Fender Deluxe Reverb

This amp (pre CBS)has exactly the features needed...no more - no less. Two channels, reverb, tremelo, all the good stuff. 22 watts and a 12 inch non - original Vox Bulldog speaker round the package off.

I use a Fender Custom Classic Strat with Van Zandt pic-ups, and a Les Paul with P-90s. I play light jazz, blues, R & B, country, and some rock. The amp does it all perfect. I set my volume and both tones on 5, reverb on 3. I never use tremelo. After 5 the amp just gets distorted (very musically) but not any louder.

It is the only amp I own. I have had it for 4 years. I do all my own repairs. All I have done is filter caps, tubes, 3 prong plug, and biasing (by ear). It has never done anything wrong, and I play regularly at clubs.

I bought a cover and a new handle. I would never let anyone touch this amp but me....ever!

I have been playing professionally for 34 years. I have had lots of Fenders and almost every other kind of amp ever made. This is my first Deluxe-Reverb. This is where it ends. It was stolen 4 months ago. I got it back in two days. I am well known in the city I work in, I guess they got scared because they coughed it up. I had to pay a $150.00 ransom/reward, but I was very lucky. I was scared because they are so hard to find now. I will be even more careful in the future. If I hadn't gotten it back I would have scoured the earth looking for a replacement. I would never consider using any other amp. It suits what I do perfectly. Leo Fender was a design genius. The re-issues are better than most other amps out there, but not even close to the originals. That is truly amazing. If you are a guitar player and get a chance to buy one, do what ever you have to do to get it. Don't worry about the price because in ten years they will be selling for over three grand. Count on it!!!

1973 Silverface that I use for classic rock, blues, and country. 2 channels, reverb, vibrato, 22 watts (plenty), that I use in small clubs, parties, etc.

I use it with an '87 American Standard Strat, a '62 Tele re-issue, a new Stratosonic, a '73 Les Paul Deluxe and a Roger McGuinn 370-12 Rick. It is super quiet when idle, but loud enough for our small band un-miked with a lush reverb and vibrato. Clean sound to about 6. I don't over-drive it, for distortion I use a Realtube pedal.

Amp has never broken down in 15 years of use (except a failed power tube) I gig without a back-up, but do have a 65 Deluxe Reverb re-issue at home, just in case.

Long out of warranty when I bought it in 1989, but I have had it serviced (re-tubed, biased, new caps, and three prong cord) by my local Fender dealer to great satifsaction.

I have been playing for 30 years, and own 3 Strats, one Tele, one P Bass, one Rickenbacker 12, one Les Paul, a new Stratosonic, and a Guild Starfire IV. I love the sound of the amp with all of the above, clean, bright, with a tight bottom-end. My 65 Re-issue sounds close, but this one is still the sweetest; I wouldn't change a thing. If it were lost or stolen, I would try to replace it.

This was purchased from Humbucker Music in Leicester, part-exchanged for a Laney LC30 amp and a few old pedals I didn't use anymore. It is a late 70s silverface model; the one with the volume boost and line out jack (two features I would never use). Some people say these are inferior to the earlier silverface models but that doesn't really worry me - it's still genuine fender point-to-point hand-wired all-valve combo, so it's already better than most modern day amps, especially when you consider its infinite customisability. Features are as listed many times below.

When I tried it in the shop, I thought it sounded OK, but knew that it was behaving suboptimally. It was loaded with a Celestion G12M-R speaker (which, I believe, is very much a 'rock' speaker) and, as I later discovered, had the wrong valves in it. I decided to take it to a local amp & valve specialist (Mark at Hot-Rox in Nottingham - absolutely top bloke) who gave it a good going over, replaced a few components and re-valved the thing. Now it was starting to sound more like it. The icing on the cake came when I replaced the Celestion for a Jensen P12R - now it was truly a great amp.

I play a Gibson ES135 (stock P100s replaced by Kent Armstrong 'Vintage PAF' humbuckers) for jazz/soul/rock 'n' roll sounds, and a Fender Japan 60s re-issue Strat (stock single-coils hopefully soon to be replaced by Kent Armstrong 'Tweed Tones') for the rest. I have a bunch of pedals (all analog, mostly rather old - wahs, phasers, fuzzes, overdrives, choruses, vibes, delays, envelope filters, and a H&K Tube Rotosphere) which I use when appropriate, but love the sound of the guitars straight into the amp.

