My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

[Lewguitar]

Mission Amps held a jam last night at the D!ckens Opera House in Longmont, Colorado and Bruce told me all I'd need is my Deluxe Reverb. So I brought it and my '54 Tele with the Barden pickups.

My old DR is a great one and has a Celestion G12H30 speaker and is always in perfect operating condition.

But it was not loud enough...I had it on "10" a couple of times but it could not keep up with a whole band...especially when the band had four guitarists onstage.

For quieter gigs it's never let me down. But last night it was not loud enough.

I wish I could have plugged into one of Bruce's 30 watt Aurora amps but those were all taken.

It was fun...but this was one of those times when I should have brought two DR's, my Vibrolux Reverb or one of my Matchless amps. Wish I had!

There were times when I could not hear myself at all.

Lew

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Well...that sucks it wasn't enough but I bet on 10 that thing had a smokin tone!!! You sould have asked Bruce to use my Twin...I think it's still up there!:laugh2:

Anyway...how was the jam?

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

It's a bad feeling, isn't it? I was playing in rock bands with loud drummers and one band, I almost cranked my Hughes & Kettner Triamp wide open (that amp is 100w!) to be heard. It's no surprise that I like have an 80w Bogner Shiva for live playing. It's always nice to say you can get by with 18w amps, but it's never worked for me.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Well...that sucks it wasn't enough but I bet on 10 that thing had a smokin tone!!! You sould have asked Bruce to use my Twin...I think it's still up there!:laugh2:

Anyway...how was the jam?

Well, on "10", I could get Santana-like endless sustain a couple of times! :laugh2:

The jam was fun. The ladie I've been working with for the last 6 months, Sherrie Scott, sat in and sang some blues and tore it up. Sherrie is one of the best vocalists in Colorado and the best blues singer I've ever worked with.

We did the Thrill Is Gone and she stole the show. She's really purty too!

I'm not that crazy about scenes where you have four guitarists lined up onstage all waiting for a chance to solo for 24 bars.

But it was nice and someone said afterwards that they'd heard more hot licks per minute then they'd heard in quite some time.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

It's always nice to say you can get by with 18w amps, but it's never worked for me.

Yep. It's true. For live gigging in a big room with a loud band 18 watts doesn't cut it. Or 22 watts either. It's why I bring two 18 watters or two 22 watters if I have any control over the scene.

But this wasn't my gig...I just sat in for 3 or 4 tunes.

Should have just followed my instincts and brought my Matchless Chieftan.

I didn't know how big the room was...I pictured it being alot smaller and more intimate.

Lew

 

[ErikH]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

At least it was a good time. Sorry you couldn't hear yourself very well. I've been in that boat more than once. Makes me wonder if I should just spring for the 30 watter instead, or maybe hold out for when the 50 is available.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

At least it was a good time. Sorry you couldn't hear yourself very well. I've been in that boat more than once. Makes me wonder if I should just spring for the 30 watter instead, or maybe hold out for when the 50 is available.

The Aurora 30 watter sounded fine! I sat in the audience for the first set or two just listening and it sounded really great. That guy from the Bob Dylan's band and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers Bruce has been hanging with lately ( I forget his name....Christian knows it ) used it and the tone was as good as what you heard in Dallas. Filled the room.

Sounded better than my Deluxe Reverb by quite a bit. Which is cool for Bruce and kind of a bummer for me since I've loved my DR's tone for so long...

http://www.missionamps.com

Lew

 

[ErikH]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Yeah, that 30 watter sounded killer at the Dallas Show. Man, decisions, decisions. At least I have time to decide, maybe. Depends on the dr. verdict on my Marshall. It went down Friday night at practice. A smell, bright orange tubes, then off. No power, nothing. The mains fuse went so hopefully that stopped any major damage but I fear for the transformers.

How big was the room?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Yeah, that 30 watter sounded killer at the Dallas Show. Man, decisions, decisions. At least I have time to decide, maybe. Depends on the dr. verdict on my Marshall. It went down Friday night at practice. A smell, bright orange tubes, then off. No power, nothing. The mains fuse went so hopefully that stopped any major damage but I fear for the transformers.

How big was the room?

It was a small Opera House...an old time Opera House from the 1800's in downtown Longmont. One of those places Lilly Langtree probably played at 100 years or more ago.

 

[ErikH]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

It was a small Opera House...an old time Opera House from the 1800's in downtown Longmost. One of those places Lilly Langtree probably played at 100 years or more ago.

Oh wow. Pretty good size then. And the 30 watter cut through? Wow, that's sweet. That sounds like the better option for me actually. If I remember correctly, I think you and Bruce said the same thing to me a few months ago in another thread.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

The guy Lew is talking about is Jack Sherman...killer player from what I'v heard.

