How to make the Fender Blues Deluxe sound WICKED good!
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- čas přidán 6. 01. 2024
- #fender #fenderamps #guitaramp
Check out the Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue on Sweetwater! sweetwater.sjv.io/PydaMe
Thats an affiliate link, and if you do any shopping through it you help support my channel at no additional cost to you! Welcome to this in depth demo and review of the Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue tube amp! What do you think? Using a Fender Classic Player Stratocaster with Lust for Tone Pickups and a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, as well as a MXR Duke of Tone Overdrive Pedal.
This was not a sponsored review.
0:07 Intro Jam
2:07 Review
12:37 Les Paul Clean Tone
13:32 Stratocaster Clean Tone (with extra reverb)
14:27 Les Paul Amp Drive
14:54 Les Paul with OD Pedal
16:04 Stratocaster Amp Drive
16:41 Stratocaster with OD Pedal
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#guitar #guitarist #guitarplayer #guitargear #bluesrock - Hudba
Spot on analysis! My Blues Deluxe is an early '90s amp. I tossed my "purist" treatment of this amp to the wind years ago. First, I sent the amp to (John) Fromel Electronics in Seattle for installation of his mod kit. That was huge. Way more tame and richer sounding without ruining its Blues characteristics. The second thing I did was ditch the stock speaker. (no!!!😱) Yes! I installed Eminence Cannibus Rex, which sounds terrific. Rock on!!!
I have been gigging mine for years and am pleased with it.I bought my first one in 2006 when they first were reissued and played it a lot.Then in 2018 they revised the amp giving it a lacquered tweed instead of the previous plain tweed and I found the newer one sounded better...less harsh in the trebles and more musical.So I sold the older one and bought the 2018 version.The stock speaker is ok but I installed a Jensen Alnico for a more vintage tweed era tone typical of what Fender used back in the 1950s.I plug into the normal channel in input 1 without the bright switch engaged.The trick for me to getting this amp to sound nice is all in the midrange knob....keep it higher and the treble and bass knobs low.I've gone as far a setting the mids full at 12 and treble and bass on 0 with the presence on 5 and it sounds good like that actually.Lately I've been keeping the mids at 8 and treble and bass around 4 or 5 with the presence around 5.I don't use reverb.I use an Ibanez 808 Tubescreamer that I leave on for a Bluesy overdrive tone that I can use all night long.I don't use the drive channel but if were to then I wouldn't go past 8 on that or else it gets too fizzy.
If you drop in your favorite speaker along with a preamp tube lineup change in the first stage and the third stage phase inverter for lesser gain values other than 12aX7, you will have a great stage amp. I strongly recommend a 12AY7 in the first stage, and the 12aT7 for the third stage phase inverter. The first stage changed to a 12AY7 will correct the sudden volume jump and will allow you to go into input one of the amp with your guitar cable. Personally, I chose the Jensen C12-K 100watt speaker.
5751 is another solid choice to roll off the gain a little.
Great to see the LP Deluxe back. As for the amp, if it needs that many tips to get a decent tone it's too much hassle. It should be hard to get a bad tone from a good amp imo.
Agreed. That’s why I borrowed this one instead of getting my own 😃
@@JackFossettI have a blues junior 3 that's taken quite a bit of money and effort to make decent...I'll not do that again, especially when you can still pick up a Rivera-era handwired fender for ~1k
Regarding the "To much volume issue", I do as you suggest, use the volume 2 input. Then I insert a Morley Volume Plus pedal into the Send & Return input/output section. This way, Like you stated earlier, you can raise the preamp as much as you like and still control the overall volume. Works like a charm and volume issue solved.
About the bright switch… I utilize both the clean and dirty channel with the foot switch. I like pushing the dirty channel with a Klon or TS, while I also like using clean sparkly tones. The dirty channel is WAY brighter than the clean channel, so when you dial in a tone with the dirty channel it’s super muddy and dark on the clean channel because the treble is dialed back so far to suit the brightness of the gain channel. The bright switch only applies to the clean channel, so when you use that bright switch you can dial the treble back on the gain channel, switch to clean channel and they match perfectly! Hope this helps.
