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Post subject: Fender Deluxe VM vs Deluxe 65 Reverb
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:02 pm
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Does anyone know if the clean sound on both these amps is similar ? Also, is the VM louder in terms of clean sound (more headroom) ?

I have a HRD and am thinking of replacing it with a VM but also am considering the 65. I find I need a cleaner sound as the VM breaks up at 4.

Thanks


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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:37 pm
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I wasn't impressed with the Deluxe or the Bandmaster VM. I'd get the 65 DRRI given a choice. The DRRI is a fine amp, the Vintage Molested series are a just a bunch if digital effects. The build quality left a lot to be desired too. At least they use a Baltic Birch Speaker Baffle. The DRRI has the tube sockets mounted to the chassis which is a real plus on Fender amps.


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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:28 pm
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63supro wrote:
I wasn't impressed with the Deluxe or the Bandmaster VM. I'd get the 65 DRRI given a choice. The DRRI is a fine amp, the Vintage Molested series are a just a bunch if digital effects. The build quality left a lot to be desired too. At least they use a Baltic Birch Speaker Baffle. The DRRI has the tube sockets mounted to the chassis which is a real plus on Fender amps.
DRRI without a question.Its the tone that made history.The VM is just another hybrid amp with some bells and whistles on it, most of them mediocre.


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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:59 pm
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The DRRI all the way dude. I have played the VM, while it is an okay amp, it just didn't seem useful. Less is more.

Probably worth modding the Deluxe Reverb though, as you know Fender didn't get it exactly with the re-issues, but that is to save the price. How much do you think a hand-wired amp with high quality tubes and custom made 12" speakers would cost, as compared to the current $1000?

Anyway, get it. If I had the dough, I would spring for it right away.


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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:03 pm
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hendrixfan99 wrote:
The DRRI all the way dude. I have played the VM, while it is an okay amp, it just didn't seem useful. Less is more.

Probably worth modding the Deluxe Reverb though, as you know Fender didn't get it exactly with the re-issues, but that is to save the price. How much do you think a hand-wired amp with high quality tubes and custom made 12" speakers would cost, as compared to the current $1000?

Anyway, get it. If I had the dough, I would spring for it right away.


-The Screamin' J
Just out of curiosity, how did Fender not get it right with the reissues.Other than pcbsI actually think Fender did a great job with the reissues.I dont think too many people mod the drri other than different tubes and maybe a speaker..


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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:59 pm
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The power supply caps in the reissues are made in Taiwan. Still a great sounding and reliable amp. The bright cap seems to bother some people too, but that's a simple fix if it bothers you. The VM's are IMO garbage. You could do as well with a line 6. I don't know how much power the OP needs, but I'm totally floored by my Egnater Rebel 20. The Ampeg J 20 is a really clean amp if you can find one. 20 watts and hand wired for under $800. But I think it was just recently discontinued.


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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:54 pm
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I've played through the DRRI, and I own the Band-Master VM (head version of the Deluxe VM) and they are totally different amps. The VM is on the chimey side of Fender, while the DRRI is on the focused, penetrating side.

I prefer the BM, which is why I own it. I get very useful sounds out of it with my 335.

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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:32 pm
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Fender had no chimey side. The DRRI is pretty much one of the classic Fender sounds, the Twin is classic clean Fender The 59 Basssman on the tweed side. Chime is usually used to describe the classic Vox sound. The VM's aren't classic Fender anything. It's the new Hybrid digital sound. Just my opinion YMMV you may love it and that's great but it's a far departure from any classic Fender sound. I owned an 73 SF Bandmaster. I was hoping they were going to reissue it. Boy was I wrong.


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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:23 pm
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63supro wrote:
You could do as well with a line 6.


I play through a Deluxe VM and the other guitarist in my band has a fairly nice Line 6. You can't do as well with a Line 6. The VM series is a real Fender and sounds like a real Fender and you can't get that with any modeling amp.
If you don't like the effects on the VM series, don't use them. I've played my Deluxe VM contently for the last six months and I haven't ever had an issue with it's reliability.

