Fender Hand Wired '64 Custom Blackface Deluxe Reverb Amp

[scooter500]

Fender '64 hand wired custom deluxe reverb. I've wanted one of these vintage amps for awhile but the few I found looked terrible and had many parts changed along the way. The reissues did not work well for me either.

Currently, one of the online stores is offering these with 48 months zero interest. Brings price to about $50 a month. So I snapped one up! Delivery in November. Will be really nice not to think anymore about finding one of these.

[jaco]

There's something about an old instrument that has vibrated for years and years...yeah I know that's usually about guitars, but I think the same holds true for old amps..you can change tubes, speakers, (not the transformer) and that old box has seen some bars, gigs, beers, brawls, heartbreaks, and is still kicking...you can't manufacture soul...

[albertgen]

I am really happy Fender is Hand wiring again. It is very expensive though, maybe too high for many guitar players. I would like to have one, I have the reissue now. Al

[BeBob]

I think that a hand wired Deluxe Reverb is going to be a tough sell at $2500, considering that you can get an equivalent amp in the USA from other sources. Alessandro has been gutting new production fenders and re-wiring the insides as "handwired" amps for $2399. David Allen sells the Old Flame for $1900. Plenty of techs are out there who will gut the PCB from your new fender and replace it with an eyelet board, doing what Alessandro does for a lot less (omitting the silly audiophile accoutrements). If you want to spend the extra money to buy a genuine handwired Fender, then you're going to be paying a lot for the name tag.

Marshall tried selling handwired plexi reissues at prices that were higher than vintage plexis. That went over like a lead zeppelin. People bought the vintage amps instead.

[BeBob]

For people in Europe, the new PTP DR may be a good thing. Vintage blackface and silverface DR's are nearly impossible to find here and if you find them, they have a big price tag. Export models with voltage switch I haven't seen offered at all in recent years. Most good DR clones are hardly available here and I would be reluctant to order overseas without playing it first. Not to mention shipping and customs.
I'm not impressed by the PCB reissues so I'd love to try one once they are issued.

As a builder, part of the problem that makes it so hard for boutique amps to become sellable in the EU is the requirement for CE certification for electrical devices. Making the device itself compliant with electrical safety standards isn't a big deal, but the bureaucratic certification process is so expensive and time consuming that for a low volume producer it's just not worth the effort.

[Skip Ellis]

Personally, I've always thought the Deluxe was over rated. I fell into an all original '64 a couple years ago and couldn't stand it. I bought a new Super Reverb in 1972 and played it for 38 years - I much prefer that over the Deluxe any day.

[backbreakerjr]

Best thing about a hand wired Deluxe Reverb over a DRRI is it will be sooooooo much easier to remove the bright cap on the vibrato channel - then you'll have a great sounding jazz amp.

I have one of these and one of the stock modifications is that the bright cap is removed in the "normal" channel and now both channels have both vibrato (tube biased - another mod) and reverb now. replicas of the capacitors from based on the materials and specs of the originals; the output transformer is smaller (like the originals) and drops it a couple watts as well the speaker, even though still a jensen, is lower wattage that is supposed to give the amp a smoother more original sound.

I can't speak any comparisons to originals nor the 65 reissues because I was just looking for a good quality smaller amp (up to then, I had played my Vibro-King... 60 watts and 75 lbs)... I am happy with it and play everyday on it trying to learn beginning jazz guitar.

[Jonathan0996]

It'll probably be a really nice amp. If the price tag isn't too painful for you it'd be a good one to try.

You can find old silverface Deluxe Reverbs for less and they'll probably sound very close to that, but you'll need a gooc amp tech to go over it. You'll also need more frequent maintenance just because of the age of the components.

There are also some great boutique alternatives like Fuchs, Gries and Carr, but they probably won't be any cheaper. If you like the Fender sound and you can afford it, I'd say it isn't a bad bet.