like old tube sound. This amp is one of best Fender Amps ever! Is like Ford Mustang. Classic look but with mega power. Clean chanel is like cold cristal water in mountains. Drive is like some Rolling Stone who looking for some fight. Drive id dirty but need to some booster. I think about The Rat or Big Muff. This amp is made for Fender guitars so if you are wonder of REAL sound of stratocaster or Tele so you should use this amp. Otherwise you don't know nothing about strats and tele. Was made only 3 (?) years so now it's a classic and special.

12 year for 1 hour every day. Still 100% original. Like new

but for what?

1994, 40W 1x12, 3x 12ax7's 2x 6L6's 2 inputs, FX loop, "master volume" channel, reverb, tweeeeeeeeeeD!

Channels aren't really actual channels, it's just some sort of boost. and there's a dumb delay when you step on the button, like the Hard Rock (cafe) Deluxe. as others said here, the circuit is Bassman-esque, so it's like switching between two old channels, one cranked high and one normal. But it's kind of usable. The FX loop is a big plus to me. The volume on mine doesn't jump from 0-1 like in the HRDlx. I just got this today from a friendly seller locally. It has the original tubes and they might need replacing, but the amp sounds nice.

The tweed is still very new looking and I'm thinking of putting something on it to protect it and also to make it a classy-lassy.Very attractive amp. Don't like the stupid vintage knobs with the dumb backwards numbers.

I'm using two different strats and a Epi LP Special with hot stock ceramic pups, the kind that everyone who plays this guitar loves.

The humbuckers can make the clean channel break up at 4-5 and the strat pickups can break it up at 6-8 (out of 12).
I like this better than the "similar" HRDlx. I used to have a Silverface Deluxe Reverb, but sold it because I hated the way the tubes overdrive, at least with my pickups. I'd describe the sound of this amp as a cross between a Super Reverb and an old Bassman. It has a nice sharp punchy typical 6L6 sound to it. Although it's 40W(alot in my book)it's easy to get it to break up if I want it to, and clean if that's what you need.

I use the drive channel along with a distortion pedal (Boss OS-2 Overdrive Distortion) and it really makes the amp crunch like a mutherfuckr. But you have to get the power tubes going a tiny bit, first. Nothing major, but the volume can't be on 2. 3-4 is OK.

Reverb is very nice, smooth. It works very very well and has long decay. It doesn't hiss.

I play all kinds of music, the main styles I got this for are prog-type rock with very clean sounds, mild crunch, and heavy distortion. Everyone says you can't do metal with a so-and-so amp. ENOUGH! Metal is not the result of the right amp, it's just hot pickups, hot pedal in front, lots of amp distortion, and EQ'ing. PLus the way the guitar is played. yes you can do metal with this, just not with a guitar and a cord.

i just got it today, so I don't know. It's a PCB (printed cicuit board), and the components are cheap, but you know what? I just got one of those "workhorses" that everyone talks about, a Deluxe Reverb, and had to pay $200 to have it serviced. Fuck vintage stuff. yes it's easy to service, but you have to pay alot to service it and in the end you'll just sound vintage. Don't you want somebody to love, don't you need somebody to love. fuck that, it's boring. it's like it smells like mold it's so old.

never dealt with Fender, but I love their products

I've been playing for 13 years. If it were lost I'd be alittle upset because the one I got is in really good shape and it seems like a good price. They're reissuing them. I'd probably get a Hot Rod Deluxe because it does have a nice overdrive channel.

This is a commentary or retort to some of the users reviews and some more observations. I recently bought a Hot Rod Deluxe so I will compare them a bit.

As for the rectifier/sag issue. This was meant as a modern incarnation of the Tweed and I like it much better. I prefer the tighter feel, power and snap that a SS rectifier gives. IMO tube rectifiers make some/most amps sound mushy. I think there was a reason Sunn started using (2)GZ34 tubes and Marshall went SS. More power and dynamics.
As for classic Tweeds not all sound good. In fact very few do. Compared to a Hot Rod Deluxe. It's similar but the Blues is cleaner with more natural grit and the Hot Rod sounds dark and buzzy. The more you turn the Blues up the better it sounds and the stock Eminence lends to that gritty stressed character. I tried other speakers and always went back because it seems to have a more musical quality about it. It's not perfect but that cone distress and ocassional woofiness is part of it's charm. 5881's sound the best with SED's making it a bit sweeter. JAN-Philips were nice but I suspect thjose and any other tubes besides SED's or Sovtek 5881's need a bias kit installed. The amp's sound was designed around Sovtek 5881's and sounds it's best with them. If you want a gritty Fender Tweed tone with balls this is it.

So far it's been reliable. It can get real noisy with single coils. The jacks are terrible. They need to be replaced with switchcrafts. I honestly believe Fender should re-release this model, Possibly with better jacks, bias adjustment, and an extra follower for the tone section like a '59 Bassman to put that unused section to use.

Fender authorized support is usually pretty good.

It's not perfect but nothing is. It's built for Blues. I have to put this in the same category as Blackfaced Fenders and Marshall 1987 50 Watters. For a modern amp design it pretty much captures how a good amp should sound. It's noisy, sweet, sensitive, bouncy, chimey, fat, obnoxious and loud. I wouldn't have it any other way. Like a good guitar it inspires. After 5 it starts coming alive.

1x12" Laquered Tweed combo, 40 watts RMS with a 2x5881, 3x12AX7A tube compliment and reverb. Similar to a '59 Bassman control wise with a single channel with footwithable drive channel that uses it's own volume and master controls. Very versatile for a Tweed amp design without getting overly complicated. Easy to dial in. Stays away from that buzzing-bee preamp gain syndrome common with modern-amps which is a welcome relief.

Sound? Absolutely best sounding Fender Tweed I ever used. Fat, ballsy, and a great low-end and I mean great. My vintage Strat is so fat through it I have to back off on the bass and middle controls. Touch sensitive, harmonically rich and just plain nice. For Blues or Classic Rock look no further. Sounds equally well with a Strat or Tele. This is the Classic Fender sound and it does not get better than this. Tube brands make little difference too. Sounds great with them all. I have Jan-Philips in all positions.

No problems so far. Has a loose input jack which I'm told is very common.

No problems, no repairs.

Glad I stumbled on this amp and I'm looking for another one. It's everything I ever wanted in an amp. Can play it soft or loud with no compromisde in tone and nails that classic Tweed tone perfectly. It's well-suited to both a bedroom or a club.

All of the comments below refer to a 1993 model Blues Deluxe in
tweed.

This is a reissue amp (sortof) that is "all tube" although the
pre amp inputs and pre amp outputs go through solid state
buffers (read: opamps). Basic features, but this is a "blues" combo.
Panel features: 2 inputs, (clean, not so clean) Volume, Drive, treble, mid, bass, reverb, master volume, presence. On and Standby switches and
also has preamp in, preamp out and footswitch jacks. 12" speaker, its
an Eminence "specially designed" for Fender. Tube compliment is three
12ax7s and two 5881/6l6GC.

Using this setup with a Les Paul, it is nice at playing blues... it
could really use a better speaker. It does not have that real vintage tone,
even though they have tried to emulate the circuit, but with a solid
state power supply there is no "sag" and plate voltage/bias setup is
such that the tubes are very linear. Fender tries to overcome this
by matching this circuit with a severly undersized output transformer
to get that vintage tone (this is my opinion after having a good
look at the amp (more on this later))... they should have gone with
a larger output tranny, but I am sure cost was an issue.

This amp is pretty clean on the clean channel, but it does tend
to have a lot of internal noise with the volume up if the
12ax7 tubes (the first two gain stages, actually) are not chosen
carefully. Using a 5751 or a 12at7 in the first stage can calm
this down dramatically... using a very hot tube can put the "no
input" noise levels over the top at high volume.

I do not use the drive channel too much (if at all) and therefore
have no real comments on it.

Again, a speaker change is in order for a better tone out of
this amp. A Jensen P12N (even a new one) is a good option, as
finding an original is costly, and the Utah's are even more.
A vintage Fane would probably also fit the bill.

I have read various things on this site about reliability of this amp.
I will state what happened to mine (and also a friend of mine with a
HRD) and what I did to fix it, and also give some notations on this.

Preliminary: I used to be an electronics tech and I am a EE. I do
have a clue. At least sometimes. Well, maybe.

I purchased this amp used, and it worked fine. After several hours of
play it started to hiss and pop (loudly with no input)... common
problem, I figured bias has/was dropping, or the "flyback" diode was
arcing or dead. Well, the "flyback" diode was gone (that diode that
connects the plates of the 6l6's to ground... due to the solid state
power supply). After changing that and checking a few other things
I fired her back up. Still pop'n. I go back in and start to read
about this on the net. I find out there was a bad run on the resistors
that Fender recieved for this amp (some of them) and they have a
tendency to go bad. Hrmph. I start checking... of course, they look
good... to make a long story short, a _huge_ number of resistors and
ALL coupling caps on this amp were showing signs of intermittent
problems under load. I ended up changing almost everything.

It works fine now, but what a job. As I mentioned I have a friend
that has the same problem, and their tech told them the same thing.
(most of the resistors are bad, caps are failing, etc)... what a
nightmare.

My advice: when it starts to fail, bring it to a competent tech,
have them replace all plate resistors and all coupling caps, and
then check all PS caps under load. Then make sure to check the two
diodes from the plate to gnd of the 6l6's under high voltage spike
test. These will only fail at working voltage (not overvoltage,
mind you, but this will not show up under a standard DMM test).
After that you will have a good reliable amp.

In Fender's defense, I have read that they found out about this
problem later on, and fixed it... this was reported to only impact
the early BD and HRD. Mine is a 1993 model.

Didn't call them, it was 8 years out of warranty when I picked it up.

I have not been playing guitar for long, but have been a sound tech
for some time.

If it were stolen/lost I would look for an affordable Bassman or a real tweed. Right, like that would happen. I may look for another,
but a HRD may be a better choice with the larger output tranny.

I like the looks of it, and it is capable of nice tones, but I would
not give more than $300 for it, in mint condition.

This is a '94 Blues Deluxe, purchased from a seller on Ebay in 2004.

The amp is a very basic reproduction of the well-known Fender Deluxe, with a second overdrive channel. It's got an effect loop, and you can use it with an external cab if you like. It's got 40W of power, and is very loud.

The configuration is two 6L6C/5881 power tubes with three 12AX7 preamp tubes. It has shared bass/treble/mid tone controls, a master volume for the clean channel, and gain/master for the overdrive channel.

All in all, it doesn't have a lot of features - but what it does do, it does quite well.

I have used both single- and dual-coil guitars with this amp, and it sounds somewhat thin using single coils, which is to be expected. That's just how a Strat sounds through a Deluxe. With humbuckers, the sound is appreciably fatter, and actually a bit more pleasant to my ears.

The amp is practically noiseless, which is surprising for a 10-year-old amp. There is no hum or hiss until you turn the amp up very loud, and even then it is controllable by the guitar's volume knob.

The clean channel, with any guitar, is to die for. This is the classic Fender open-back amp sound that so many guitar players like. You can make it squawk, sing, or grind just with your fingers - it is very touch-sensitive.

As you turn up the clean channel to the 1/2 way mark, the amp opens up and the power tubes start to clip. The amp is at its absolute best at this point - some of the most wonderful overdrive can be had in this fashion. The amp is very, very loud at this setting, however - too loud for most club stages.

The overdrive channel shares the EQ section with the clean channel. The EQ also seems to come before the gain stage, so one must be careful with the bass settings to avoid the sound of the amp becoming too farty on the low end. It works far, far better with a powerful dual-coil guitar - there isn't much gain there to work with. But this is a "Blues" Deluxe, not a "Metal" Deluxe, no? If you need more gain, put a Tube Screamer in front of it. (I did.)

