# NAD - Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb!



## zurn

Purolator just dropped it off, I can't plug it in yet cause it's a little cold and i'm also working but if it sounds as good as it looks I should be very happy.

I'll post my impressions later, here's a pic !


----------



## Jim DaddyO

The neighbours will not be getting much sleep I think.

A big congrats!


----------



## zurn

Ok here are my first impressions!

It sounds great! Keep in mind it's my first time playing a Fender Deluxe Reverb, so I have nothing to compare it to except my current Traynor 6v6 Bassmate and a Fender Blues Deluxe I used to have.

It's louder than I expected but you can still get great tone at lower volume. It's WAY louder than my Bassmate, but I do have a 12AU7 in the preamp. The bass is also much tighter than the Bassmate, it's less spongy if that makes any sense. 

The volume controls are nothing like the ones in my Blues Deluxe which where way more sensitive, you basically went from quiet to TOO loud between 2 and 3 on the dial.

The Custom channel with the Bassman tone stack is louder than the Vintage channel. With the volumes at the same position there's quite a volume difference and it also has more bass than the Vintage channel. So i'm guessing it will get dirtier quicker but I haven't really had the chance to crank it yet with the wife and kids around.

The Tremolo and Reverb sound great the footwitch it came with has the low noise kind of switches, they are quieter than most pedals I have when stepped on.

The amp loved my dirt pedals, I tried my OCD, Timmy, Fuzzface clone and Rat clone and they all sounded very good. I could hear all kinds of overtones and sweetness, it didn't sound harsh and brittle.

The stock speaker sounds good to me and I don't see the need to upgrade it, it will only start sounding better as it breaks in. I have a 2x12 cab with a G12H30 Anni. and a WGS Green Beret, so i'll try that and report back. I also have a Celestion Blue that I could try but it's kinda under-powered for this amp.

Some issues to report: when the amp is on and I turn off the standby switch there is a loud POP. If I leave the standby on and turn the power switch off, I still hear a little pop but it much quieter. It happens even with guitar disconnected and volumes at 0.

I don't if this is normal or not, but if I disconnect the internal speaker and connect something in the EXT jack, there's is almost no volume. Am I guessing correctly that you have to have the internal speaker connected to have an external one? I checked the manual and it isn't clear if you can use the speaker outputs independently.

Other than that, I am very satisfied with the amp, it's sounds and looks great, everytime I glance at it I feel like picking up my guitar so that's good sign 

Don't hesitate to ask me any questions about it and I'll try and post some clips when I have the chance.

Here's a coupe new pics


----------



## Swervin55

Congrats on the new amp Zurn. I think they look spectacular. Don't know about channel 1 and will await your review. I think these (any BF, SF) DLx amps are great grab and go combos. Great sound, multi purpose without any sacrfice.


----------



## deadear

That issue with the standbye switch poping should not be happening. The only time I get that speaker thumb with my tube amp ( Peavey) is if I shut it off without first going to the standbye mode for cool down. It sure looks sweet though, enjoy.


----------



## Cups

It says the speaker jacks are connected in parallel, just like most amps. Therefore it shouldn't matter which jack you use. Either your jack or extension speaker, or cable, are faulty.


----------



## zurn

deadear said:


> That issue with the standbye switch poping should not be happening. The only time I get that speaker thumb with my tube amp ( Peavey) is if I shut it off without first going to the standbye mode for cool down. It sure looks sweet though, enjoy.





Cups said:


> It says the speaker jacks are connected in parallel, just like most amps. Therefore it shouldn't matter which jack you use. Either your jack or extension speaker, or cable, are faulty.


That's bad news, I might have to return it cause that loud POP is really annoying and it might damage the speaker after a while. I could have lived with the EXT jack problem. The thing is, L&M say the next shipment of these amps will be in 3 months


----------



## zurn

I've been reading about standby switch pop noises and it seems quite common, some say it's not harmful to your amp. Tonight I tried connecting my 2x12 cab with the internal speaker at the same time and everything worked fine. Is it possible that you can only use the EXT out when the internal speaker is connected on this map ?

Tone report!

