Amp unicorn: solid state Deluxe Reverb (no noise, no tubes)?

**spiral** · 12-30-2014, 06:22 PM

I've always used a Deluxe Reverb since I started playing and it's the sound I love but I'm very tired of the hum, buzz, troubleshooting, and tube upkeep (have owned vintage and built some kits). Can you recommend a solid state (or hybrid) amp that will give me near-DR tones, low to no self-noise, and a very good & big spring reverb? (digital verb is fine) I'd trade 5% of tone for 100% noise and tube replacement elimination.

Shortlist, but never tried:

Fender Champion 40 - Mustang / Superchamp X2 sound w/out the editing. 12" speaker. Cheap.
Koch Startrooper or Jupiter - On paper, the exact thing I'm looking for. Researching reviews.
Evans RE200 / RE300 - I've only heard good things and the clips on SoundPure are wonderful.

Tried but didn't love:

Fender Superchamp X2 - High self noise. Could have been poor wiring at the store. Would love to be wrong! Is yours noisy?
Blackstar ID30 - Tones sounded a little flat with lots of hiss. Multiple volume/gain knobs was annoying.
Fender Mustang - Had the III and was turned off after having one of the "digital buzz" versions.

Maybe an even simpler question is, for Deluxe Reverb lovers, was the Evans close enough, or if not, what was? TIA.

**Takemitsu** · 12-30-2014, 06:35 PM

I have the Re200 and love it. Reliable, beautiful sound, reverb is great, relatively easy to carry, solid but NOT as creamy as tube amps. I can compare to princeton 2 and tremolux (5e3) and tubes still sound better to my ears BUT Its the best SS I tried. (had the cube also)

**docbop** · 12-30-2014, 07:00 PM

I think just easier to say I'm looking for warm SS amp, trying to compare to a classic tube amp you'll never find it. Treat like two separate things makes life easier.

**IbanezAS100** · 12-30-2014, 07:05 PM

I would try the following

New Roland Blues Cube Artist/Stage-a few threads on these with some cool Videos. I had the old BC60 310 and I wouldn't have sold it if it didn't weigh almost 60 lbs. the new ones are much lighter.

Koch Jupiter Played one recently and it has a very Fendery clean channel and nice reverb.

I haven't tried the Quilter Aviator, but it sounds great on demos and some members own them so they might be able to offer more insight.

There are also a few tube amps that are very quiet in operation if you're not completely turned off. I own an Alessandro Working Dog Rottweiler and I recently played a Brunetti Singleman that I really liked. Both can be very Fendery and whiisper quiet.

**bmw2002** · 12-30-2014, 07:25 PM

I've been very curious about this new entrant into the hybrid amp arena. Although designed primarily as a pedal steel amp, I think it would be great as a jazz guitar amp as well. Milkman amps are expensive, but get great reviews.

Milkman Sound - 300W Half and Half

**vinnyv1k** · 12-30-2014, 07:48 PM

Henriksen. I have the 110 & the 112. Great jazz amp. Can't even tell when it is on it is so quiet. Left one on for 3 days once and didn't even know it was on. My wife finally said to me hey what is orange light on your amp. Great sounding amp and very light and durable.

**Longways to Go** · 12-30-2014, 07:54 PM

+1 on the greatness of Henriksen, but it has it's own sound IMO.

Better get Quilter on your radar too.
Many speaker configurations, one of which will probably fit your specs.
I have the little Aviator 8" and it is a very fine amp.

**jorgemg1984** · 12-30-2014, 08:10 PM

The Henriksen is as far from a DR as possible. The Evans is closer but still far.

Your best choice is modelling imo..

**vernon** · 12-30-2014, 08:21 PM

I've played the Quilter Aviator head with a 12" cab for a year. Warm. Clean. Clear. Quiet. I also grew weary of the low-level noise/distortion reality of tube amps. I had an Evans JE-200... Great jazz amp but not as good as good as the Quilter. The Roland JC-120 I had was quite noisy... (hiss). I also have an Alessandro WD Rott. Hanging on to it for sure, but it's better for solid body stuff than more acoustic instruments. My 2 cents.

**whosgarethparry** · 12-30-2014, 10:05 PM

plus 1 on the Koch jupitor or startrooper. tube pre solid state power, with a great powersoak, that replicates the sound of the master being turned up (where tht fatness comes from imo). clean channel is beatiful. i own one, its every bit as nice as a fender clean, though not as bright. half the weight, and zero noise or reliability issues. i gig this amp fulltime as well.

