Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Here you go, better late than never.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 And a few more for good measure... BOTH '67s together!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schundog Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Fantastic, John! The tolex on that thing looks brand new. You are a man of exquisite taste, and yes, I am including the "creamsickle" in that assessment; it's an amazing axe. I've never felt a better Tele neck. Enjoy your new Deluxe Reverb. Fender amps RULE, and Vintage Fender amps step up the mojo a few notches. Congratulations, friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 So the funny story goes..... I had NOS RCA preamp tubes in the Rambler and the '67 Deluxe Reverb had been raided & replaced with crappy Sovtec preamp tubes. The seller said I could take my RCA and put them in the '67 Deluxe and he would put the Sovtecs in the Rambler. When I got home the amp sounded good, not great so I replace the crappy Sovtec 6V6s with some Tung-sol 6V6s and replace the Phillips 12AT7s with RCA 12AT7s. I only had a few RCA 12AT7s, so I put the only I labeled "12AT7 maybe Microphonic" in the PI position. Well the amp sounded ANGELIC, GLORIOUS, INCREDIBLE for 6 hours of playing. The '67 DR sounded so great I took it to my Praise Band practice last Thurs night as we were to play Sunday morning. I get to practice, fire up the amp, and she sounds great for 2 mins..... THEN BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!! Like the amp was on 8 and buzzing that loud. Turning down the volume, which was only on 2.5 did nothing, still the loud buzz. I turn off the stand-by, wiggle the tubes, and try another input..... BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. SO I turned off the amp for good and used a crappy solid state "gorilla-like" amp for practice. The whole time I am sweating and thinking I fried the output transformer somehow. On the way home I call Mike (Slider13) the "amp whisper" and he say it sounds like one to the input plugs in not grounding and thus the amp is wide open volume wise even when nothing is plugged in. So I open the chassis and for 6 hours work on securing every input clip.... BUZZZZZZ.. Open chassis and secure the speaker jack..... BUZZZZZZ. Open Chassis and rebias the power tubes..... BUZZZZZ.... THEN I remember that Steve Carr once told me that 90% of tube amps issues are tubes related. So I knew the Power Tubes were good, huh... I tap the preamp tubes for microphonics, nope sound good. I wonder what would happen if I replace that PI tube that I thought might be slightly microphonic? It couldn't be that PI tube because it didn't "ping" when tapped. Well, what the heck. I pop in another better RCA 12AT7 that I didn't want to waste on a PI tube and BINGO the amp is back in all it's glory!!! Lesson learned ALWAYS check the tubes first!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koula901 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 John I got to demo a DRRI at GC in the amp room where you can crank it up - nice breakup on that thing at around 6. It had a Jensen speaker, which I guess is different then what usually goes into he DRRI's. Can anyone say what's different between the original Deluxe and the newer DRRI's, aside from the vintage mojo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbp0701 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Wow. Know the story on the amp? It's obviously been well taken care of; it's hard to believe its been around for over 45 years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Fantastic, John! The tolex on that thing looks brand new. You are a man of exquisite taste, and yes, I am including the "creamsickle" in that assessment; it's an amazing axe. I've never felt a better Tele neck. Enjoy your new Deluxe Reverb. Fender amps RULE, and Vintage Fender amps step up the mojo a few notches. Congratulations, friend. Thanks Brian, I'll admit I did cheat and shine it up with some Amor All before I took the pics. She has her share of "love dings", quite a few actually. But it has just enough for that "closet classic" or "light relic" look. I have decided that the TRUE boutique amps are VINTAGE amps. I LOVED my Carr Rambler and got an amazing deal when I bought it new. I essentially got full price back when I traded it toward the '67 DR. But new Ramblers are going for $2700-2800 and I have around $2K in the '67DR. SO $700-800 less for an amp that will retain it's value and arguable sounds much better to me!!??? And the '67 Vibrolux Reverb I got for less than the '67 DR. So based on tone, sound, mojo, and price, I think I am officially done with new boutique amps. I am sticking with all-original vintage amps. Now if I can just save up for that VINTAGE FENDER TWEED...... to be continued in a year or two.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 John I got to demo a DRRI at GC in the amp room where you can crank it up - nice breakup on that thing at around 6. It had a Jensen speaker, which I guess is different then what usually goes into he DRRI's. Can anyone say what's different between the original Deluxe and the newer DRRI's, aside from the vintage mojo? Night and day is the difference. It's all in the components. They just don't make the transformers the same way anymore, and if they do like in Matchless, Carr, (other boutique amps) the components are so expensive they have to charge you for it. The DRRI is just not as round, warm, and fat sounding. More spikey and harsh. But YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Wow. Know the story on the amp? It's obviously been well taken care of; it's hard to believe its been around for over 45 years now. The shop owner said it came from a good 'ol divorce sale!!! The same owner has a MINT '67 Silverface DR (that has the same year components as my '67 Blackface DR) but in May '67 for NAM Fender just changed the face plate for $1599. I bet he would take $1450 shipped. I almost went with the Silverface, but I am a sucker for the Blackface look. Link to the picture and store if anyone is interested. http://www.centervillemusic.com/USED%20STUFF/ga-fenderdeluxer.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoslate Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Very "You," my friend. My, but you do have the nose for them. Another exquisite piece for the harem. Congratulations, brother! Really enjoyed the phone call today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Very "You," my friend. My, but you do have the nose for them. Another exquisite piece for the harem. Congratulations, brother! Really enjoyed the phone call today. Me too, I miss you my friend. And prayers out your way for peace during the juggling act with the parents and band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 And a few more for good measure... BOTH '67s together!!! That's a great looking and so is it's sister! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Fantastic amp Any chance of some gut shots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Looks great John. Congrats. Are you going to do a A/B comparison to see which vintage amp sounds better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Looks great John. Congrats. Are you going to do a A/B comparison to see which vintage amp sounds better? Looks great John. Congrats. Are you going to do a A/B comparison to see which vintage amp sounds better? That would be impossible to do... They both sound great, but just different. The DR has an 12" Alnico speaker in it and the VR has two 10" ceramic speakers in it (although after I save some coin the VR will probably will get two 10A150 speakers in it which are Alnico as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schundog Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 The JBL speaker in the DR looks quite ominous as it hides behind that grill cloth. I'll bet it sounds fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrB Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Beautiful amps! They remind me (similar vintage & excellent condition) of my Twin Reverb, which I sold to finance my incoming Millie DC. I miss the glorious clean sound, but not the weight. Don't really need that much power anymore, anyway. I bought a new DRRI to replace it. Not quite the same, but much easier to carry around. koula901, there is a lot of info on the web about modding the DRRI. A lot of simple things, like retubing with better valves and re-biasing, go a long way toward improving the sound. Some wiring changes supposedly do more, but are tricky due to the printed circuit board. Mr B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bob Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Hey Kuz, now you can do an a/b tone test with your axe FX and your vintage stuff.. That would be fun! please let us know what you find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidsmoke Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Wow, Kuz! that is a find. congratulations. Never played a vintage DR, but I'm fortunate two guys I do play with have them, one is a 63 with a weber in it. that guy plays a modded strat with a little 59 in the bridge. Plays slide a la Lowell George, for a living. Heavenly. The other is a '74, also with a weber. dude plays a MIJ tele with stock pups and a 72 LP deluxe with original mini hums....everything coming from the amp is spectacular. Very jealous. You'll do it justice, which is the best part. Would love to hear those PAF clones through that thing. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Hey Kuz, now you can do an a/b tone test with your axe FX and your vintage stuff.. That would be fun! please let us know what you find. Remember that the Axe-Fx has always been stated that it is sounding like MIC'D amps( you choose what mic you want to use and what speaker). So live in person, they would sound somewhat different. But if I mic'd the '67 DR with my Shure57 and recorded it, and the dialed up an Axe-Fx virtual DR with a virtual JBL K120 with a virtual Shure57 and recorded the same guitar lines with it..... I think it would be very had for those who listened to the clips to tell the difference. The key is application; the Axe-Fx is so ease to use & sounds rediculusly good for recording. Real vintage amps are easier to plug in, change tone knobs & volume for live playing. Funny thing is, one of my "go to" amps on the Axe-Fx is a virtual '65 Deluxe reverb with a JBL K120 speaker. It always sounded great and I never played through a REAL K120 speaker before through one of my amps. Now I do withis '67DR and this speaker sounds just as good in the real amp!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Wow, Kuz! that is a find. congratulations. Never played a vintage DR, but I'm fortunate two guys I do play with have them, one is a 63 with a weber in it. that guy plays a modded strat with a little 59 in the bridge. Plays slide a la Lowell George, for a living. Heavenly. The other is a '74, also with a weber. dude plays a MIJ tele with stock pups and a 72 LP deluxe with original mini hums....everything coming from the amp is spectacular. Very jealous. You'll do it justice, which is the best part. Would love to hear those PAF clones through that thing. Cheers. I think your Buddy is got his year wrong, they never made a Deluxe Reverb in 1963:) Here's a little Deluxe Reverb Trivia to further add to this thread... http://fenderguru.com/amps/deluxe-reverb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbp0701 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 The shop owner said it came from a good 'ol divorce sale!!! The same owner has a MINT '67 Silverface DR (that has the same year components as my '67 Blackface DR) but in May '67 for NAM Fender just changed the face plate for $1599. I bet he would take $1450 shipped. I almost went with the Silverface, but I am a sucker for the Blackface look. Link to the picture and store if anyone is interested. http://www.centervillemusic.com/USED%20STUFF/ga-fenderdeluxer.html Ouch, a divorce sale. Well, the previous owner had great taste and looks to have taken great care of them. The SF is very tempting, even enough that I just discovered it would take me four hours to drive to that store. I think my gigging days are behind me, though, so it'd be a bit much for me. Although if it were a Princeton Reverb... Anyway, congrats and a great find on a legendary amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidsmoke Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I think your Buddy is got his year wrong, they never made a Deluxe Reverb in 1963:) Here's a little Deluxe Reverb Trivia to further add to this thread... http://fenderguru.com/amps/deluxe-reverb more likely I'm remembering it wrong. I do know that it predates '65, because our discussion went along "older than the Reissue year" lines, and the DRRI is a '65 reissue, from a marketing standpoint at least. Must be a '64 then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pressure Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Thanks Kuz. I have never seen a DR with a JBL. Fab amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 more likely I'm remembering it wrong. I do know that it predates '65, because our discussion went along "older than the Reissue year" lines, and the DRRI is a '65 reissue, from a marketing standpoint at least. Must be a '64 then?Well that's my favorite year:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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