The overall sound quality of this amp makes me question why people even bother with transistor amps. The sound is that much better.

The reverb on the unit is pretty good. From 0-3 it seems adjustable, but there doesn't seem to be much difference between 3 and 12. It's your classic Fender spring reverb, which is very distinctive.

This is a proven design and is not likely to break down any time soon. As noted in other reviews, the input jacks are soldered onto the mainboard, but I've never had a problem with jacks like these, even on amps that get gigged every night. As long as they're sturdily attached to the chassis, too, it's fine.

There's little chance of this thing breaking down just on the spur of the moment, so I'd take it and nothing else to a gig.

Fender will probably be in business for some time coming, so I don't see any problem getting parts or service from them. Since the amp hasn't broken, I've never had to deal with Fender directly. The parts I need for it (tubes, speakers) are always readily available and reasonably priced.

This is a great, versatile amp, and I recommend it to anyone who doesn't have incredible volume requirements. The amp is definitely not a metal amp, but with the right kind of pedal in front of it, can take on any character you'd like it to, practically. Because it's small, portability lends a lot of value to this amp to the gigging musician. I highly recommend it.

If it were lost, I would immediately purchase this exact amp. I can't think of another amp in this price range that would even remotely come close.

It compares directly to the Fender Pro Junior I have. The PJ doesn't have reverb or an OD channel, but the sound is similar. The PJ overdrives much sooner on the clean channel because of its configuration. The BD is simply a larger, deeper sound, because of the greater power and larger speaker (12").

For $340USD, this amp is a fantastic, toneful value. Highly recommended.

Check out the other 4,000 reviews! Basic 40 watt, single 12 tube combo amp.

Used it with a stock 71 tele, homebrew chambered tele w/ neck bucker and p-90 style bridge pup, stock strat with Lollar pups, stock 67 335 and a few other guitars. This amp is stock with original tubes & speaker. I was disappointed at the lack of clean headroom. Typical Fender tone. Reverb is pretty much useless over 2 1/2. Clean channel is decent, but the drive and more drive channels are utter crap. I borrowed this from a friend ( who dislikes it immensly by the way ) thinking it would be a great amp for running stereo with my Roland BC-60 Blues Cube. Actually, it worked very well for that purpose. I quess I expected it to surpass the Roland. To my surprise, the Roland held it's own and in some way's sounds better than the Fender. Again, with a speaker and tube upgrade, it would be a better amp. As is, I'll take the solid state Roland. I never thought I'd be saying that, but the ears don't lie!

I've been through an utter butt load of guitars and amps over the last 30 some years. Most have gone long ago to pay for rent, food and other vices. Now that I'm an old fart, I want to have few nice guitars and a few nice amps to cover my various foray's into the blues I love so much. I was hoping this would be low cost solution to get me by for a few years...and it certainly could be. But, I'm pretty dissapointed at the tone of this amp. I was hoping it would kill the solid state Roland...but NOOOOOO. Either the Roland is an exceptional solid state amp or the Blues Deluxe is a pretty poor example of a tube amp. Not quite sure yet.

I bought this amp new at Rondo Music in Union, NJ in 1997 (?) on the recomendation of a salesman. Features ? It has a Reverb, two channels and an effects loop. This is my workhorse amp, I use it for everything, practice and gigs. Since I'm pretty much an old school guy and really only care for a basic setup. this is the amp for me.

I use a recent vintage Gibson es135 most of the time. I also use a Dillion gold top Les Paul clone with P90's. I play mostly old school rock and blues and don't like alot of stuff between the guitar and amp. I can crank it if I need to but when we gig it gets run through the PA. I've never really dimed it but it's pleanty loud for what I do. The other guitar player in the band loves this amp and says it has the warmest sound he has ever run across.

Now this is something I can realyy atest to. Last summmer we played an outdoor gig and just as we were doing the sondcheck a huge storm blew up. Heartbreakingly the amp got soaked and I thought it was gone.
It recovered somewhat when in the next day but was never really the same. I took it to the amp guy at Toobz which is part of Raritan Bay Guitar Repair in Freehold, NJ. When he got done It sounded 100% better. I guess what I'm saying is you can't kill this Amp!

Who knows? I never needed anything done until the above incident and it was LONG out of warranty.

I started playing when I was 14 and I'm now 55. I have owned a lot of stuff over the years. In addition to the es135 and Les paul clone mentioned above I also have a tele, a very old Kent and some acoustics. I use a little kustom tube amp to annoy my wife with when she's trying to watch TV and a Peavey Classic 30. What would I do if this was stolen? I'd hunt the thief down and kill him! I love this amp. All I can say is the best sound I ever heard is a Gibson (or Gibsonlike) Guitar through a Fender Amp. I doesn't get any better than that!!!!!!!

One great sound.
Shared EQ - always bad. But, not as bad as others!
Goofy control layout - white letters UPSIDE DOWN from the front on chrome. IMPOSSIBLE to see without putting your nose on the tweed.
Doesn't weigh a ton.. Like my MB Nomad 55
Almost TOO loud, in fact it is for rehearsal in a small place, barely have it cracked. Looking forward to gigging with it so I can turn it up, that is if I can make the Mesa stay home...

Playing seriously about 10 years, mainly Les Paul-ish HB-equipped guitars, tele and strat as well. I brought this amp a) because I needed a practice amp and b) to help out a friend needing cash... I feel bad for him because it sounds GREAT!!!! as long as you don't need metal distortion.
Out of curiosity, I added a Torres BIAS adjustment kit, and this was the best thing I could have done. Setting the bias a bit 'cooler' to 29 ma made this thing just SING. (it was a bit over 30ma stock). The only reason it gets a 9 is those darn shared EQ controls...

These have a rep. for having bad solder joints. This one has been (I was told) gone through by a tech. and the bad joints fixed. They still look pretty bad, like 5-year-olds did the assembly. But, my Mesa Nomad is not much better. Seems as dependable as anything else with the care you need to give a tube amp.

never needed any so can't say. Got a schematic download for free though, guess that's something

I love this little amp and I'd cry if it disappeared. Not made any more, and I hear the Hot Rod Deluxe is NOT the same animal at all. I had a Peavey Classic 50 (nice amp, but not like this), Line6 AX2 (nice in the studio, doesn't cut through gigging), and gig with a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55. I'm glad I bought this AFTER the Boogie, 'cause I'd probably never have bought the Boogie if I'd heard this first (maybe that's bad....)

1995 Fender Blues Deluxe, all-tube combo. Blonde tolex covering, (offered in 1995 only, I'm told) oxblood grille. This amp has a clean and overdriven channel, footswitch controlled. 40 watts driven through a 12" Eminence-designed speaker. There is a preamp circuit, and you can drive a cabinet or another amp off this... although it's plenty loud on its own. I play in a Christian band, and we do Rock, (lots of) Blues, Country and Jazz styles, and find this amp versatile enough for all, (maybe a little throaty for some Jazz).
My only complaint is that when you're facing the amp, the controls are upside down. I use my amp as my monitor, so this is important to me... the Hot Rod series has "corrected" this.

My guitars are:
1)a 1995 Fender Telecaster MIJ with Strat Texas Special neck and middle P/U's, Tele Vintage P/U in the Bridge
2)a 1981 Schecter US Strat with standard S/S/S Schecter P/U's
3)a 2002 Epiphone Les Paul Standard with "Gibson" 'buckers (until I can afford the real deal, or drop some Burstbuckers into it!)

I use a range of Boss pedals, plus a TS-9 Tubescreamer. I also have a surprisingly realiable and versatile Digitech multipedal.

This amp really replicates that warm bluesy tone, especially when I'm playing my Tele. At med-high volumes, the clipping is just about the sweetest sound I've ever heard. This amp is far and away the finest of the pack for my style. Way warmer than the newer Hot Rod DeVille, and 25lbs less to lug to gigs.
I find that this amp has very little noise for a tube combo.
There is very little versatility of sound for this amp... clean or drive, that's about it. At higher volumes, the clean channel does distort, but it's a nice warm fuzzy distort, not that "big mosquito" distort you get from less ballsy amps.

This amp has never failed. I have used it indoors and out, on a lot of gigs... because we're a Christian band, it hasn't seen the bars... typical Fender reliability.

I also have a Hod Rod DeVille 2*12 combo, and have owned 2 solid state amps: an 80's Fender M-80 2*12 combo and a Roland 1*12 Blues Cube.... there is absolutely no comparison between the latter two and the Blues Deluxe. These are getting harder to find, but are well worth the investment if you track one down.

Two channel tube amp, tweed style, made 1996, see other rewiews for detailed description of features. It's the forerunner to the current Hot Rod Deluxe amp. WHAT'S GOOD: Has an effects loop (which I use with slap-back echo). WHAT'S BAD: Confusing layout. White upside down lettering on chrome panel, illogical order of knobs. Supposed to be "vintagey", but try to read it under gigging conditions and you'll see what I mean! By the way: Who needs all these controls? Most classic amps had just one or two tone-controls, the Champ had none. Fender, wake up!

I use it with a Fender 50's Tele Reisssue (Tequilacaster). Heroes: Steve Cropper, James Burton, Scotty Moore, Merle Travis - so you know what styles I play... ;-)
The clean channel has "it": Classic fender sound. Clean, bright tone, very lively.
The spring reverb goes all the way from decent to surf and sounds very full. Well done, Fender. The drive channel is harsh sounding, but not more so than older, high powered Fender amps (think: Twin Reverb).

The solder joints were sloppy. I had a tech fix it, when I bought the amp (used). Other than that: no problems so far. Own it since 2001, have been gigging with it.

Never dealt with them. But you can download schematics at Fender's homepage.

The envelope, please: It a good amp for blues, rockabill, country, swing jazz and stuff like that. Hard rockers, metalheads stay away! It suffers from too many features, but has the sound. It's loud, too loud in my opinion, as you can drown out a "normal" drummer at half volume, even before the amp starts to go into overdrive. If I had my way, Fender would make a tube amp with tube rectifier, 25 watts power, one channel with volume, bass, treble, reverb controls, and that's it! Oh, and a 15 inch-Speaker would be nice, too. Until then, I'll make do with this baby.

The Blues Deluxe Started in 1993 and they stoped in 1997 and started to hot rod the amps.It has two channels that you can slest by hand or by footswitch (clean/overdrive.)My self I like to keep the amp on clean but just turn the volume all the way up. I play in a rock band with a drummer and its loud enof. If all you want is clean tones you might want to get something with 60 or 100 watts. This amp is great for Jazz, Bules, and Rock music or anything eles out there today.The great thing is its light 45 pounds.I dont know if I have to tell you this it is tube dont buy anything but tube its the bust sound.

I use a Fender STRAT and a TELE. The one Strat I have has Texas special and the other has 60's pickups. I have a Fender Vibro King and the deluxe I think sounds better. I mean 2000$ or 350$.I crank the volume and it?s not noisy at all.

With this amp I never had any problems.

You will have to buy it used so allot of warranty are linited. But the guys at fender are nice so they will help you if you heed it.

Put it this way for the money it?s the best thing out their. And I would buy an another.

96 bought new after calling every dealer in town to get best price. Features as stated before. I'm writing this review based on the intended design, NOT in comparison with modelling or multi-channel do it all amps. As the name implies, this is a BLUES Deluxe....designed for clean to lightly driven tones. 'Drive' should be footswitchable and control lettering is difficult to read. Alone, this is not a versatile amp, BECAUSE, it's not designed to be such.

I've used several guitars with this amp, old Carvin...94 PRS Custom24...02 PRS Custom24...82 LP Custom...00 Epi LP. Haven't tried a pure single coil, (Hey JP...bring your Strat over!). Sometimes use a Mesa V-Twin in front. Great deep clean and lightly driven sounds. It's not a pristine clean but more of a bluesy clean. Much more bass than expected from a 1x12 and plenty of volume for it's range. EQ is fairly subtle, which i prefer, since a wide ranging EQ generally yeilds more unusable tones around a smaller range of usable. Has it's own sound, (and it's a good one), not an attempted copy of anything else.

