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Vintage threads from the first ten years

'65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue

11/27/2005 6:33 AM
Brad1	'65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue One of these for sale for, I think, a decent price. Mint condition, footswitch and cover. Think it's a 2004. Sounds great. What's a good price for a mint used one? (I know...what I'm willing to pay!) I've seen everything from about $550 to nearly $800 (which I believe is about the new price). Also, any cavaets about these? Known production problems for a late model one, etc. that I should be aware of? The thing gets a sound that none of my others do. Something of a "bloom"...sort of like very pleasant notes inside the notes. Thanks, Brad1

11/27/2005 6:33 AM

Brad1

'65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue

One of these for sale for, I think, a decent price. Mint condition, footswitch and cover. Think it's a 2004. Sounds great.
What's a good price for a mint used one? (I know...what I'm willing to pay!) I've seen everything from about $550 to nearly $800 (which I believe is about the new price).
Also, any cavaets about these? Known production problems for a late model one, etc. that I should be aware of?

The thing gets a sound that none of my others do. Something of a "bloom"...sort of like very pleasant notes inside the notes.

Thanks,
Brad1

11/28/2005 11:16 AM
Steve A.	Brad1: The thing gets a sound that none of my others do. Something of a "bloom"...sort of like very pleasant notes inside the notes. A friend of mine has a reissue- he tried several of them but really liked the sound of one in particular, and that is the one that he bought. So I guess even with printed circuit boards, each amp has its own sound. $800 seems to be the discounted price for a new one so unless a used amp was very special (like an upgraded speaker) I would expect it to be less than that. The Deluxe Reverb is a great amp! Hopefully you can mike it through the PA if you need more power than 22 watts... Steve Ahola

11/28/2005 11:16 AM

Steve A.

Brad1:

The thing gets a sound that none of my others do. Something of a "bloom"...sort of like very pleasant notes inside the notes.

    A friend of mine has a reissue- he tried several of them but really liked the sound of one in particular, and that is the one that he bought. So I guess even with printed circuit boards, each amp has its own sound.

    $800 seems to be the discounted price for a new one so unless a used amp was very special (like an upgraded speaker) I would expect it to be less than that.

    The Deluxe Reverb is a great amp! Hopefully you can mike it through the PA if you need more power than 22 watts...

Steve Ahola

11/28/2005 12:06 PM

jaysg

quote:
"Also, any caveats about these?"

iirc, they come from the factory biased cold, which is fine for tube life, but not tone. If this one has a good bloom going, then it's probably had the bias set to a normal range. On the $800 end of pricing, I would look for a used Allen Accomplice instead. They'll be harder to find though.

11/29/2005 4:10 AM
Brad1	Thanks guys. I figured $400 was pretty good, so I went ahead and got it. Be nice to have an original, but I ain't that rich. The thing is cosmetically flawless, like it just came out of the box. I really like the sound as is, so far, but I'll keep the comments about the biasing in mind. I may even pull out the chassis this weekend to give it a bit of an inspection. Seems most of them I saw on the internet came with Eminence speakers. This one has a Jensen. Is that what they put in later models? I have some old AlNiCo Jensens, and various other speakers lying around, so I may experiment a bit with them. Brad1

11/29/2005 4:10 AM

Brad1

Thanks guys. I figured $400 was pretty good, so I went ahead and got it. Be nice to have an original, but I ain't that rich. The thing is cosmetically flawless, like it just came out of the box. I really like the sound as is, so far, but I'll keep the comments about the biasing in mind. I may even pull out the chassis this weekend to give it a bit of an inspection. Seems most of them I saw on the internet came with Eminence speakers. This one has a Jensen. Is that what they put in later models? I have some old AlNiCo Jensens, and various other speakers lying around, so I may experiment a bit with them.

Brad1

11/29/2005 5:26 PM
Steve Dallman	The DRRI used to come with a Fender branded Eminence, which turns out to be an Eminence Legend 125. Now Fender uses a Jensen C12K. Interesting choice. Fender puts a C12K, a 100w speaker in their 22 watt Deluxe Reverb. But in their 60 watt pro tube amp they use a 50 watt Jensen C12N. I called Fender and asked, and they didn't have an answer. I happen to like the Eminence, although many report the speaker gets "spitty" when driven to breakup. My ears can't take that kind of volume so it's not a concern to me. I tried a Jensen C12N in my 67 blackface DR. It sounded great clean, but with distortion, be it amp or pedal, it is strident and harsh. The 2k spike in the frequency response is probably the culprit. I tried everything to break it in, even doping the edge, but nothing will tame it. I tried a Jensen Mod 50 and 70 with the same problem. My boss tried a Jensen P12N in his sf DR and isn't happy. I A/B'd it with a C12N and although the speakers were vastly different, I didn't like either one. I just put a pair of Jensen C12K's in a Twin Reverb I worked on. Glory be, Jensen CAN make a decent speaker. Fender made a good choice for the DRRI. It handled distortion well, and tonally was very "muscular". Very present and sounds like a Fender should. The Jensen P12N was OK, but the low end was blurry and indistinct to my ears. I compared the new C12N with a vintage C12N. There is little similarity except for the cone style. The reissue has a larger magnet and doesn't have the doped edge that the original had. Tonally they were years apart.

11/29/2005 5:26 PM

Steve Dallman

The DRRI used to come with a Fender branded Eminence, which turns out to be an Eminence Legend 125. Now Fender uses a Jensen C12K.

Interesting choice. Fender puts a C12K, a 100w speaker in their 22 watt Deluxe Reverb. But in their 60 watt pro tube amp they use a 50 watt Jensen C12N. I called Fender and asked, and they didn't have an answer.

