early seventies fender deluxe reverb

llew

Thinking of getting one,is it going to be as awesome as i hope it's going to be? It's had the blackface mod.

JohnPerry

Should be. But it depends what you spent on it and what condition it's in internally

EdGrip

If you like it and the price is right, just buy it. You can't go wrong.

ICBM

EdGrip said:

If you like it and the price is right, just buy it. You can't go wrong.

Yes you can. You may not have seen the state of some of the Deluxes I and other techs here have… the price would have to be very cheap indeed for a few of them.

You need to check: is the speaker original and not damaged? Are the transformers original? Has it been re-capped? If so, how long ago and how thoroughly? Has it had any mods (even if later reversed)? Drilled holes in the chassis back or front? Cabinet damage (check the top corners for separation, check for badly-fitted corner protectors or screw holes from them, paint over the tolex, non-original tilt-back legs or other things that involve holes, grille cloth torn or replaced with wrong stuff)? Is the reverb tank and cabling original and/or functioning? Good valves fitted?

There's probably more that I can't remember just now. The worst case would probably involve several hundred pounds of work to end up with something still worth no more than half what a nice example would be. Some old amps are really almost beyond economical repair now, no matter that they're a fairly desirable model.

llew

I was thinking of swapping my maz jnr for it. It's had a replacement speaker (wgs et65 I think) it's far from pristine.

EdGrip

Okay. If it sounds good and works and the price is right, buy it. If you are the kind to worry about originality and cosmetic blah blah blah, only buy an original super-pristine example. If you want a great-sounding amp, get a non-original slightly tatty one that's running well and make sure they take it into account in the price

llew

Any idea how much a non original tatty one goes for then?

ICBM

EdGrip said:

Okay. If it sounds good and works and the price is right, buy it. If you are the kind to worry about originality and cosmetic blah blah blah, only buy an original super-pristine example. If you want a great-sounding amp, get a non-original slightly tatty one that's running well and make sure they take it into account in the price

I'd still have to say that even an amp which appears to be running well and sounding good at the moment can need a massive amount of expensive work to make it safe and reliable, if you're unlucky - and even if you don't care in the slightest about originality. You really need to have a full assessment of the insides by someone who knows what they're doing before you set a price, unless it's so cheap it doesn't matter. For a Deluxe Reverb I would put that point at around £250. Really.

Old amps - especially ones that have clearly been well-used, and may have been repaired a lot over the years - can be an absolute minefield. I paid £400 for a mid-70s AC30 in not-bad cosmetic condition recently - and which was working and sounding good, at least for a few minutes - ie less than half what it would be worth in top condition - and I'm still not sure I didn't pay too much. (Luckily it wasn't cash, it was part of a deal.)

llew said:

Any idea how much a non original tatty one goes for then? 

"Goes for" about £600 to £750. But don't pay that much if you can avoid it unless you know it's been properly checked over.

llew

Ok don't think a swap will happen then. Thank's all.

ICBM

I wouldn't if it's a straight swap, no. For a fully-overhauled one in good condition, maybe.

llew

Yeah i'l keep looking cheers for the advice ICBM.