# Fender Deluxe Reverb



## srv33 (Mar 2, 2009)

Hey all I've been looking for a nice reliable amp to take to uni with me and have become quite interested in the 65 reissue deluxe reverbs. I just wanted to know if they are really as solid as I think they are, and if they have no distortion capabilities as I have heard. (but i think a nice TS9 could clear that up)


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## Stevo (Apr 3, 2008)

I have a '65 DRRI and I've never had any issues with it reliablity-wise. I did find it a little harsh sounding out of the box though, so I clipped the bright cap on the Vibrato channel and changed the speaker to an Eminence Legend which helped immensely to 'round' it out a bit. They are surprisingly loud amps, certainly loud enough for all the gigs I do. (Though it is my #2 amp behind a Mesa Lonestar Special)

They take pedals very well, fuzz, OD, you name it......


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I have a DRRI as well and have swapped out the speaker for a Tone Tubby Ceramic. Stock speaker was too harsh for me. I haven't clipped the bright cap and I find that the Vibrato channel does not take Fuzz and some OD's very well at lower volumes. Get it up to 4 + and it's a different story though. My preference is 4+ with a tube screamer or similar OD.

Great amp.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

Really like mine. Instead of clipping the bright cap, I did the "Fritz Mod" which adds the reverb/vibrato to channel one and also allows you to jumper the channels "in phase". So I really have "Normal" and "Bright" channels.

No issues with it taking any pedals now on either channel. Will start to 'kick" at around 4 and has all the headroom I need.

Not a lot of features by today's standards but the one "bell" and the one "whistle" are ... well... we've been gushing over that tone for 40+ years.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I'm loving my Blues Jr. at the moment, but definitely am GASing for a Deluxe Reverb in the future. I've always loved the tone of this amp.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The BFDR is considered one of the "desert island" amps by many. Enough that Boss and Fender tried to mimic it with a pedal.

People who don't understand wattage can get squeamish when faced with the seemingly "low" power of the amp. Note, however, that it takes approximately 10x the wattage going into the same speaker/cab to produce approximately double the perceived loudness. So, the "puny" 22 watts produced by the dual 6V6 complement is not going to be that much quieter than a dual 6L6 or dual EL34 complement, or indeed, that much quieter than a Dual Showman or Marshall 100W head......really. Indeed, the major difference in loudness is probably going to be derived from the smaller cab size that accompanies the BFDR. Plug that sucker into a 4 x 12 cab and I imagine you'd be plenty impressed. Of course you can't really bring a Marshall in a Smart car, can you?


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

I owned one for a while. While its hard to beat that amp for a clean sound (especially with a Strat), I never had much luck in trying to get any overdriven or distorted tones with it. I tried a variety of pedals but never got anything I was happy with. I tried to use it in my band which we played a variety of rock stuff (Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Queen, Black Crowes etc). I tried it with and without the Bright cap which is frequently discussed. Could be that its not the right amp for those types of sounds though.

I had much more success using a Hot Rod Deluxe. Those seem to be regarded as "not as good quality" as the DRRIs, but I found it much easier to get the sounds above with a couple of pedals in the clean channel of the HRD (Not the Drive channel). Although the "stock" clean on the Hot Rod Deluxe is nowhere near as nice as the DRRI.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

bagpipe said:


> I I tried a variety of pedals but never got anything I was happy with. I tried to use it in my band which we played a variety of rock stuff (Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Queen, Black Crowes etc). I tried it with and without the Bright cap which is frequently discussed. Could be that its not the right amp for those types of sounds though.


I found both the OCD and vintage Rat (or Keeley modded version) worked really well with the DRRI. I'd highly recommend the amp but not sure about playing it in a room at university.


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