Fender Deluxe Reverb

Mine is a 1966 and came with 100 % original specs. 2 channels, one with reverb and vibrato (though it really is tremolo). Not so many features nowadays, but for texas blues rock a very good choice. Though it's a one trick pony, it's my first of all Amp for small club gigs and medium stage venues.
Light weight and handy also as a session amp.

Too expensive of course (gave my Vibro King for it, no regret at all)

I solemnly use the vibrato channel, so I pulled the V1 for a higher gain. Mostly use it with a hotplate in first position and it's still loud enough and harmonizes with my passive Leslie-cabinet perfectly. Sometimes a TS808 gives it a hit in the back and it really sings.
The clean sound ends at 3 of the volume knob and obviously created "that legendary Fender sound".
In Position 3-5 of the volume-control I'm used to find my sweet spots for all of my (single coiled) Alamo, Fender and Gibson guitars.
This crunch is what I had been looking for in all of my previous amps (Boogies,Music Man, Vox and Fenders and Marshalls).
Though cranked more than 5 on the volume the amp looses it's dynamic response and becomes undifferenciated.

And also finally it has a most useful reaction on the guitar's volume control.

I'm gonna give it a 10 because it exactly hits my needs/dreams.

40 years old and still in good condition (exept the speaker, it was blown after 39 years)
No word more to say

never dealt with Fender, so I don't know.

I've been playing for more than 25 years and I used a lot of gear and I mean "a lot of".
I also have got a 1966 vibrolux in similar condition which is really a killer, and a silverface Twin, and german amps of that years and also new stuff , but if I had to decide which to take to the island, there's no question for me.

Though I would be despaired if it was stolen, I regularly use it for my gigs, because this baby shouldn't go to seed at home but scream and cry on stage together with the fat B3 of our organist.

Well its time to add my voice to the chorus singing the praises of what authors John Teague and John Sprung appropriately call one of the all-time great amps. Mine is a 1969 Deluxe Reverb, without the drip edge but with the Blackface AB763 circuit. Bought last year off ebay from a longtime owner, the amp was all original right down to its tubes and Oxford 12L6 speaker (not 12K6) with '69 date code. The features have already been exhaustively described so I'll simply say that the amp merits a 10 for versatility and quality of tone. I use my DR at Church exclusively but must run it through a WeberMASS because as others have found out its a loud 22 watts.

Once again a solid 10 (if not higher). I use a 76-77 Travis Bean TB1000, and occasionally a 1967 Guild Starfire II. My playing style nowadays is in the vein of Clapton, Beck, Page, Buchanan, Green and Bloomfield so its important that my amps respond to my pick attack and are sensitive to playing dynamics. With the Bean straight in and no effects, and the amp's volume on 7, treble on 5 and bass on 3 the overdrive tone has a beautiful "soaring" quality that I've never heard from any other amp. Really open sounding in the midrange too. Even with the reverb off (the reverb sounds great BTW,) the amp's tone still has this "lush" and open quality. This is also the first BF/SF era Fender amp that I've heard that does not sound overcompressed when the volume is at 10. In fact diming the volume, treble and bass controls yields a nasty but musical tweed-type tone. In contrast, my old 1974 Vibrolux Reverb just sounded harsh, flubby and overcompressed when everything was dimed. I normally just plug straight in but will sometimes use an original 1967 Vox Crybaby, and a Dice Works 'Union Jack' which is a Solasound Tonebender MKII/Supa Fuzz clone that sounds really cool. The amp also sounds cool with Tone Bone el-84 triode adaptors. A word about the Oxford speaker in this amp which is a 12L6 (as opposed to the lower power 12K6)--one reads alot of negative comments on the internet about these old Oxfords but I actually PREFER the sound of the Oxford in this amp to my original Vox alnico Bulldog, and prototype Celestion V30 (OEM in my Marshall Studio 15), both of which I've tried with my DR. As players have known for decades now the Deluxe Reverb excels at virtually every style of music and with a simple twist of the tone/volume knobs any guitarist should be able to get the best jazz, country, blues and rock tones(the reviewers who said they can play Allman Brothers songs with their Deluxes were not kidding!) Easy to understand why Groove Tubes' founder, Aspen Pittman picked the Deluxe Reverb as the quintessential desert island amp.

