Hey John, needless to say I agree with you. Fun fact about the bright switch - that was designed when Fender guitars shipped with flatwound 12s with a wound G.
I really wish they would put bright switches on the deluxe. I still haven’t decided whether or not I’m keeping mine but if I do, I’m gonna crack it open, clip the bright cap, and do your mods Lyle.
I have owned a Fender Deluxe Reverb for at least 12 years. It's 2008 model. I saw a UA-cam posting from a Nashville studio player - playing an original deluxe reverb. It sounded unbelievable - crunch and distortion with no effects. What's the secret you may ask? The secret is setting the tone controls completely the opposite way, to how I had being doing it for 12 years. Bass=2, treble=7 and volume on 7. I use an attenuator. My God it's amazing... Truly amazing.
Your playing is so smooth & tasty. I hope to one-day play like that. I love my 65 Fender Princeton Reverb = those pristine "Fender cleans" are hypnotic + the gorgeous Reverb and tube-driven Tremolo. I use a Barber Gain Changer SR. (best od I've ever played). oNe LovE from NYC
I’m a 90% fender amp kinda guy. Have more than 10 vintage examples from all the different fender eras including two 60s black deluxe reverbs and a 59 5e3. I think a fender amp plus some pedals can pretty much cover any sound you would ever want. You can use a Marshall in a box pedal and get really close to a Marshall sound even. But nothing sounds as good for clean as an old fender and takes pedals so well. I do agree the old ones have kind of a noisy floor. But when you’re playing it doesn’t matter. I actually take the v1 12ax7 out which juices the v2 vibrato channel a little and only use the vibrato channel as well
Agreed I have a first run 1965 Pro Reverb, owned it since 1996 and other amps have come and gone but it is still the best amp I have and the best of the Fenders of that era IMO.
Nicely done sir 👍🏼. You are correct. Especially for simplicity. The Fender Deluxe Reverb is super popular but IMHO after years of playing, the “Blackface” mid 60’s Fender Pro Reverb and mid 60’s Fender Vibrolux Reverb. Just amazing. When limited on funds…go for a mid 60’s Fender Bassman Head with pedals. Killer and easy to control set up. Obviously there are other great choices out there. There is the “Boutique” brands which are amazing but can get confusing. One company I’ve tried is Headstrong Amps in the USA, awesome clones! For the record I do love Marshalls also but don’t have the play time on them. Cheers and thanks for sharing! Note: If you can obtain a copy, the book titled “Fender Amps, the first fifty years” by John Teagle and John Sprung from the States. Good read!
I agreee I had a Pro Reverb in 1967 and used it as a practice amp and I loved it. We were playing big gigs so I needed heavy duty stuff for that! You're an amazing player! You could make a 1962 Silvertone amp sound like a Mesa Boogie!!!
Interesting, I got into my head that I should get a vintage Fender and got a ’65 Bandmaster. It’s almost the same circuit as yours and I had the same experience, sounds awesome and *great* for pedals. I know people say that all the time but yeah…. Everyone should get a vintage Fender 😁 Hint: pull out the tube from the channel you’re not using. (If you use the vibrato channel yank the normal channel preamp tube.) Thank me later 😀
@@Newnodrogbob- the tubes are in series and that will split the volume and headroom in half making it much more manageable. Those amps get headsplitting loud.
My Rivera Clubster Royale Recording is like this for me. It has that crazy killer Fender clean but also has a modded OD channel w a Boost that is absolutely insane. I do not need to add any pedals to get that 'Perfect' OD or clean sound. Anyone who hears it, has to play it and loves it. The headroom in Fender amps really allow the Effects to shine. Why bring up Rivera on a Fender vid? That's basically what hius amps are, as he worked on many Fender amps. TIP: Put old NOS tubes that are american made into your fender preamp and output slots and be ready to be amazed. They make a much bigger difference than I ever imagined!!! RCA blackplates are amazing for American amps. RCA Long Grey plates are great as well. As far as output tubes, grab some of the RCA smoked grey if you can. You are welcome!
Great clean tones !! I had a 73 one!! clean tones were awesome too! crunch when cranked was crazy! but it didn't like the stomps, especially drives and ODs and way tooooo heavy for my back!!
