Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

My experience with the Blues (or Hot Rod, very similar circuits) Deluxe is it has a great clean channel.  I find the overdrive channels nearly unusable.  One of the problems I ran into was the amp really didnt sound very good at higher volumes (muddy,and mushy low end).  I found the stock speaker was a big cause of this (which I believe joe addressed earlier).  I swapped it out for an EVM12L and the amp really came to life.  One thing though is that the EV is a much more efficient speaker so its louder (a blessing or curse depending how you look at it).  So, as you turn the Blues Deluxe up on the clean channel it breaks up pretty nice, especially with a good quality speaker.  I would suggest a good distortion pedal for any higher gain stuff.  I have a Analogman modded DS-1 that does the job nicely for distortion cause as I said I find the Dirty channels on these amps almost unusable.
Somthing else you may want to try if volume is a big issue is most GOOD amp techs could set your Blues Deluxe up with 6V6 tubes to replace the 6L6's.  That would cut your power closer to the 20-30 watt range, it would also change the voicing slightly but might work for you.  I have a Blankenship Fat Boy ( basically a tweed deluxe with 6L6's) that puts out around 23 watts and that works for me on a good 80% of my gigs.  Lastly, check out Fenders Blues Junior amp.  Its 15 watts and a great sounding little amp that holds up extremely well in most gig situations especially when miked.  If you go this route I would suggest changing the speaker out (same stock speaker as the Blues Deluxe) and maybe an aftermarket output transformer will squeeze a few extra watts.  Anyway hope some this was helpful.
See ya next time
Mike

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

SRVTWO wrote:

My experience with the Blues (or Hot Rod, very similar circuits) Deluxe is it has a great clean channel.  I find the overdrive channels nearly unusable.  One of the problems I ran into was the amp really didnt sound very good at higher volumes (muddy,and mushy low end).  I found the stock speaker was a big cause of this (which I believe joe addressed earlier).  I swapped it out for an EVM12L and the amp really came to life.  One thing though is that the EV is a much more efficient speaker so its louder (a blessing or curse depending how you look at it).  So, as you turn the Blues Deluxe up on the clean channel it breaks up pretty nice, especially with a good quality speaker.  I would suggest a good distortion pedal for any higher gain stuff.  I have a Analogman modded DS-1 that does the job nicely for distortion cause as I said I find the Dirty channels on these amps almost unusable.
Somthing else you may want to try if volume is a big issue is most GOOD amp techs could set your Blues Deluxe up with 6V6 tubes to replace the 6L6's.  That would cut your power closer to the 20-30 watt range, it would also change the voicing slightly but might work for you.  I have a Blankenship Fat Boy ( basically a tweed deluxe with 6L6's) that puts out around 23 watts and that works for me on a good 80% of my gigs.  Lastly, check out Fenders Blues Junior amp.  Its 15 watts and a great sounding little amp that holds up extremely well in most gig situations especially when miked.  If you go this route I would suggest changing the speaker out (same stock speaker as the Blues Deluxe) and maybe an aftermarket output transformer will squeeze a few extra watts.  Anyway hope some this was helpful.
See ya next time
Mike

Mike said it.  I did all of the following to my amp with great results:

1.) Swapped the stock speaker for a Eminence Governor (very Vintage 30-ish but a little better sounding to my ears) ~$70
2.) Replaced the 6L6's with JJ 6V6 and re-biased the amp slightly hot (followed the instructions on eurotubes.com.  Super easy if you can read a multimeter) - NOTE:  I picked the JJ's because they have an almost hybrid 6L6/6V6 tone to them, not like traditional 6V6 tubes.  They keep the big, tight bottom end 6L6 thing in tact well.  The Blues Deluxe also loved Tung Sol 6V6's.  Additionally, the drop in wattage allows me to crank the volume up higher ~$30
3.) Built a plexiglass amp baffle - this yields HUGE sonic results and is probably the cheapest thing you can do out of the gate (cost me about $30 in parts from Home Depot).   This is almost a no-brainer if you are a fan of Joe.  I tried turning the amp backwards and miking it but it didn't really work for me.  Used the amp baffle and miked it normally and got what I was looking for. Plus, you'd be surprised how loud you can turn the amp up with the baffle in place.  ~$30
4.) Swap the preamp tubes in V1 with a 12AY7 or 5751.  This tamed the preamp gain (particularly crappy anyway in the Blues Deluxe) but it also softened the high-end from my tone.  Another cheap fix that yields nice results. ~$12

Aside from the speaker, all these mods cost me less than $80. 

To me, the gain channels of the Blues Deluxe and the Hot Rod Deluxe sound terrible.  That said, I prefer the clean channel of the Blues Deluxe to the Hot Rod Deluxe.  I think a key is to crank the mids, keep the treble minimal and add in the low end to get that fullness.  By God, never use the Bright switch and play around with the different inputs.  I typically play in input 1 but input 2 is growing on me.  I think there is a 6dB drop in volume when using this input and you can drive the output tubes harder.

As far as the Blues Junior goes, I say skip it unless you want a really portable, small gig amp.  I had mine modded to upgrade the tone stack, added a presence control, and replaced the output transformer (AND used the same speaker and preamp tube mod above PLUS) and it was still lacking.  A major sonic flaw in this amp is the small cabinet size.  Good luck trying to get any significant low end from the amp.  I did like the amp when I ran it through a bigger cabinet but that kind of defeats its purpose....