I gigged with this 37 year old amp after unpacking it following its cross-country journey. How's that for reliability???

I don't anticipate ever getting or needing Fender's help with my amp, not that its bulletproof or perfect, but because any competent tech can work on this very famous and fairly simple circuit.

This is the one amp out of all my great sounding vintage amps, that I wished I had bought when I started playing guitar nearly 30 years ago. It may very well be the last vintage amp I ever buy and probably the last one I'd sell (if I were forced to). Can't think of a higher compliment to pay to it. If anyone wants more specific info please feel free to email me at larryhakim@hotmail.com

1968 Deluxe Reverb, with original footswitch.. I bought this off of eBay. Cosmetically it's incredible. A couple of performance issues-first, the Vibrato didn't work. Replacing a tube fixed that. Second, after a couple of months of playing, the speaker coil wire began to come loose, resulting in a distortion during playing , and particularly noticeable as the notes rang and decayed. Had the speaker rebuilt, using the original frame, and now it's great. Standard features-2 channels; Volume, treble, Bass, reverb, Vibrato.

I play Fender strats (Amer. Standard and a Clapton model), an Amer. standard tele, and a Gibson ES335. I've played for 42 years, and do a variety of styles, but particularly country, rock, and blues. My signal chain goes through the pedalboard that includes a Boss tuner; Volume pedal; Vox keeley modifed wah;Boss Compression sustainer; Boss Blues driver; Ibanez TS808 keeley modified; Whirlwind A/B/Y pedal. The tones I get are clean, with pretty good headroom, to overdriven. I use the pedals to improve the sound quality I'm looking for, rather than overwhelm it with effect. The deluxe (at 22 watts) holds it's own (easily!) in regards to volume when rehearsing with a band, or playing smaller gigs. I also use a 1964 twin reverb and a Vibroking. I do have to adjust to the lack of a Middle tone knob when going from the Twin to the deluxe, but the tonal quality is still very good. besides the obvious Tele sounds, I've found that the Clapton strat, with lace sensors, can summon up some great country tonal range. I also appreciate the reduction in weight when carrying the deluxe to a rehearsal or gig, as opposed to the Twin or the Vibroking. The 335 matches up great with this Deluxe. With the Boss compression and the Blues driver or the Ibanez TS it can get some screaming tones and sustain. The amp is pretty much original (right down to the two-prong plug) so there is some hum, but not enough to be distracting.

After doing the initial repairs when I bought it, I've had no problems. I've owned Fender amps forever, and find I only have to infrequently get minor repairs done (probably because I prefer older vintage amps).

Never dealt with Fender on amp or guitar issues. I have easily found Fender authorized repair guys though, and they've been great.

When looking for an easily transpotable amp I considered Top Hat,Mesa Lonestar, and others in addition to the Deluxe reverb. They all were great choices, and I would have probably liked them all (as I tried them out in local music stores). I chose the vintage Deluxe reverb because of it's tone, design features, clean headroom, and my previous success with the other fender amps I own. If it were stolen, I would definitely look for another like it. You pay a premium price for vintage amps in good shape, but they provide you with the sound and usually the reliability you'reearching for.

Mine was made in 1964. I got it in a pawn shop. Went there one day and saw it behind the counter. Asked about it, almost bought it and someone stopped the transaction and said the guy was still paying on it. Damn. Went into the same shop 1 year later, there it was in almost the same place. I asked about it and the lady said "$100" I said sold. I could hardly contain my excitment. I think I floated out of the store. I was playing through an early 70s Orange OR80 and a 4x12 cab at the time so it was quite a bit different sound than I was doing. I didn't use it very much for a while. I had been using a THD power soak with the OR80 so I hooked it to the DR and played my 69 Ampeg Dan Armstrong (with the bad ass humbucker) through it and DAMN!! Heaven. That has been my rig ever since. That DA pickup just drives this amp wild. I keep it pegged on 10 through the soak even on stage usually. If I don't use the soak it's still just a little loud for the clubs, I like to keep it reigned in a little and mike it. The ONLY complaint I have about it is the Trem is not very pronounced. I love the reverb. I had it for about two years and finally the vib channel gave out so I took it too the shop and dropped $200 for the complete overhaul. QTS by Lawerence KS. those guys are Very good!!.