Especially for clean playing, the sound and feel of the Fender amps, have an unequaled quality, best described as "friendly". My own include, Bandmaster Reverb, Showman Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, and Champ. I love them. . . . . . . .
I also have a '65 Pro Reverb (completely original). In the book "Fender Amps:The First Fifty Years," by John Teagle and John Sprung, the authors say: "If you happen to use . . . single coil pickups, the author recommends these amps [Fender black panel Pro Reverbs] as the best all-around amp ever made---by anyone." Quite a number of people hold the same opinion.
Yeah, and the best car is a Chevy. The best ice cream is chocolate. The best wood is oak. The best state is Vermont. The best shoes are flip flops. It is all so objective.
100% agree on the Fender cleans being so good. The Custom Princeton and Custom Pro Reverb are the two best imho, of the new amps. I love my Custom Pro and play it more than my vintage Fenders.
Finally another vid on my fav amp you have! This thing is insane! Ive tried to make stomp patches mimicking this, but its hard to get that satisfying snap of the notes, this thing is so nice.
( as a owner of a vox ac 10 1964).........Nothing beats the real shit. Your playing is beautiful but so much hearable now ( to my ears........mayby AI is joking with me but this is the sound of great player for real) Thanks
Remember what the " Cool cats" used to say, " keep it simple" , avoid channel switching amps they always make you go loco. A Ge7 and a simple no frill Valve amp. Keep it.
Have to say this sounds amazing. Interesting that you are still on a tone journey, given the number of amps you have had you would think you would know what you like by now. I guess you’re always looking for new sounds as your playing develops.
I had two blackface Pro Reverbs, 65 or 66 or so. One was converted to a Twin and I hauled that thing from one end of the country to the other for fifteen years as my gig amp. I don't even remember what happened to the other one. I think the cabinet fell apart and I sold the chassis on ebay.
it is a beautiful clean. I mainly get gigs needing a nice drive tone or edge of break up. I still like my mesa single rec for the bulk of what i play, at the expense of a pristine clean. i still can coax a funky edge of break up tone, get away with reggae etc when needed. but i feel the light to medium drive of a mesa is a complex inspiring tone.
Best tube amp I ever played through was a Blackface 65 DRRI. Recently set up a new Helix patch based on the Deluxe Reverb after using just the Litigator for the past 3 years or so. Sounding great with a Klon for boost and Prince of Tone for crunch but only thing I’m not satisfied with yet is a high-gain lead tone. Favourite so far is the preamp model of the BE-100 (Placater Dirty). Would be curious how you’d tackle that in the Helix.
John those Fender vintage amps are unbeatable for clean tone IMHO. I am not so sure about the modern tube versions. I think it may be the difference in discrete components versus circuit boards, not sure. However carting on of those to a gig will break your back.
What kind of EV speakers? My 1965 Twin has SRO-12 “coffee cans” from 1975, and they’re the best thing under the sun for a high-negative-feedback clean sound. Zero cone breakup, ultra clarity, super powerful at 103.2dB, I hope that’s what you’re using because they’re the very best.
The Fender Pro is underrated.....which is good for the buyer.....but it is a perfect amp...all the Fender details w/ 40 w....I own a 65 Fender Pro as well....and a 79 Fender Pro. The 65 is best...but both are good.
Id highly recommend a 65 reissue Princeton but swap the baffle out for a 12" and out a cannabis rex 12 in as you seem to like fat not too bright sounds. I have a gearbox as well and its a great match making for a very compact function band rig paired with an hx stomp for extra fx or running to pa for limiter venues.
I’m part of the small minority that prefers the normal channel. I think my pedal reverb sounds better. Plus, it doesn’t have the bright cap. (I have a deluxe reverb - no switch). Someday I want to build an amp that just has the normal channel. It would probably weigh about 2/3 of what a dual channel with spring reverb does.
