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Post subject: Tube Amps Blues Deluxe vs. 65 Deluxe Reverb
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:53 am
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Trying to decide between Blues Deluxe vs. 65 Deluxe Reverb. Upgrading from a processor modeling amp to tubes. Any advice out there in Fender Amp land?


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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:36 pm
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Anyone?? Anyone??? Looking for some kind of input here?

Thanks,

Aggie90


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Post subject: Re: Tube Amps Blues Deluxe vs. 65 Deluxe Reverb
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:55 pm
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aggie90 wrote:
Trying to decide between Blues Deluxe vs. 65 Deluxe Reverb. Upgrading from a processor modeling amp to tubes. Any advice out there in Fender Amp land?


They're both fine tube amps.

The Deluxe Reverb is all about clean tones. It has two channels... a dry channel with no effects and a reverb/vibrato channel with the best reverb I have heard in any of the tube amps in its price range. If you want overdrive in a Deluxe Reverb, you either have to crank it for natural tube breakup or add an overdrive/distortion pedal.

The Blues Deluxe has clean and drive channels. The drive channel adds some crunch and it can get downright gritty if you add a pedal. The clean channel sounds good but I prefer the clean tones of the Deluxe Reverb. The DRRI's reverb is also much better.

The Deluxe Reverb is a 22 watt amp, the Blues Deluxe is 40 watts. They both put out plenty of volume, with the Blues Deluxe getting loud fast at low settings on the volume knob.

I own a Hot Rod Deluxe (a close relative to the Blues Deluxe but with an extra more drive setting on the drive channel) and a 1965 Deluxe Reverb Reissue and for me, the Deluxe Reverb wins hands down. I'm all about clean tones now and plugging in a Strat or a Tele and adding analog delay to the DRRI's reverb channel gives me the sound I have always wanted.

But that's just me, you might be looking for a different sound. Plug in to both amps if you get the chance and see which one suits your playing style the best.

John


Last edited by john.bohn on Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:11 pm
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I too vote for the '65 DRRI. The clean tone from this amp just can't be beat. And there are some very good overdrive pedals out there on the market today. I love my Fulltone pedals, but there are lots of others. Even just a stock Blues Driver or Tube Screamer sounds nice. Get one modded by Keeley or some of the other boutique true bypass pedals like Fulltone or Barber and you got one smokin' amp with unbelieveable tone. I can just play for hours with my DRRI rig. And that's another great thing about this amp. It's not at all fatiguing to the ears. In fact, the longer I play, I keep wanting to turn it up a little more! Ever heard a really high end audio system or a nice studio monitoring system? If so, then you know what I mean. Can you tell that I like my amp?

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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:54 am
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I have been following this general topic for a while because I am looking for a tube amp too. The biggest knocks against the HRDx seem to be 1) the quality of the circuit board and solder joints affecting reliability, and 2) the volume pot - big jump in volume around 3 affecting overall control.

I am starting to lean towards the DRRI.

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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:37 pm
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I agree 100% with your overdrive pedal recommendations, Hollis. I haven't found a bettter combination than a 1965 DRRI and a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 MOSFET and the GT500 in drive/boost mode is the best clean boost I have used. Mike Fuller is the man.

John


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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:45 pm
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My Hot Rod Deluxe was fine for about a year. Then the capacitors needed to be replaced (under warranty fortunately) and the tubes started failing. It was in the shop three times in two months but it has been okay since those repairs. Of course I rarely turn it on since I bought my Deluxe Reverb Reissue. That's probably why. :wink:

John


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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:11 pm
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Thanks john.bohn My Strat has some very low output pickups, so it's almost impossible to make the amp break up naturally. But with the GT-500 boost, I can can overdrive the front end easily. Sounds just wonderful. Using this combination, I can get from very mild to pretty crazy distortion.

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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:15 pm
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DRRI hands down. I recently sold my HRD to offset the purchase of my DRRI.

My thoughts:
Clean tone is far superior on the DRRI. HRD had a tendency to sound too warm to me. Almost muddy. Not a problem with the DRRI. I will say that the DRRI can be glassy and have a bit if the "ice pick" syndrome if not dialed in.