The distortion is as brutal as you need it to be, in a vintage tube context. Amp is very responsive. I love it.

So far it seems really solid and reliable for it's ripe age.

Yeah, right.

I'm a lucky guy to have it. If something were to happen to it I would go into a deep depression because I know I'll never be able to afford another one like it.

The features are as easy as it gets. Bass, Treble Reverb, Tremolo and Volume. Real easy to get a sound. Start by adjusting the tone and then just crank the volume till you get the desired about of tube overdrive.

I usually play a Les Paul Standard, an ES 335 or a Strat. Captures the sound of each of these guitars nicely. Majority of the stuff I play would be R & B covers, Blues and Jazz. The amp has a very rich tone and responds to your touch beautifully. I love the fact that the conrols are so simple. I also own a Mesa Boogie - it gets a nice sound with Humbuckers but requires a lot of tweaking. The Deluxe is a plug in your guitar and play type amp.

So far so good however I bought a second one as a backup

Never used them yet

I really love this amp. It delivers a classic rock sound that you have no doubt heard before on a ton of recordings. The sound most Boutique Amps charge way too much money for and never quite nail exactly.

"72" Silverface Deluxe Reverb. This amp works only O.K. for the stuff I play, Simply because it's very loud, too loud!
The Deluxe Rev. has two channels, one for reverb, and one normal. It doesn't have a fx loop,or a headphone jack, or master volume,or any other modern day features. What it does have is point to point wiring, no printed circuit boards, and really, really great tone, and feel and volume.

I play a 2001 57 ri Goldtop with Tom holmes pick ups, a 2000 Deluxe American Strat, and a 96 PRS McCarty. I'm almost fifty years old, and I play a lot of older tunes Allman Bros., Beatles, Stones
Hendrix Clapton ect. This amp Does that stuff perfectly albeit loudly.
O.K. kids, nuts and bolts time.
With the strat, and the volume at three, the treble at four and the bass at three, the tone is clean and warm with beautiful note separation. Turning up the volume to seven this thing is kicking like a mule. With the Strat wide open you get nice compession which goes away as you roll your volume back, still all the while retaining great note separation. At ten, the Deluxe is singing like a bird on steroids. Simply wonderful tone, very much like my Blockhead Plexi clone, only not as loud. With the Goldtop, at low volume the tone is warm like a nice blanket that just came out of the dryer. With the volume at halfway,and a little reverb, Harrison's "Something" is spot on. Open it up all the way, Cream, Allman Bros.,Free, there all in there. Oh yeah, Don't forget the all American original... Surf.
My Deluxe is fairly noisey, but manageable.It is probably a great match for every style of music exept for metal, But a good pedal will probably take you there too.

I purchased My Deluxe from Roger's Amp in Naples, Florida. Larry Rogers, the owner, Specializes in Building custom, and Restoring tube amps. He warrants his amps for life, including, old Deluxes. As long as you keep fresh tubes and caps in your amps, your amps should never fail you. These amps, (point to point wired) were designed to be serviced, and serviced easily. Take care of your amp, and your amp will take care of you.

Larry is the best amp guy I've ever worked with. I dont need Fender or Marshall service, I've got Larry.

I've Been playing for over thirty years, and if this amp were lost or stolen, I'd call Larry Rogers and ask him to find, or build me an other one. This is my all time favorite amp. It is just too loud for home or studio. But the tone and feel is beyond measure. Pick one up and just play it. Just play it when noone is home. the rewards are well worth it. Thanks Fender, Thanks Larry,

Early 70's, you know the features, so let's move on. I use the amp for gigging, bars, weddings, etc. Playing blues and rock.

