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Post subject: Fender Deville 4x10 - I vs II vs III and Biasing?
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:03 am
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Hey, I recently bought a Fender DeVille off craigslist. Love how it plays, the thing sounds beautiful. I looked at the QA sticker and it seems to me the amp was made in September 1998.

Is this a Deville I? (I read that Fender started making the DeVille in 96).

Also, I doubt the amp ever had its tubes replaced. It sounds great, but I'm wondering if new tubes could make it sound even better. Looking on wikipedia (I don't have the amp in front of me) it says the Bias is Fixed. Does this mean I won't need to get it biased, so long as I match the new tubes to the old tubes?

ALSO: It says the output tubes are 2 6L6's (yes? no?) and...should I replace just the outputs or the preamps as well?

Thanks!


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Post subject: Re: Fender Deville 4x10 - I vs II vs III and Biasing?
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:57 am
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Yes, power tube (6L6GCs) bias is fixed with no adjustment pot (the Reissues are fixed bias with an adjustment pot), so yes, you will need to find new tubes with the same rating as the old ones. If none of the tubes have ever been changed, it would probably be a good idea to change all of them. A trip to a good amp tech to have the entire amp checked over would be good too.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Deville 4x10 - I vs II vs III and Biasing?
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:03 am
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Hi mpimenta,

"Fixed" bias just means that a negative voltage is applied to the grid of the output tubes, but it is able to be adjusted, either with an adjustment pot, or in the case of the earliest releases by changing a resistor value, or adding a pot (sounds like yours is the original, no bias adjustment pot) . The later releases of the Blues Deville and Hot Rod Deville have a bias adjustment pot. Amps with a "Cathode bias" are the ones that do not need an adjustment when changing output tubes.

Your output tubes are likely either 6L6 or 5881, look for the original label in black lettering (likely Sovtek 5881), not the GT label. The bias should be checked/adjusted whenever changing output tubes, but no need for any adjustment when changing preamp or phase inverter (PI) tubes. Looking at the back of the amp, from the right to the left, V1 and V2 are preamp tubes, V3 is the PI tube, V4 and V5 are output tubes.

mpimenta wrote:
...Love how it plays, the thing sounds beautiful....It sounds great...


Based on your description, I wouldn't change a thing. If you really want to make any changes, I would check/adjust the bias first as they are known to be very cold from the factory, and this small change can improve the sound.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Deville 4x10 - I vs II vs III and Biasing?
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:05 pm
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Excellent! Thanks for the solid advice, y'all!

If I may inquire further, having multiple inputs, I've heard some of which will bypass the drive channel altogether. is this true?


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Post subject: Re: Fender Deville 4x10 - I vs II vs III and Biasing?
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:39 pm
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No way to "bypass" only the drive channels, that is what the channel switch is for. Input 2 is attenuated, so using it will give a lower volume than input 1, both channels remain active. If you plug into the "Power Amp In", the entire preamp section of the amp will be bypassed, so no channel switching, volume or tone control on the amp. You can use another preamp, or the preamp out from another amp, into the Power Amp In, or use a multi-effects pedal such as a POD into the Power Amp in.

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