The custom channel sounds a little more scooped and it breaks up sooner than the vintage channel. It's definitely has more bass but it isn't flabby and sounds freaking awesome the more you crank it, the trick is to turn bass way down round 0 or 1. Breakup start around 4.5 on the on the custom channel and maybe 5 or 5.5 on the vintage one. My favorite guitar with it is my Strat, it seems built for it. My Tele sounds good too but the Strat is just a perfect match. I also tried my LP, it took some tweaking but I got some very nice sounds too, it sounded better to me on the custom channel.

Oh btw, I looked inside the cab, it's real wood and not MDF, so is the baffle.

Here are some new pics.


----------



## sulphur

Nice, congrats!


----------



## julienpier

My first tube amp was a Deluxe Reverb! Superb amp! Congrats on your purchase, may it serves you well and for a long time!!!


----------



## StevieMac

Very nice! I'm tempted to check one of these out...

Regarding the SPKR jacks, if it's set up like the vintage model, you can keep the amp's speaker plugged in and use the EXT jack for anything else. Alternatively, if you want to hear the amp through other cabs _without_ also hearing the amp's speaker, plug it into the amp's SPKR jack (not the EXT jack).


----------



## Milkman

Looks great man.

I predict a similar amp(s) in my not too distant future.

Enjoy!


----------



## bluzfish

Congratulations on a great purchase. I have always loved Deluxe Reverbs - loud enough for stage and great for practice - a little heavy as all good tube amps are but small enough to be quite portable. If I only had the money...


----------



## davetcan

I was just about to post this 

Looks like a great amp and I really like the concept.



StevieMac said:


> Very nice! I'm tempted to check one of these out...
> 
> Regarding the SPKR jacks, if it's set up like the vintage model, you can keep the amp's speaker plugged in and use the EXT jack for anything else. Alternatively, if you want to hear the amp through other cabs _without_ also hearing the amp's speaker, plug it into the amp's SPKR jack (not the EXT jack).


----------



## zurn

StevieMac said:


> Very nice! I'm tempted to check one of these out...
> 
> Regarding the SPKR jacks, if it's set up like the vintage model, you can keep the amp's speaker plugged in and use the EXT jack for anything else. Alternatively, if you want to hear the amp through other cabs _without_ also hearing the amp's speaker, plug it into the amp's SPKR jack (not the EXT jack).


Thanks Stevie, that's reassuring. Indeed when I connect my 2x12 together with the internal speaker everything sounds great and the 2x12 alone in the INT jack is also fine.

Thanks for all the congrats everyone, it's indeed a great honeymoon stage! I had to sell a lot of gear to get it and had never even tried a Deluxe Reverb before so it was quite a gamble but I'm happy with my choice. I had been looking for a reasonably priced old silverface or even a newer DRRI but none came up in the local kijiji or craigslist so when these came out, I just had to have one. You know what I mean don't you, full out G.A.S attack 

I'll definitely be posting clips in the near future, I found my M-audio Fasttrack and SM57 so all I need now is some alone time but with three kids it's kinda hard 

Rock on and party hard!

Yes I am pic happy


----------



## 4345567

__________


----------



## Greg Ellis

Very cool, man! I am jealous.

What's it like to lug around, up and down stairs etc?


----------



## Intrepid

Looks like a great amp. I'm not a fan of the popping, but if it isn't hurting anything I could live with it. I would love to hear soundbites when available. Congratulations.


----------



## bluzfish

zurn said:


> View attachment 5681


The caption for this pic should be "So this is my inheritance? Very cool. So hows your health these days, dad?"


----------



## Chito

Congrats on the new amp! 

Now, I'm curious to know how it stacks against the 65 DRRI, what differences there are.


----------



## Steadfastly

nkjanssen said:


> You look a lot younger than I would have guessed.


NK, you beat me to the punch!


----------



## bluesguitar1972

Congrats and HNAD!


----------



## gtone

Congrats *zurn *-a very nice amp for a great guy. Enjoy it!:acigar:


----------



## zurn

Greg Ellis said:


> Very cool, man! I am jealous.
> 
> What's it like to lug around, up and down stairs etc?


I haven't had to chance to move it anywhere other than from the box to the basement, but it should weight pretty much the same as a Deluxe Reverb Reissue so around 50 lbs.