As you probably know, these amps aren't the loudest (rated at 22W), and get crunchy without too much effort. I can get the most delicious, warm, clean sounds up to about 3+1/2 on the volume (guitar vol backed off a little), above which I get an extremely natural and non-grainy sounding overdrive which is very responsive to guitar volume. I can totally nail the intro to Them's version of 'Baby Please Don't Go' like this, and all manner of classic blues and jazz tones are possible, from BB to SRV, Benson to Burrell.

For the record, I also own a 70s silverface Twin Reverb and, although the Twin is the best for loud, clean strat sounds, the Deluxe wins hands down for blues and jazz (plus it is so much more portable).

This truly is a beautiful sounding amp. The reverb is spot on (although not as deep as on the Twin) and the tremolo is extremely useable, although you won't get heavy heavy 'How Soon is Now' or REM effects with it.

Haven't gigged with it yet. Obviously this amp is going to require some maintenance, but that's part of the joy of owning and playing one.

Who needs customer support when you've got Hot-Rox??

I've been playing long enough to know that this amp is staying with me for a very long time. It does everything I want it to (ie amplify my guitar), sounds amazing, looks cool, is eminently portable, and very customisable (I'm considering 'blackfacing' the Vibrato channel and converting the Normal channel into a 50s tweed type amp and linking it up to the reverb and tremolo, thus creating two classic amps in one). I probably wouldn't pay the #700+ asked by some crazy dealers, but, for a good price, this baby is the dog's.

Mine is a 1980 "back to blackface" model. These are identical to the late 70's silverface amps, but the faceplate is black, similar to the mid 60's amps. I'm the second owner and was able to get it for a steal from the original owner who had stopped playing and just wanted to unload it. Way back when, he'd gotten the BF mod done and disabled the pull-boost knobs. It's in great condition, but the original speaker was worn out and I replaced it with a Celestion Vintage 30. Otherwise, the features are common to the others reviewed here. Not many, but enough to take care of just about anything I'll ever use it for.

Without a doubt, this is the best sounding amp I've owned, and that's a fairly long list that includes several other Fenders (incl a '59 RI Bassman), Vox, Marshall, and Ampeg. I play mostly classic rock, using an American Std Strat with Fralin Blues pickups and a Les Paul studio with the stock humbuckers. This amp just sings with either guitar. I love the "edge of break-up" tone. I don't bother with any pedals other than a DOD Icebox Chorus, which I use sparingly. I like to just dime the volume control on the amp and adjust the amount of overdrive with the guitar's volume control. This Deluxe is plenty loud for gigging, unless it's an outdoor setting. But even then it's just fine miked into the PA.

It's 23 years old and never needed anything other than the speaker replacement I mentioned above and an occasional tube replacement.

It's beenout of warranty for more than 20 years. Why would I ever call Fender?

I've owned this amp for about a year and a half. It's become my number one and I've sold all of my other amps except for an Ampeg J-12R that I use for practice. I wish I would have gotten it back in the early 80's when I started to play guitar, then it would have saved me the expense and effort I've spent on all the other amps I'd purchased over the years. It's perfect. No other amp I've ever played through measures up to it.

I just purchased this amp off of ebay for $1200 USD. It is an all original 1966. If you are reading about this amp you know the features. It has everything that you need and nothing more.

I'm playing a custom shop relic strat, Gibson Les Paul Standard and occaisionally a tube screamer with this amp.

At first this amp sounded pretty good but I could tell it needed some work. I brought it to my amp tech and he replaced the filter caps, tubes, and a few resistors and capacitors that had drifted off of factory specs. I also had the bright cap removed from the volume pot which makes the tone controls more useable in my opinion.

The final step in resurrecting this amp was adding a WeberVST 12F150, 50 watt, doped speaker. Man does this amp sound fantastic now. The bass response is much better and the overall tone is dramatically better. I definitely recommend this speaker to any one with this amp who wants a little more headroom but likes the sound of the amp.

This thing smokes the reissue amp that I rented prior to purchasing this on ebay. I'm glad I bought vintage because the sound is much better, they are easier to service, and much easier to get your money out of them if you decide to sell.

