Deluxe reverb and Mid range tweaks

AndyJP

Hey guys,

I'm interested in Deluxe Reverbs at the mo. I stumbled across this interesting post from Ask Zak. At around 15 mins 17 secs he starts talking about some tweaks for more mid range. His preference is to put a Vintage 30 speaker in.

So obvs his favourite amp is the Deluxe Reverb. No problem that suits him. His two complaints about the amp are bright cap (east to fix) and lack of mid range. He talks about these points for getting more mids.

1 Turn the treble and bass down and volume up
2 change a resistor in the amp
3 Use a mid boost/overdrive (ts808 etc)
4 mod the amp to have a tone knob installed
5 install a vintage 30

What are people's thoughts about these?

Personally I like blackface tones with mid range and the speaker change to me sounds like a nice idea because I hate tubescreamers.

Ps let's not turn this into a tonemaster v valves battle!

noisepolluter

I have a Celestion (G12H Creamback) currently installed in my deluxe reverb - it does change the mid balance in the sound but at the same time I think it takes away a little from the amp’s own character, so at some point I suspect I’ll be putting something like an Eminence GA-SC64 in there. 

Full disclosure - my amp has also been modded to have reverb and trem on both channels. 

Rowby1

I have a ‘65 DRRI head which I use with a 1x12 cab with a Celestion Creamback G12H-75 in it. I had chance to A/B it against the hand wired version.

My head and cab sounded better (or more to my taste at least). Tighter bass, richer mids, sparkling but not harsh top end. More clean headroom (although I appreciate that may not be what everyone would want). 

I think the cabinet size also might have some influence, my 1x12 is a full 70mm deeper front to back than the combo.

AndyJP

@noisepolluter ;Is that the g12m-65? Yeah that has mids for days but takes off a bit of top end apparently? According to the Zilla vids that is.

I have an eminence allessandro that I use with a different amp. It's got a fair bit of mid range and sweet high end. 

AndyJP

@Rowby1 nice! Is that a zilla cab you have?

Don't see many of the DR heads about. Is that a conversion?

Rowby1

AndyJP said:

@Rowby1 nice! Is that a zilla cab you have?

Don't see many of the DR heads about. Is that a conversion?

Yes, it's a Zilla cab. 

Fender did a short run of the heads back in 2015/6ish I think? I bought mine (I think it was the last new one available in the UK at the time) in Feb '17. I don't know why they don't make it as a regular product really, it makes perfect sense to have it as a head

AndyJP

Yup, head makes sense!

Love the Zilla cabs. Have got a dinky and a ported 1x12. Have also had a fat baby and compact. So good!

ICBM

I wouldn't put a V30 in a Deluxe - or any Fender amp really - but each to their own...

It's actually very easy to mod the bass control so that it becomes a mid boost when the bass is turned down and a mid cut when it's all the way up, if you want - no visible mod to the amp and you get the best of both worlds since it sounds more or less stock in the middle. OK, you can't get low mids and low bass at the same time, or both high, but I'd expect that's not normally too much of a restriction for most people.

At least, it is on an original - I haven't actually tried it on the PCB in a reissue, but I can't see it being a major problem.

AndyJP

@ICBM his argument for a v30 is tighten the bass, boost the mids and tame the highs.

Good to know about the mods, ta.

ICBM

AndyJP said:

@ICBM his argument for a v30 is tighten the bass, boost the mids and tame the highs.

It does all that, but to me it does it far too much and takes away the point of having a Fender amp in the first place.

noisepolluter

AndyJP said:

@noisepolluter ;Is that the g12m-65? Yeah that has mids for days but takes off a bit of top end apparently? According to the Zilla vids that is.

I have an eminence allessandro that I use with a different amp. It's lovely but it's a balanced speaker. So maybe not one for adding mids. Guess you're right it would allow more of the natural tone of the amp through.

It’s the H-75, so I guess a bit more scooped than the M-65 but less Fendery than Eminence, Jensen etc.

I’d be interested to hear more about your experiences with the SC-64. What amp do you use it in, what speaker did you have before, and how did the sound change?

rpr

Would a graphic eq not help?

tomajoha

I use the SC-64 in the Deluxe Reverb 64 handwired. That amp's normal channel is effectively a 'vibrato' channel with the bright cap clipped. The SC-64 is lovely once played in, slightly thicker/warmer than jensen-type speaker. Try one - if you dont like i'd probably buy it off you as a spare.

AndyJP

@noisepolluter using the ga sc-64 in the dinky with my V40 deluxe. It’s only 40 watts but it’s about 100db so it’s super loud. It’s a really nice combination. At the risk of soundimg like a tw@t this is my cab in the zilla video. Was a custom order.

https://youtu.be/JCg2_QbDuCg

gatheredinsong

I plugged a Skreddy Dynamic Mids Enhancer in front of my little THR5 recently and was AMAZED just how much better it sounded. I reckon if I had a Deluxe Reverb I would just end up dual locking this pedal inside the back and running my pedalboard to it.

Note: the DME really doesn't do unity gain, but that's probably fine if using it as an always on enhancer, or indeed if it was on your pedalboard and you only wanted the additional mids presence for a solo boost. It's a very clean boost. 

AndyJP

Not heard of that. Nice!

veldt666

Have a good repair/ Tech Install a 25k Mid pot.

AndyJP

Lots of good opinions guys. Guess an easy cheap  option would be a boss ge7 eq.

Sassafras

Buy a more middy amp.
Why buy a Deluxe if you don't like its inherent character?

AndyJP

Don't come around here with your common sense!

rze99

Also have the uk made creamback in my DRRI which I much prefer to stock mostly this is noticeably better in a stage and band context it just sounds richer more robust and big boned. Also have a proper van damm speaker cable. The stock one looked poor quality to me. Also mine is biased as hot as safely possible. 

The treble and bass turned down, and tone knob roll off helps when using bright guitars at volume also a GE7 shapes tone effectively.  I can make Tele sound like a Les Paul like this.