I happen to like the Eminence, although many report the speaker gets "spitty" when driven to breakup. My ears can't take that kind of volume so it's not a concern to me.

I tried a Jensen C12N in my 67 blackface DR. It sounded great clean, but with distortion, be it amp or pedal, it is strident and harsh. The 2k spike in the frequency response is probably the culprit. I tried everything to break it in, even doping the edge, but nothing will tame it. I tried a Jensen Mod 50 and 70 with the same problem.

My boss tried a Jensen P12N in his sf DR and isn't happy. I A/B'd it with a C12N and although the speakers were vastly different, I didn't like either one.

I just put a pair of Jensen C12K's in a Twin Reverb I worked on. Glory be, Jensen CAN make a decent speaker. Fender made a good choice for the DRRI. It handled distortion well, and tonally was very "muscular". Very present and sounds like a Fender should.

The Jensen P12N was OK, but the low end was blurry and indistinct to my ears.

I compared the new C12N with a vintage C12N. There is little similarity except for the cone style. The reissue has a larger magnet and doesn't have the doped edge that the original had. Tonally they were years apart.

11/29/2005 6:41 PM
anonymous	"But in their 60 watt pro tube amp they use a 50 watt Jensen C12N" I have one of these. Man, I hate that speaker.

11/29/2005 8:26 PM
Steve Dallman	I didn't like the distortion in those amps, but now I'm sure the speaker is the problem. Trust me though, the C12K is nothing like the C12N. THAT's the speaker they should have in your amp. I ran a 12Vac adapter into the C12N which resulted in LOUD 60Hz hum in an attempt to break the speaker in. I left it run, under a padded box in my garage for a week! NO change. I doped the edge and tried the break in again. No change. I have a Fender Vibratone. The rotating baffle mutes the speaker's tone somewhat. I may try the C12N there. OR I'll run the signal through a choke and crossover cap in parallel, to create a dip around 2k, which should make the damned thing usable. After the C12N and the two Mods I bought I had given up hope for the new Jensen's. I tried a lot of speakers in my DR. Celestions, especially the V30 sounded OK but sucked the "Fender" out of the tone. I stumbled on the perfect speaker. While talking to a fellow amp tech, I noticed he had a chrome framed, Peavey/Scheffield Triple XXX speaker on the bench. He said it had been replaced under warranty. He sold me the defective, buzzing speaker for $15. The buzzing came from a poor glue job on the edge of the cone. A little contact cement and the speaker was fine. It was PERFECT in my DR. It sounded like a Vintage 30 with a better high end. A call to Peavey confirmed that was their goal. My girlfriend, who loves Celestions wants the same speaker in the Deluxe Reverb I am building her. Nice job Peavey! I also scored a 4X12 Peavey cabinet for $40 that day. Some punk band had torn off the tolex, and spray painted the whole cabinet with black, gold and silver spray paint. Glory be...the speakers worked. So I recovered the cabinet and touched up the speaker cones with flat black. It's great! The speakers are Scheffield 1200's. I read a review on Harmony Central. The kid hated the speakers and thought them loose and sloppy. He put in a quad of Celestion Greenbacks and said finally, the cabinet was tight and the way he wanted it. I laughed. The 1200's were Peavey's copies of a set of worn out Greenbacks in a well worn 80's 4X12 Eddie Van Halen had. They were SUPPOSED to sound and feel well worn. But those damned C12N's. What were they thinking?

11/29/2005 8:26 PM

Steve Dallman

I didn't like the distortion in those amps, but now I'm sure the speaker is the problem.

Trust me though, the C12K is nothing like the C12N. THAT's the speaker they should have in your amp.

I ran a 12Vac adapter into the C12N which resulted in LOUD 60Hz hum in an attempt to break the speaker in. I left it run, under a padded box in my garage for a week! NO change. I doped the edge and tried the break in again. No change.

I have a Fender Vibratone. The rotating baffle mutes the speaker's tone somewhat. I may try the C12N there.

OR I'll run the signal through a choke and crossover cap in parallel, to create a dip around 2k, which should make the damned thing usable.

After the C12N and the two Mods I bought I had given up hope for the new Jensen's. I tried a lot of speakers in my DR. Celestions, especially the V30 sounded OK but sucked the "Fender" out of the tone. I stumbled on the perfect speaker.

While talking to a fellow amp tech, I noticed he had a chrome framed, Peavey/Scheffield Triple XXX speaker on the bench. He said it had been replaced under warranty. He sold me the defective, buzzing speaker for $15.

The buzzing came from a poor glue job on the edge of the cone. A little contact cement and the speaker was fine.

It was PERFECT in my DR. It sounded like a Vintage 30 with a better high end. A call to Peavey confirmed that was their goal.

My girlfriend, who loves Celestions wants the same speaker in the Deluxe Reverb I am building her.

Nice job Peavey!

I also scored a 4X12 Peavey cabinet for $40 that day. Some punk band had torn off the tolex, and spray painted the whole cabinet with black, gold and silver spray paint.

Glory be...the speakers worked. So I recovered the cabinet and touched up the speaker cones with flat black. It's great! The speakers are Scheffield 1200's.

I read a review on Harmony Central. The kid hated the speakers and thought them loose and sloppy. He put in a quad of Celestion Greenbacks and said finally, the cabinet was tight and the way he wanted it.

I laughed. The 1200's were Peavey's copies of a set of worn out Greenbacks in a well worn 80's 4X12 Eddie Van Halen had. They were SUPPOSED to sound and feel well worn.

But those damned C12N's. What were they thinking?

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