My Deluxe Reverb

[Bludave]

It's either a 67 or a 68... Pretty sure 68. I got it a few years ago for a really good price. Well I have a gig coming up & the amps been sitting for a bit so I decided to take it to my tech and have it gone over. Richie is an awesome amp tech & he has been working on my amps like forever. This amp when I got it it had the click pot mod to the Vibrato. For those of you who don't know this takes the Vibrato tube & adds it to the preamp stage & in essence gives the amp a bit more gain. I never really liked it that much & didn't really feel it added much at all to my tone, so I had him convert it back to specs. He was having an issue getting the vibrato to work & basically rebuilt the whole vibrato circuit. He also rebuilt a few other things that were wrong in the amp. Apparently somebody had been in there messing around and screwed up a bunch of things. Now when I first got this amp it had very little headroom so I was contemplating selling it, but I decided to try a speaker swap. It had an Eminence Speaker in it & I switched it to a British made Vintage 30. Richie Told me the amp has a large amount of bass now & feels the speaker isn't doing the amp a lot of good. V30;s tend to be a bit midrangy & favor treble in these little amps. Even though I haven't plugged into it yet I think the amp is going to sound killer(too late now Will get on it tomorrow). Although I may have to go back to the original speaker.. Looking forward to playing some blues on this little beast!!

[FuseG4]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

Very nice! As a reissue player I can only imagine what a cool amp you have on your hands. It's good that you're making it yours.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

My first thought was build it to original 65 specs, but keep the Vin 30. Maybe I'm just used to Vin 30's, but to me it's an upgrade over a stock Fender speaker. But mostly, getting the circuit to sound like a perfect example of an original Deluxe Reverb is #1.

[FuseG4]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

I've kinda thought the V30 needs to either be dead clean or really overdriven. it seems like with light to medium gain and volume is when the midrange of the v30 seems to irk the most people. I dunno. it just wouldn't be my first choice. If all I ever did was use my crunch box in front of it though, it might be a first choice.

I went greenback-style and can recommend it if you decide neither the original speaker or the v30 don't do it for you.

[Chickenwings]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

id go for a bigger sounding speaker than a v30 as well. Something like a Weber california paper dome is pretty awesome.
Or if you want thicker, then like Fuse recommends, a greenback voiced speaker (but with a higher wattage rating like 50 or more).
Ive tried both and love both.
ive also tried jensen (harsh top end) and celestion T75 (too dark).

[Boogie Bill]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

I might look for a Celestion 50 watt speaker. Can't remember the desination, but this one worked real well in my vintage 1965 BF DR, until I found a gold label Jensen.

You can always go the JBL route, like a D-120.

Bill

[Bludave]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

Well the Vintage 30 is going to remain in it for a while. I haven't plugged in to her yet, but I anticipate having a clean crisp tone which is what I am after. This amp was so muddy at times that I was really thinking of selling it. I think Richie saved it.

[jeremy]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

i have a '66 dr and while i love the old bf dr's stock, i think they can be made a little better with some simple mods. the fender tone stack is too deep in the bass. shelving it up a little gives you more usable bass that doesnt get farty. anyways...

my two favorite speakers in my deluxe reverb are the celestion g12h and cannabis rex.

ive tried celestion gold (too brash), blue (heavenly but its only 15w), g12m (mids and top sound wonderful but lacking bottom end), g12-65 (similar but not as warm as the g12m and a little stiffer with a little more bottom), g12t-75 (harsh top, thin mids and woofy bottom), jensen c12n (lifeless, flat and boring), c12k (hard, dull and cold), p12r (bright, reedy, and thin), p12q (pretty good but the barky mids arent for everyone), tone tubby alnico (really good textured tone), emi red fang (great mids, too much top and not enough bottom), and some others. the stock speaker isnt bad but it isnt loud enough and i took it out not wanting to blow it in case i sold the amp, which i will never do at this point.

[Bludave]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb

I played through the amp yesterday with 4 different guitars. My New 64 Hagstrom II, my Eric Clapton Strat (This guitar killed it as it does with everything I plug her into), my Surfer equipped Custom Strat & a Gibson 359. All the guitars really did well. The amp had a nice sparkle to it when the volume was on 3.5 to 4. My pedal board is pretty sparse. I have a CE2 clone, a DD3, MXR Classic Overdrive, Wah & Tuner. The overdrive really made the amp sing & the harmonics were all there. I think the Vintage 30 sounded really great. Very happy!