Anyway, Im sure that did bum you out Lew but IM also sure it made Bruce happy...I asked bruce about your DR the last time I talked to him and he said that for some reason your DR is the best sounding DR ever...he called it a freak...he said tht there is no other Deluxe Reverb that will ever sound that good!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

The guy Lew is talking about is Jack Sherman...killer player from what I'v heard.

Anyway, Im sure that did bum you out Lew but IM also sure it made Bruce happy...I asked bruce about your DR the last time I talked to him and he said that for some reason your DR is the best sounding DR ever...he called it a freak...he said tht there is no other Deluxe Reverb that will ever sound that good!

He's a good player! Seemed like a nice guy and a total gear-o-holic...just like we are!:laugh2:

It's a great one all right. One of those that has no business sounding so great as it does since it sat in a basement for years before I bought it...a DAMP basement.

It's been totally rebuilt with virtually all NOS carbon comp resistors and new Sprague and Mallory caps. The transformers were rusty but it still sounded awesome.

About a year ago the output transformer went. Bruce had taken all the measurements on it before it went (virtually reverse engineered it cuz he wanted to know why it sounded so good too) so he knew the exact specs and had another made for me that sounds just as good!

Bruce is the man!

And I need to get that Aurora 30 watt with reverb. The one he's been showing is the model I asked him to make for me but I didn't buy it and take it home because I thought he needed it to demo.

But I'm getting another one made for me...and this time I'm taking it with me!

Lew

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Is your's gonna be a combo? I really want to get one but last time it came up he was still waiting on cabs and I think I want a head and 2x12 cab set up or maybe I could talk him into a 2x10 combo!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Is your's gonna be a combo? I really want to get one but last time it came up he was still waiting on cabs and I think I want a head and 2x12 cab set up or maybe I could talk him into a 2x10 combo!

He has the cabs now. He had a great sounding 2 x 12 Mission cab with my favorite speaker combo in it onstage last night. Two 12's: Celestion G12H30 and Vintage 30...real ones and not clones.

But I'll go for the one 12 combo version.

I'll be 57 in October...I like 'em small and portable. ( Amps too! :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: )

Lew

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Hmm...amps to Huh! NICE!

I just would like something in a nice size head and a smallish cab (a 2x12 cab is not too huge) so I oculd have something that would med to large gigs and still be small enough so that it wasn't taking up a massive amount of space...maybe a 2x12 combo would be cool!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Hmm...amps to Huh! NICE!

I just would like something in a nice size head and a smallish cab (a 2x12 cab is not too huge) so I could have something that would med to large gigs and still be small enough so that it wasn't taking up a massive amount of space...maybe a 2x12 combo would be cool!

I think a 2 x 12 Mission Aurora 30 watter with reverb would fill the bill for any reasonable situation. I just don't like lugging around amps anymore...I sold my Super Reverb cuz it was to heavy and clumsy.

Of course a 2 x 12 wouldn't be as big and heavy as a Super Reverb. 4 x 10 amps are awkward cuz they are tallish and the handle is a little to high off the ground...unless you're a big guy like Scott_F!

I'm just a little guy not quite 5' 8".

Lew

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

That is my biggest problem with Super Reverbs and Tweed Bassman amps...not the weight, the fact that they are so tall and you hit the nail on the head when you called them awkward!

 

[ErikH]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

I think a 2 x 12 Mission Aurora 30 watter with reverb would fill the bill for any reasonable situation.

That would be a sweet option. I could definitely go for that. I'd be happy with a 1x12 too, especially if I could hook my 4x12 up to it if I wanted to.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

The 5F6-A tweed Bassman's a little shorter than an SR...but not much.

It's amazing to me how much cleaner and louder a 4 x 10 version of an amp might be compared to a 2 x 12 version of the same amp.

The blackface Bassman transformer is the same transformer used in the Super Reverb only it's 4 ohms instead of 2 ohms.

If a guy wanted to add some output and clarity to a 2 x 12 Fender Pro Reverb and have essnecially the same amp as a Super Reverb but with 2 x 12 he could put that Bassman tranny in his Pro Reverb.

Which is just what I did to mine.

It made it sound more like a Super Reverb but my Super was still louder, brighter and clearer sounding.

I put the old tranny back in cuz for most gigs the Pro sounded better with the smaller tranny. Easier overdrive...

 

[Scott_F]

Re: My Deluxe Reverb Amp was NOT enough last night...

Two points...

1. Bruce needs to get you an Aurora! Making you play a DR when all the other kids have new toys! Shame on him! ahaha!

2. As big as I am, after back and shoulder surgeries, I'm liking them small and portable as well brother Lew! If it can't sound good with one speaker, I'm not interested. I've got this 2x12 bluesbreaker sized cab I had built but, it's just too much most of the time. It'll never leave my music room. But, I've got the Tweed Pro 1x15 and the Franklin 1x12 and they are my true grab and go amps.

Sounds like you guys had fun last night.