I just recently got one of these amps in a trade and Initially liked it when I met the person and demoed it outside. Once I got it home the extreme amounts of bass really turned me off especially the low notes. I had an et65 from warehouse guitar speakers laying around and swapped that in and that helped a bit but still not happy the tone was very sterile and fizzy. I read they have a bias pot on the board so I pulled the back off and checked the bias and it was set at 43mv Fenders recommendations is 60mv. I read they actually run best around 68-80mv. I started with 68 and still had a lot bass even with the bass on 0. I had just played an E chord and grabbed my screw driver to turn the pot a bit and just barley turned the bias pot and you could hear the bass almost leave and the amp sort of come alive. I kept adjusting and playing and measuring and got to a final setting of 74mv and that’s where I left it. Yea my tube life may or may not suffer even tho I read that even at 75-80mv the tubes are still running at a safe voltage level. Someone even said 2 6L6s running at 100mv is about what is recommended. I know a little but but not about all that. I can tell you this amp at even fenders recommend bias still doesn’t sound the best it could sound. I wonder if these amps are just all biased to cold and that’s why people don’t tend to like the tones they get. It’s funny that the blues junior is in the same “series” or “family” of amp and they are biased WAY to hot from the factory but yet these amps are under biased. Weird shit. Either way if you have this amp and aren’t happy, get a multimeter and watch one of the videos on here about how to bias it and adjust it to what sounds best. I bet that will solve most people’s problems and it doesn’t cost any money.
I use the low gain input I and set my eq's at 12 o'clock. I changed my speaker out for a vintage 30 and bought some nos GE tubes. I use a power station active attenuator between the head and speaker. I use a Boss eq pedal set to a classic "V" with a little more low mid and a BBE sonic stomp, reverb pedal, and a delay pedal set for a tiny slap to fatten the tone through the effect loop. A Tube Screamer for lead tone and a always on KLON clone in front of the amp. My thin line tele sounds awesome through this setup. Thanks for the insight!
cool -= I guess. I am really pondering the preamp tube swap 12ax7's to the 12aty7 and the 12 at something else 7 i already changed my speaker to a killer vintage JBL D -131 which is a killer sounding improvement talk about Jerry Garcia in a t win r60's reverb. oh yea however i don't care for opr about Jerry Garcia or the Grateful dead I am more of a total = Sir Mr. Eric Clapton Thru The years, like = all of them.. = I am really pondering the thought of changing 2 preamp tubes, as I said, the 70 year old wife we are talking about, it or I AM, TALKING ABOUT it , OH WHAT MAYBE $24 , 25, OR $28.00, = AT THE MOST PERHAPS = Maybe right????? and I can always change them back and if nothing else put new 12y7 tubes in my all original 1966 Fender Princeton reverb. = right. cool = cool. your thoughts = Please and thank you,... thanks you................. ....... mike here in phoe nix, Az. land of the super hot... Mike
Great video. I also play mine using input 2.
I have had my Blues Deluxe reissue for 14 years. I have put in a Celestion gold speaker and tube-wise I put in a set of origional RCA Fender 6L6's (NOS 1970).
In the preamp I swaped out the original tubes with a mix of old tubes I had laying around which also improved the sound compared to the stock pre-amp tubes. I think the amp sounds really nice. The biggest improvement was the speaker change, but also the tube change made a noticeable difference.
I agree that the reverb is not top shelf, but I never really use it anyway. To tame the volume I made a "box" with a 10Kohm audio potmeter which I connected to the effects-loop. Works like a charm and I can really push the pre-amp at bedroom level.
I also put a Celestion Gold in my BDRI along about the same time you did. 2006 Gibson LP '56 Goldtop VOS w/P90s, and '09 Fender American Standard Strat SSS sounded really good through it. My classical sounded good through it too. Don't recall using the loop though. That might be what pushes me to pick up another.
It is a pretty tough choice between BDRI, '65DR and '65 PR.
Depends on what you are looking for.
I own one of these. I love when you feature this amp.
Watching this video from Maine!!
Hey great vids always helpful interesting, always lovely tones, 😊 I wonder how loud it actually is in the room 🤔, so a question if you could only use one amp and it needed to be good at home! And jamming. What would you grab and go with! 😊thanks
For me, the bright switch comes in handy when I’m switching from a single coil pickup guitar to one with humbuckers and I don’t want to change the treble or presence knobs
I just got a blues deluxe and I think it sounds great
great video, dude!
