Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

Bludave

New member
Many of you may know that I have a 67 Deluxe Reverb. When I bought it a few years ago it had an Eminence Speaker in it (not sure which one). The amp is great but it really did not have much headroom and the bottom was kind of Farty. After reading several of Lew's posts I decided to put a Celestian Speaker in it. I was initially going to put the G12H30 in, but a good friend of mine had a British made Vintage 30 that is about 15 or so years old (not sure) with less then 10 hours on it. So I put this in.

I needed to make a new baffle. I did not want to alter the original. Me and a buddy of mine cut out the baffle and my wife helped me install the new grill cloth. I used Blackface Grill cloth (it was available). The amp is a drip edge from either 67 or 68. My tech told me 67. It took a bit of tinkering to get the new baffle screwed in and the speaker soldered in but now it is done. I only played it for about 10 minutes but is sounds really sweet. It is a little stiff considering it is an old speaker, but with very little time on it. I anticipate this to really warm up once it gets broken in. I think it should take a few weeks before it really starts to open up. So far I am liking it very much.

I set the volume on 5 the bass @ 7 the Treble @ 4.5 and the Presence at 6. Reverb at 3.5.... My normal type of settings. I plugged my Clapton Strat in and it came to life. Nice Clean clear articulate note decay and a beautiful chime. I haven't tried it wih any pedals yet. I will keep adding some more information about it as I go.

My decision to go with this Vintage 30 was reinforced by a good friend of mine who lives in Springfield, MO. Richie is a monster player and has used a Deluxe Reverb from the same era as mine for about 20 years. He has a Vintage 30 in his. Many people feel that a Celestian speaker tends to "take away" some of the Fender in these great amps..... I think not. So far so good!!!
 
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

glad you like it, a good speaker makes a huge difference with those amps. your amp has a presence control? i dont recall the 67 i used having one
 
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

glad you like it, a good speaker makes a huge difference with those amps. your amp has a presence control? i dont recall the 67 i used having one


You know I am not sure!! I was playing through this and my Super Reverb last night. I know my Super has a Presence so I might be confused:1:

The other thing is I'm not exactly sure what year it is. My tech told me it's a 67, but its a silver face. He told me that Fender made the switch from black to silver in 67, so some were BF & some were SF. I don't know for sure. I am almost dead positive my Super is a 68 and that is a drip edge. So is this Deluxe (of course no right now since I have changed the baffle and grill).
 
Last edited:
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

I love Celestion speakers in Fender amps...my 62 Deluxe sounds killer wiht both my 68 alnico Celestion and a plain old Greenback...

Glad you found a set up that works for ya!
 
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

The V30 works pretty good in some SF stuff...some of the brighter BF amps will take your head off with a V30 though. One of the guys in Los Lobos used to use a BF Twin with V30s and that thing was an earbleeder. Glad to hear it worked for you, though...
 
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

Well last night I had some time to really give it a run through. I used a Clapton Strat & a 335. The EC Strat is a lot hotter then a traditional Strat so I was expecting this guitar to push the amp hard. Surprisingly the amp stayed fairly clean with the volume at about 5. Jeremy, I was confused there is no presence on this amp!! (haven't used it in a while) Haha. The Amp worked really well with the Strat. If I turned the volume up on the guitar it was very responsive to my attack. If I turned the volume down the amp cleaned up beautifully. The speaker is really doing what I had expected. That said it is still not perfectly clean. It drives if I hit the strings hard. In the neck position on this Strat the tone was warm and clear. Great sound. The Middle as well as 2 & 4 had some nice quack with very mild break up. In the bridge it was crisp yet not harsh with pleanty of drive. Great sound. Sometime over the weekend I will plan on running my Antiquity equipped Strats thru it and see how they respond. I used my Monroe drive in this (which is not the OD pedal that I normally use with my Fenders). This overdrive made the amp sing and all the harmonics and overtones were there with every note. Lovin' this.

The 335 made the amp a bit cleaner (remember the EC Strat has a preamp in it so they push a little harder then HB do). But the neck pickup was just beautiful. Clear, warm and articulate, with the Overdrive it was amazing(this is one of my favorite HB guitars). The middle position offered a lot more bite yet it was still pretty clean. I liked this sound for some funky chord work. The bridge position just killed. It had a lot more bite & a lot of clear sustain. Very articulate and very smooth.