No don't mod the first channel... the point is to allow easy and ideal fx routing via ABY switch or panning pedal-So you can put two separate fx chains in front of your amp and easily manage them... actually better than any 4cm with relays. Far less cable and other clunkiness needed. There is a lot of advantages to this way of rigging. No Fx loops ensure a more pure tube operation... no master volume... no preamp gain therefore tubes will saturate and add hormonic content in a more predictable and proper way. Also this makes your guitar rig infinitely more modular as drive and preamp pedals can be swapped if you wanna change up your tone... cheaper and easier and far less compromise than buying new amps to mix things up. I ended up with a MKV25 tho... sold my deluxe reverb. I was trying to get to the aforementioned method but, I could not find a repair tech to take my ticket... the one who seemed to know how to help me was more interested in becoming a UA-cam celebrity and not fixing amps... infuriating. Fender actually did me dirty. They didn't build my deluxe to last. They put bad caps in it... quick connect style wires on the heater components. In general a lot of quality control issues that should never have passed, PERIOD! I am still really angry about it. The Mexican made reissues aren't exactly cheap. I know there are a lot of snobs out there that think you have to spend $4k minimum on a tube amp or else its junk... I tend to think in a more common sense fashion. $1,200 is a fair price for an instrument... it is a lot of disposable income... which, frankly nobody really can justify to begin with... then the amp craps out on you... Goodbye Fender.
I had both for a breif moment when i was selling the 68. They sounded like totally different amps, tone knobs reacted super differently. Really disliked that the 68 seemed like no matter where i set the tone knobs it didnt really change anything. It was still muddy. The vintage pro the tone controls are super sensetive and you can sculpt the tone much more dramaticly, there was also a muffled sort of sound or attack to the 68. where as the vintage pro has a incredibly open sound with a very immediate snappy attack! Depends on what you want. Reverb on the old amp is insanely lush. The 68 pro was also super noisy out of the box, this could probably be fixed with some mods. While the vintage is dead quiet. So when i got the old amp I sold the 68 custom right away. I would say there are alot of better new amps that does that kinda fender clean tone, I think new amps are just as good in every way, if you find one you like. Just my 2cents :) the 2x12 pro is super heavy tho, so keep that in mind!
is your looper separating the tracks and sending them direct? the amp doesn't seem to be mashing the notes together like a mono signal tends to do. great video!
@Christopher is right; John has a few videos detailing his process. To clarify here: at 00:37 you'll see a cut. He took the loop from before that to Reaper, built a backing track with that, and then the rest of the intro is him improvising over that track. He often puts the backing tracks on his Patreon site shortly after putting a video up on YT. -Tom
Best amp ever. Use the normal channel as a better pedal platform. Normal has a different tone that is better minus the reverb/trem. It cuts through a band mix better on the normal channel.
I bought my Fender Pro Reverb 30 years ago in Hollywood. Love it.
Hey John, needless to say I agree with you. Fun fact about the bright switch - that was designed when Fender guitars shipped with flatwound 12s with a wound G.
I really wish they would put bright switches on the deluxe. I still haven’t decided whether or not I’m keeping mine but if I do, I’m gonna crack it open, clip the bright cap, and do your mods Lyle.
Now THAT is a tidbit of neat information! Probably a lot cheaper than the "PRESENCE" knob system, as well ...
I have owned a Fender Deluxe Reverb for at least 12 years. It's 2008 model. I saw a UA-cam posting from a Nashville studio player - playing an original deluxe reverb. It sounded unbelievable - crunch and distortion with no effects. What's the secret you may ask? The secret is setting the tone controls completely the opposite way, to how I had being doing it for 12 years.
Bass=2, treble=7 and volume on 7. I use an attenuator. My God it's amazing... Truly amazing.
Best Tube I ever played a "The Twin" Blackface model. It was huge sounding and super clean at high volumes. They are very powerful.
They used to call those the “evil twin” :-) Steve Cropper was a big fan though!
Hi John. Great Amp. I ve using mine for 20 years, it is a 1971. Great videos and excellent playing.
Only GREAT PLAYER not on TRUEFIRE is JNC, maybe we can protest this. His teaching of modeller tech, is Value alone, plus his astonishing playing!!!
Your playing is so smooth & tasty. I hope to one-day play like that. I love my 65 Fender Princeton Reverb = those pristine "Fender cleans" are hypnotic + the gorgeous Reverb and tube-driven Tremolo. I use a Barber Gain Changer SR. (best od I've ever played). oNe LovE from NYC
This amp, a HX Effects and maybe an overdrive and a fuzz pedal, is all I ever need.