HRD had decent dirty sound but i was running a Keeley DS1 90% of the time anyway. Not too many players are using the true tube distortion. DRRI can break up really nice at about 4 or 5 on the volume pot but that is also getting pretty loud.

DRRI is the most touch sensitive amp that I have ever played. It is VERY receptive to your picking technique. Also, you can overdrive the amp on 5 but then dial down the guitar volume to clean it up. Very cool.

DRRI is a way better amp, in my opinion.

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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:54 am
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I play a Blues Deluxe not an HRD as most are referring to here. I would not trade it for the world.


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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:24 am
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Thanks all, for the great posts and insight... this helps out a great deal!

Aggie90


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Post subject: Re: Tube Amps Blues Deluxe vs. 65 Deluxe Reverb
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:50 am
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still on the fence about this very dilemma...


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Post subject: Re:
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:42 pm
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john.bohn wrote:
My Hot Rod Deluxe was fine for about a year. Then the capacitors needed to be replaced (under warranty fortunately) and the tubes started failing. It was in the shop three times in two months but it has been okay since those repairs. Of course I rarely turn it on since I bought my Deluxe Reverb Reissue. That's probably why. :wink:

John



My experience was very similar to John's only mine was fine for three months, then constantly being repaired, filter caps, five watt resistor, bad solder joints the works. Finally got rid of it. One big difference is the DRRI has its tube sockets mounted directly to the chassis the old school way with flying leads going to the board. It adds to reliability. The HRDlx wasn't real sturdy in this respect. I don't know if the BDlx is mounted in a similar way, but I haven't heard nearly as many problems with the BDlx. I always thought the BDlx sounded a bit muffled, like someone hung a blanket over the speaker. I've played a few and they seemed to lack any sparkle. Still not a bad amp, but the DRRI is more versatile with two real channels with separate EQ.

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Post subject: Re: Re:
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:35 pm
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63supro wrote:
john.bohn wrote:
My Hot Rod Deluxe was fine for about a year. Then the capacitors needed to be replaced (under warranty fortunately) and the tubes started failing. It was in the shop three times in two months but it has been okay since those repairs. Of course I rarely turn it on since I bought my Deluxe Reverb Reissue. That's probably why. :wink:

John



My experience was very similar to John's only mine was fine for three months, then constantly being repaired, filter caps, five watt resistor, bad solder joints the works. Finally got rid of it. One big difference is the DRRI has its tube sockets mounted directly to the chassis the old school way with flying leads going to the board. It adds to reliability. The HRDlx wasn't real sturdy in this respect. I don't know if the BDlx is mounted in a similar way, but I haven't heard nearly as many problems with the BDlx. I always thought the BDlx sounded a bit muffled, like someone hung a blanket over the speaker. I've played a few and they seemed to lack any sparkle. Still not a bad amp, but the DRRI is more versatile with two real channels with separate EQ.


My honeymoon lasted about fifteen months during which time the amp never left my home. One day I plugged in and shazayam, no reverb! Took it in and the diagnosis was a dead tank. Replaced under warranty (and two 150-mile trips to the authorized service center). A year later and the channel-select relays developed a mind of their own. Repaired under warranty (and two more 150-mile vehicular sojourns) then I unceremoniously dumped the amp on C/L before the warranty expired. My HRD was one of only a handful of Fender amps I ever bought new and the only one I ever unassed after less than three years of ownership. I don't miss that chingalero, not for one steenking micro-second!

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Tube Amps Blues Deluxe vs. 65 Deluxe Reverb
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:56 pm
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I bought the HRD III because I think it is now an OK amp after the revisions. With the CRex it has a really good tone. I did have to retube it and put a 5751 in V1 to calm it down a little. A Jan Phillips 12AT7 in V3 made the reverb more organic sounding. It is all about the clean channel on this one for me. The drive channel veers to far from the clean tone stack to be useful for me. There could be a song where drive is the main sound with more drive for other parts but, I haven't found myself in that situation yet. I like the drive on my tubemeister much better. :D

I hope my HRD does not become a chingalero. :lol:

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