Very well built aside from a few plastic parts that can easily be replaced. Only problem i've had is the pilot light quickly burned out. Tried new GT 6L6s but liked original tubes slightly better.

Never used, thank God.

I've played since the mid 70s with cheap gear until last few years cuz i can now afford the good stuff. Let's see...original POD (don't use as a pedal into a guitar amp, go direct, to power amp, or headphones),...Mesa 20/20 (NICE! Great with POD),...Rocktron Taboo Twin (best hybrid design i've heard with possible exception of Fender Cyber Twin)...Yamaha Dg-1000 Pre-amp...Mesa V-Twin...Behringer 4x12 stereo cab...pedals and practice amps. If stolen i'd probably spend more for a blackface reissue or boutique amp just because i can but for the money you can't beat the Blues Deluxe. Mints are starting to climb back up in price on ebay...even to more than i paid new. Front facing black control lettering would be easier on my eyes. Since i'm careful with my equipment, the couple of cheap plastic parts have given me no problem. Excellent value!

It's a 1994 Blues Deluxe, it has spring reverb, 3x12AX7 on the preamp
& 2x6L6's on the power amp. Two channels clean and drive w/ stompbox, fx loop, but no headphone jack and it's better this was. Has total output of 60W but 40W RMS on the Eminence Gold Label speaker. It is
loud as a motha... For what it's ment to be it's just perfect.

I use Hohner strat copy, w/ Kent Armstrong HSS setup. I play mainly
blues so I find it very useful, imagine that. It is not niosy but that
depends on tubes so be careful when U buy used one. Sound is very mellow and smooth on clean and bluesy when overdriven. It a all round blues amp. Nice long sustain and definition on drive but would be much better, crispier with better speaker. Try to get some Celestion or Jensen with 70Hz-5KHz or 6KHz response speaker. But in the end it's a damn good amp.

Nope, noting wrong yet.

I don't want to comment those sluggish sorry ass mothas.

I've been playing since I was 9 years old, so that makes for some 13 years. I own also Marshall Blues Breaker, Korg CHR1 chorus, XYZ Volume Pedal and Boss PW10 Wah. It all works just fine! If U have a chance to buy this amp - BUY IT. But don't give more than 400 bucks.
It a good amp!

1993 tweed blues del. a stand-alone distortion machine but i dont need a whole lot of that anyway. i actually hit most of my notes with the pick -a novel idea!!!
it is a two channel amp, footswitchable, pre-out/power-in effects loop with no blend pot. if you have a pedal that colors your sound in bypass, it will still do it here. no headphone jack. all tube w/pcb fixed bias, fixed 8-ohm, 15-18" spring, solid state reverb.
use amp in project studio and occasional gig. 40 watts of power and as of now it has plenty o swat for me.

used mostly with LP standard (split coil bridge-seth lover neck) and epiphone strat clone with fender mexi (i think) pu's @ neck and middle and cool rail @bridge. i use this guitar for the scattered slide work i do and will use it much more when i find another neck for it (or just break down and buy a damn strat)
amp is very limited (almost garbage) as a stand-alone unit. i run it through a 4x12 fender cab w/vintage 30's (the newer ones)
clean channell will get a suitable bluesey breakup only when having put a set of tubes rated no higher than 4.5.it has no distortion. chan2 just overdrives the clean channel but the tone controls are NEVER good for both channels.

amp is very reliable. have used it w/o backup. amp will be hard pressed to fry, i keep a close eye on all three of my tube amps, constantly checking things. i love tinkering with amps and manipulating tone. i currently have 5 different duets of 6L6's that i swap in and out for different colors.

i sometimes like dealing with fender and sometimes i cant stand the fella's in fullerton. they have some strange ways but concerning this amp, the only dealing i yhad with them was to purchase a schematic (i think the blues del. was the only amp they have ever built that wasnt available for download (5-freaking bucks!!!!! that would have bought 2 sets of strings)there is a fender dealer everywhere (almost as plentiful as peavey)

been playing since i was about 6 but only got back into it a couple years ago, after a 10 year hiatus. i was plying but not trying to advance. im all better now.
if it were lost or ripped, i wouldnt get another.

after all that was said about the amp sounding bad, i was ONLY talking about its individual voice. this amp is a great vehicle to experiment with effect and its reverb is very good as all fender reverb is. (even the transistor kind) the blues deluxe also can be modified (bias pot, tube rect, torres sells a eyelet cirquit board that is a clone of the old fender deluxe's and everyone i have asked about it says it completely transforms the amp from very average to excellent. this is the next project. the board is not expensive but getting it proffesionally installed is. i have already changed a few of the caps and it helped the treble a bunch.

this is the chain; guitar lp or slopiphone into volume into original crybaby into marshall bluesbreaker od (old blue writing one) into boss amp factory. the only effect i run in the loop is a yamaha EMP100 multi processor (chorus, flange, phase, million delays, verbs) this is a very good unit for that type stuff. it is digital but it really sounds analog. emp also has reverse delay, echo. and then the amp runs into the 4x12 cab which sometimes runs into some folks ears.it is here wher the chain of signal gets muddy and maybe you dont need to know the sordid details.

i run the amp through an a/b/y that switches between the bd and/or peavey classic 50 head ran through a 2x12 laney cab (shit box) with awesome speakers. vintage 30's (old ones)

Early model I think. Tweed. Bought it as a back-up and to use as a stage amp when hosting jam sessions. Sounds good for most of the stuff I do. Changed the speaker to a Naylor 12, and changed the output tranny tap to the 4-ohm to sweeten it up a bit. Building a 2-10 baffle to drop old stock speakers in it to vintage it a bit. Add a cathode bias on the power tubes to give it a bit more squish.

Tele 52RI w/duncan musical magnets, Clapton Strat with gold, silver, blue lace sensors.
Has a great smooth breakup about 8 on the clean. Don't use the distortion channel yet.
Its gotten quite a few looks from other players.

#1 input jack went south, replaced it with the channel switching jack (same part). Put the the bad jack in for the switching jack and it worked great. No repair bill, no parts bill. Just a few swear word getting the thing a part.
Its never given any trouble on stage.

Its used at GUITARCENTER. Got a schematic off the web.

Been playing in blues dives around detroit. Use Fender silververb 2-10, Naylor DevilDog. Occasionally use an IBNZcheap-o echo, or VShomeplate overdrive pedal.
I'd buy another if I could get the one with the Blonde Tolex.
The tone is decent.

I bought mine new in 1997, but I think it was made in 1995.
All valve (tube) with clean and overdrive channel plus reverb.
Channel foot switch, pre-amp in and out,
40 Watts RMS (I think). Anyway, it's more than loud enough for the pubs, hotels and clubs I use it in.
Nice tweedy "retro" box and grill,
Emminence Speaker

I use a Gibson Les Paul Standard, a Flying V, Standard US Strat and a Rickenbacker 360.

The clean channel can give a nice full jazzy tone or a lovely round Claptonesque/Chris Rea out-of-phase sound with the Strat. Spot on 60's Beatle tone when used with the Rickenbacker.

The dirty channel won't give you axe head, megadeath, blow it out your pants filth, but I do get a great and full sounding "rock" overdrive (a la the Dire Straights "Money For Nothing" riff) from my Les Paul and Flying V. Both the Gibsons also generate a nice blues overdrive from the clean channel when cranked up over "4" or "5". The Strat sounds crap through the O/D channel. Seems like it needs the humbuckers to get the best out of it. On the other hand the clean Strat noises are great.

It hasn't packed up at a gig, but the channel switch jack socket broke a month or so after the warranty ran out. I took the thing apart to replace it and was surprised by the poor quality of some of the hardware - most notably the cheap and nasty plastic jack sockets and weak, cross threaded PCB mountings. Having said this, the design seems very well thought out - multiple board mountings and a nice "swing down" chassis mounting. To me it seems as if this amp was very well designed, only to be spoiled by the production people (or the accountants) who seem to have skimped on component quality to keep the costs down.

Never dealt with Fender

I've been playing since 1976 (yes ... I'm an old fart) This is the only gigging amp I own, although I do have a 1960's Princton for annoying the neighbours. I gig twice a week and so far the Blues Deluxe hasn't blown up. In the past I've had an AC15, a Twin Reverb and a Dual Showman. All were reasonably reliable, but the Blues Deluxe makes much better noises than the other Fenders and is as good as, but louder, than the AC15 with the additional advantage of reverb.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably buy an Ashdown because they're more readily available and easier to service in Central Europe (where I live) ... and also have a decent sound (our other guitarist has one), but I won't be part exchanging my Blues Deluxe for one.

I won't repeat the features already described in great detail by the rest of you. I wish it had built-in tremelo, but my Boss TR-2 does just fine. I love the vintage tweed and knobs. It's not to big and heavy to take to my weekly jam sessions.

What can I say other than I love the punch of this amp for blues! I can get that great growling needles feel out of the amp without turning it up to loud for the small pubs I play in. I use a Fender Am Standard with heavy strings. I'm happy to say that my stock speaker died today, so based on the recommendations of many of you, I'm going to pick up a nice sounding Jenson or Weber. I also plan on swapping out the stock speakers and adding some biasing. Then, I'll have a "10!"

I've had the amp about 6 years and the only break-down was the stock speaker, today - Thank you, Lord!

N/A- Haven't required it.

I bought this amp when it was about 6-months old from a guy who was into more distortion than this amp was designed. I'm so glad he sold it! I was looking at a Mesa-Boogie about the same time and I'm glad I made the choice I did. I get compliments all the time. Sorry - not for sale in my lifetime. This is definitely a keeper. I LOVE THIS AMP!!!!

Trebble, Mid, Bass, Presence, Bright Switch and Overdrive channel. I dont use the overdrive channel to often. The tone controls seem like they're interconnected and when you adjust one it seems to effect the other one next to it, more so on this amp than any other I have owned or used. It will take a little playing around to get it how you like it.

My main Guitar is a Lonestar Strat and when I gig I always bring a American Standard Strat with Texas Specials as a back up. I also have a Gibson ES-135 with PAF's that really push the amp and and make it break up very nice. This amp sounds great with my music style which is predominantly blues, 50's to 70's R&R, and Surf. I mainly use the clean channel and put a bunch of efects in front of it. I have a TS-9 tube screamer that has been retro modded to a TS-808 that really works well with this amp and I use a Mesa V-Twin pedal for high gain. This amp amp is loud for its size. I highly recommend replacing the original speaker that came with it though. I use a Celestion Vintage 30. The clean channel starts breaking up around 5-6. I have gotten many compliments on my sound with this amp, it's very warm sounding and I do back of the bass to about 4. I run the mid at 6, trebble at 7, presence at 7 and the bright switch on. Dials go from 1-12. I really like the sound I get from this amp.

This amp has been very reliable from 1996 to 2003. I either gigged or jammed at least once a week plus practiced a lot with this amp since new. The input jacks are cheap and I had it replaced one when it started to crap out about a year ago. I put in new Svetlana tubes then and had the shop tech add a bias adjustment too. It sounds even better now. I highly recommend the guys at Top Gear in San Diego they're very friendly/helpful and do good work.

Never had to use it

I've been playing for about 34 years. I'm giving this amp a very good rating because it definatly meets my needs. It is not to heavy to lug around it has great sound for the price I paid including the cost of a better speaker. It has been hauled around in my truck a lot and held up very well considering it's circuit board construction inside. If it were lost or stolen I would truly be bummed out and would get another, maybe two and go stereo. In fact I may get another anyway if the price is right. I have three other tube amps, two Fender combos and an older Carvin halfstack which sounds very Fender/Mesa Boogie.

