Desirable SF DR years?
- Thread starter Dave
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Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Desirable SF DR years?
I'd say '67 or '68 would be most desirable because they'll likely have the exact same transformers as the blackface version. I have a '68 that is identical to my two '66 and early '67 blackface DR's. As you get into the 70's the capacitor quality changes for the worse (they used those reddish brown caps with the murky yellow lettering) and the cabinet construction is not nearly as good: the corners are not box joined as they were in the 50's and 60's. However, in '73 and '74 the capacitors and circuit board parts quality is high again...although the cabinet quality is poor. Lew
I'd say '67 or '68 would be most desirable because they'll likely have the exact same transformers as the blackface version. I have a '68 that is identical to my two '66 and early '67 blackface DR's. As you get into the 70's the capacitor quality changes for the worse (they used those reddish brown caps with the murky yellow lettering) and the cabinet construction is not nearly as good: the corners are not box joined as they were in the 50's and 60's. However, in '73 and '74 the capacitors and circuit board parts quality is high again...although the cabinet quality is poor. Lew
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Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: Desirable SF DR years?
Did late 70's SF Deluxes start using master volumes, or did they stay non master? I know other SF's started using master volumes and those are the ones that sound sterile.
Also Lew....how complicated is that mod you did to get a gainier, more Marshall-like sound, out of your Deluxes? Did you just snip a capacitor?
Did late 70's SF Deluxes start using master volumes, or did they stay non master? I know other SF's started using master volumes and those are the ones that sound sterile.
Also Lew....how complicated is that mod you did to get a gainier, more Marshall-like sound, out of your Deluxes? Did you just snip a capacitor?
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Desirable SF DR years?
Fender cabs went down the drain in aobut 1970 or 1971...sad but true.
SF Deluxe Reverbs never got master volumes...
As a general rule I would stay away from any SF Fender with a master or a pull boost and if you get one w/o a floating baffle just relize you;ll do yourself a huge favor by getting a new cab for it...
Joe, as for the mods to Lew's DR, I am pretty sure they were done by Bruce and are fairly extensive mods but sound amazing...I had Bruce do similar mods to my Twin Reverb and it kills me how great it sounds!
Fender cabs went down the drain in aobut 1970 or 1971...sad but true.
SF Deluxe Reverbs never got master volumes...
As a general rule I would stay away from any SF Fender with a master or a pull boost and if you get one w/o a floating baffle just relize you;ll do yourself a huge favor by getting a new cab for it...
Joe, as for the mods to Lew's DR, I am pretty sure they were done by Bruce and are fairly extensive mods but sound amazing...I had Bruce do similar mods to my Twin Reverb and it kills me how great it sounds!
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Desirable SF DR years?
Sorr, I went on and never really answered the question!
shoot for a late 67 or 68 if you ca but anything up until about a 1970 shoudl still be a great amp...if it still has a solid pine cab and a floating baffle it shoudl still be only enough to have killer parts, trannys and a good cab...if so, jump on it!
Sorr, I went on and never really answered the question!
shoot for a late 67 or 68 if you ca but anything up until about a 1970 shoudl still be a great amp...if it still has a solid pine cab and a floating baffle it shoudl still be only enough to have killer parts, trannys and a good cab...if so, jump on it!
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Desirable SF DR years?
Hi Joe!
Something real simple would be to replace the .1 and .047 caps in the tone stack with a pair of .02 caps (I like Sprague Orange Drops or for a more "tweedy" tone Mallory 150's) and replace the 250pf. treble cap with a silver mica cap of the same value. In the DR, there's no midrange control...the mids are determined by the resistor on the back of the treble pot which is normally a 6.8K if I remember right. Change that to 10K or higher for more mids. I do that to every Fender amp I own.
It won't make it sound exactly like a Marshall but it'll take it in that direction.
Then replace whatever speaker is in there with a Celestion G12H30. That's what Ken Fischer recommended to Bruce and I...and he was dead on.
Ken and Bruce became pretty close friends prior to Ken's passing.
Give me a call sometime Joe...it'd be nice to chat.
Thanks! Lew
Hi Joe!
Something real simple would be to replace the .1 and .047 caps in the tone stack with a pair of .02 caps (I like Sprague Orange Drops or for a more "tweedy" tone Mallory 150's) and replace the 250pf. treble cap with a silver mica cap of the same value. In the DR, there's no midrange control...the mids are determined by the resistor on the back of the treble pot which is normally a 6.8K if I remember right. Change that to 10K or higher for more mids. I do that to every Fender amp I own.
It won't make it sound exactly like a Marshall but it'll take it in that direction.
Then replace whatever speaker is in there with a Celestion G12H30. That's what Ken Fischer recommended to Bruce and I...and he was dead on.
Ken and Bruce became pretty close friends prior to Ken's passing.
Give me a call sometime Joe...it'd be nice to chat.
Thanks! Lew
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the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Desirable SF DR years?
The same cab, cap, tranny, lead drress, build quality etc issues hold true for ALL Fender amps built after about 1970...
The same cab, cap, tranny, lead drress, build quality etc issues hold true for ALL Fender amps built after about 1970...
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