Fuchs Audio Technology Deluxe Reverb Mod

Andy Fuchs did his ODS mod to this new DRRI in February '03.I play rocking blues and rock and this amp is just the most amazing thing I've ever played through. Andy basically guts the amp, and uses the original transformers, chassis, and cabinet. It is a two channel amp, that cleans up remarkably just by using the volume pot on the guitar. Normally the footswitch switches channels and turns the reverb on or off. I had Andy wire the volume boost to the footswitch instead of the reverb, and instead of an effects loop I had him install a variable level output to go direct to a board. For me it has all the features I want. My bandmates are astounded at the sounds I get at a much lower level than ever before. We gig 2-4 times a month and this 22-25 watt amp is plenty for onstage and small clubs. If I need more volume out front, I can either mike it or use the variable output.

I've got a few different guitars ranging from a Fender Tele with a set of Barden pickups, to a Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II with piezos, and this amp sounds great with them all. Even the high gain settings are quiet with VERY little noise even from my PRS Custom 22 Soapbar. Great shimmery cleans and it nails the Robben Ford lead sound for my ear, with smooth singing sustain.

I haven't had it long enough to rate the reliability, but I do know Andy and he uses the best available materials so I don't see this as being an issue. I don't carry a spare amp for gigs, but I always have a Mesa Boogie V-Twin in my gig bag for emergencies.

Andy is fantastic to work with and if I ever have a problem with this amp it will go to him for servicing.

Ive been playing for thirty years, and have finally found "my sound."
I've had Marshalls, Fenders, and all the rest. I played Boogies for about 15 years, until I found Koch amps. Sold the Boogies and bought two Koch amps, a Multitone and a Twintone. Found these Fuchs amps and the Twintone is sold, and you can find the Multitone in the classifieds. This is it! If it were lost or stolen the wait on getting another would kill me but I would have to. BTW...I'm picking up my second one up today. This way I'll have a Black DRRI fuchs ODS mod and a blonde one!

Following the ravings and contagious GAS of one of my buddies who had Andy Fuchs mod his Deluxe Reverb, I followed suit and did the same. As Andy removes the guts of the amp, basically using the chassis, tubes and transformers, it didn't really matter whether this was an older or reissue amp. I found a reissue for $500 and sent it to Andy in New Jersey. I got most of his options (check these out at: http://www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com/html/pricing.html ) The amp is transformed into a channel switching beast with tons of tone shaping options including high and low boosts, mid boost, eq bypass, pull damping (a powerful effect on this amp), pentode/triode switching that will cut the roughly 15 watts down to about 6 watts, 'studio/normal' switch that changes bias mode, tube buffered parallel/series loop with in and out level controls, rock/jazz switch, and the existing reverb (probably the best sounding spring reverb I've ever heard). There is a clean/first stage gain control, overall master and then second stage gain and master for the lead channel in the style of Dumble and Two Rock amps. All this plus shipping across the country came to about $900. For the $1400 I have into it, I have the best sounding amp I've ever had (in 40+ yrs of playing). I play blues/rock/lame jazz and play lead in a band of geezers doing classic rock. We mic all our gigs so wattage isn't an issue. I also put in a Celestion Century speaker that is very articulate, efficient (=loud), and lightweight so the total combo weight is only #36. I use the amp mostly in my home studio and it will be my gig amp. We do about a dozen large venue gig/shows a year. I've gigged with it once so far in a large hall and it was a stellar performer. It came with standard Fender issue Sovtek tubes (and has a small cooling fan for the power tubes. I put some NOS Mazda 6V6 tubes and some 12AX7LPS tubes in V1 and V2 for now. I'll be experimenting with other NOS tubes as time goes on but the LPS tubes with the Mazdas sound great. I biased the output tubes to 25ma. The faceplate is replaced with Andy's own, appropriate to the controls used. It says "Fuchs Overdrive Supreme". The footswitch jack controls channel switching and reverb and a standard Gibson footswitch that I modded myself with some bright LEDs. With such a plethora of features, it has taken a long time to try all the combinations and permutations of settings, but I've yet to find a bad sound out of this amp. It was great out of the gate with all knobs at noon!