It's a '94ish Blonde. I play rock-n-roll/garage. It has a clean channel and an overdriven "dirty channel". It's louder that SHIT!! It's got reverb and presence, as well as a bright switch that I never use. It's got one twelve" speaker and pushes 65 watts. It does everything I need it to do. (Although I do use a distortion pedal during solos).

I play a 94 American Standard Telecaster through it. I love the Tele. It's just so utilitarian-not a lot of bells and whistles,just plug in and play. I used to play an 80's model souped-up Gibson SG, but had to sell it to mkae rent. I use it for everything from Stones-y stuff the feedback-drenched noise jams. I never have to turn it past 5!! If you crank the claen channel, you get a really warm volume distortion, but I never play the clean channel live. The dirty channel is pretty musch just overdrive, but it's good if you can get the mids under control. I use HIGH-6, MID-4, LOW-4.

Never had a days problem with it. It sounds better eveytime I use it.

I've been playing about 15 years. Live, I use the amp, the above-mentioned Tele, and an orange Boss distortion pedal. I also own 74 Fender Jazz Bass Japanese reissue and a Rogue bass amp. Somewhere in a closet I've got a crappy digital effects unit from the '80's

Made in the early '90s?
2 channels with footswitch and reverb
It has everything I need.

Playing an American Strandard Strat with Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge and Texas Specials in mid and neck positions and various pedals.
By it's self, this amp is perfect for jazz, country , blues, r&b and lighter classic rock because it is a very clean amp.
If your looking for a real rock and roll sound, you will have to rely on a pedal. The best you can do with the overdrive channel is going for a Stones type of sound, although a humbucker really goes a long way in adding extra boost to this channel. One problem I found that when I crank the volume on the dirty channel, the sound seems to strech out a lot, it kind of sounds like the sound cleans up. Also, the dynamics of the overdrive channel are excellent, it doesn't take a lot to clean up the sound by picking softer or rolling back on the guitar's volume knob. Thankfully, this amp sounds great with a wide range of overdrive/distortion pedals so you can use outboard gear to add to your sonic spectrum.
Definetly loud enough for just about any practice or club gig.

Had know problems

Never delt with Fender...yet

Playing for over 10 years.
Love the sound of the amp, but need pedals to reach sounds it can't manage on it's own (heavy rock), but it does a great job with the sounds it was intended for.
I might try it in tandem with a 2x12 extension cabinet.

I've submitted a review earlier for this amp and I just want to add something. This amp sound seemed to be warmer and more like a vintage Fender if you replace the preamp tube with a GE NOS 12AV7, or 12AT7...Try some of these tubes instead of the 12AX7wa sovteks that are in there. You get a quieter amp with better tone and the bass isn't so in your face even at the 2 setting.

I believe my amp was made in '93. I find the Blues Deluxe good for my needs in playing blues, country-alt and rock. I also play harmonica through this amp and get great reverb sounds from it. It has two channels with foot switch available. Features are standard clear channel and secondary channel utilizing reverb,presence and master volume control. There is also a "bright" option in which I hear no difference when selected. I use this amp for gigging and band practice. The 40 watts is more than enough for I rarely turn the volume past 3. It is a hybrid solid state/tube amp.

My Fender American Standard Telecaster was made for this amp or visa-versa. The factory pickups give a clean clear sound or some great reverb depending on your settings. This match excels with blues and the country-alt but is limited in some rock stlyes. Never had much of a problem with noise. I do get some vicious feedback when playing my harp through a bullet mic if I let the mic get in front of the amp at close range. The guys in the band hate it when that happens.

Was reliable for a year or so until it broke. Found a good amp tech and he had it repaired in three days. Turned out to be the switching relays and cold solder joints that I have read so many other people have had trouble with. It's healed now and sounds like new. Put it through the paces after being repaired and nothing else has reared its ugly head.

As I mentioned above I did have it repaired. The guy was local and had no affiliation with Fender. Never dealt with the company. No warranty.

I've been playing guitar for nine years but have only been using an electric with this amp for the past five. I own an old sixtys model Supro amp. That's my main harmonica amp although it must be miked for gigs. Don't think I would buy another though. Would shoot for a Twin Reverb or a Bassman.

Non-adjustable, fixed bias amp. 40 watts. 1 12" speaker (emminence)solid state rectifier and reverb. Uses 3 AX7 preamp tubes and 2 6L6 power tubes (class A/B) 2 channel. Drive channel. effects loop

This Fender amp has the clean sound down. I will go out on a limb here and say that if you are looking for the most practical Fender tube amp this is the one to buy. Pick one up used for 250-300 bucks.(they aren't made anymore but can be found used on ebay cheap) The reissues have tube rectifiers which are historically correct but don't contribute to tone and can cause tube rattle and maintenece problems.
You must do TWO THINGS to this amp to make it the perfect gig amp.
1. Change the speaker. Fender cut corners and this amp does better with a Jensen (musician's friend 70 bucks) or Weber.

2. Install an adjustable bias in order to push the tubes a little more
These are sold at torresengineering.com for 35 bucks and you can do it at home with a soldering iron and a bias probe. This will allow you to push the 6L6 tubes a bit more or replace the tubes with non-Fender blessed tubes and bias correctly. The 27K fixed resistor (R87) sets the tubes a bit cold and all the great tone of a Super Reverb is in there waiting to get out if you do this. This amp is great to use the effects loop with digital effects pedals like a digitech also when you do this. More versatile than a 800 dollar Deluxe reverbe re-issue. The distortion is really good if you push the tubes into the 11 watt range and use drive channel.

Very reliable. I used the same Sovtek tubes for 5 years on it...but that was before I modded the bias to run them hotter. We'll see now.....Also the pots occasionaly need spraying with contact cleaner.

Did use any CS.

These are great and I'm not sure if the Blues Deville/Hot Rod series is any improvement. Change the speaker and add a bias adjustment and you have a perfect gig amp. 2,000 boutique amp tone for 350 bucks.

This amp has been replaced by the hot rod series. Feauters as seen on previous. Single 12' speaker

Clean sounds are great with humbukers and singles. The gain mode is only decent. The big problem here is the speaker which sounds AWFULL. I changed it to a celestion vintage 30 and the overall sound improved a big lot and my Fender became a diferent, warmer and more versatil amp. You shoul really consider changing the speaker for one of your own preference.

no problem. I play in clubs every weekend and never had a problem.

as i said

After the speaker change, a very nice sounding , powerfull and easy to carry small amp. Perfect for gigging. CHANGE THE SPEAKER!

dont know year. i traded a marshall AVT100 (piece of dung) for this amp, and would do it again. 2 channel, spring reverb, tube pre-amp and power amp, solid rectifier. channels are foot switchable if you choose to try and waste time with o.d. chan.2. effects loop but it is labled pre-out/power in. any real amp does not have headphone jacks. 1x12" fender eminence speaker.
this amp is way louder than its rated 40 watts would lead you to believe....i use sovtek 6L6GCx2 and groove tubes 12au7x2 and groove tubes 12ax7x1 (in the middle between the au's) i dont recomend this, its just what i do. i havent had probs but ive never heard of anyone doing it. the reason i do this is to get the volume down some and have the clean channel break up a little sooner. if i run all 12au7's, its too quiet....i run through a zoom506 II bass effects processor (in line before the amp....not effects loop) and i get the right sounds for me, ie; hard/classic rock tones. presence control is great at lower volumes but basically works as a higher register treble control past about 4 or 5.....the reverb sounds remarkably tube like at lower settings but the higher you go (above 2-3) it sounds worse. set at about 1-1.5 it is a great compliment. i dont know if its switchable (i dont have the original pedal. i basically never use the o.d. channel because it is crap. i would have to designate channels of the zoom specifically for it and it would just be too hard to get to sound good.....the channels dont switch in perfect time anyhow and i absolutely hate that. thye amp has plent of power to gig with as long as you run a cab (you have to disconnect the speaker because it has no speaker out jack which is really a drag.....i love the bassman/ almost old ampeg-y sound the clean channel gives and the clean channels break up sounds way better than the gain channels gain......wish i could re-route the gain control to the clean side......i hate PCB's but have had no probs.......i am going to chop this thong down and make it a head.

i use an '81 les paul with a coil split bridge (hum/single) and my neck pickup i use turned around bakwards so the poles are to the back....both are open coils and work well with the amp. i also use a standard strat with vintage noiselesss single coils and the treble on the amp has to be tweaked a bit between the guitars.......i have a strat that i built that i also use.....it has 1 hum and no tone with a floyd (that i rarely use....its fixed so it cant be pulled back because i really palm mute with vigor......please note that i use
11-62 ernie balls, so my guitars are hardly ever gonna be muddy.....spider web sized strings make a guitars tone too flat and it takes a pretty good amp to compensate for the lack of "pop" on the strings. the distortion is minimal on the distortion and the clean channel but is very good for blues........the clean channel breaks at about 5 which is good for me. with singles (even noiseless....which is bull anyway) it is pretty noisy. with pedals this is a great amp for home and will even gig with a cab or if mic-ed......i do both.

i have had no probs but i am constantly doing stuff to em anyway.....so i never give em time to quit.

never dealt with em

it'll work........dont get this amp if you have to have the amp alone be your distortion......otherwise id buy it again.

Bought it brand new in 1996. Has 2 foot switchable channels, but I just use the clean channel and boost it with an MXR Distortion Plus. It's got a lot of features that a blues player would be into, like reverb, presence, and so on. Nothing too fancy. I'd say it's very versatile for anyone who likes tube amplification.

Sounds nice. Great clean tone for any guitar I've ever used through it, including Ricks, Teles, Les Pauls, Strats... they're all friendly. Used this amp mainly for pop rock playing, similar to toad the wet sprocket, and Foo Fighters. I highly recommend it for this type of music.

Not very reliable. Made with cheap parts machine soldered to a circuit board. It's died on me many times, sometimes during live situations. I would recommend only using this amp as a studio/practice amp or as a back up.

I've never delt with them, so I couldn't say.

Overall I love the sound, hate the repair bills. Would I ever buy another one if it was lost or stolen. Nope. There are many amps out there that sound better, although this one really ranks up there when it's working. I'm holding onto this one as a back up/studio amp because it's worth keeping around more then it's worth trading in. It's too bad Fender compromised the quality on this one. It could've been a beautiful thing. Anyone who is looking for a nice sounding tube amp combo should definately check elsewhere. Like Dr Z's Carmen Ghia, or something else that is quality built.

'99 or so, bought used. Wanted a real clean tube amp for surf.

Fender Fat Strat Texas Special, SSH, with hot Texas Special pickups at the neck and middle and the Seymour-Duncan Pearly Gates Humbucker at the bridge. This super-clean tone amp is great for surf and clean blues!

So far, so good!

Traded up from a Blues Jr. I swapped the junk Sovtek/Groove Tube preamps for Ei 12AX7s, which are based on the highly-valued Telefunken smooth plate design. Best $30 bucks I could have spent! The new tubes calmed the upper-register treble screeching I got from my 2001 Strat Texas Special and the bonus was nice, chimey harmonics. Next mod will be a Weber California 12 speaker - I think this will be a big improvement over the stock Eminence special 12. This amp has great power, good tone, and is pretty ideal for someone looking for "vintage tone" without the vintage price tag. But switch the tubes for some nice NOS 12AX7s, or warmer Soviet or Yugoslav tubes, like the Sovtek 12AX7 LPS.

P.S. I never use the reverb, since I run a '63 Reissue Reverb Unit. I also don't use any pedals. Just straight, early-60s tone!