**jads57** · 12-30-2014, 10:18 PM

I think if the Fender Deluxe is your sound choice it seems as though the following choices would be best

1.) keep the Fender Deluxe and put up w/ the hassle
2.) Quilter Aviator or Toneblock 200 w/1x12" cab
3.)Demeter Mighty Minnie w/ speaker cab
4.)Some type of Fender preamp (Tech 21 Blonde,etc.) either direct to p.a or small flat eq solid state amp.

**Jabberwocky** · 12-30-2014, 11:13 PM

I agree with the Tech 21 Blonde pedal suggestion. Much as I loathe to give my money to cloners (I didn't but I know folks who have them) the Joyo American pedal is pretty much the same at 20% the price.

Give the Mustang 3 V2 another go. No more buzz.

Part of the Deluxe sound comes from the size of the open-back cab and the 12" speaker.

I checked out the Line 6 Amplifi 150 recently and I was pleasantly surprised by its nice warm round clean tone. I didn't expect it to sound good but it did. And with a $200 Epiphone Lester too. Ugly as sin and a plastic fantastic but I thought I would throw it into the mix for curiosity's sake.

For under $300 the Fender Mustang 3 V2 is the closest sounding DR. For $35 the Joyo American pedal is worth a punt; if one really likes it buy the Tech 21 Blonde for keeps.

Expensive for what it is any of the Yamaha THR10s on Clean or Deluxe sounds like a good copy of the DR.

**Keira Witherkay** · 12-30-2014, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by docbop

I think just easier to say I'm looking for warm SS amp, trying to compare to a classic tube amp you'll never find it. Treat like two separate things makes life easier.

absolutely agree with this statement

the problem lies that ...a tube amps noise is made by the bits that give that amp it's unique 'tube" tone .... so seldom can you get both the tone (i mean 100% tube amp tone not just a modeller) without the noise ..

finding an amp with LESS noise is easier but no noise is not so easy ......

and if reliability is your issue ...just service atube amp once a year and carry a spare fuse and set of tubes in your gig bag ...and travel to gigs with it on your car seat NOT in the boot ...... and most people i know (including me at times i flip /flop between solid state and tube amps) have never had issues with tube amps that are well looked after and ...

BUT maybe if you have the money the more high end Kemper profiling amps could do the job, but we talking a fair spend ... it's so far about the best technology leap in amp modelling but comes at a price although i believe through our local Kemper dealer a floor unit will be made available at 2015 NAM show
https://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rc...82001339,d.d24

and remember most solid state amps i know /owned/played have a noise/hum /buzz of their own ...very few would be silent ........ so maybe trading one issue for the another .....

and of course finding the tone you want is an issue if you comparing it to a deluxe reverb .....maybe just get a princeton reverb, smaller lighter ,swop out the 10 for a 12 (common mod) and you get a "mini" tube amp that is not a "bedroom amp"

good luck ...let us know what you settle on ....

but like we all know choosing the "perfect" amp is quite a minefield and you only know the amps weakness's /flaws after using it a few weeks

**kamlapati** · 12-30-2014, 11:46 PM

Tell us more... what kind of guitar? What kind of sound are you looking for? Warm jazz only? Or warm jazz and Fender bite? Tube crunch? Or?

**spiral** · 12-31-2014, 02:53 AM

Wow. Thanks for all of the great replies! There were some I hadn't considered / looked at, so this is great fodder. Surprised at no Cube votes, which is good. Removing options is helpful.

@Takemitsu: RE200 is still a fave. It sounded great in demos. Knowing you are a BF-tone user is helpful. Different is ok too.

@docbop & Kiera Witherkay: I appreciate the suggestion, and the sentiment. I purposely gave narrow parameters (reverb, DR sound, low noise) to get narrow results. "What's a good/warm SS amp" would have become a list of everyone's favorite amp which is what most of the "what's a good X for jazz" threads turn into. 0 answers would be better than 20.

@IbanezAS100: Good call on the Bluescube. I had briefly looked at them but they are so new there isn't much user feedback. You are feeling like the new ones will be good? Good call on the Aviator. I hadn't known anything about them. jzucker posted a small review and wasn't too in love with it and thought the reverb wasn't good. Spec-wise it seems great though.

@bmw2002: Looks great. I will wait for the ground reports.

@vernon: Great feedback and just what I'm looking for. I had read the reverb was not good on the Quilter. Do you disagree? Still have it?

@IbanezAS100 & whosgarethparry: Jupiter looks awesome—visually and feature-wise. Like the hybrid angle. "ATR technology" is mentioned all over the site but it's not explained anywhere. I presume it's a "tubelike emulation" but maybe it's top-secret cold war-era Pentagon-level stuff. Difference between the Jupiter and Startrooper—overdrive channel types? Dig the Dimmer option. Great price too. Excited. Thanks.