Guitar: Schecter Solo 6 Limited (p90's), Fender Strat
Amp: Blues Deluxe Reissue, Fender Twin Reverb
Effects:  Morley Bad Horsie 2 Wah --> Korg Pitchblack --> BBE Soul Vibe -->  Ethos TLE--> Jetter GS3 --> MXR Carbon Copy

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

The best way to get a good tone from the blues Deluxe is to sell it! HA

When I interviewed with fender a while back they where really proud of this reissue.

That said if you don't like the amp try something else, I got to tell you I picked up a Peavey Classic 30  yes I said peavey! I was going to use it at home for a practice amp but I used it at our gig this weekend and was amazed at how good that little guy sounded. Even the band was impressed with it, Mine has an upgraded vintage 30 and jj tubes, got it on Craigslist for $300 I am a happy camper!

Its got a good clean, not fender but better than most Marshalls and has a very useable overdrive channel, effects loop and spring reverb and built in the USA.

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

Interestingly, I finally found what I was looking for in a Fender FM 212R solid state. I run a tubescreamer for just boost, the drive is on zero, while the tone is at 12 o'clock with the level all the way up. Then I run another tubescreamer for the overdrive. But I turn the bass up pretty far and the treble down pretty low. It takes out a lot of the brightness that is normally associated with Fender.

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make"

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Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

the only way to improve the tone is to sell it unlucky it looks like a great amp but is far from it. i played a gig last night with one and wanted to end my life i was so embarrased, what also would have been nice is if the band allowed me to tune up. the only amp that is worse is the blues deville only because it has more speakers and is twice as bad.

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

Call me crazy but I think the clean tone on the Blues Deluxe/Deville is pretty darn good....  hmm

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

Is it just me or does anyone else fail to see the value in the posts that advise Blues Deluxe owners to "sell it" or "throw it off a building" as tactics to improve its' tone?

Guitar: Schecter Solo 6 Limited (p90's), Fender Strat
Amp: Blues Deluxe Reissue, Fender Twin Reverb
Effects:  Morley Bad Horsie 2 Wah --> Korg Pitchblack --> BBE Soul Vibe -->  Ethos TLE--> Jetter GS3 --> MXR Carbon Copy

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

+1

stratpaulguy86 wrote:

Call me crazy but I think the clean tone on the Blues Deluxe/Deville is pretty darn good....  hmm

Gits: '03 Gibson Historic R7 Goldtop, '06 Gibson R8 Plaintop, MIJ '62 RI Strat,  and others...
Amps: '99 Marshall 1987x Plexi RI, 1969 Fender Super Reverb

My band: www.meanbones.com

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

kevman13 wrote:

+1

stratpaulguy86 wrote:

Call me crazy but I think the clean tone on the Blues Deluxe/Deville is pretty darn good....  hmm

+1
The drive channel may be lacking and it can get a little bright, but i've stuck with it and really like the sounds I'm getting now. KT66's and hours of fiddling with eq/settings and I've been able to get most of the sounds I'm after. It may not sound like My dream Marshall but I'm happy.

Fender 60's Strat>Fulltone OCD V4>>TC Electronics Polytune>Orange Dual Terror>Torres 2x10 Cab(with a vintage 30 and a greenback)

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

I've always found the best way to get a good overdriven sound from that amp is to un-plug it.  tongue


Clean it's fine though, get a nice tubscreamer.

Guitars: 95 Les Paul Standard, Relic Strat,
Amps: 1973 Marshall JMP 50 head and Vintage Modern Cab. I use no effects other than a Cry Baby on occasions.

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

Halesie wrote:
kevman13 wrote:

+1

stratpaulguy86 wrote:

Call me crazy but I think the clean tone on the Blues Deluxe/Deville is pretty darn good....  hmm

+1
The drive channel may be lacking and it can get a little bright, but i've stuck with it and really like the sounds I'm getting now. KT66's and hours of fiddling with eq/settings and I've been able to get most of the sounds I'm after. It may not sound like My dream Marshall but I'm happy.

Agreed.  Throw in some JJ 6v6 or KT66's and swap out the v1 tube with a 12AY7 (one of the most musical tubes IMHO).  Speaker swap is a must - something that accentuates midrange (Vintage 30, Eminence Governor, etc.).  Crank the mids and almost the bass. Treble at 4-5 and presence 8-9 and bright switch off.  It's no Marshall but it is certainly not as terrible as many make it out, especially with some minor tweaks.  We've all seen examples of top notch gear sounding like complete garbage.  If that is possible, the inverse is too.

Guitar: Schecter Solo 6 Limited (p90's), Fender Strat
Amp: Blues Deluxe Reissue, Fender Twin Reverb
Effects:  Morley Bad Horsie 2 Wah --> Korg Pitchblack --> BBE Soul Vibe -->  Ethos TLE--> Jetter GS3 --> MXR Carbon Copy

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

So... bought mine 2 years ago... got it home and it sounded pretty bad... brittle I guess .. so I swapped out the speaker with a swamp thang and the time improved but not entirely to my liking. Flash forward 15 months and somehow the amp is sounding much better.. I had put much more than 60 hours on the speaker last year. What HAS changed is that Iā€™m playing almost entirely through the drive channel.. drive around 9.. mids sucked out.. mxr compressor, tube screamer, then a boss DD7.

Re: How do you get a good sound out of a fender blues deluxe reissue

With all amps if I first walk up to it you need to find the sweet spot for each control for that amp. Treble, mid, bass presence then the vol. I have found this gives me a quick gage of the best setting for the amp. Then fine tune to taste

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