1999 or so blonde Fender Blues Deluxe. 1x12, 40 watts. regular and overdrive channel. Whatever, read the other reviews or check the website. The features are sufficient except that I wish it had a D.I. for running a cab. You can do this, however, by disconnecting the internal speaker and using that jack, but then you lose the internal speaker. Also, drive channel ain't that great, but I use effect for overdrive and distortion, so I don't mind. O, also wish it had those metal legs to lean it back. I may have to install some.

Again, I use this amp's clean channel only and use effects for overdrive and distortion. I use various guitars including Les Paul (w/SD Alnico II pros), Strat (with Dimarzio Super 3 in bridge), strat (with single coils), tele, etc. Effects are analog delay, overdrive, distortion and compression. That's it.

Ok, now that that's out of the way....I think this amp sound great! At first I was disapointed, but once the speaker got broken in and I was able to turn it up past 1 or 2 (this thing can get LOUD) it sounded awesome. With my strat with Fender 57/62 pups it can sound like a blackface, but with my Dimarzio equiped strat or LP and a good distortion pedal I can get a thick wall of sound. Granted, the spread isn't great (only 1 12" speaker, what do you expect?) but mic it at shows and run it through the mains and there you go. Clean channel does have a nice break up to it around 5 or 6 (or if you have it above 3 and nail it with a volume boost or compressor or something). Some people may need more clean headroom, but again, this thing is loud, so I never turn it up to 5. At practice, with a drummer, bass player and a second guitarist playing a 212 marshall combo, I run this amp between 3 and 4 AND WEAR EAR PLUGS!

The only thing this amp hasn't handled well so far has been ceramic overwound pickups (Gibson Dirty Fingers on a Les Pual and Gibson 490R and 498T on a Les Pual). Sounded muddy.

Interestingly, I've actually used the drive channel on this baby to get a VOXish kind of sound (with a strat, single coils). Eh, sort of got somewhat near. People on this board have listed and called it "tasty tone." If you're interseted, listen to "Lullaby" at
http://www.mp3.com/davidlaner

So far so good. Seem reliable, but I've only gigged with it once so we'll see.

N/A

playing 8 years. Other amps I own are Marshall JCM900, Marshall 2555, Fender Champion 110. I would buy this again if it were stolen, or maybe i'd go for the hot rod deluxe (it has a pretty useable gain channel that this lacks).

1994 Blues Deluxe. 2 Channels with 2nd channel just slightly more driven to get a gnarly Blues crunching sound.

52 Telecaster reissue through it. Sounds awesome and does the business for me. Play through a G2D overdrive pedal to get that pushed, driving sound.

Do not use the 2nd channel very often if at all.

Very up and down in this dept. Took a while to get it running right.
Happy with it now tho.

Requested copy of manual and it was forthcoming ASAP. Amp is out of warranty though so I just get my local to sort the issues.

I have had Marshalls, Peaveys and other Fenders.
Sold a Peavey Classic 4x10 to fund the Blues. The Blues may not be as versatile as the Peavey but it suits me.

I use this amp for smaller gigs- pretty light, plenty of power, good sound. Decent amount of versitility for how much I paid for it ($400.) Power amp out, preamp in (or is it the other way around?), 2 channels, bright switch, reverb.

Play a Gibson SG and Parker Fly. Seems to really like the SG (great for Robben Ford jazzy blues stuff). Yes, distortion channel kind of sucks overall (you have to be REALLY REALLY cranked for the sound to be decent and then it's just to damn loud.) Clean channel with TubeScreamer sounds really good- compresses a lot more than my Super Reverb reissue (I figure the Fender speaker as opposed to the Jensens account for this). Clean channel sounds damn good, Bassmany. Perfect for smaller gigs or when I don't feel like carrying my Super around.

This amp has, sorry to say, been neglected, used and abused since I bought it in '94. Many garage jam sessions in high school, used it at music school, used it exclusively for gigs until I was about 23, didn't really know how to take care of amps at that time. Actually left at a friend's house for about a year, when I got it back it was useless. Got it fixed (2 months ago), now the reverb just died a couple of days ago. Actually the amp always had problems- weird buzzes and things. Best used as an amp for smaller gigs, rehearsals, or practicing.

Repaired, not under warranty. Don't know long warranty is.

I've been playing for 15 years, since I was 10. Also have a '65 reissue Super Reverb, Parker Nite fly, Gibson SG (I'm a musician, can't afford the Les Paul), simple set up- guitar to Ibanez tubeScreamer (Turbo, but I'm pretty lazy and just use the regular voicing) to Boss DD-3 delay straight to amp. I wouldn't get another Blues Deluxe, would get a Hot Rod Deluxe for this kind of application (smaller gigs, rehearsals, etc.) because their gain channel is much nicer. I really love how easily this amp compresses with just the Tube Screamer, but the distortion channel kind of sucks so it's kind of a waste.

I bought my gorgeous Blues Deluxe five hundred metres from Bondi beach in late 1999. It is a fantastic amp with one great feature-glorious tone! It's wonderfully versatile, handling rock, blues, surf sounds with aplomb and then some. It has three switchable channels, (of which I use two, the normal and drive.) The more drive channel doesn't really compare in raw beauty with the drive channel and my trusty Boss distortion Ds1 together. The FX loop seems to provoke noises and poor performance whereas simply putting effects straight in to the normal channels 1&2 works fine. Of course it's a valve amp and whether these valves are cheap Chinese copies or whatever, they sound great. They sing!

I use this little hotrod with my '86 Strat Plus (in seafoam green!), my '98 Tele American Standard in dropdead gorgeous tobacco sunburst and my '86 George Benson Ibanez. Apart from the Tele being horribly noisy when using distortion,( so's the Strat but not so bad,) they all sound great. Warm when jazzy and straight and bags of beautiful tone on the Fenders with various pedals and channel choices. I've used it in pubs and clubs with my monster surf duo. It's got plenty of power and is a thing of joy to listen to.

It's been a wonderfully faithful workhorse but a strange thing has occured on gigs. It only happens when I'm on a stage and my life depends on it! The volume will surge up and down, but mainly down, for no reason. It never happens at home, and has never happened when rehearsing. I'm not sure it's the amp, but having replaced every lead etc, I'm fairly convinced it's an intermittent fault. I could be wrong and I still love this amp.

Never had the pleasure but Sydney's a long way from Fender Central.

I've been playing for 35 happy years. I would certainly replace it or go one up to the Hotrod Deville. It has all the features that vintage Fenders don't have. I've had Twins, ProReverbs, Musicmans, Rolands etc. This is the best amp I've ever Owned. Many vintage Fenders were played flat out on seminal recordings! That's how they got that superb screaming feedback. (Santana's original tone came from a Twin but flat out!!) These amps recognise the reality of today. Modern but vintage, flexible but with fabulous tone.

Simple amp, i like the footswitch-possibility. I added tremolo with the spare 1/2 12AX7. Makes it sound even better.

Clean sounded good, OD was too harsh, added 660pF cap over the 750pF that's being bypassed in clean mode, sounds a little looser and less harsh. This is a non-destructive mod, can be done with just the back plate removed...
The tubes are biased really cold, rebiasing definitely improves the response of this amp.

Had it for 6 years, still the original tubes, been through some gigs, still is good...

DIY is cheapest ;-)

Nice amp, not too versatile though - but neither am i. clean channel with boss metal zone gives nice distortion sounds...
PCB amps aren't too great for modding but some mods are nice...
Bought it end-of-series for some $500 - great value...

'93 model. bought at Guitar Center, San Jose,CA.
I am a jazz player and use a mellow clean tone with a little reverb. While shopping for a gigging tube amp, i determined that vs other amps in its class, the blues deluxe had a little better EQ control(especially on the low end), was relatively lightweight(having only 1 speaker), and, though a reissue, packs the classic fender sound, which many love.

i wish someone made a clean channel-only amp like this, replacing all the lead channel knobs with additional EQ controls for the clean channel. maybe 4 or 5 bands or EQ to really dial in without having to add an external unit.
my only complaint is that the resonant frequency of this amp is at the second octave Fnote, which has made me alter my playing, removing the roots from my F chords lest the amp goes into vibration feedback hell.
i have never used the distortion channel, but having played with it, it seems very harsh sounding. I would at least add a compressor to the signal path if i ever chose to use the gain channel.
one more thing, i find the tubes have to burn in for awhile(30min or so)before the tone really gets good. this is probably true of all tube amps. as soon as i get to my gig, i always plug the thing in and warm it up so it'll be ready to go.

ive been slugging this thing around to gigs for 9 years now with only one problem so far. One of the reverb springs snapped in half, but i just soldered it together and it sounds fine. i have dropped this amp and it has been rained on(even during the gig) and so far, it keeps on singing.

never dealt with them, but pretty much every dealer is a fender authorized service dealer.

ideally, id like a tube amp lighter than this with 2 12" speakers (i know im dreaming). walking to gigs in the city can be a real physical challenge carrying all my gear at once.

These amps are so well known that I'm sure I don't need to list the features. Suffice it to say it's syled like all those really cool 50s Fenders, with tweed covering, chromed panels and backwards-facing chickenhead knobs - gorgeous! The only thing they could to do improve the look would be to finish the Tweed in tinted varnish, like Kenrick do (I may yet try this myself!) though of course, this would be time-consuming and would add massively to the price.
I bought mine used about two years ago for #300 Sterling and it was in excellent condition and sounded great, with a slip cover and a single-button f/switch (Does anyone ever switch their reverb in and out?) It has all the features you could want from a Fender amp - except vibrato. I use a pedal in the loop for this. Otherwise, it's pretty much perfect - well, perhaps tilt-back legs would be nice, too.

I use this amp for guitar or harmonica, in a semi-pro blues band, playing everything from bars and small clubs (unmiked - yes, it's plenty loud enough!) to big venues and festival stages.

When I play guitar, I use various rosewood-board vintage-style Strats, loaded with Fender American Standard pickups (very under-rated - they sound GREAT to me!) or Teles fitted with hotter bridge pickups and humbuckers at the neck (for slide). Pedal-wise I use a Boss Blues Driver, or a Tubescreamer, plus a tremelo pedal (the latter in the fx loop).

For harp, I play Hohner MS series harps (Cross Harps and Meisterklasse) through an Astatic JT30 mic and occasionally, a Danelectro BLT slapback echo (in the loop - the mic overdrives it too much when used in front of the amp!)

The first thing to say about these amps is that the clean channel is FANTASTIC! It's classic clean Fender, with a lovely edge that kicks in as the power stage starts to break up. The drive channel is OK, but a bit too harsh-sounding to my ears (and too bassy for harp!) Oddly enough, I've recently bought a Tweed Hot Rod De Luxe and was surprised to discover how differently it seems to be voiced - the clean channel stays clean louder, while the drive channel goes much dirtier earlier and yet remains sweeter. (I don't have a use for the "metal" tones of the third "more drive" option!)

I bought the original De Luxe primarily as a guitar amp, as I already had a Blues De Ville (basically the same preamp, running into a 60w power stage and 4x10" speakers) that I used for harmonica.
I really liked the De Ville's clean channel, but found the "sweet spot" on it - where the clean channel began to break up - was just too loud for most gigs! A couple of times on smaller gigs, I ended up using the De Luxe for harp because it took up less space and it sounded pretty good.

I soon started wondering how it would sound as a 2x10", rather than with the stock Eminence 12", so I made up a new baffle (you can fit 2x10 into the box easily, if you mount them diagonally) bought some brown speaker cloth and did the swap. I happened to have a couple of blue Jensens spare, so I fitted them. It was a REVELATION! Suddenly, the amp had a much more "vintage" vibe - more like a Bassman (with reverb!) or a Vibroverb - even the rather harsh-sounding drive channel sounded sweeter. It's a lovely little guitar amp, but as a harp amp, it was the sound I'd been looking for all my playing career - in a smaller, cheaper package than a Bassman reissue. WOW! I've now sold the De Ville and use this as my main harp amp. (I've bought the Hot Rod to use as my guitar amp and will eventually get round to fitting 10" Jensens in that, too.) For now it sounds pretty good as it is.