@jads57: Sage advice. My DR clone isn't going anywhere—I built it and have done many mods to get it just right—and love it. I just want something I can turn on for 10 minutes without working about the tubes and is also great for recording. Getting close is OK.

@Jabberwocky: The Amplfi feedback is interesting. I was also turned off by the consumer direction they were pointing it, but I don't doubt they could build a good modeller. Thanks for that; worth looking into. The Yamaha would also be interesting and I'd have tried it if it had a speaker output. Are the tiny speakers good for recording?

@kamlapati: I'd say Fender bite and clarity, but always clean. I use minihumbuckers with roundounds, PAF in a 371 with thick flats, a Thin President with thick flats. It's all over the map but fairly bright (except the 371) but not brittle, some warm burn to the sound, never overdrive. Totally happy with the DR tone. Example. Example. Example.

@vinnyv1k & Longways & jorgemg: Thank you.

**DRS** · 12-31-2014, 03:02 AM

Mustang IIIv2

I have one and it is sounds very close plus its 1/3 the cost.

**Jabberwocky** · 12-31-2014, 03:20 AM

Regarding the Yammie Thr10, the USB output allows you to record it directly to DAW. Sounds convincing. The lack of a speaker out or true lineout is a bugbear. But hold off buying one just yet. I believe an update is in the works. The local dealer has been flogging them off and I know she is pretty hard-assed about not giving discounts so something is up.

As for the Kemper it is overkill for most people outside of a studio. How many sampled amp models does a player really need? For jazz guys, two: one Fenderish, one Polytonish. The Kemper also requires a good hifi amp and hifi loudspeakers because that what it is, a hifi re-creation of sampled amps. You don't want a lowfi playback system that colours the sampled sounds. So, something like the Swiss-made FM Acoustics driving ATCs will do very nicely, thank you.

**Jabberwocky** · 12-31-2014, 03:24 AM

Originally Posted by DRS

Mustang IIIv2

I have one and it is sounds very close plus its 1/3 the cost.

+1. The Fender Mustang 3 V2 gets half the love of a Roland here but I feel it really works well for modelled Fender amp tones for the price. The buzz is history in the V2.

**Jabberwocky** · 12-31-2014, 07:07 AM

8FS/FT: Yamaha THR-10X - MyLesPaul.com

Not related to seller but might interest someone. The Clean channel is modelled after a DR. Bass and Flat work well too.

But I was just thinking, for $200 why not get a Tech 21 Sansamp Para DI and feed that into your DAW or clean SS base amp?

**Doctor Jeff** · 12-31-2014, 10:05 AM

My Fender SCXD has no noise with the clean channel even given horrible pre-WW2 wiring in my house. There is a bit of ground hum with some of the models but not too obtrusive. (I found out that the EHX Hum Debugger gets rid of that.)

Lately I have been using a Fishman Loudbox Artist with my archtops. It works well with magnetic as well as acoustic pickups and gets a warm jazz tone. I wouldn't describe it as tubey, but defintely mellow. It won't overdrive like the Fenders but I've read it takes pedals well. It has a lot of nice features including 2 guitar channels, auxiliary channel, tweeter cut, midrange filter, etc. Small and light as well.

**drbhrb** · 12-31-2014, 12:15 PM

Another vote for a Quilter Aviator. Fantastic amps.

**Woody Sound** · 12-31-2014, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by spiral

Wow. Thanks for all of the great replies! There were some I hadn't considered / looked at, so this is great fodder. Surprised at no Cube votes, which is good. Removing options is helpful.

@IbanezAS100: Good call on the Bluescube. I had briefly looked at them but they are so new there isn't much user feedback

I've owned a Cube 60 AND an original Blues Cube (like this one):

Classic Roland Blues Cube 60 BC60 Analog Tube Logic 60W Guitar Amp Combo | eBay

Both amps had hiss noise, and the BC was quite heavy for a SS amp.

**Little Jay** · 12-31-2014, 03:35 PM

My Award Session BluesBaby 22 is the closest thing to a non-tube Deluxe Reverb I've experienced so far.....but it's not a tube amp.... But close, really close!

http://www.award-session.com/bluesbaby.html

**cosmic gumbo** · 01-01-2015, 10:17 AM

I have a vintage Deluxe Reverb, so I know the tone you're getting, but ever since I got a super portable Fender SCXD, the DR has been gathering dust. I don't find the SCXD to be a noisy amp, plus, it's a tone monster.

**Little Jay** · 01-02-2015, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo

I have a vintage Deluxe Reverb, so I know the tone you're getting, but ever since I got a super portable Fender SCXD, the DR has been gathering dust. I don't find the SCXD to be a noisy amp, plus, it's a tone monster.

I have never checked out the SCXD, I will when I get a chance, it seems interesting!