Fender Deluxe Reverb RI - clean headroom

Kebabkid

Anyone here gigging one of the above and using it primarily pretty clean? I'm particularly interested to hear from anyone using it for funk and pop and just want to know whether the clean headroom is enough to stay clean and above a drummer for gigging?

I've used them a couple of times as part of a backline and the headroom has varied - on one, it crunched very early on - too early for me.

I tried an RI on Saturday in a music shop when testing out some pedals and it was glorious. It was pretty loud and clean too and it's just got me scratching my bonce and wondering if this is the amp for me.

Alternatively, if anyone has any tips for maximising the clean headroom on these. ? Bigger speaker to the stock or high wattage handling capacity, please let me know?

Cheers

jpfamps

Would need micing for anything but a small pub gig if you want pristine clean, although this might be the way you want to go anyway, and has many advantages.

A customer of mine had a Deluxe Reverb and it didn't have enough clean headroom for him without micing. He plays in a funk pop band with horns, and likes a very clean sound.

He's now got a Dual Showman (essentially a Twin Reverb in head form).

Kebabkid

Thanks jpfamps and that sounds similar to what I'm looking for

Gagaryn

You could always try replacing V1 with a 12AY7 or 12AT7

John_A

Agree, unless you are a quiet band it would probably need micing, as an alternative there allways seem to be some silverface pro reverbs kicking around at good prices, basically a nice in-betwen a Deluxe and a silly heavy twin, not that they are light mind you

Kebabkid

Cheers and I'm aware of the Pro Reverbs but they do weigh a lot, well, too much for me. The Vibrolux is a nice compromise too but the Deluxe in sound, weight and styling is what I love but for the issue mentioned.

@Gargaryn or other techies - You could always try replacing V1 with a 12AY7 or 12AT7 - so, this will raise the volume but will it change the inherent tone of the amp?

richardhomer

Kebabkid;299802" said:

@Gargaryn or other techies - You could always try replacing V1 with a 12AY7 or 12AT7 - so, this will raise the volume but will it change the inherent tone of the amp?

It will only affect how soon the pre-amp moves into distortion.

The point at which the power-stage runs out of headroom will be unaffected.

John_A

I love the size/weight/sound of a DR too, I got one for that reason, and sold it after one rehearsal as it just couldn't keep up.  There are a few 'high power deluxe' types out there Frenzel, Swart, Carr etc, but never tried one.  A Pro Reverb and some casters will be good exercise

ESBlonde

I tried the DRRI as a backup for my soul funk style function band. I bought the Hot Rod Deluxe because of the headroom issue and the good value fender clean sound. With the DRRI and a humbuckered guitar anything past 4 on the volume is dirty, a low output strat gets between 5 and 6. It's a nice overdriven sound but NOT suitable for clean soul and funk.

bandmaster188

its available in head form now as well so the options for using different speakers with it could be quite interesting. 4x10, 1x15, 4x12 etc.

57Deluxe

The Deluxe goes at around 5 on the dial...

The Super Reverb gives you more headroom without Twin pain... but you need to dial to 7 to get it to drive and then - whoa - hang-on to your hat and put bike clips on yer flares...

John_A

No affiliation, just spotted this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-pro-reverb-amp-/121391022991?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c4378038f

Kebabkid

Good price for the Pro Reverb but it's collection only and in Scotland.
There's a good one on here but for a few more pounds.

monquixote

I've used a Supersonic 22 which is essentially a DRRI for Funk/Soul with horns and it was fine, but then the band wasn't massively loud and I don't mind a little bit of hair on the note. With all these things loud enough is really dependant on the band.

I have had a Pro Reverb as well. Great sounding amps, but nearly as heavy as a Twin.

I have a Puretone combo now. They don't seem to go for that much SH considering the epic price new if you can find one and they are both lovely sounding and frigging loud.