I've been gigging these amps for about five years with no problems whatsover. They even seem to have a longer tube life than other amps I've used - 2 years'+ gigging on a single set. My friend has a Blues De Luxe and had some trouble with faulty soldering on a power tube socket, but this was easily fixed, once they'd established that was what the problem was.

N/A. Amps bought secondhand - I have good techs to help me anyway.

I have been playing for 25 years and currently own five Fender tube amps, plus a few others (Trace Elliot mainly). If I lost this baby, I would go straight to the small-ads to find another and do the same mod with the Jensens.

I love this amp to death! I love the way it looks, the fact that you can carry it in one hand and fit it in the car along with a load of other gear and the fact that it kicks out a respectable amount of volume without hogging stage-space. I love the fact the controls all work backwards, like the old Bassmans (They've flipped them on the new Hot Rods, which makes things kinda confusing when I have both amps on stage!)

But above all, I love the sound of this baby! It's like the best vintage Bassman I've heard, but with reverb and reliability!

I use a japanesse Jazzmaster remake with hot pickups. The clean tones are good at lower volumes but tend to brake up with a volume increace. If you want a clean tone with some edge it is a beautiful, rich and amazingly warm amp. But for clean rich ambient sound its weak.amp distortion is really weak klangy tinny and thin sounding, though it whould serve a perpose reproducing Joy Division songs or other early 80's punk. I have found the amp in general sounds outstanding with a "BIG MUFF", an amazingly crunchy Sabbath-esq sound. It created the biggest "BIG MUFF" tone I have herd with my pedal perfect for stoner metal.

I've had mine for a year and have had alot of "funny" sounds come out of the amp of no reason, that just "fix" themselves. Odd Random feedbacks, clicking sounds, pops,and fuzzs. The tubes tend to go microphonic kinda quick and its not like i beat the amp at all, I play ambient music. The reverb has had some issues cuting in and out and the channels sometimes switch on their own when im using the foot pedal. I've had these problems looked at and they are all a mystery, None of the amp shops can fine anything wrong? It's really not major problems, only random problems. Its kind of a workhorse, I guess? I don't know if i would tust it on the road or in the studio, that I whould leave up to a "Twin" or "Hot Rod Deluxe".

All I can say is the were never able to find anything wrong? I guess they tryed?

I have found that if you want this amp go with the "Hot Rod Deluxe" it a little more but it worth it in the end. But if you want a workhorse thats always going to be there go for a "Twin" or "Bassman" they are there for the long haul. But still this amp with a "Big Muff" is somewhat like the voice an angry god prepared for war.

The sound is nice and warm. It's great for standard and chord style jazz. It also sounds fantastic with my Boss GT-5 for every other style. But on it's own I would only use for jazz. The one thing where it lacks in sound is that the speaker doesn't have that tight bottom end for heavy stuff.

I used it quite a bit for 2 years then suddenly it began to do strange things. The sound would turn on and off switching between the two channels all on it's own. Eventually it went up in smoke one nite!
I took it in to an "amp expert" and he said that Fender had put in a thermal fuse that was wrapped up with an improper transformer. The only way to fix it would be to order a proper transformer from Fender.
I don't think I'll bother as this would be to much time and money spent on this amp.

Currently out of production. This is a 2 channel, 40 watt amp best suited for jazz, blues and classic rock. Has enough power for these styles of music. All eq controls are usable and effective. This is a straight ahead all tube (except rectifier) amp.

The stock Fender speaker is good. Very well suited for blues. I use a wide variety of guitars and all sound good. The clean channel is classic Fender and starts to break up around 6 or 7 which, at 40 watts is acceptable in a blues format band. The overdrive channel is completely useless ( ratty sounding, not smooth at all ). Thats ok because the clean channel responds well to overdrive pedals. Like ALL amps, you must find the right combination to suit your tastes.

Have had this amp for 5 years without any problems. I gig with it without concern. It is one of many amps that I use and has it's place.

Never had to have it fixed. I'm told it's not the nightmare that some can be.

Been playing about 30 years (gulp). Have a large collection of nice guitars and amps. It is a great amp for up to about $350-$400. Bought it because of the clean channel which sounds great with Lesters and Strats. Lead channel is horrible so approach it as a 1 channel amp and you'll be fine. My overdrive of choice is a Barber Tone Pump 2 which is sort of a versatile tube screamer on steroids. Mix and match your gear and you'll find the best this amp has to offer.

just bought this little baby & am well impressed with how good it is with a strat, & loud ! wow ! I couldn't believe it

has worked great so far, But after reading all the reviews I'll have to poke around inside & check for the usual faults, havn't heard anything yet to make me think it is less reliable than any other valve amp, but must admit PCBs put me off a little, but nothing that can't be modified a bit.

unknown

nice & light, very loud, looks cool in blonde, (but who doesn't )wish it could take an extention cab ! or does someone know something I don't yet ? I don't like eminence speakers ! so one mark off.
do yourself a favour, get one now !

Tweed blues deluxe, same features as all the rest. No rating, because I don't think features should determine an amps' worth. Tone should.

I play a strat and tele through this amp, playing country, blues, and rock. I am dedicated to the fender clean sound, but this amp is just a bit lacking. The high end is just very thin and weak sounding. If you turn the treble up, the highs get harsh and brittle. If you turn the treble down, the amp gets muddy.

Also, there is WAY too much bass in this amp. It is common to have to turn the bass down as you turn up the volume in a fender amp, but even with the bass practically off, the amp is relentlessy boomy sounding.

The tone is not all bad however!! When turned up, amp breaks up in a beautiful way, and starts to get that classic fender sparkle. When cranked to about halfway with single coils, the tone is great for blues- very tweed-like, even though it's not (even though that's what it looks like!).

Unfortunately the reverb on the amp is terrible. It is very thin and harsh sounding, with no depth or warmth. It may be due to the fact that it is solid state, not tube as it should be in a fender amp. However it is still better than the reverb in many other similarly priced amps.

Overall, it is a good amp. It's great for a working blues musician, but lacks versatility, I think. To me it sounds like the speaker are buried inside the amp- the tone has no presence.

Quite reliable. After about 5 years of service, the sound starting cutting out intermittently, so I took it to my amp tech. The repair was only $20, so I don't consider it a big deal.

Never dealt with fender concerning this amp.

As I said before I am a die hard fender fan, both guitars and amps. For a new tube amp in this price range (now taken over by the hot rod deluxe) this amp is not bad. Everyone raves about its clean tone, but to me, it falls far short of say, a silverface twin reverb, which can be had for the same price as a new hot rod deluxe. Plus you get a handwired amp which will appreciate in value and probably last forever. It's a better deal to buy vintage, plus you get better tone.

Great Combo fo any gig cuz it is powerful for small gigs on its own and sounds gr8 at large gigs miked up

I use a Gibson SG and a USA strat with it and it sounds sweet! Although needs to be at high volume to get creamy distortion. Don't get this amp if you expect metallika style distortion, its more clapton style

I've had it 4 years an it is still in amazing good working order!

Can't get users maual off of the web site, not 2 good

Best combo amp ever! The only amp I'd ever second it two is a full marshall stack, with a anniversary head.

2 Channels,

Play it with a 52 - Tele and Gurschi! Just doin'the Blues. Perfect cleanness.

Now I really depend on it.

Great problem in Austria

Would buy it again, maybe one for Gurschi!

This 1x12 40w tube amp has very minimal features; decent reverb, a presence control, and two channels. This amp is all about tone because the clean so

This amp is all about tone because the clean sounds I got out of it were amazing. However, to put it mildly, the distortion sucks! It's very weak and only suited for blues playing.

I just recently blew out my 12 inch Celestion speaker in this amp so now I get a nice crackling noise whenever I play it. Darn. I dunno if it's my fault or what but just something to consider.

Didn't have to deal w/ them since I bought the amp used.

Good amp for my purposes (ska) but the distortion was lacking. GREAT clean tone though so if that's what you need, this amp has it.

I believe the amp was made in 1993 or 1994. I was really into SRV at the time and found this amp coupled with my 1992 '72 reissue strat gave me a very bluesish sound. i don't find much use for the OD channel, it seems to just be a too loud version of the clean channel. Never used the effects loop, but it has one. I used this amp mostly playing at home for the first 5 years I used it, but recently have been gigging out more. It has enough power for most venues, but I'm usually miked. I actually was under the impression that it was a 60W amp, but I guess its just a 40W. I replaced an unreliable Peavey Triumph 60 with the Blues Deluxe and have been pleased.

I use a 1992 '72 reissue Japan Strat, stock pickups, heavy flatwound strings. I also have a Roland GR-50 Guitar synth that I run through it as well. Sounds great with the guitar alone but it doesn't make a very good synth amp (and I probably shouldn't run all those crazy sounds through a 'blues' amp anyhoo) The overdrive is loud but not very distorted. I use an MXR distortion+ for distortion and it sounds good. This amp is VERY bassy, especially with fat strings. I like the treble button to counteract the bassy sound of the amp and the bassy sound of flatwound strings...

Two complaints, the rest are kudos... The input jacks are on the top and have plastic threads. It was way too easy to strip the threads and knock the 1/4" out of wack...
Kudos for its ability to absorb liquids. I've spilled at least 12 oz. of water in the thing and a number of partially full beers over the course of 6 or so years. Only recently has it started to show any intolerance for my abuse...I am hoping a good cleaning will fix the pops and crackles that recently started surfacing.
My clumsiness with drinks makes me wish the controls were on the front instead of on top... after my last spill i got an amp stand to make it impossible to set a drink on the amp, this is highly recommended for anyone who is in the habit of using their amp as an end table.

I don't like fender's website...one should be able to order any of their products directly from them, including replacement parts/tubes/etc... its the 21st &^%@#$@% century.

love this amp for any knid of music. i generally play jazz, blues and alt rock. If you want it to sound metalish or whatever, get some toys and run them into the blues deluxe on the clean channel. you won't disapoointed.

This is one versatile amp. I bought this amp new over 5 years ago and have NEVER had a problem with it. It just SINGS out the clean tunes like Fender is famous for. Really warm sound. I use this amp for live and studio.

I love the clean sound ... that is what I bought this for. I do not use the distortion sound but that is not what I bought the amp for anyway. Stick a BOSS OS-2 ( OverDrive/Distortion ) on it and it is the PERFECT combo, trust me I tried them all. It still lets the warm tube sound come through. I never have to go over 4 or 5 on this amp, plenty loud enough for me. I do mic my guitars on stage though for live mixes.

Bought it new well over 5 years ago ....no problems yet =)

I have been playing for 16 years. Pretty much a rock style. I own a Sovtek 2X12 extension cab ( 16 ohms ) that I plug my speaker jack of my fender into. With the enclosed 2X12 of the SOvtek I get an absolute sweet sound. And with the BOSS OS-2 it sounds like a nice warm Marshall .. very sweet. I would buy another if it were stolen or died on me.

I don't know too much about this amp, just the basics. But, what I do know is that this amp is the best sounding mutha-fucka I've ever heard. It's MORE than loud nuff, and it sounds like angels fornicating.

I play a Strat with Texas specials, an Ibanez RG-something-or-other, and a Washburn Dimebag, and all of these guitars sound like the previously mentioned metaphor. I play everything form jazz to heavy-metal, and once again we go back to the metaphor. No noise. Clean channel performs better than grandpa on Viagra. The distortion is non-existant because it's not a high-gain amp.

This amp is the most dependable amp I've ever used. It's been through a flood, a snow storm, and anything I can put it through. It kicked my ass.

