Steve Fishell

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 1 Mar 2015 12:49 pm

I think he has a JBL in his blue Deluxe Reverb. Anyone know what kind? I have a Celestion V30 that I need to switch out for more clean headroom.

David Spires · Post by **David Spires** » 1 Mar 2015 7:06 pm

Drew,

I'm sorry, I can't answer your speaker question, but I have a Deluxe Reverb head that I love, and I've experimented with it a lot, in terms of headroom. I'll be interested to see what you figure out, because for me it's the amp causing the headroom issue. I'm using it with a Hot Rod Deluxe 1x12" cabinet, all stock re-issue.

That said, I have started using it for recording, and for low volume gigs. For louder stuff, turning to one of my Re-issue Twins.

Sincerely,

David Spires

Bill L. Wilson · Post by **Bill L. Wilson** » 1 Mar 2015 9:53 pm

I have an Orange frame D-120F JBL in my SF Deluxe Rvb. and it sounds fantastic at low vol. But clean headroom at a higher vol. ain't gonna happen. Always worked great w/my Tele at small Opry type shows, but steel is just to much for a Deluxe at higher vols. even w/the JBL.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 2 Mar 2015 7:36 am

I put a Solid State rectifier in my Deluxe reissue and have the Vintage 30. Nice addition with minimum sag.

Rich Santucci · Post by **Rich Santucci** » 2 Mar 2015 9:14 am

A Deluxe Reverb puts out about 22watts, the Celestion Vintage 30 is rated at 60 or 65 watts I believe. The speaker isn't you issue unless of course it is bad for some reason. I think the suggestion of a SS rectifier instead of the tube is a good idea as it will raise all the voltages in the amp a bit and help tighten up the bottom end. Should you decide to do that I would suggest you have the output rebiased for the higher voltages.

Fish · Post by **Fish** » 2 Mar 2015 3:24 pm

Thanks for asking about my Fender Deluxe. It's a 2010 special edition amp known is the Electric Blue. It came with a stock Fender 12" speaker but the original owner replaced it with a grey JBL D-120F circa 1968.

Of course this is just my own personal taste but I absolutely love the sound of this amp. It's very bright, and I generally run the bass on 10 and the treble knob only sits around 2 or 2 and a half. I never set the volume knob any louder than 3 for straight country stuff, other-wise the amp starts to breakup too much. But a little breakup can be fun too, and this amp has a beautiful "Fender" distortion sound between 3.5 and 5.

The original Groove Tubes were replaced with Tung Sols and the amp was biased slightly hot for a little bit more punch. An electric fan was added in the back to keep the tubes cool so they wouldn't burn up too quickly.The amp is VERY loud, even at 2 3/4's. It has a very snappy, honky tonk kind of sizzle to its sound and it reminds me very much of Lloyd Green's mid-60's tone on albums like the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Later on I learned that this is the setup Lloyd used on many of his mid-60's recordings: a JBL D-120F through a Fender Deluxe.
http://www.vintageguitar.com/3683/lloyd-green/

I discovered this amp completely by accident. It was a backline rental amp onstage at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2013. I decided to try it just for fun only a few minutes before we went on stage. I plugged in and couldn't believe how good the amp instantly sounded! Afterwards I tried to buy the amp from the owner, but he wasn't in the mood to sell. Months later my wife - who is very persuasive - talked the owner into selling it. She and my family surprised me with the Blue Telluride amp on my birthday. I'm a very lucky man!

The Steel Guitar Forum

Steve Fishell

Steve Fishell

Go For the JBL.