65 Deluxe non-reverb

[WhoFan]

I own an original 65 Fender Deluxe Amp-(non reverb model)... I believe 65 was the last year for that model-(non reverb)... anyways when i got it it didn't work.. sent it out for repairs and it worked for a bit and was noisy. I had the repair guy do a good overhaul and he replaced a lot of caps and stuff... One cap that was gone was melting the tubes... said that direct current was going straight to that tube or something like that.

It is not the best sounding Fender amp but it works great now.... I am thinking of taking it to another repair guy that is more of the local vintage amp wizard to have him look at it and see what he can do to help the tone.... Lucky for me i also made sure that the first tech returned all the original parts to me out of the amp.

Anyways i have a few low volume jams coming up.... just me and a quiet drummer.... I mostly have been taking my Classic 30 combo for that but i have been wanting to try this Deluxe out... What is the highest volume should i take this old beast to? 7 or 8 on the dial? It has the original speaker in it and it is now 40 years old. How careful should i be with this amp as far as pushing it...

WhoFan

 

[Curly]

Re: 65 Deluxe non-reverb

if you are really concerned about the speaker, you might consider getting a replacement speaker, and storing the original in case you decide to sell the amp later

that's what I did with my tweed Deluxe, since the original Jensens are so hard to find

anyway, the Deluxe has a half stage less gain than the reverb version, since half the reverb driver is in the gain circuit

they can still sound great, though

 

[WhoFan]

Re: 65 Deluxe non-reverb

Ya i was thinking replacement speaker for gigging the amp maybe the way to go.... And i had heard the Reverb added a slight bit more gain! I also heard that many people did mods to turn the tremelo and reverb parts into higher gain mods for Deluxes....... I don't think i'll be doing that to a vintage amp but at least a speaker can be changed and replaced back to stock when needed.

The original owner was an old lady who pushed her slide guitar thru it when her husband and her had a country act... it has seen lots of gigs for sure.... The kid i bought it off got it from her and she can no longer play at 78....

WhoFan

 

[WhoFan]

Re: 65 Deluxe non-reverb

PS-would a greenback speaker work in this Deluxe amp? what is the best speaker to replace the original... what ohms should i be looking at.....? 4 or 8? i guess power rating should be about 30 watts?

WhoFan

 

[gripweed]

Re: 65 Deluxe non-reverb

if you are really concerned about the speaker, you might consider getting a replacement speaker, and storing the original in case you decide to sell the amp later

that's what I did with my tweed Deluxe, since the original Jensens are so hard to find

anyway, the Deluxe has a half stage less gain than the reverb version, since half the reverb driver is in the gain circuit

they can still sound great, though

A new speaker might also be just the fix for the tone...

 

[Curly]

Re: 65 Deluxe non-reverb

I thought Greenbacks were rated at 25 watts ... the problem with Celestions, though, is that they are mounted with 4 screws, not 8 like Fenders, so you either have to clip off 4 mounting screws on the baffle (which is not such a good idea on a vintage amp), or you have to drill extra holes in the speaker rim - also not such a great idea, since you have to be very careful to line the holes exactly, and keep any shavings out of the speaker

in this case, I think you'd be better off getting a Jensen RI, an Eminence, or a Weber

 

[WhoFan]

Re: 65 Deluxe non-reverb

I used the 65 Deluxe at our little Jam tonight... It had more then enough power for us... Think it was on 3 at the most... used a Boss Distortion in front of it...... One of those Mega Distortion crappy things.... Normally i'm not a fan of this pedal. I find if you turn the extra gain right off and just use the one at about 75% it can sound like a DS1 but with more EQ controll.... a lot more bottom to it and it can turn the Deluxe into a Stack type sound. I used my cheap Mexican Standard tonight as it was just for fooling around tonight.... sounded pretty good in the end.

I wonder how loud it would be once we get a bassist and some vocals going... If it works with all that extra loudness i'll gig that amp more often for sure with a pedalboard... Mic it up and just use pedals...

Mind you the best use for this amp is a neck pickup on a strat and no pedals at all....

WhoFan