I’m a 90% fender amp kinda guy. Have more than 10 vintage examples from all the different fender eras including two 60s black deluxe reverbs and a 59 5e3. I think a fender amp plus some pedals can pretty much cover any sound you would ever want. You can use a Marshall in a box pedal and get really close to a Marshall sound even. But nothing sounds as good for clean as an old fender and takes pedals so well. I do agree the old ones have kind of a noisy floor. But when you’re playing it doesn’t matter. I actually take the v1 12ax7 out which juices the v2 vibrato channel a little and only use the vibrato channel as well
Agreed I have a first run 1965 Pro Reverb, owned it since 1996 and other amps have come and gone but it is still the best amp I have and the best of the Fenders of that era IMO.
An absolute classic. Wish they’d bring it back
Gear aside, your playing is always inspiring. Great stuff man. Hope to see you hit 100,000 subs soon.
Happy now?😊
Yep. My band mate had one of these in high school in the late ‘60s and it was the best amp any of us ever had
Nicely done sir 👍🏼. You are correct. Especially for simplicity. The Fender Deluxe Reverb is super popular but IMHO after years of playing, the “Blackface” mid 60’s Fender Pro Reverb and mid 60’s Fender Vibrolux Reverb. Just amazing. When limited on funds…go for a mid 60’s Fender Bassman Head with pedals. Killer and easy to control set up. Obviously there are other great choices out there. There is the “Boutique” brands which are amazing but can get confusing. One company I’ve tried is Headstrong Amps in the USA, awesome clones! For the record I do love Marshalls also but don’t have the play time on them. Cheers and thanks for sharing! Note: If you can obtain a copy, the book titled “Fender Amps, the first fifty years” by John Teagle and John Sprung from the States. Good read!
I agreee I had a Pro Reverb in 1967 and used it as a practice amp and I loved it. We were playing big gigs so I needed heavy duty stuff for that! You're an amazing player! You could make a 1962 Silvertone amp sound like a Mesa Boogie!!!
Can't beat the Pro Reverb. Even the less expensive silver face 70's amps produce excellent clean tones.
Interesting, I got into my head that I should get a vintage Fender and got a ’65 Bandmaster. It’s almost the same circuit as yours and I had the same experience, sounds awesome and *great* for pedals. I know people say that all the time but yeah…. Everyone should get a vintage Fender 😁 Hint: pull out the tube from the channel you’re not using. (If you use the vibrato channel yank the normal channel preamp tube.) Thank me later 😀
Why?
@@Newnodrogbob- the tubes are in series and that will split the volume and headroom in half making it much more manageable. Those amps get headsplitting loud.
@@Place_to_keep_videos ahh…nice!
For a long time Steve Lukather used a Fender Deluxe in the studio; the vibrato channel for clean and had Rivera mod the normal channel for distortion.
What a master piece!
My Rivera Clubster Royale Recording is like this for me. It has that crazy killer Fender clean but also has a modded OD channel w a Boost that is absolutely insane. I do not need to add any pedals to get that 'Perfect' OD or clean sound. Anyone who hears it, has to play it and loves it. The headroom in Fender amps really allow the Effects to shine. Why bring up Rivera on a Fender vid? That's basically what hius amps are, as he worked on many Fender amps. TIP: Put old NOS tubes that are american made into your fender preamp and output slots and be ready to be amazed. They make a much bigger difference than I ever imagined!!! RCA blackplates are amazing for American amps. RCA Long Grey plates are great as well. As far as output tubes, grab some of the RCA smoked grey if you can. You are welcome!
Great clean tones !! I had a 73 one!! clean tones were awesome too! crunch when cranked was crazy! but it didn't like the stomps, especially drives and ODs and way tooooo heavy for my back!!
Great amp! Tough to beat these old Fenders. Great playing as well!
Especially for clean playing, the sound and feel of the Fender amps, have an unequaled quality, best described as "friendly". My own include, Bandmaster Reverb, Showman Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, and Champ. I love them. . . . . . . .
I also have a '65 Pro Reverb (completely original). In the book "Fender Amps:The First Fifty Years," by John Teagle and John Sprung, the authors say: "If you happen to use . . . single coil pickups, the author recommends these amps [Fender black panel Pro Reverbs] as the best all-around amp ever made---by anyone." Quite a number of people hold the same opinion.