However, since the OP is looking for more headroom I'd suggest the '65 for that reason.

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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:42 am
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No offense, and don't take this personally, but you need to play more real Fender amps. I've played and owned Fender amps since 1964 and the only thing real Fender on the VM series is the logo not the tone. I never said it wasn't reliable it's still too new. Someone else described it as Fender chime? LOL
Besides isn't all the hype on this amp the effects? I don't see that many of them in the area clubs in Phila.Pa. Most of my professional friends weren't really blown away either. It just don't deliver on the hype.


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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:42 am
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63supro wrote:
No offense, and don't take this personally, but you need to play more real Fender amps. I've played and owned Fender amps since 1964 and the only thing real Fender on the VM series is the logo not the tone. I never said it wasn't reliable it's still too new. Someone else described it as Fender chime? LOL
Besides isn't all the hype on this amp the effects? I don't see that many of them in the area clubs in Phila.Pa. Most of my professional friends weren't really blown away either. It just don't deliver on the hype.



Man you're starting to get on my goat. Not everyone here is 300 years old or has had the privelage of playing all these great amps and not everyone has loads of money to spend on old or top of the range amps.
Every post about amps or mentioning the HRD and you're on your high horse again. Just for once dude I implore you to give it a rest with the snobbery!!

Please!

CC

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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:52 am
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Don't read my posts. It's simple. Hearing how wonderful these amps are gets MY goat. I don't have a ton of money. I'm not a tone snob either. I'm pissed at the garbage a once fine manufacturer is producing. I'm not 300 years old just 250. It's not on a high horse either. I know 20 year olds that have better equipment than I do.

If I had so much money, why do you think I bought a POS HRDlx? Because I thought it was a real Fender amp! I wanted to retire my Twin and have something with less weight and less power to gig with.


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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:57 am
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63supro wrote:
Don't read my posts. It's simple. Hearing how wonderful these amps are gets MY goat. I don't have a ton of money. I'm not a tone snob either. I'm pissed at the garbage a once fine manufacturer is producing. I'm not 300 years old just 250. It's not on a high horse either. I know 20 year olds that have better equipment than I do.

If I had so much money, why do you think I bought a POS HRDlx? Because I thought it was a real Fender amp! I wanted to retire my Twin and have something with less weight and less power to gig with.



Thats fair enough man but I know so many people with these amps including myself and there has never been any problems apart from the stock tubes being $@!&.
I didnt mean to offend you bro. Sorry. I'm in a $@!& mood today and I guess I'm sick of hearing my amp get ripped when it has NEVER failed on me.

CC

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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:10 am
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No problem. No offense taken. I do know how you feel. I first found out about the design flaws on www.thefenderforum.com
I was pissed at how bad the amp was slammed and didn't believe it. Then mine started to fail with all the same problems that were discussed. I asked for help and the guys there told me exactly what was wrong. My tech confirmed it point for point. TFF is full of amp building Guru's who really like helping people. One member even converts the HRDlx into a beautiful PTP hand wired fender clone as a hobby for friendly members.

It's not that I'm made of money, I'm not. It's just that I hate seeing others waste theirs.


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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:35 am
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Here's why I bought the Band-Master VM.

I didn't buy it because it sounded like another amplifier, made years ago by a company with the same name.

I didn't buy it because I wanted to sound like XXX, who paid thousands of dollars for THAT sound.

I bought because I could make it sound like me.

Everything else is BS.

Guitar players are the only people I know who think of themselves as "artistes" because they can duplicate what someone else has done. If I had taken a perfect copy of the Mona Lisa to one of my art professors, he would have said, "What the hell's the point?"

And he would have been right.

So don't lecture me about whether this amp or that does or does not replicate some imaginary ideal. That's not what I play music for. I play music to express something I can't otherwise express, and I'll no more use someone else's sound to do it than I would use someone else's drawings to make a painting.

So I like the Band-Master VM for what it is. If you don't like it for what it isn't, that's fine, too. Perhaps you should go buy a different amplifier.

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