This doesn't work cause I bought it used.

I've been playing for 5 years. I own the previously mentioned guitars, Whammy pedal, Boss flanger delay & power supply, Snarling Dog's Whine-O-Wah, Ibanez L.A. Metal, Marshall Guv'nor (new & old). They all sound fantabulous through it. Love:everything. Hate:nothing. I tried a whack load of amps when I bought it, and have played another whack load since, and nothing compares. To conclude, go to www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/backstage/1535/

See the previous submissions for details. Tweed, reverb, more than enough power- it's got everything that I will ever need! I stay pretty much with the clean channel- the OD is too noisy. Swapping out the speaker I notice the PCB was stamped 1993. It also has a pretty low sn#.

I use a G&L F-100>TS-7>FBD and it's a match made in heaven! Hey, they were both made by Leo (sort of)? I play a lot of Texas style blues, surf and classic rock and this amp sounds great! It's all about tone and this puppy has it. The clean channel accentuates the myriad of sounds that can be coaxed out of the F-100. I can get a good humbucker bite or a nice, shimmering, single coil (a la Strat) tone and the FBD gives it great tone across the frequency spectrum. The reverb is nice, making for a good surf style glissade or whammy bar dip. Because of a speaker swap (see Reliability), I haven't pushed it recently for distortion, but prior to that it would have to get loud for the break-up- thus the TS-7. Between the guitar and the amp, it's a perfect combo.

I got it for a good price, but I have made some modifications. Len Francis, aka "Big Cookie" and amp guru supreme (bluze1@earthlink.net) recommended some changes. It came with the stock Groove Tubes 12AX7s, which were buzzing on me, and they have been swapped out for Tesla 12AX7s. Big difference in tone- clearer, warmer sounding. I'm still running on what I believe are the original GT 6L6C power tubes. A major change was I swapped out the original 12" Eminence speaker for a Weber Texas 12" speaker. It sounds like a whole different amp. The bass is nice and tight, not as boomy, the highs are sharp and bell-like. I haven't pushed the speaker yet because I'm still breaking it in, but Cookie says that the Texas will give it up a little earlier as far as distorting and getting the classic blues crunch. So far he hasn't been wrong. I'm real happy with it right now and I don't expect any problems.

Haven't dealt with them and I don't expect to. Warranty is not a factor

I've been playing on and off thirty years, but seriously for the last ten and this is my first tube amp. I like this amp- A lot! The clean channel is awesome and it has great tone, but stay away from the OD- just too noisy. It is loud- almost too much for home play, which is what I use it for exclusively. If it were stolen I'd try to find another one, but doubt that I could find the same price. I wish it had tremelo, but I can get a pedal for that.

40W, 1X12 tube amp. Mild OD, clean chan, 2 inputs, great basic amp.

This amp has one of the best clean channels I've heard. Not too heavy on the distortion, just a nice bluesy overdrive.

I've had this for about 5 years, bought it new. I've used it at home about 5 times a week for a few hours, pretty loud, and took it over somewhere maybe 20 times since I bought it. I don't know how much abuse some of the people on this page consider to be normal, but I've had great success with the reliability of this amp. Haven't replaced or fixed anything on it since I bought it, and it still sounds like new.

never had to call 'em...

If anything, I'd get a distortion pedal to add to the sound of this amp, but this amp was a great buy.

you all know the features by now. enough power to play with a band! a very portable, yet versatile unit! i never use the bright-switch, nor do i use the fx-loop. not especially feature-laden, but i think it's fine as it comes.

i play in a classic/alternative all-original rockband. i use it mainly with a strat, occasionally les paul. sounded good with an acoustic, too! it's my backup for my marshall-rig - when i don't want to carry it or just want something different.
i put the clean to 5-6, drive-channel a bit louder for a crunchy rhythm sound and then kick in a tube-screamer for solos. it sounds great to me. plenty loud, and the sound can vary from real smooth to quite shrill if you want it. oh, it can be soft if you play it like that, and sounds real nice at low volume, too. the clean channel breaks up pretty soon - even with single-coils, but it sounds real good. the drive channel was too harsh compared to the clean-sound, but my tech fixed that with a few resistor-changes while i stood beside him, strumming my guitar, listening to the changes he made, for very small money. this is not a mesa boogie and the drive is really overdrive/not distortion. with humbuckers it's pretty good, but my strats need MORE drive. mine is not noisy whatsoever and it doesn't rattle at all.

no problems so far. i'd use it at a gig no problem. i've changed the pre-amp tubes (for sonic reasons), but still have the original power-tubes (might change them for something better when it gets time).

never needed any real service but fender germany has been helpful every time i called them.

i've been playing for more than 15 years. more seriously for the last 5 years or so. i own a bunch of other fender and marshall amps. i think this amp is great for offering so much in such a small and good sounding package. it EATS the smaller fenders like the blues junior/pro junior, and i recently a/b'd it with a silverface pro reverb and it held up real well. of course the reverb sucks compared to a tube-unit.
i wish it had 2 10" instead of the single 12" - would really add depth to the sound, i think. oh, it looks real cool, too!

Features...Blah blah blah...40? watts. 1x12...etc. etc.

Sounds reasonable next to my Prosonic. Not bad for the money, though. The stock Groove Tubes totally blew (as in were extremely weak) and the stock Sovteks out of my Prosonic fixed that up really fast. Of course, it sounds best with the master cranked on the distortion channel, but I don't like MV's that much anyway. The clean channel was a little thin, sounded like that Marshall JCM 900 I heard once. Just wasn't very fat at all. Totally un-bluesy. This amp didn't really remind me of classic Fender, but more of a hybrid between Marshall and Fender. But again, not bad for the money.

Here's the fun part. I was borrowing this amp from a friend whose friend just went into the Navy and it was left in his care. I was supposed to drop it off at another friend's house who it was agreed could use it while Navyboy was gone. I am the resident amp guy in this group, decided to check it out...Crank it, play it, make sure it works. Sure thing, it didn't. First time plugging it in, terrible buzzing. Blown speaker? Actually, no. Turns out, the inputs collected a HUGE amount of dust due to the vertical nature. Plus, one input nut was stripped and therefore loose and therefore disconnected from the PCB inside. So we had to use input two. Take it into the store for a loud microphonic preamp tube, guy says swap in another one. Take it home, plug in no less than EIGHT other 12ax7's, ALL microphonic! Take the back panel off, and the tube socket is loose from the PCB! All of them. Then, tap the power tubes, terrible racket like a microphonic power tube. Plug them into my Prosonic, they're fine. Closer inspection reveals that the sockets are loose on the PCB! surprise...
The tubes have never been removed before, and this amp is not abused beyond what I would call reasonable. It rode in the trunk like everyone else's BD, but why is this the one with all the loose parts? Apart from the loose input which I know is Navyboy's fault, this is a case of crappy construction and cost cutting. If you'd like a detailed explanation on everything wrong with this amp, check out the pt-to-pt vs. PCB on www.geofex.com. It's rather interesting. PCB is not bad, it's how you use it, and this is a case of very poor use on Fender's part.

Never dealt with them. This amp needs to be thrown away.

Sounds alright for price, but reliability absolutely killed this amp. It should get stolen.

I play blues in a professional band,and I have to say this amp is a great amp for the money. I only use the cleaan chanel, not the distortion, it's too messy. The power this amp has is incredible!

I use a '61 reissue strat and a Gibson es 355. It is the best amp for blues if you are on a budget.I love the clean channel, and if I want distortion, I use my Ibanez ts-9 and/or Boss blues driver. The combination of the two is wicked. The distortion channel is too fuzzy. My seetings are treb:6(strat)8(Gibson), mid:8, Bass:4-5

very reliable

This amp is the best for the money, and better than many others that are more expensive. I would definitley replace it if it were lost or stolen, eventhough I would buy the deville if I had the money. If you play blues, jazz, rock, this amp is for you.

You can read the features in all of the other reviews. 40 watts, 1x12, blah, blah, blah.....

I love the sounds I get can get out of this amp. I play a '57 reissue strat and this amp gives me the warm, clean tones I love. Not only does it give great clean sound, it breaks up nicely at relatively low volume even with the somewhat low-output Fender vintage pickups. For the most part, I play fairly mellow, bluesy music in which I'll occasionally dig in a little harder to generate some distortion. This amp does that perfectly. I'm not a pro, but I know what I like and I like the sounds of this amp. I never use the drive channel because it seems quite noisy, but the clean channel is all I really need anyway.

I bought it about a year ago in practically new condition and I use it everyday - no problems. Of course, I don't drag it out of my apartment and beat on it but a few times a year. Just turn it on and go.

I've been playing a couple of years and have gone through tons of various equipment trying to find the sound I like and this amp with a '57 Reissue strat is golden. I also use a Dunlop Wah that works well with this amp although the high end of the wah sweep can induce the amp to break up a bit. Not a big problem for me. If the amp were stolen (I doubt I'll "lose" it even if I'm really drunk), I'd look for another one. It has a superb clean sound.

features are the same as stated on the others reviews. 40w all tube combo with 2 channels.It has a bright switch witch i can really notice on my gibson but not so much on a tele. A lot of power for 40w

This amp is awsomefor what it is .It was not made for heavy distorted tones or anything like that it was made to sing the blues and it does that to a t. Not saying you cant add effects but if you put it on the drive channel,crank it and put on an old steel or bottle neck you can hear muddy or elmore james jump out at you and thats when this amp really shines. I use a gibson sg and explorer and those humbuckers love this amp. The clean channel on this amp is also awsome although with a tele it did seem a little thin on this channel at low volumes because of the single coils i expect.

I just recieved the amp back from japan and when i plugged in at home here and immediatly blew a power tube.Serves me right though ny dumb ass should have taken out before it had to travel around the world replaced tube and fuse and works like a champ . Ive owned it for 6 months

never dealt with them

awsome enough said.Ive been playing for a few years and know a good amp when i hear one .I LIKE TO PLAY STRAIGHT UP ROCK GUT BLUES AND THIS AMPS SING EM.

Tweed, '95.

I use it for blues/Little Feat-type stuff. Have Cort Triggs-1 (jazz) and Mexican '70's Strat stock, Charvel Custom TE and a Dan U-2 reissue. It sounds incredible with the Cort--HUGE bottom end such that you have to roll off the bass almost all the way. Distorts with that mini-mite like a fiend, super warm and rockin'. Forget the overdrive channel for tone, it sucks. It's ok for practicing distortion or a gig lead, but it's thin and hard sounding. Fender blew it there. I use a Bartolini Marshall emulator for leads--much better. Try as you may you can't get that bright, clean, glassy shimmer out of it on a strat neck p/up like you can with a Princeton Chorus or a Twin. You can get it bright with the extensive tone controls but it never quite shimmers. Hey, it's all about brown-tone world, not Stevie Ray jangle. Lent it to a guy who was jamming blues with the band leader on a perfect BF Super. The BD blew him away totally tone-wise. Much more swirl, picking dynamics and general warm and musicality. The Super came off sounding like a SS Music Man. The guy (who was a great player) came off the stand and was knocked out by the sound. This amp has way more bottom end than it has any right to--gotta be the oversize cabinet--no "boxy 12" like you'll get from those little mini Marshall combos just big enough for the speaker. Fender knows cabinets.

It rattles some, always has. A tube got wanky. Is fairly noisy--I'm always looking for the phantom polarity switch that ain't there. It's a cheap Fender. Tube amps are living creatures, not toasters.