Glad you liked it!
Adding a post phase inverter master volume and speaker swap, like a neo creamback will transform this amp into one you'll want to play at home. As far as the FX loop volume control, you can use an eq or any cleanish pedal with a volume to control the volume. The FX loop volume control is pre phase inverter and does lower the volume, but not as nice as a post inverter volume, which can let you overdrive the phase inverter too. An EQ pedal will also give you the ability to tame the harsh frequencies.
If you are good with wiring, the "Faux" attenuator he is referring to can easily be made at home on the cheap. You need a 100K audio taper pot (I got a pair of them on Amazon for $10), 2 jacks, and a box to put it all in. Three leads on the pot - #3 connects to the tip of the input jack, #2 to the output, then ground both jacks to #1. Run a patch cable from "preamp out" on the amp to the input jack, and one from the output to "power amp in." I mounted mine on the serial # plate on the back of the amp with velcro. FYI this will work on any amp that has an effects loop, as long as you're not actually using the loop for effects.
I've had this amp for a few years and never been that happy with the tone or volume control so thanks Jack for these tone tips they do help a lot to make the best of a bad lot. However I think I'm gonna sell it and find something that gives me a warmer tone at lower volume and I can use for home practice as well as small gigs without exacerbating my tinnitus!
The other thing to mention is that the BD weighs a tonne so something lighter and more portable would be welcome.
Any recommendations gratefully received!
Cheers for the video, nice job!
I modded mine to tame it a bit, but never dared think to use input 2 lol. Great tip
Fromel Supreme Mod component upgrade kit, upgraded reverb tank (MOD 9EB2C1B), Celestion G12H-75 creamback, TAD 12AT7 in V1, JJ ECC823 in V2, TAD 12AY7 in V3, TAD 6V6 x 2, Dr Watson BDRI Lion Tamer in effects loop. I also nitro lacquered the cab. Picked it up used in a low value trade so didnt mind spending a few spondoolicks to bring it up to snuff.
My buddy just bought one of these while staying at my place over the holiday. Killer timing Jack! 😂
We aim to please here at Jack Fossett & Friends 🍻
What a fantastic video have a good day Jack ❤😊
Thank you! You too!
What's worked for me is changing the speaker (I'm using a lorantz ceramic speaker 200W) and I changed the preamp tubes to NOS. V1 has an AY7, the others are AX7. Then, I re-biased the amp and it sounds so good. I'm using a volume pedal in the effects loop to overdrive the clean channel.
At the moment I'm getting it recapped so hopefully that helps it even more
I'm curious... what number did you set the bias?
Thanks!
Thank you back! Send me an email through my webpage and I'll get you the download info ~
I own a Blues Deluxe and have used it a great deal. I keep my Volume at 4 Bass at 5 Treble at 4 and a touch of reverb and its fine. I play mostly jazz, pop and 60’s Instrumental Rock with Teles, and Jazzmasters. The only thing I had issues withbwas replacing the reverb tank. Seems Fender sent a lot of these amps and Princeton’s out with sub par reverb tanks. Ugh!
The Blues Deluxe like the Hotrod and other amps in that line are just hard (brash if you aren't careful) modern sounding amps, some people are cool with that while others won't be. I think the best fix if you must use this amp is a good "amp in a box" pedal run into the effects return which basically skips past the amp's preamp and replaces it with the pedal but really if you want an old school tube amp that compresses as you hit it harder these just are not the amps that you are looking for. Good points about Input 2 and the eq settings, these can tame the bright/harsh a bit but still don't make the amp compress and react like many people expect from a good tube amp. Putting a passive attenuator in the effects loop I don't think really helps much at all. That Pedal Show somewhat recently did a lengthy video on taming the Hot Rod Deluxe which covered all this kind of stuff in pretty serious detail. Their takeaway was also that running a nice preamp type pedal into the effects return was the best fix of all the bandaids available besides simply getting a different amp. I played these amps since back in the '90s and I have never wanted to own one but they do show up as backline quite frequently so many people are forced to deal with them so knowing the bandaids that can make them a bit more friendly can certainly be useful.