Yeah, and the best car is a Chevy. The best ice cream is chocolate. The best wood is oak. The best state is Vermont. The best shoes are flip flops. It is all so objective.
@@jasoncheshire6153 Note that it was an "opimion" which by nature is subjective. what's your point?
100% agree on the Fender cleans being so good. The Custom Princeton and Custom Pro Reverb are the two best imho, of the new amps. I love my Custom Pro and play it more than my vintage Fenders.
Finally another vid on my fav amp you have! This thing is insane! Ive tried to make stomp patches mimicking this, but its hard to get that satisfying snap of the notes, this thing is so nice.
I traded my 2020 Gibson Les Paul Standard 50's straight across for a 1967 black face Super Reverb 2 weeks ago and don't regret it one bit.
( as a owner of a vox ac 10 1964).........Nothing beats the real shit. Your playing is beautiful but so much hearable now ( to my ears........mayby AI is joking with me but this is the sound of great player for real) Thanks
Remember what the " Cool cats" used to say, " keep it simple" , avoid channel switching amps they always make you go loco. A Ge7 and a simple no frill Valve amp. Keep it.
That phrasing and tone at 4:40 though 😍
Have to say this sounds amazing. Interesting that you are still on a tone journey, given the number of amps you have had you would think you would know what you like by now. I guess you’re always looking for new sounds as your playing develops.
It never ends - ever.
I had two blackface Pro Reverbs, 65 or 66 or so. One was converted to a Twin and I hauled that thing from one end of the country to the other for fifteen years as my gig amp. I don't even remember what happened to the other one. I think the cabinet fell apart and I sold the chassis on ebay.
it is a beautiful clean. I mainly get gigs needing a nice drive tone or edge of break up. I still like my mesa single rec for the bulk of what i play, at the expense of a pristine clean. i still can coax a funky edge of break up tone, get away with reggae etc when needed. but i feel the light to medium drive of a mesa is a complex inspiring tone.
Best tube amp I ever played through was a Blackface 65 DRRI. Recently set up a new Helix patch based on the Deluxe Reverb after using just the Litigator for the past 3 years or so. Sounding great with a Klon for boost and Prince of Tone for crunch but only thing I’m not satisfied with yet is a high-gain lead tone. Favourite so far is the preamp model of the BE-100 (Placater Dirty). Would be curious how you’d tackle that in the Helix.
Fantastic sound, could you tell me at what volume this amplifier starts to overdrive?
Great tones John! I ve had similar with a few different Rivera amps and now my Two Rock👍
This sounds amazing.
Sounds great John 👏🏻
John those Fender vintage amps are unbeatable for clean tone IMHO. I am not so sure about the modern tube versions. I think it may be the difference in discrete components versus circuit boards, not sure. However carting on of those to a gig will break your back.
What kind of EV speakers? My 1965 Twin has SRO-12 “coffee cans” from 1975, and they’re the best thing under the sun for a high-negative-feedback clean sound. Zero cone breakup, ultra clarity, super powerful at 103.2dB, I hope that’s what you’re using because they’re the very best.
The Fender Pro is underrated.....which is good for the buyer.....but it is a perfect amp...all the Fender details w/ 40 w....I own a 65 Fender Pro as well....and a 79 Fender Pro. The 65 is best...but both are good.
I have a 65 Pro Reverb. Not 100% pure though. The speakers were replaced when I got it 40 years ago but it's awesome and I'll never part with it. .
You got dad back
So good!
Id highly recommend a 65 reissue Princeton but swap the baffle out for a 12" and out a cannabis rex 12 in as you seem to like fat not too bright sounds. I have a gearbox as well and its a great match making for a very compact function band rig paired with an hx stomp for extra fx or running to pa for limiter venues.
Pretry sure this guy could make a Boss Nextone sound this good. Nonetheless, sounded killer and the playing is impeccable.
I have heard of people using an AB switcher with two separate signal chains for the two channels.
Should gig with something like this. Have to do something about weight but sounds great.
I had one from the mid 70s. It was fantastic, but wasn’t enough to hang with a heavy handed drummer. I’m lucky I’m not deaf.
How does it compare to the Tone Master version?