----------



## bzrkrage

Very Nice!!! Congrats. I need to go try one out, some amp room time at L&M I think!

HNAD!:congratulatory:


----------



## zurn

Here are a couple demos some stores made on Youtube till I find the time to make one myself, of course it's really hard to capture what you hear when you're actually in the room with the amp, but they come close. The 1st video gives you a nice rundown of the new features, I didn't know they clipped the bright cap on these, good to know!

here's a demo from Nevada Music UK

[video=youtube_share;apZuY-sRheM]http://youtu.be/apZuY-sRheM[/video]


----------



## plasticfishman

Chito said:


> Congrats on the new amp!
> 
> Now, I'm curious to know how it stacks against the 65 DRRI, what differences there are.


I just got a 68 Deluxe Reverb as well! Got it last week and was just about to post about it here and discovered this thread already existed haha. I A/B'd the 68 with a 65 for quite a while both on the day that I bought the amp and also for a couple hours about 2 weeks before the purchase. I found that the 68 was a little brighter overall on both channels, which I found quite pleasant. I also thought that the "Vintage" channel was essentially the "Normal" channel on the 65, and the "Custom" channel on the 68 was really sweet. As mentioned in this thread already, the 68 (and the 65, actually) took pedals reaaaaally really well. One of the selling points on the 68 for me was that the reverb was global, so it applied to both channels rather than just one as on the 65. Not a big deal, just something I wanted! I'm really happy with the 68 and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet combo!


----------



## zurn

plasticfishman said:


> I just got a 68 Deluxe Reverb as well! Got it last week and was just about to post about it here and discovered this thread already existed haha. I A/B'd the 68 with a 65 for quite a while both on the day that I bought the amp and also for a couple hours about 2 weeks before the purchase. I found that the 68 was a little brighter overall on both channels, which I found quite pleasant. I also thought that the "Vintage" channel was essentially the "Normal" channel on the 65, and the "Custom" channel on the 68 was really sweet. As mentioned in this thread already, the 68 (and the 65, actually) took pedals reaaaaally really well. One of the selling points on the 68 for me was that the reverb was global, so it applied to both channels rather than just one as on the 65. Not a big deal, just something I wanted! I'm really happy with the 68 and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet combo!


Thanks for the review, it's indeed very sweet ! Does yours make a pop noise when you switch it on standby (turn it off)?


----------



## GTmaker

I posted this link before but its well worth some more views.
Its Joe Robinson doing a Strat Demo thru what looks to me like a 68 Deluxe reverb RI
enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJU-yoyMmNY&list=RD029Z4IPxmDmXc

G.


----------



## plasticfishman

zurn said:


> Thanks for the review, it's indeed very sweet ! Does yours make a pop noise when you switch it on standby (turn it off)?


It did, a huge popping noise when turning off standby so I googled it and someone recommended that you just turn down the volume to 0 and turn off the power switch, then a couple seconds after cut the standby as well. That helped me too kill the pop when turning off.

A little bit different method than turning off my Laney but hey no pop and that's nice! I also just leave it on between sets too, to avoid stressing the tubes going constantly on and off.


----------



## zurn

plasticfishman said:


> It did, a huge popping noise when turning off standby so I googled it and someone recommended that you just turn down the volume to 0 and turn off the power switch, then a couple seconds after cut the standby as well. That helped me too kill the pop when turning off.
> 
> A little bit different method than turning off my Laney but hey no pop and that's nice! I also just leave it on between sets too, to avoid stressing the tubes going constantly on and off.


I think we found the same article about the popping  I'm also doing the same thing and turning power off with volumes at 0 instead if using the standby, no popping. I'm really loving the amp, no regrets at all.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk


----------



## zurn

Another cool demo of the amp on 10! Both channels are demo'd.

[video=youtube;39a29ssxmPI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39a29ssxmPI&amp;feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]


----------



## zurn

This one explains the new features well.

[video=youtube;GZwIB0x6jpw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZwIB0x6jpw[/video]


----------



## elliottmoose

Love that new amp smell...