Next will also be to see how this works with my Teles!! & Les Pauls (maybe my SG also) I would actually bring this to band rehearsal, but we will be auditioning singers, so I will leave it home until we can really start working with the singer.
 
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

Many of you may know that I have a 67 Deluxe Reverb. When I bought it a few years ago it had an Eminence Speaker in it (not sure which one). The amp is great but it really did not have much headroom and the bottom was kind of Farty. After reading several of Lew's posts I decided to put a Celestian Speaker in it. I was initially going to put the G12H30 in, but a good friend of mine had a British made Vintage 30 that is about 15 or so years old (not sure) with less then 10 hours on it. So I put this in.

I needed to make a new baffle. I did not want to alter the original. Me and a buddy of mine cut out the baffle and my wife helped me install the new grill cloth. I used Blackface Grill cloth (it was available). The amp is a drip edge from either 67 or 68. My tech told me 67. It took a bit of tinkering to get the new baffle screwed in and the speaker soldered in but now it is done. I only played it for about 10 minutes but is sounds really sweet. It is a little stiff considering it is an old speaker, but with very little time on it. I anticipate this to really warm up once it gets broken in. I think it should take a few weeks before it really starts to open up. So far I am liking it very much.

I set the volume on 5 the bass @ 7 the Treble @ 4.5 and the Presence at 6. Reverb at 3.5.... My normal type of settings. I plugged my Clapton Strat in and it came to life. Nice Clean clear articulate note decay and a beautiful chime. I haven't tried it wih any pedals yet. I will keep adding some more information about it as I go.

My decision to go with this Vintage 30 was reinforced by a good friend of mine who lives in Springfield, MO. Richie is a monster player and has used a Deluxe Reverb from the same era as mine for about 20 years. He has a Vintage 30 in his. Many people feel that a Celestian speaker tends to "take away" some of the Fender in these great amps..... I think not. So far so good!!!

Nice Dave! Both my Marshall Vintage 4x12 and my Vox 2x12 cabs are loaded with Vintage 30s....Hands down they are my favorite rock speaker...They are loud and very efficient speakers also..
 
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

Had a chance to run my Antiquity loaded Start through it today & it really sings. The EC Strat may be just a tad hot for it. The 335 was pretty sweet, but the pickups aren't as hot as the EC with the Preamp.

The Ants really do this amp justice. I ran a few overdrives through it as well. I used a Stock TS(RI and that really made it sing. I also used my Monroe Drive which is essentially a TS808 on steroids. It really is a nice sound, but with this amp I think the TS( sounded more natural. I haven't had a chance (gotta pull it of another board) to run my Spina mod through it yet John, but I will. I am thinking that with this Amp the stock TS9 works well. Cool sounding amp now....... I'm glad I didn't give up on it I almost sold this amp!

Oh a side note I went to see my amp tech (didn't mention the V30 he is not a fan of using Celestians in Fenders) yesterday and asked him if he had a logo (didn't want to pull the original off the original grill cloth) He said he did....... He gave it to me for $20.00!! Wahoo!
 
Re: Deluxe Reverb & Vintage 30.

Had a chance to run my Antiquity loaded Start through it today & it really sings. The EC Strat may be just a tad hot for it. The 335 was pretty sweet, but the pickups aren't as hot as the EC with the Preamp.

The Ants really do this amp justice. I ran a few overdrives through it as well. I used a Stock TS(RI and that really made it sing. I also used my Monroe Drive which is essentially a TS808 on steroids. It really is a nice sound, but with this amp I think the TS( sounded more natural. I haven't had a chance (gotta pull it of another board) to run my Spina mod through it yet John, but I will. I am thinking that with this Amp the stock TS9 works well. Cool sounding amp now....... I'm glad I didn't give up on it I almost sold this amp!

Oh a side note I went to see my amp tech (didn't mention the V30 he is not a fan of using Celestians in Fenders) yesterday and asked him if he had a logo (didn't want to pull the original off the original grill cloth) He said he did....... He gave it to me for $20.00!! Wahoo!

I had a Deluxe Reverb amp.....Sold mine,was a great amp and a BF one also! ...Still have my 66 Pro Reverb though.This one's a keeper..Paid $50 for it back in 1990...Guess I got a good deal on it...LOL
 
Back
Top