This is great. It is so difficult to get a tone review that is not a guitarist playing metal with the treble pickup.
What do you think of the Laney Cub 12? Does it have those great Fendery clean tones?
I’ve never played it - but I’ve heard great things, and I think Laney make very good amps
I got this amp a couple years ago. I had been using it with over drive and distortion pedals. I could get a good sound with bed room volumes but when I turned the amp past 3 on the volume the bottom end sounded like shit. I’ve heard maybe it’s just the stock speaker? I ended up getting a Marshall DSL40 and that doesn’t need any pedals at all. I got an A/B pedal and now I use the Blues Deluxe for clean and use the Marshall for anything with distortion.
Having the volume, master and reverb pots changed to tapered pots instead of the original linear pots made the amp 1,000% better. Otherwise you lose performance because the volume increases too drastically from 1-3. Getting past 3 would break the windows.
I fancied one of these but after finding out that they suffer from heat problems on the board & the ribbon wires going brittle etc 😔 a lot of tec’s won’t touch them.
Bound headstock on your LP. I've never really seen binding on anything but "customs." Looks nice.
It’s a 2007 Guitar of the Week limited model!
Fryette PS/2A. Fender FSR Limited Edition "Black Western" Blues Deluxe... Celestion G12H65...Clean with overdrive of your choice...some verb...
Sounds good, so does the guitar playing.
Thank you kindly!
Cannibus Rex & Fromel mod plus a larger reverb tank..( love mine
Bet that sounds great!
I think something is wrong with mine, it only plays clean there is zero happening when cranking my drive with the channel button selected
anyone else hear the high pitched sound with the clicking?? Mine does that too. It's so annoying. I came to this video looking for advice at how to make mine sound better or better utilize it and I hear that same damn clicking sound. My Vox NT15 never did that
5751 in V1
12ax7 in V2
12at7 in V3
Replace the power tubes with better brand. (Trust me, it matters)
I have a WGS g12c speaker in it now. Its good but im curious, and going to try a Swamp Thang (lots of rave reviews)
Uk sub here🇬🇧🏴..5 watt rockabilly tones at bedroom volumes with some pedals..slap back..tremelo fuzz and overdrive plus a tuner...whats your recommendation....i trust you👌💯😂...the best 5 watt amp is my question please Jack. Regards and thankyou
Supro Delta Kings are a great buy
Thanks for the reply..i was looking at the supros and the 68 vibro champ because of your videos...as us brits say..youre a top lad...ill go and check them out at my local store in sheffield. Many thanks 🇬🇧❤️🇺🇲
I love my Way Huge Overrated pedal with this amp. Bass control is down to about 30%.
These look so good but Im seeing multiple videos and Comments stating these are a waste of money. Ive seen better comments on the Bugera V22’s. I just want something affordable until I can pickup a Mesa Cali Tweed later
I was in a band where the other guitar played had lost tbe top end of his hearing. So he turned up the treble and he was loud. It was painful...and made much worse by the characteristics of this Blues Deluxe. Not a favourite of mine, I'll stay with my 65 SRRI.
Step one.... Let Jack play on it. :)
I've had mine for 2-1/2 years. It's a love/hate relationship. As for the bright switch, pointless. The one thing I wish Fender had done is put in a beefier transformer. It does tend to crap out with a loud high gain pedal.
Those amps sound harsh with incredibly quick transients in a frequency range that sounds piercing. It’s not a warm sounding amp at all. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the video.
First thing….swap out the 2 power resistors and 2 diodes and mount them off the board, or you WILL have a cooked board.
Gear is so trendy, I feel like these have fallen out of fashion. I see them come up for $400 sometimes. I feel
Like people will pay more for the blues jr. they are a rowdy amp but I feel like people will look back and these will be loved in the long run.
Everything is just one hipster cycle away from being popular again
@@JackFossett exactly!
While not the same as the Deluxe the stock Fenders Blues jr. amp I purchased 5 years ago was a pure headache and nightmare to maintain plus its tone was not good IMO. The circuit board was really dodgy as connected to the tube section and caused many issues to the point where I got rid of it. It is no wonder that hand wired amps are special now ah days and you pay a premium. By the time you do all the mods to these new fender amps you might as well purchase something a bit more old school or boutique if you are going for tube amps etc. Maybe I got a clunker but really the build quality of the electronics was very poor in my example. Fender has fantastic marketing but I think they have slipped completely into the Corporate Bean Counting world.