Very nice sound. So it's a 40watt 2x12" , like a more reasonable Twin Reverb if not mistaken? Keep it.
John does your idea of a great clean then use pedals work for a Roland JC-120/40/22?
I’m part of the small minority that prefers the normal channel. I think my pedal reverb sounds better. Plus, it doesn’t have the bright cap. (I have a deluxe reverb - no switch).
Someday I want to build an amp that just has the normal channel. It would probably weigh about 2/3 of what a dual channel with spring reverb does.
No don't mod the first channel... the point is to allow easy and ideal fx routing via ABY switch or panning pedal-So you can put two separate fx chains in front of your amp and easily manage them... actually better than any 4cm with relays. Far less cable and other clunkiness needed. There is a lot of advantages to this way of rigging. No Fx loops ensure a more pure tube operation... no master volume... no preamp gain therefore tubes will saturate and add hormonic content in a more predictable and proper way. Also this makes your guitar rig infinitely more modular as drive and preamp pedals can be swapped if you wanna change up your tone... cheaper and easier and far less compromise than buying new amps to mix things up. I ended up with a MKV25 tho... sold my deluxe reverb. I was trying to get to the aforementioned method but, I could not find a repair tech to take my ticket... the one who seemed to know how to help me was more interested in becoming a UA-cam celebrity and not fixing amps... infuriating. Fender actually did me dirty. They didn't build my deluxe to last. They put bad caps in it... quick connect style wires on the heater components. In general a lot of quality control issues that should never have passed, PERIOD! I am still really angry about it. The Mexican made reissues aren't exactly cheap. I know there are a lot of snobs out there that think you have to spend $4k minimum on a tube amp or else its junk... I tend to think in a more common sense fashion. $1,200 is a fair price for an instrument... it is a lot of disposable income... which, frankly nobody really can justify to begin with... then the amp craps out on you... Goodbye Fender.
Have a Champ XD, put in a new Wharehouse speaker and run it at 10 with an attenuater. Sounds great now and maybe I can skip the 40 additional pounds.
Is the K-line your favourite strat?
Curious on how this compares to the 68 pro reissues that Fender sells nowdays.
I had both for a breif moment when i was selling the 68. They sounded like totally different amps, tone knobs reacted super differently. Really disliked that the 68 seemed like no matter where i set the tone knobs it didnt really change anything. It was still muddy.
The vintage pro the tone controls are super sensetive and you can sculpt the tone much more dramaticly, there was also a muffled sort of sound or attack to the 68. where as the vintage pro has a incredibly open sound with a very immediate snappy attack! Depends on what you want. Reverb on the old amp is insanely lush. The 68 pro was also super noisy out of the box, this could probably be fixed with some mods. While the vintage is dead quiet. So when i got the old amp I sold the 68 custom right away. I would say there are alot of better new amps that does that kinda fender clean tone, I think new amps are just as good in every way, if you find one you like. Just my 2cents :) the 2x12 pro is super heavy tho, so keep that in mind!
is your looper separating the tracks and sending them direct? the amp doesn't seem to be mashing the notes together like a mono signal tends to do. great video!
He uses Reaper DAW to build those loops. See his video titled "How I Make My Videos and Backing Tracks" The thumbnail says "This may NOT Shock you" 🙂
@Christopher is right; John has a few videos detailing his process. To clarify here: at 00:37 you'll see a cut. He took the loop from before that to Reaper, built a backing track with that, and then the rest of the intro is him improvising over that track. He often puts the backing tracks on his Patreon site shortly after putting a video up on YT. -Tom
Plot twist: what we're listening to is actually a digital profile!
I love the shark doll. #toneshark
Have you ever tried the new pro reverb?
My only question is: How much does it weight?
Nice into
Fender amps sound like a bell. Other amps can sound better, different, more compressed but nothing else can sound like a Fender
Best amp ever. Use the normal channel as a better pedal platform. Normal has a different tone that is better minus the reverb/trem. It cuts through a band mix better on the normal channel.
Wait till you try a 1966 Deluxe Reverb 🎉😂
Basically the same circuit, one with 6V6, the other with 6L6.
@@mrbaiser4133 the tubes have their sound.. I had both amps .. the deluxe reverb is a keeper
That is just a very very big and heavy Helix with only one amp model, although a very good one...