I have a fairly large collection of vintage Fender amps to compare this too including the following:

59 Bassman
64 Super Reverb
65 Twin
66 Vibrolux Reverb
65 Pro Reverb
54 Twin
Several smaller tweed amps as well as piggy back white tolex amps.

This thing is my favourite of them all except maybe the Vibrolux Reverb. (You should check out the vibrolux - they are fantastic)

I'm sure I'll have a few problems here and there after all this is an old tube amp

N/A

Fantastic. Buy one and you'll see what I mean. I recommend upgrading the speaker to a Weber 12F150, 50 watt, doped.

Much better value than the reissues - especially long term. You will make money on these amps if you decide to sell in the future. (How many new amps will you be able to do that with?)

Do you know what year the amp was made in?
c1973
Is the amp versatile enough for you and the styles of music you play?
absolutely, this amp "is" music.

What are those styles?
Whatever your fingers dictate.

How many channels? 2

Does it have channel switching? Effects loops? Headphone jack?
no, no no!

What features do you wish it had? Why?
It is typical Fender amp PERFECTION

Are there features you never use? nope.
Where do you use this amp?
small clubs, home
Does it have enough power for you? yup
Feel free to enter any other features: all tube, point to point wiring. Nuff said. Stay away from the reissues!

What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with?
an arsenal of Fender/ Gretsch/ Rickenbacker gear
How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?
perfect. Rock, blues jazz are all reasonable with this amp.
Is it noisy? nope, only if I want it to be :)
What kind of sounds can the amp make? Musical ones
Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? yes and I wouldnt have it any other way.
How brutal is the distortion? its MUSICAL pure tube overdrive!

Fender amps (pre '75) keep on ticking with regular maintenance. Very reliable, thats reason #487,263 why they are CLASSICS.

Stay away, repeat, STAY AWAY, from modern circuit board amps. They sound terrible compared to vintage amps, and cost a FORTUNE to repair/service. And they have plenty of built in planned obsoloescence. There are plenty of deals out there, and a good amp tech will get it cookin for you (note: watch out for jerks who try to tell you your vintage speakers are blown. More than likely they are trying to steal them.)

two channels, regular and verb/trem. Footswitch control for verb and trem. No effects loops, master vol or other junk. All tube, point to point wired. this is an early silverface (68) and so not much altered

Why use this amp or amps like it? I won't try to describe the sound except to say that it's really good--no matter where the knobs are, clean or overdriven, it sounds good--pleasing to the ear, musical. Can you "cop" the tone of this or that famous guitarist? Sure, I guess so, but that's not the point

People use these fender amps because they are the perfect foundation for whatever you're doing--the basic sound is just great--it makes you smile. Put your pedals and effects junk on top of it, an it still sounds good, because the foundation is there. Simple circuits make for great sound, and they are easy to fix and repair, and rugged

The perfect club amp--enough volume to keep up, but not like lugging an anvil. Is it versatile? Absolutely--you can play ,rock, blues, country, jazz on this amp and they all sound great. Can you footswitch in a preamp buzz mesa tone? No. So maybe it isn't versatile if that's what you think versatile means. But try bringing that Boogie to a jazz gig

Classic fender blackface sound--sparkly clean, cut mids, great overdrive. The amp is quiet and solid. Rich reverb, deep trem. The lows are more solid than on a princeton, but not as tight as on a 6L6 amp. The attack is warm and easy, smooth--6V6's sound "sweeter" to me.

Ok, you could tweak here and there, look for more of this or that, I'm not going to claim it's tone nirvana because that's an illusion. You could tweak it to be closer to whatever you like, but even if you don't tweak it, it still sounds great. It's a working tool that will help you make music--it will never get in your way

What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with?
Telecasters (blues, soul, country) and archtop (jazz)

How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?
Lots of styles--it's versatile in the best sense. whatever syle you want, except maybe death metal, and it sounds good

Is it noisy? On what settings, and in what environments?
Nope, no noisy

What kind of sounds can the amp make? How much variety?
See above--classic fendr clean, classic fender creamy spongy overdrive.

Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? In what settings?
Starts to breakup around 5

How brutal is the distortion?
Is the distortion "brutal?" I would say no, it's not brutal, it's musical, ya want brutal, look elsewhere

extremely well built by design, easy to maintain and repair

There's a good reason people pay a lot for these things

prcey, but worth it. A good tool that won't let you down and always does what you need--the right tool for the right job, works, feels right

Mine is a first year Silverface, identified by the silver beading around the grill cloth. (I'm sure the collectors could quickly say the year; I can't) What this means, I have been told, is that the cosmetics are 'silverface,' the guts are pure blackface.

Features: Few. Two channels ('plain' and w/ reverb/tremelo) Ech with dual inputs (high and low sensitivity) Three tone controls (Bass, Mid and treble) reverb and tremelo controls. That's it.

The Deluxe Reverb has two things going for it that one could call "features": True classic fender tone AND low wattage output. Whaythis matters... (see "sounds")

I regularly play several different guitars. Most commonly a Les Paul Custom (SG style), an ES- Artist, a Epi Sheraton II and a Fender Tele reissue. All sound great through this amp.

The glory of the D.R.'s tone is, as seaid above, based on two factors, the classic Fender amp sound AND the low maximum power of this amp; only 22 watts.

That means one can realistically turn the thing up and overdrive both the pre-amp AND (this is important!) power amp.
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In a few words: Great tone = overdriven 6L6s. (or EL 84s for clasic Marshall sound lovers)

Having just one 12 inch speaker is important here for the same reason: Distortion and compression come on at lower, more easily reeached, volume levels.

Played clean (moderate volume) or driven, single coil or HBs, this things simply sounds good.

The one thing I miss is a circuit that would allow electronic compression between the amp's stages.

Approx 30 years and she stills rocks. Only "repair" is replacment of 2 preamp tubes.

Playing 40+ years. Blues, and primitive rock.

I lived and played thru the sixties and early 70s. Saw the emphisis in power and volume kill the appreciation for TONE. If you younger guitar slinger get the chance to really spend time with one of these early DRs you'll quickly come to seee what was lost.

This is a silverface purchased used in '78. Stored in a closet while I went through digital-peavey-crate-effects-carvin futile search for tone. I got this out a few months ago and plugged a new fat strat texas special into it. What the **** was I thinking. THIS IS THE TONE.

Again the Texas special, American Fat Tele. I play mainly country and the twang and punch is there. I have a Mesa Mk III with an EV and it makes my buddies jealous, but this thing brings evil to their eyes. This amp has an ALTEC-LANSING 12" speaker with a huge magnet. I think this why it out does the other deluxes I've tried. The bass is outstanding as well as the usual fender tones. I don't try to distort this amp that's what the boogie's for.

As far as I know there has never been a problem. I had a tech check the tubes and he said they were original. There could have been rewiring before I owned it my buddies says it sounds too good to be silverface. I don"t know if speaker is original.

I have no idea but making a good product to start with speaks well I think.

I have been playing since I was 9 yrs old. I'm 42. I neglected this amp for 20 yrs, thank goodness for closet space. If it were stolen I would hunt it down. I have at my disposal through friends all the good tube amps to play except matchless and bad cat this is the cleanest,fattest and brightest amp I've played.

Hi, Mine is an early 1966 with JBL Black K-Series 12" speaker (as opposed to the JBL Grey D-Series Speakers that were actually produced and factory installed on custom order for Fender during the amp's 1964-1967 origional production era). I've had my Blackface Deluxe Reverb for about 1 and one-half years now. I origionally bought it for $1500- cash from George Alessandro,(Alessandro Amps) at the 2001 Philly Summer Guitar Show. It was really funny, I showed up with Bernie Brausweater from BB and the Stingers, (those in the northeast know who I mean), and Gerry Weber of Kendrick, (who's crazy for Bernie's playing, as is George), was at the table right across from us with every amp he had in stock. We A/B'ed this baby (which was personally overhauled and tuned up by George) against tons upon tons of Vintage Fenders and every Kendrick in creation. This amp easily won Hands-Down! Kudos to all of you Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb Owners. You Are Right! There is no Better Reverb-Equipped amp for PURE TONE.......PERIOD! As for Veratiliy, all you need is you guitar, (in my case a Strat) a cord, and This Amp. Your HANDS Will Do The Rest! I'm a Blues Player (playing about 22 years), and this Amp is the Absolute KING for Blues Tone!!! (Tweed Deluxes Also Rate Really High in My Book). If you think that you need more features, then you need to practice more.