Yes the bright switch is useful when using the neck pickup and tone control on a telecaster
Ehh sot of then kills the point of using the neck pick up
@@mikegoldberg553
How? You can get a brighter sound from the pickup and use the tone control to darking it up.
If you want it darker' flip the switch off and use the tone control. It's basically an optional feature of the EQ section on the amp.
yeas thast is true and jud just another tool for tone changes as your song or tune go along 1 more tool in the aresenol or tool in the pa llet to worjk with @@BryanClark-gk6ie
These amps need work. It gets too hot and burns the circuit board. The soldering sucks and needs to be worked on, The inputs are cheap and need to be replaced. Mine started cutting out on me fairly early. Need to be serviced. Other than that it sounds decent.
mine went for 30 years before it needed service. While not a hand wired amp, there are literally tens of thousands of these amps out there still making music easily 20 years in.
bloke's well hung...
Couldn't disagree more. The 2 Input channel boosts the mids and that doesnt work for me. I also always have the bright switch on. I do love an edge of break up tone - nothing more and it delivers this beautifully. Back to the brightness and loudness, USE YOUR GUITAR VOLUME AND TONE KNOBS thats what they are for. I have played through countless amps and I have never played one that has a set it and forget it EQ. It is much easier to make adjustments at the guitar rather than going over to the amp.
Exactly what I said about volume and tone at 9:38 - but I have and have played plenty of amps that are set it and forget it! Super Reverb comes immediately to mind, as well as the Fender Bassman, and a number of Supros. Marshall JVM, Bluesbreaker - the list goes on.
I again disagree, none of the amps you mention are set and forget for me. Different guitars require different settings
To each their own!
I own one of these from the 90’s. it’s a POS. sure you can replace all the components but why not just buy a real amp. I use as a backup if everything else breaks
"Wicked good" is a contradiction in terms.
Not in Maine!
@@JackFossett yes. Americans never did get the hang of the English language.
Don't worry, the revolution was nearly 250 years ago! And think of where you'd have been in World War 2 if it weren't for us! :-D
@JackFossett for your information, World War II was won by the Soviet Union (led by Stalin, a bigger tyrant than Hittler) with the assistance of Britain and America. The Red Army marched on Berlin and forced the Nazis to surrender.
I know, it’s so hard fighting on two fronts. We also fought the Japanese, otherwise we would have had Hitler wrapped up much earlier. I also didn’t say we won it on our own - but as I did say, we definitely bailed out dear old England 🍻🇬🇧
So basically buy something else
Well... worst capacitors known to mankind. Solder joints that always crack. Other than that OK
How about you just buy a real amount instead of wasting your money on mass produced shit.just sayin.
I don’t actually disagree. That’s why I borrowed this one instead of getting my own.
These Reissues, including the Hot Rod Deluxe are crap. Fender still continues to use parts like IC caps, etc. knowing that they will quickly fail. They use a crappy speaker and for the Blues Deluxe, the cabinet is made out of particle board. It’s like everything now; the cheap stuff will cost $1,000. If one wants a real Fender tube amp, it will cost at least $2,000. It would be wise to save a little more money for the proper gear. Steer clear of these hybrid tube amps, they are NOT tube amps. Get a Princeton Reverb or a Mesa Boogie tube amp. Trying to get an awesome sound out of these hybrid amps will always end up in disappointment.
Are the USA made ones from the nineties any better?I have one here that we never play
Fender amps sound best with a
Gibson guitar plugged into them.
🎉Jack. this or your Bassman
Bassman. It’s not even a discussion.
Blues deluxe or Deluxe Reverb 65/68? Great video as always
That one’s trickier but I think I’d still go Deluxe Reverb, although I’ve never tried the 68
@@JackFossettthanks. I own a Victoria 45410 with 4 Jensen p10r speakers. The Victoria sounds awesome but I read that Eminence Alessandro 10” Alnico 59 would be a better choice
@dalehamon4295 Why would you want to change it if it "sounds awesome" as it is?
The best way to make this sound great is to get a Peavey Classic 30 or Bandit, US made of course😄