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Post subject: Concerns of Deluxe Reverb Reissue's Brightness
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:16 am
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I'm seriously considering buying a DRRI for a good tube O/D compliment to my HR DeVille...something to gig/jam with and push hard enough to get "That" blues O/D without handing out earplugs.

I have read countless H-C reviews that this amp is very Bright/Trebley, and to my own ears, I agree. This is the only thing that turns me off from buying one, since I have plenty of brightness with a Tele and Tex-Mex pups in a Strat!

However, there's a reviewer that says:
there's one simple cause, the bright cap. The other Fender blackface amps have a bright switch which puts a 120pf capacitor across the volume pot to boost high frequencies at lower volumes. The legendary amp tech Cesar Diaz changed the value of the cap to 250pf on Stevie Ray Vaughan's fenders to make it work less like a presence control and more like an upper midrange boost. It's a matter of taste what frequencies you like but it's a fact that the Deluxe 'vibrato' channel uses a 47pf cap which boosts a higher frequency range than the standard blackface circuit. This makes it sound a little too fizzy or spiky to many players, me included. This is the excess bright that you're all hearing, it's not the speaker. The options to fix this are either change the cap out to the standard value if you like the sound of Fender bright switches, or just remove it. I clipped mine and LOVE the sound now.

...on to my question...

Has anyone heard of this and/or done it? It doesn't seem that it is harmful to the amp, but...?? Is it something a regular Joe can figure out and do? Where might a guy find a different cap? Is the higher pf going to make it less bright? (I'm becoming fairly handy with a soldering iron lately, but have no knowledge of electronics)


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:19 pm
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Yup - It is a very common mod. To answer all your other questions...just do some fender drri mod searches. It will turn up. Since you are becoming handy with a solder iron, you should have no problem. It will void any warranty you may have left.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:28 pm
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prolux wrote:
Since you are becoming handy with a solder iron, you should have no problem....


Yeah, as long as you read up on tube amps and learn how to safely discharge the capacitors so you don't stick your hand in there and discharge them across your heart, thereby killing you instantly. (And I'm not kidding... there are deadly voltages inside a tube amp, even when it's off and unplugged... DO NOT do any tube amp service until you know how to drain the caps.)


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:27 pm
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Yep, Jim's right. If you're not sure of what you're doing, take it to someone who does. Deadly voltages lurk in tube amps. If you become part of the circuit, you're fried.


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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:34 am
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Maybe a 60's Black Face would be worth risking death for, but a RI? Thanks for the heads up!

I guess the Deluxe will have to stay on the wish list for awhile longer. I just got an offer to buy a 70's SF Twin w/ a custum 2x12 exten cab for $700, too good to pass up.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:53 am
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Yeah they are all right. The bright mod is very easy and done alot but to be honest you won't be worried about brightness. I have both the HRD and a deluxe reverb and my 65 DRRI isn't to bright at all. If you are happy with your deville then you won't think the DRRI is to bright at all. Now if were talking about the 1959SLP.......thats a different story. I had to change the bright cap in mine. lol


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:57 am
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You're woried that a DR might be too bright, but you're going to jump on a silverface Twin??!?

Well.... whatever. :D

Here are two good pieces of advice on choosing an amp:

Always go listen to the amp.
Never listen to anything on Harmony Central.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:28 am
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Gravity Jim wrote:
You're woried that a DR might be too bright, but you're going to jump on a silverface Twin??!?

Well.... whatever. :D

Here are two good pieces of advice on choosing an amp:

Always go listen to the amp.
Never listen to anything on Harmony Central.


Very good point. HC is a bad place for advice. If your looking for good advice check out thegearpage. Very good guys over there.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:58 am
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I pretty much steer clear of most advice except for reliability. I try out amps with my own guitars and my own ears. I never found my Twin overly bright. Clean, well that's another story. I always used some sort of booster or overdrive to push the front end at a reasonable volume to get a little grit. I just turned the bright switch off with my Strat and adjusted the tone controls to my taste. Humbuckers sound great through it. Like I said, use your own ears. I would never buy an amp without trying it out first.


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