I've never played through a Deluxe reverb but I'll tell you Danny, the clean on this is absolutey bright and the tone is to die for. I kid you not. I can even get the gain to sound clear also, if that makes any sense. Easily ,the best sounding amp I've ever had. It's rated at 150 watts and I don't even have the volume at 1 on either channel in my house. I'm pretty sure this could drown out any bassist or drummer with ease.

I've had the chance to try out the Mustangs and to be honest, they're not my cup of tea. I'm trying to get away from relying on using effects and just want to go back to a old school type sound with my playing. Straight foward, balls to the wall , in your face distortion tone. Sort of like AC/DC ,etc. As I said, I found out by looking at the manual for the Stage 185, I was able to achieve the tone that I'm looking for, so I'm happy and isn't that what matters ?

Straight foward, balls to the wall , in your face distortion tone. Sort of like AC/DC ,etc.

Okay, as most of you know, I was lucky enough to come across a 1989 Red Knob Fender Stage 185 acouple of days ago in a swap involving my old Crate GX-65. As I stated, the previous owner said there were some issues with it, which I did fix and now it's running fine although it does make a pop when I do shut it off, but I think that's to be expected of a amp of that age. I did finally get a chance to play through it for a few hours yesterday and the clean on it, has to be the best that I have ever heard, bar none !!!! But the gain on the other hand, does leave a lot to be desired , especially if you're into Metal like I am . If you're a Blues or a C & W player, then I have to say that this is the amp for you . I did contact Fender yesterday and they were gracious enough to email me a PDF of the manual which does have recommended settings for various tones. I'm going to give that a look today and see what I can come up with . I do have a Digitech RP-70 that I could use for Gain but, I'm really getting tired of relying on effect processors and would like to just play straight through a amp for once .