I play a standard american strat, but my favorite guitar is a mixed parts strat, mexican body, carvin neck, custom shop Tex Special pickups. Anyway, the amp sounds great. I've gone thru some other amps and also have a Fender Blues Deville 2X10, well the Deluxe sounds a lot better, is plenty loud and a lot easier to haul around, if you've ever picked up a Deville, heavey !
I never really was satisfied with the sound of the Deville, then I got the Deluxe which sounds much better, the Deville always sounded like it was inside a box, just doesn't have the sound, not sure why them make them to sound like that.
Anyway, I sent the Deluxe to Kendrick Amps in Texas to get it over-hauled, they replaced caps, etc, it was cheap, but considering what I payed for the amp, I pretty much had a brand new point to point wire tube amp at 1/2 the price, not to mention it was a Fender Deluxe. So Kendricks said they didn't have to do anything to the amp to get it back to 'blackface' specs because it already was. Seems the electronics on these amps didn't really change until sometime later in the 70, contrary to what some people say or think, when the top amp guys (Kendricks) in the country see your amp fix it and tell you what it is, well I'd guess they'd know. So if you can get an early silver face, get it, it is a blackface at 1/2 the price, all you paying for is a black plate and bragging rights.
Anyway I can the orginal speaker out, trying Celesion green back and aniversery models, currently using the aniversary, sounds great and has a tighter bottom than the green back,
So the sound....well, it's great, anyone that own ones will tell you that. If that's the sound you want just go find an early silverface and have it completely serviced up front by a good amp guy and skip all the other, try this and try that amp, for get all amp modeling stuff, and reissue, just get the real deal, I got into mine for 300 (around 1998) a good deal, and then dropped another 700 for service and speakers, so 1000 bucks, now I got was is basically a new hand wire tube amp, it's a no brainer.
What you gotta be carefull with is, as you can imagine, is you don't want to pay to much for these amps, silver or blackface, becuase you can drop some bucks getting them redone, with cap jobs etc. As any good amp tech will tell you, electronic parts like caps (capacitors) don't last forever, and if the amps ain't never had a cap job, they need it. Even though they still can sound some what good with the orginals in there. I find it best, depending on the amp, to just get it re-do, BUT get a good amp guy, like Kendrick, they really don't cost much more than the so called local expert. Guys like Kendricks know their shit.
Oh did I mention, It's blues tone, blues tones is what I'm after and this amp does it fine. I can't really speak to other styles, and even though I think this amp could be setup to handle country, I think there might be better amps for other styles, I don't think people get Deluxe amps for loud clean tone, it's not what this amp does best.

Mines been doing fine, since I had it over-hauled from the get-go, it's been doing fine. I did break the reverb spring wire, had it fixed localy for like 40 bucks, guess I bounce the amp to hard in the pickup.

You know, I just don't think I'm going to be calling up Fender about service on this amp.

Overall, I ain't complaining. It's a 22 watt 12 inch amp, and sounds like, well, a Fender Deluxe. I should be saying something that so many other amps try to be and sound like a Deluxe. We're not talking 10's of thousands of dollars to get into one of these, as prices of amps go, getting any early silverface and redone is a no brainer.
The only complaint I hear about these amps, is that you get just a Deluxe, sounds great but you just get that one sound. Some players want/need versitity in a single amp, lots of head room, etc, So I not one over those guys that says you can use it for country, rock, blues, etc. I just use it for blues and don't pretend or even know if you could use it for a bunch of other stuff.
Anyway, I've had this amp for about 7 years, and haven't even thought about shopping for anything else since. This is the kind of amp you get and just keep for ever. So other equiptment may come and go, but the Deluxe will go to the grave with me.