----------



## DrHook

Congrats on the amp. I picked up a '65 Deluxe Reverb at L&M last month and it does the standby popping as well and like you found out by Googling, I now just zero the volume and then hit the power switch. I see you grow your own roadies


----------



## zurn

I had a 30 minutes of free time during lunch break yesterday, so I quickly whipped up this demo. Sorry for the sucky playing I should have planned ahead what to play but it still gives you a good idea of the amps sounds.

[video=youtube;MUuDi0KEqnI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUuDi0KEqnI[/video]


----------



## jammers5

zurn said:


> Ok here are my first impressions!
> 
> It sounds great! Keep in mind it's my first time playing a Fender Deluxe Reverb, so I have nothing to compare it to except my current Traynor 6v6 Bassmate and a Fender Blues Deluxe I used to have.
> 
> It's louder than I expected but you can still get great tone at lower volume. It's WAY louder than my Bassmate, but I do have a 12AU7 in the preamp. The bass is also much tighter than the Bassmate, it's less spongy if that makes any sense.
> 
> The volume controls are nothing like the ones in my Blues Deluxe which where way more sensitive, you basically went from quiet to TOO loud between 2 and 3 on the dial.
> 
> The Custom channel with the Bassman tone stack is louder than the Vintage channel. With the volumes at the same position there's quite a volume difference and it also has more bass than the Vintage channel. So i'm guessing it will get dirtier quicker but I haven't really had the chance to crank it yet with the wife and kids around.
> 
> The Tremolo and Reverb sound great the footwitch it came with has the low noise kind of switches, they are quieter than most pedals I have when stepped on.
> 
> The amp loved my dirt pedals, I tried my OCD, Timmy, Fuzzface clone and Rat clone and they all sounded very good. I could hear all kinds of overtones and sweetness, it didn't sound harsh and brittle.
> 
> The stock speaker sounds good to me and I don't see the need to upgrade it, it will only start sounding better as it breaks in. I have a 2x12 cab with a G12H30 Anni. and a WGS Green Beret, so i'll try that and report back. I also have a Celestion Blue that I could try but it's kinda under-powered for this amp.
> 
> Some issues to report: when the amp is on and I turn off the standby switch there is a loud POP. If I leave the standby on and turn the power switch off, I still hear a little pop but it much quieter. It happens even with guitar disconnected and volumes at 0.
> 
> I don't if this is normal or not, but if I disconnect the internal speaker and connect something in the EXT jack, there's is almost no volume. Am I guessing correctly that you have to have the internal speaker connected to have an external one? I checked the manual and it isn't clear if you can use the speaker outputs independently.
> 
> Other than that, I am very satisfied with the amp, it's sounds and looks great, everytime I glance at it I feel like picking up my guitar so that's good sign
> 
> Don't hesitate to ask me any questions about it and I'll try and post some clips when I have the chance.
> 
> Here's a coupe new pics
> 
> ]



I have played 3 of these new Deluxe Reverbs and they ALL made that loud popping sound when switching on the stand-by switch.

j5


----------



## zurn

jammers5 said:


> I have played 3 of these new Deluxe Reverbs and they ALL made that loud popping sound when switching on the stand-by switch.
> 
> j5


It doesn't bother me anymore, I just turn it off with the power switch with both volumes on 0 and it's fine. I found out that many DRRI also have this "problem".


----------



## zurn

Here's a quick demo I through together with my LP, enjoy!


[video=youtube;5BxEYiZIVCw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BxEYiZIVCw[/video]


----------



## nonreverb

Don't worry about the popping....I've owned several Deluxe Reverbs and they all did it.


----------



## blam

old thread....but I've been considering one of these. unfortunately my L&M doesnt have any to try out at the moment.

how much clean headroom does this bad boy have?

as for the speaker jacks, they are wired parallel with the internal speaker jack. you want 8ohm total, so the options you have are:

1 x 8ohm internal
2 x 16 ohm external
1 x 8ohm external (internal disconnected)


----------



## zurn

Sorry for the late reply. The amp is pretty clean till 4.5 with single coils. By then it's pretty loud, I usually run it a 2 or 2.5 at home with pedals. The ext jack only works if you unplug the int jack. So your only option is 8 ohms for an external cab. I dont really get why they added the ext speaker out, I just unplug the int speaker and plug my cab in that outut.

Far beyond the honeymoon stage I still love this amp completely stock.


----------