My main ax is a prs McCarty soapbar though I also use a Custom 24 with Dragon 1s, and Hollowbody Spruce and now a Santana SE that will soon be modded with Harmonic Design Z-90 pups. I've come to prefer the P-90 tones above all others but all my guitars sound great through this amp. I could gig with just guitar and amp, though I sometimes use a Boss GT6 for volume pedal/wah, delay, chorus, etc. I also have been playing with a FatBoost, Menatone KOB, and Hotcake into the clean channel for lots of other tonal options. This amp loves the footpedals on the clean channel though they don't contribute anything to the lead channel. The lead tone of this amp is in the Dumble/Ford/Carlton vein and has a singing quality without rasp or hair. Tons of sustain and easily produced pinch harmonics. If I turn my guitar's tone control almost all the way down, the highs are gone but the mids remaing very powerful in a Santana-esque manner. Adding mid boost gives it another kick. On the clean channel I can get a very chimey almost Vox like character out of it, though it is basically Blackface Fender in nature. However, that nature is very malleable with all the tone shaping this amp provides. At dead quiet, the amp has a little noise and hum, but nothing you hear when playing. The clean channel will break up in a Deluxe sort of fashion as you push the gain and volume but you can got a LOT of dead clean volume out of this amp. The lead channel can sound excellent at bedroom/studio levels. As an aging rocker with some hearing damage, this is a critical requirement for me. One other thing, if I need stadium volume, I take the SEND out to a little reverb pedal (the send is before the reverb circuit) to a power amp to cab. Infinite volume available that way....

I've only had the amp since February so I don't know what the future holds, BUT, from the inside out, this amp appears to be built to perfecting standards. It's not a PTP amp as it uses PCBs, but I have no problem with that. That said, I NEVER gig without a backup. That has nothing to do with the amp. It's just nuts to do otherwise. I'm guessing for the sake of rating that this amp is gonna be rock solid so I'm giving it a 10, but understand that this is an educated guess only. Regardless of build quality, tubes can always go south. My 'backup' rig is just my Boss GT6 pedal to a Stewart power amp to speaker. I voice the GT6 for a Vox preamp emulation. It sounds quite good but doesn't come close to the full rich firebottle heaven the Fuchs provides.

Before having the amp built, I had many emails back and forth with Andy, and one phone call. He was totally present and supportive and we developed a great relationship. I haven't really thought about warranty issues but I have no doubt that Andy will stand behind his work.

I've been playing for way more decades (4+) than my playing shows. I was a pretty lame hack player until my semi-retirement a few years ago but I've been very serious about becoming a player since then. I'm probably in an advanced intermediate category, if that makes any sense. I've owned, just in the last 3 yrs, a Groove Tubes Solo 75, Trademark 60, Two Rock Emerald (with Pro mod) 50, Koch Twintone and a few 'lesser' amps. They're all gone now, not meeting my needs for a low powered, lightweight tone monster that performs at low volumes, has channel switching and a Dumblesque lead tone with goodies like reverb tank and loop, etc. This is the ONE! If it were lost or stolen, I'd either get another of the same, or one of Andy's newer creations in a head format. There's nothing I don't love about this amp. Having been on a serious tone search for the last few years, and having gone through the amps listed above, this is where I've landed. The other amps were great amps in their own right, but didn't meet my particular needs for home and gig use. With a bad back, I don't want to lug anything over #40 and this is well below that (the Century speaker makes a big difference in that regard). Incidentally, my buddy who turned me on to Andy's work and has another DR that Andy modded, and who has played semi-pro for over 30 yrs, still is blown away by his amp (now about 4 months I believe).