VC30 vs Blues Deluxe

gilles27

gilles27

New member
I'm about to buy a valve amp for bedroom and small gig usage. I have it down to Laney VC30 and Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue mainly because of their clean channels and good reverb.

What are your thoughts on these

Also feel free to chime in with other suggestions. I'm after:

All valve
15-40 watts
traditional/blues sound
good clean channel
epic reverb (non digital)
less than £500 or $600 (i know that isn't the exchange rate but gear is way expensive over here)
 
Re: VC30 vs Blues Deluxe

Easy pick. There are some advantages to either but overall the VC30 rules. So the VC30 has an EL84 power section and the Fender has a 6L6. Class A vs AB. I love the way the VC30 sounds pushed.

I'd give an edge to Fender reverb over the VC30 because of the depth. The VC30 has a great spring reverb but it's a mild effect. Doesn't get too deep. Overdrive advantage goes to the VC30. Don't like the overdrive too much on the Fender. It's farty and muddy. Both amps have nice clean channels. I would characterize the Blues Deluxe as looser but with more headroom. The VC30 on the other hand has good touch sensitivity. I'd give a clean advantage to the VC30 unless you specifically want a Fender clean sound. I'd liken the VC30 more to a Vox.

Where I draw the real distinction is when adding a tube screamer. The Blues Deluxe of course sounds good with an overdrive pedal but the VC30 really shines. Some of the best overdriven sounds you can get. Neither amp acheives much distortion. I'll fail to explain why exactly. There's just something special about the way a VC30 sounds with pedals.

Fender can be thin while the VC30 is full sounding. If you want tons of headroom the Fender could be the way to go. Not that the VC30 doesn't have enough headroom but we're comparing a pair of EL84 & two 6L6s. Both amps are very loud. The Fender has a tapered volume control so it gets loud very quickly by 12:00 then the volume control is not as effective. The Laney just gets louder as you turn it up.

Hope this helps some!
 
Re: VC30 vs Blues Deluxe

I got the fender caus imo, it's one of the coolest sounding clean amps that takes well to pedals, and the reverb is perfect.

If you want to try something wicked....see traynor amps.
 
Re: VC30 vs Blues Deluxe

VC 30 for the win. I had one and loved it to bits. Miss it :(. If your wanting to go with a more 'vox' sound, put in a celestion gold and JJ tubes. You can even replace the spring reverb in there to get it on par with the Fender. The VC 30 is more flexible in my opinion.
 
Re: VC30 vs Blues Deluxe

Cool so VC30 for the win. Except i went out and had a good old fashioned side by side test with a VC30 2x12 and 1x12 and a Hot Rod deluxe.

The reverb on the Laney was just not enough. I hated the overdrive on both but i felt like i could find a use for the Fender one more easily than that of the Laney (if i ever wanted something thin and nasty sounding).

Also as i plan to get my overdrive purely from pedals for now, the clean channel i feel must have a distinct tone of it's own to lend the pedal, otherwise i might as well use my solid state. The Fender also came out on top in this.

For the two things i really want, the Fender won out although the Laney seems WAY better value for money.

The question remains, as i tested the Hot Rod rather than the Blues deluxe, what are the differences I could expect if i tested the two fenders side by side (I have no opportunity to do this myself)

How similar are the reverbs and clean channels?
 
Re: VC30 vs Blues Deluxe

gilles27 said:
Cool so VC30 for the win. Except i went out and had a good old fashioned side by side test with a VC30 2x12 and 1x12 and a Hot Rod deluxe.

The reverb on the Laney was just not enough. I hated the overdrive on both but i felt like i could find a use for the Fender one more easily than that of the Laney (if i ever wanted something thin and nasty sounding).

Also as i plan to get my overdrive purely from pedals for now, the clean channel i feel must have a distinct tone of it's own to lend the pedal, otherwise i might as well use my solid state. The Fender also came out on top in this.

For the two things i really want, the Fender won out although the Laney seems WAY better value for money.

The question remains, as i tested the Hot Rod rather than the Blues deluxe, what are the differences I could expect if i tested the two fenders side by side (I have no opportunity to do this myself)

How similar are the reverbs and clean channels?
Click to expand...

My advice is do it again. Give the VC30 a chance to win you over. Reverb isn't that important. Most people don't even use reverb anyway or if they do it's very little. I guarantee you if you crank both those amps the Deluxe will get farty and muddy in overdrive. Crank the Laney and it will open up nicely. I'll bet you didn't push those tubes enough. The VC30 reminds me of an AC30 in that way.

Get yourself a tubescreamer and push the drive channels with it. You will reall like how the Laney responds.
 
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