Mine is a 1976 Silver Face Deluxe reverb that was purachased about a month ago. I overpaid about $100 or so and when buying a used tube amplifier, be prepared to put some money into it. I recommend getting new tubes and when buying it buy one with the original speaker. Also, unless you are very familiar with old vintage tube amps, make sure you take it to a trusted amp tech/friend before buying or at least make sure that they will actually HONOR there warranty.

Anayways, I was looking for a full warm clean tone tube amp and had previously had a fender hot rod deville 212. This amp is nice because it is perfect volume for small gigs as well as home playing and it's smaller/lighter than carrying around a 2x12 amp. The only feature I wish it had was a control for mids. Otherwise it has everything I want. beautiful warm yet snappy clean fender tube sound with ass-kicking reverb as well as a lush vibrato that i now use for getting a leslie type of chorus sound. Why buy a uni-vibe. I have to give it a 9 and not a 10 due to the fact that there is no mid control.

I play a 1995 Bibson ES-335 as well as an American Deluxe Strat with the vintage noisless pickups. With the new JJ 6V6 output tubes I got from Doug'stubes.com (he is a great guy and helped me out a lot) and with a little bit of service to readjust the bias after putting in the new tubes as well as fixing an off-value phase inverter?/transister?, This amp is so #*&^%$ SWEEET!! Channel 2 (Vibrato) is alittle more noisy than channel 1 (Normal) especially with my 335. With my 335 using the original oxford, I set the volume at about 3 or 4 for that nice point where the amp starts breaking up and is crisp and full. However, if you are looking to use a semi-hollow or hollowbody guitar w/pickups you might want to think about getting a different speaker for more clean headroom without the speaker farting out on the low end. I actually just purchased a weber california 12" with H-screen but I had to return it because it got damaged in shipping (god damn UPS) but Ted Weber is a really nice guy and is actually paying for me for the shipping back to his shop and he is going to replace it for me.

With my strat, the oxford is fine though very trebbly so you must roll down the tone knob on your guitar or turn down the treble on the amp. I can go up to around 6 on the volume and it will still be clean with a nice smooth breakup/snap to it that makes my mouth water.

This amp suits my style of funk/jazz/fusion/rock/blues/reggae/jam music (think John scofield meets trey Anasatsio meets Robben Ford). It is really great for using stompboxes because this has the ultimate clean tone as well as portability that all musicians who do a lot of live giging need.

I was using a Marshall JMP-1 through my deville before this but I have actually just bought a TS-9 and sent it to analogman to have it modded to the silver mod. I am also receiving an analogman comprossor ( I used to have a ross compressor) and can't wait to have that great ts-9>compressor tone that I have been striving for. In a couple of days my final setup will be Gibson es 335 > TS-9 silver mod > CompROSSor > Teese RMC2 wah > Digitech Whammy 4 > Line 6 DL4 > deluxe reverb. This setup is going to kick ass.

Point to point vintage amps are a lot cheaper to service however make sure you have these gone over by a tech before doing a live show. Mine hasn't broken down yet. Just throw in some tubes of your choice whether it be NOS RCA's or JJ's, and if you would like upgrade your speaker to one of your desire (I recommend a weber california for big clean tone that also gives the amp more volume or a weber 12F150 for that legendary C12N tone but even better). I don't have a backup amp anymore so I use this by itself.

Haven't dealt with fender but Michae's Music would definitely get a negative ten because he is just looking to scam people.

I think this amp is really where it's at. I've been playing for about 9 years and I think this amp really has all of the tones that everybody is searching for or tries to emulate. Plus the fact that it's only a 1x12 this makes it a lot easier to take out to jam/gig and still has enough balls to play with a bass and drummer. though a lot of people also get an extension cab which I'll probably due in the future when I win the lottery or star on some god damn new reality show on VH-1 in which the contestants have to be the biggest TOOL to win some money. If you can rely on ebay, go for it but you'll most likely have to put in more work than you expect. otherwise, be PATIENT when purchasing, unlike me and I got duped. try to find someone who is selling it privately and has owned since before you may have been born. Otherwise just talk down those corporate music store chains like samash and guitar center. However if you check out the Guitar center in NYC you will see some of the NICEST used vintage fender amps that are in absolutely perfect condition. You just got to offer cash and threaten to walk out if they don't meet your demands. but since stores like that have actuall policies that they abide by, they will take care of any problems you may have and you also get money back guaruntees.