I really Don't want to piss anybody off but I'm going to be Very Upfront Here. First, in my opinion Tweeds, Brownfaces, and Blackfaces RULE and while I'd give up a night with the finest babe for a Tweed Deluxe, (the purest of tone), Blackfaces do have that nice Reverb and Vibrato, in addition to that "forgotten channel" without it. Leo Fender, You were a true genius! BUT, I think that there are alot of falicies that people tend to create. To be honest, the Reissues Can't Even Compare with the Origionals, NOT EVEN CLOSE, These Reissues (while I am glad that they made them), are printed circut boards with Mexican parts assembled by minimum wage workers with green cards. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Why don't you just go out and buy a SQUIRE and call it a Vintage Strat! No wonder why these reissues break down so often! Even the most basic Point-To-Point Silverface can Blow These Reissues Away! As an example, I owned a Vibro-King before my this and because of the sub-quality parts and low-quality assemblers, It was the Biggest Piece Of Unreliable CRAP I've Ever OWNED!!! Fender needs to stop trying to save on the price of machine screws and get their act together again. I honestly think that anybody on these Forums could do a better job for the players running Fender than whoever is running it now! Look all you 12 year olds, see the Awesome New Colors!, Now run out and tell Mommy and Daddy to buy you one so I can go Vacation in Bermuda with my Secretary on the Company's Expense Account!!! (Just Don't Tell Her Husband or My Wife and Kids, Oh, By the way, Because of Neccessary Costs, The price of all Fender products will increase by 10% as of next year, Thanks for your Understanding and Continued Support!!!) Next, Silvefaces, especially prior to 1975 are KILLER amps, I OWN 2 OF THEM (a 1972 Vibrolux and 1973 Vibrochamp, both of which are built like tanks, are in near-mint condition and have tons of headroom) That Vibrolux has stood up for me night after night after night at jam after jam after jam with conuntless guitarists playing through it! BUT, in relation to The Silverface Is Blackface Hallucination, NO WAY, NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! But....You Don't Understand, MY Silverface is THE 1968 Deluxe Reverb With The *SILVER RIM* Around The Grillecloth and BB KING stuck this piece of chewing gum inside of it in 1968, The guy I bought it from at Guitar Center for $2000- told me so!, NO WAY, NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! Do You really think that Fender would take all the trouble in 1968 to spend all of that money for redesign costs for the outside cosmetics and NOT CHANGE THE ELECTRONICS??? ,GET REAL!!!, A/B One Against the Other as many times as I have and if you still think that they Sound and React EXACTLY THE SAME, Then TRY SMOKING LESS CRACK!!!

Let's Get Real, these amps are almost 40 years old, BUT they are some of the most User Serviceable Amps EVER MADE, They WILL have their share of Maintainance Needed from Time To Time (Unless The Past Owner Abused The Amp with Alot Of Pedals), BUT in general, all you need is to obtain Quality Replacement Parts From The CTS Replacement Catalog and be able to Turn a Bias Screw While Reading a Meter and THESE AMPS WILL LAST FOREVER!!!

The MAYTAG Guy at the back of the Fender Building is Still Asleep, BUT, If you Feel Like Paying $100- to Change A $5- Input Jack, Then Fender WILL BE HAPPY to refer you to the NEAREST AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER!!!

At this point, this amp is like having a Car for me, IT'S ESSENTIAL!!! If this amp were ever stolen, I'd Probably Filp Out! , But I do confess that I Probably WOULD Shell Out the Bucks To Replace It With Another One (and I Know EXACTLY WHERE to get those Old JBL's, and it's Nowhere Online), BUT I would HATE to Go Through Another Year Of Fine-Tuning and Working The Kinks Out Of Another Amp. Overall, I think that this amp RULES, Especially for BLUES and is Well Worth The Investment for the Serious Guitar Player. BUY ONE TODAY BEFORE THEY ALL END UP IN JAPAN!!! P.S. I plan to take this amp out alot including alot of jams (tone machines like this are meant to be used), and I am one of these nice guys who will let you play through the amp if you are Respectful and Don't Use Any Pedals, I play and jam in and around N.J. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to raed this, Jim