The Chetboard

I know amps have been discussed here at length, and I don't want to bore anyone; however, I wanted to post this for anyone looking to purchase a new amp that sounds good for fingerstyle and sounds good with Gretsch/Gibson CG's, etc.

I have never considered a Fender Blues Deluxe, because I assumed the amps were designed more for players who desire overdrive/distortion. This past weekend, I was in the local Guitar Center and noticed the Blues Deluxe had 6L6's instead of 6V6's. Also, I discovered the clean channel functioned separately from the overdrive channel, so the clean channel controls are volume, bass, treble, middle, presence, and reverb. The gain and master volume do not operate with the clean channel.

I purchased the amp and made a few minor modifications. I changed the tubes in V1 and V2 from 12AX7's to Electro Harmonix 12AY7's, and I changed V3 from the stock Fender 12AX7 to an Electro Harmonix 12AX7. The amp is 40 watts, so reducing the gain in the preamp stage seemed to tame the high volume I got at low settings - initially, the amp was very loud at a volume setting of 2. I have been comparing it to my Deluxe Reverb Reissue and my MM RD50 (playing my Gretsch 59 NC and my Gibson CG), and I think I like it better. With the volume at 3, treble at 5, bass at 6, middle at 6, presence at 1, and reverb at 3, I get a very clean sound with nice balanced bass and treble. The bass is not boomy and overpowering, and the trebles are chimey but not harsh. I found the presence made the trebles too harsh sounding. It has an Emminence speaker instead of a Jenson, so I think there's a difference in tone there as well.

I thought someone might be interested in this, and I would like to hear from anyone who also has a Blues Deluxe and what volume, eq, etc. settings you like.

Thanks,
Jeff Stovall

I also use a Fender Blues Deluxe and am very happy with it. I have a 1959 NC and a CGP and they sound very good through it. What I did to buffer the channel one volume is run a digital delay with volume control from the preamp out to the power amp in. This way I can use the volume on the delay as well. Works good.

Hi Dean,

Thanks for the reply. I have a new Lexicon unit (I think it is a MX200) that has an incoming gain control, but I don't think it has an output level control. What type of delay are you using?

Jeff:

I have an older Alesis delay, not sure of the model. It does have an input and output volume on it though. I use a combination of the channel one volume and the delay volume to temper things. The output just stays in the middle.