1978 Silverface, like new condition. Vibrato, fantastic reverb, just the right amount of power for clubs, mic it otherwise. Not full of features, jsut tone.

Sounds nice with a tele or strat. Reacts well to either buckers or singles. Better with Fender guitars than Les Pauls, although my SG Junior really tears it up.

If it ain't broke by now...

You would talk to the ocmpany that made this in a reissue? Why not just build new ones of these? they have the plans, and would they sell? Hell yes!

I've been playing since 1970. Only the Bad Cat Cub 2R can play in the same room as the DR. The Cub has better overdrive the DR has better clean, take your pick. The DR just has that magic tone and can hold it's own with a live combo where the cub needs a mic to fight it's way through a band. Both sound AWESOME through a 4 x 10 box, but then what doesn't?

Basic Fender layout. You know em by now I'm sure. Kinda primitive compared to modern amps. Formerly an early 70's silver face amp converted to blackface specs and cosmetics. As much as I've loved the Deluxe Reverb sound and portabiity, I found myself wanting more headroom and just a bit more output. I'm also addicted to real original Fender tone. (Whether with 6v6's or 6L6's) Rather than dishing out big bucks for a boutique amp, or another vintage amp, I contacted David Allen at Allen Amps. He suggested larger power and output transformers and switching it over to 6L6's giving me in essence a Vibrolux with a 12" speaker. WOW! What a cool idea! He also tweaked the NORMAL channel and made it possible to jumper the two channels together like an old Bassman as well as having reverb and vibrato available too. The NORMAL channel also is voiced a bit more aggrssively now, somewhat Marshall like when pushed. I'm waiting for my Loooper ABY to get here so I can easily switch or combine channels. Very handy indeed!

This amp suits my playing styles very well. In the weekend warrior mode I need to be able to have clean, slightly dirty, and full on Marshall like crunch for all the cover tunes. With the Barber Direct Drive in front of the amp, I get all the varieties of crunch I need without too much compression. The clean sounds are awesome just like most old Fender amps. I use several guitars including a PRS McCarty, Tele w/Bardens, ES335, and a Strat. Occaisionally I'll plug in a big hollow guitar and attempt to play some mellow jazzy stuff, it sounds equally good. I had to replace the V30 Celestion the previous owner had in here. It was way too spiky! I think it would be better in a closed cabinet application. I stuffed an old Mesa Black Shadow speaker in hear and it sounds great! The enhanced first channel is great for a nice "Larry Carlton on the verge of break-up" sound as long as I don't turn it up too high. This amp isn't brutally loud but with the mods, it truly does deliver enough juice to get over the drummer. I'm in the "if it ain't loud enough now, mike it" frame of mind. I've had my fill of amps that are too powerful that only sound good when you're peeling the paint off the back wall of the bar!

I don't expect anything to go wrong with this amp. It's probably good for another 30 years with some occaisional maintenance. David went thru it and replaced caps and biased it. I've been playing various Fender amps since about 1965 and feel that if you get something manufactured in the 1959-1980 era, have it serviced by a qualified tech you'll be just fine. If it does have any problems, I'll call David Allen again. He really gets these amps! When gigging, I take along a Tech 21 Trademark 60 as a back up, (nice amp too) just in case.

Hm...doubt if I could get any help from Fender on this one!

As I mentioned earlier, I've been playing since about 1965. I've gone thru lots of equipment phases from Fender amps to Marshall, to Boogie, to Roland, to Tech 21 T-60 and full circle back to an old Fender. To my ear it is THE sound. It's also a great platform for pedals. I really love the size and portability factor too. With the mods it is now about as modern as I need it to be. If it were stolen or lost, I'm sure I'd look for another one just like the other one.....