Kebabkid

Cheers Nick and my compromise for weight, convenience and sound is a H&K Tubemeister 36 head and 1x12. H&K do good cleans and I was surprised by this as my ones' got EL84s and I've always had 6L6s. However, something's missing from mine and that's why I got the Catalinbread Formula 5F6 pedal to warm it up a bit. However, I just can't get the sound out of my head of that Deluxe Reverb and how quacky and chimey my Strat sounded. I think I like 6V6s and trial of dindude's Carr Sportsman confirmed that for me. I believe the PRS SE20 is also a 6V6 amp and I've yet to play through my mate's one. If I need volume and 6V6s, Bogner do the 45w Goldfinger and @Bellycaster has one of those and loves it plus we like similar sounds. I think Rivera do one too, the Venus but I want to keep the weight low, if possible. My old Mesa Boogie Express 5:50 2X12 cost me more in chiropractor bills than valves and maintenance!

vasselmeyer

For an amp that stays clean into very silly volumes, you could look at the Laney VC30 combos. There are 1x12, 2x10 and 2x12 versions. It's got fantastic clean sounds and a decent crunch as a bonus, if you don't mind a shared EQ.

monquixote

Kebabkid said:

Cheers Nick and my compromise for weight, convenience and sound is a H&K Tubemeister 36 head and 1x12. H&K do good cleans and I was surprised by this as my ones' got EL84s and I've always had 6L6s. However, something's missing from mine and that's why I got the Catalinbread Formula 5F6 pedal to warm it up a bit. However, I just can't get the sound out of my head of that Deluxe Reverb and how quacky and chimey my Strat sound. I think I like 6V6s and trial of dindude's Carr Sportsman confirmed that for me. I believe the PRS SE20 is also a 6V6 amp and I've yet to play through my mate's one. If I need volume and 6V6s, Bogner do the 45w Goldfinger and @Bellycaster has one of those and loves it plus we like similar sounds. I think Rivera do one too, the Venus but I want to keep the weight low, if possible. My old Mesa Boogie Express 5:50 2X12 cost me more in chiropractor bills than valves and maintenance!

Funnily enough I've been seriously considering a TM36 head myself as the new band are playing with in ear monitoring so I'd really like something that has an emulated out and can be used unloaded so I can practice without a cab and the TM36 is just about the only thing that fits the bill that isn't solid state.

I'm sure the Puretone is the better sounding amp, but it hath not the modern features.

Would be interested to hear your experiences of it?

thomasw88

Deluxe reverb is fine for gigging in my experience. You could change the speaker ie celestion gold? Alternatively look at the hughes and kettner statesman which has a fender clean and marshall crunch... That's a much better amp than the fender supersonic IMO.

Kebabkid

@monquixote - I think the TM36 would be ideal for what you want and there are some YT vids showing off the emulated sound and there's really no difference.I haven't used that function yet.
 
As I said, it DOES have a good clean, useable sparkly clean sound but it's a generic one and it's the Fender one I really liked.
The crunch and lead channels are good too and I have them there more for back up as I prefer plugging my board into the clean channel and getting all my drives from various pedals. I also can't be asked to route my delay/mod pedals via the fx loop and have the rest through the front end.
Weighing in at 17lbs is just a joke for 36 watt valve amp!

John_A

Theres too much emphasis on which valves an amp uses, I've built the same circuit using 6V6's and EL84's and there is very little difference, a Deluxe Reverb biased for EL34's would still sound like a Deluxe Reverb.

I know what you mean about the Deluxe Reverb clean sound, it really is lovely, if you need that with more volume a Pro is really the way to go IMO, or maybe 2 Deluxe Reverbs

GuyBoden

I have an old Deluxe Reverb, they break up very early, so they aren't very good for clean headroom at loud gigs. The only way to get more headroom is to change the output/input Transformers to 40+watts or as stated by John_A , get the bigger Black Face Fender amp with the same circuit, the AB763 circuit.

Here's some info:

" What is the AB763 Reverb combo circuit?

 The Fender AB763 circuit is not just one amplifier. It can be made into several different amplifiers by just using a different transformer set. What is the difference between a Deluxe reverb, Vibrolux reverb, Bandmaster reverb, Pro reverb, Super reverb, and the Twin reverb? About the only difference is the transformers, the power tubes and the cabinet/speaker box. There are a few minor differences on the circuit boards themselves but it is not a different circuit. There may be a .01 capacitor on one model and there may be a .02 cap in the exact same spot on another model. The differences between any of the models mentioned above are very few if any."