Been playing for 35 years. Have a Sovtek 30 watt orange (original) head and it's too clean and soulless for me, but good for amping my Korg A2 output (a great preamp). My Silvertone 12" combo twin 6V6 totally rocks but ain't too loud, or bright. My Blues Jr. has that fabulous "Fat" switch (just leave it on all the time) but it's too soft for gigs. The BD does get drowned out in jams by old Bandmaster heads through 2-12 cabs (that happened) even though I had the OD cranked so beware. But generally it can handle clubs okay, just mike it through the PA for xtra. Overall, an excellent amp that puts a lot of vintage brown-tone amps costing ten times more to shame. That's because few guys set 'em up right, and the BD is always set up right from the factory. Better vintage tone out of a new, cheap amp? Try the new Gibson 30 with the single tone setting on 5. Scary! But so is the price.

This is an update to my prior '97 post. As part of my continuing quest for tonal nirvana, I did three things to my Blues Deluxe. Here are what they were and my reactions: (1) Replaced stock Sovtek 12AX7A preamp tubes w/N.O.S. GEs. Result: smoother, clearer highs, no "icepick" effect anymore at any settings or volume, punchier mids; (2) Added a bias trim pot (to transform the amp from fixed bias/non-adjustable to fixed bias/adjustable), then replaced the stock Sovtek 6L6s with Svetlanas. Result: Hard to explain, but here goes. The Svetlanas sound much better to me than did the Sovteks, probably in part because the bias pot allows running them hotter (I'm told the newer model Hot Rod Deluxes come stock with bias pots, if true, someone at Fender's amp design shop agrees). The Svetalanas give killer bottom end. They are full and articulate tubes. (3) Replaced the stock Eminence 12" speaker first with a Weber C12CA w/optional paper dustcap, then with a Weber C12B Blue Dog. I never really cared for the stock Eminence. Not a horrible speaker, but hardly inspiring. The C12CA, a wonderful speaker which combines for some the best features of JBLs and EVs was too efficient and bass-heavy in this application, i.e., when paired with the Svetlanas. Also, as owners of the this amp can attest, they tend to buzz and rattle when pushed - the C12CA only exarcebated this effect. Fast-foward to the C12B, which my tech and I both love in the Blues Deluxe and which is British-voiced (chimey highs, very strong mids, adequate but relatively understated lows). Sort of like a mix between a Celestion V30 and a Vox Bull Dog. Wa la! This speaker is perfect for the amp as I've got it set up now. I'm a happy guitarist.

two channels (clean and overdrive), effects loop, reverb, "bright" switch. I bought this amp about 4 years ago when I was finally getting more serious about my playing and tone and wanting some good equipment for small gigs and practice. Not extremely versatile in and of itself. Great for what I use it for, clean sound is fantastic, great for the BLUES!

I use a '79 Gibson LP and a '99 Mexican Strat fitted with Texas Special pickups. I used the LP on it for a long time and love the sound. This amp doesn't have a lot of wattage so on mine if you turn it up to 5 on the clean if I'm playing my LP I start to overdrive the clean channel. Sounds very sweet! I much prefer to naturally overdrive this amp than use the OD channel, though it's not that bad. I really like the bluesy sound it makes with the new strat as well. Great for what I use it for, classic rock and blues.

I bought it used it was about a year old when I got ahold of it. Never had any real problems with it. Works great!

Well, this thing works so well I haven't had to deal with customer support! :^)

I LOVE THIS AMP! Great for what I play and where I play. I would want to replace it if stolen or lost although I might go with the deville (I think that's the model with 2 12"s.) Fender doesn't make the "Blues" series anymore so your only luck is used, but if you are into the blues or old rock like Skynyrd, Eagles, Beatles, etc. this amp sounds great!

Blues Deluxe 1x12, tweed, oxeblood grille. Bought new in 1995. 2 channels - normal and drive, 40 watts - all tube, reverb, effects loop, tone controls, presence, bright button (never use), foot pedal channel switching, chicken knobs go to 12, etc. Versitile enough for my musical style; blues, funk, rock, swing. No headphone jack; who needs one? How in the heck are you supposed to work on your tone if you use head phones anyway? Wish it had vibrato/tremolo, and tilt back legs like my old Twin Reverb.

I work the local bar and festival circuit regularly with my band so, I am writting from experience. This amp suits my musical style very nicely; blues, rock & roll, funk, swing. I play a Guild Blues Bird and a G&L ASAT. The Bluesbird is semi-hollowbody - solid mahogany down the center, with "tone chambers" routed into the sides, under the top and has 2-Seymour Duncan? SH-1 Pickups. The Blues Bird is high output, yet is very warm and overdrives the normal channel just enough to deliver a beautiful classic blues tone. The ASAT, with it's cool P90 type pickups and maple finger board, has more bite and top end. I have to roll the tone knob off a little on this guitar to compensate. The amp is quite versitile. I use a little compression from an old DOD compressor/sustainer pedal (just a little) coming out of the guitar with the compressor output turned up all of the way before going into the high impedence input of the amp (I never use the low impedence input). This allows for more signal to overdrive the input of the amp. The result is; the normal channel breaks up sooner (around 4 or 5), which for blues leads is very nice. The normal channel set at 6 is my favorite setting but, unless the bar is really hopping, this may be too loud. Anything more than 7 and the normal channel just breaks up too much. I also use an old Alesis Midiverb-3 through the effects loop, adding just a little delay and a little amp reverb - amp reverb setting no higher than 3. The amp's reverb is so - so. It gets very muddy if you use too much. Warning, do not use a compressor through the effects loop, only on the input. Use it on the effects loop and it will get very noisey on you. This amp is not for metal heads in need of brutal distortion. With that in mind, I've read that a lot of people complain about not getting enough crunch from the drive channel. Try the compressor trick above and you will no longer complain. I can get great ringing sustain on both the BB and the ASAT as low as master = 4. The BB will even get that cool feedback from the pickups, as you would expect from a hollow body guitar. The above compressor trick also works really good for lead slide guitar, especially when using the bridge PU in combo with the drive channel. With the BB in the drive channel I can cover Carlos Santana with confidence. BB in normal channel I can cover most any blues with feeling inspired by great tone. With the ASAT in the normal channel I can cover SRV or Tommy Castro with confidence. ASAT in the drive channel, bridge PU, I can cover Dwaine Alman slide with confidence. The presence knob is a tricky adjustment. I usually adjust it between 5 & 7. Small adjustments make a big tonal difference and can vary depending on the room, or how loud the band is playing, etc. If your bass player complains that your too loud, try turning the presence down one value. If you need more cut, turn it up one value. The brightness button is kind of cool if you want that "Fender sparkle" but, this amp already gets such a bright tone, I never engage it. I usually have the treble turned down to 5 or 6 anyway. No need for more brightness. The amp can be noisey when using a single PU in a house or a bar with old wiring or no ground, particularly in the drive channel. Also, have had problems in bars with neon lights outside, which is probably just a generic guitar problem.

I have used this amp without backup for 5 years. I have had only 1 serious problem in all that time; After owning it for 3 years I had intermittent problems (the worst kind!) where the amp would simply cut out completely, for no apparent reason. I opened it up and checked the solder joints on the main circuit board, and discovered they had become cracked. Some solder joints were very poor and looked to me like cold solder joints. I resoldered all of them and have never had a problem since. I have used the hell out of this amp, playing at very loud volumes, temperature shocking it after gigs in the mountains in the winter, etc. This may have had something to do with it's premature demise. I would recommend not subjecting it to sudden temperature changes, especially after playing it for 4 hours at a gig, or you may endup resoldering the joints like I did. I have never replaced the tubes and it sounds as good as day 1. Like I said, I have played the hell out of this amp, giging and practicing regularly 12-14 nights a month for 5 years. I have tried to take care of the tweed exterior by keeping it in a case. The tweed is really cool looking but very easily damaged. "On light" burns out frequently, very minor problem.

Never had to deal with Fender themselves. My local "Fender Authorized Repair" shop could not figure out the problem described above. Beware of shops employing punks claiming to know about amp repair.

I have been playing guitar for 20+ years. I bought the Blues Deluxe for two reasons; tone and price. As it turns out, I would add reliablility in there too. I sold an old Fender Twin Reverb 2-12/100 watts and bought this Blues Deluxe for less money. Two reasons I sold the Twin; it weighed a ton, and it had to be turned it up very loud to achieve the tone I was searching for, i.e.; overdriven normal channel. The Twin was really nice but, I kept getting in trouble with the rest of the band for being too loud. The Blues Deluxe can put out an impressive amount of volume as well but, it begins to achieve it's pleasurable tones at a lower volume. I used to own a Fender Tele and through this amp it sounded great too, although the output was not matched to my other guitars. I had to turn up the amp to compensate, which at a gig is kind of a hassle. The tele pickup got really cool overtones when cranked. I love the Blues Deluxe because of its tone. It's relaiable, it is small enough that it won't break your back when loading for a gig, yet it has the capacity and punch to play most clubs and even outdoor venues. It is affordable, which is a very, very important feature for real musicians. Real giging muscians can't afford to buy all of that expensive gear out there. There isn't anything I don't like about this amp. If it were stolen, I would buy another. When I bought it, I compared it to a 1-12 Mesa Boogie. The Boogie was nice but, it did not have the same tone. The Boogie was either clean or it screamed. It was also considerably more expensive. The Blues Deluxe never achieves really clean tone through the normal channel but who cares? I chose the Blues Deluxe because it delivered the most tone for the money. I wish it had 2 things; vibrato and tilt back legs. I miss the vibrato on my old Twin. The tone of this amp, as with most any amp, is much more full when you set the amp on the floor as opposed to putting it on an amp stand. If it had tilt back legs, you would have the option of tilting it without compromising the tone you get from an amp on the floor.

Mine is a '95 or '96 i think, and I bought it new. It simply suits my playing needs perfectly. I play mostly blues and rock music. It has two channels but I hardly ever use the OD-channel. It is simply 40 Watts of pure tube heaven. And very affordable, too. The knobs all go to 12 (Ooooh yes they do!!!)

I use a stock '97 USA Std. Strat (I have rewired it so the "No-load" tone pot affects only the bridge pickup, and the other tone pot affects the neck and middle pickups) and a stock Hohner SE35. I use some front end pedals (Boss Turbo Overdrive, Carl Martin Rock Drive, Boss Distortion, Dunlop Crybaby, Boss Flanger and a Boss Delay/Reverb). The amp responds very well to these effects. I use the clean channel almost exclusively as I tend to find the OD-channel a little too bright for my purposes.
My favourite settings are: Level 5-6, Bass 6, Mid 9, Treble 7, Reverb 2-3.
It gives me the warm, yet still biting blues tone I'm after. I use all pickup combinations on my Strat, and they all sound very good.
The reason that I don't give it a 10 in this rating is the fact that I tried a Blackface Super Reverb. That amp is the only one better than the Blues Deluxe IMHO.

Mine has never broken down. I use it on gigs without backup all the time.

See under "Reliability". I have never needed support.

I have been playing for 6 years and I have tried a lot of amps, including Mesa/Boogie Mark IV, but my Fender takes pole position every time (except for the BF SR). I would definately buy it again.

Actually 3 channels of switching, with common tone. Total tube sound

I use a STRAT with active EMGs, a Tele, a Les Paul with Duncan pick-ups, various signal processing. This amp is faboulous- I have used it from concerts to coffeehouses, and it is warm-it gets the electric guitar sound-whatever you want-sounds like shit with my Martin D28 -it's not an acoustic amp The distortion can be MESA-like-I always set it about 4 for da' cool blues sustain sound, then if ya'all need more, trod on the 'moe button, and ya got it.. But to me, it sounds best in the rhythm channel..it's clean, sparkly, and festive...

No problems-had a shitty twin for 20 years with no problem-it just sounded shitty..Fender makes reliable stuff.

I am a pro, I use this amp a lot, and I'd buy it again...It looks cool, too....I bought it from a guy who won it as a door prize from a new music store- He had a Peavey Bandit, so he didn't need an amp...I was gonna try to lowball the dude, but I could not suppress my grin as I tried the sucker out....