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The new Hand Wired 1964 Deluxe Reverb amp was recently announced at 2017 NAMM, scheduled for release in September.
“We’re very proud to announce this special tribute to one of the unmistakable ‘crown jewels’ in Fender’s history,” said Shane Nicholas, Director, Product Development, Electronics at Fender. “The Blackface Deluxe Reverb amp has been one of our best-selling ‘evergreen’ tube amps since we reissued it in 1993. Collectors and artists have been telling us for years, ‘You have to do a hand-wired reissue of the Blackface Deluxe Reverb; it’s everybody’s favorite.’ The new ’64 Custom has historical accuracy where it counts, plus thoughtful tweaks for today’s player.”
NEW ’64 Custom Deluxe Reverb Amplifier: Launching September ($2,499.99)
It is priced in the same general area of a used vintage Deluxe Reverb amp in average condition. However, some used '64's in 'minty' condition can cost around $3,000 and up.
Thoughts?
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07-29-2017 03:26 PM
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Looks like a nice option for Fender folks. One thing I wonder: does the sound care that the wiring was done by human hands? Also, can you tell me what they mean by ‘evergreen’ tube amps ?
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smart move...very desirable classic amp...
there have been enough handwired clones made by a multitude of builders, about time fender actually had their name on one (again)
cheers
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I understand it to be this - " An evergreen product is basically anything that is timeless and isn't a short-term fad"
Originally Posted by ccroft
Just like my still awesome 49 year old hand wired AB763 circuit Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp...
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I think the price is high. If I could get an original why bother with this? It's a good idea but they wouldn't have that conflict at a lower price point.
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I'm not a gear head like most of you so be gentle. The schematics for this have been available for years so there are amp builders making the same amp minus the Fender name. How much less are the 3rd party versions with equivalent or better parts? I wonder how much of this amp is built in China and shipped here for final assembly.
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No. PCBs (if well designed) sound the same as eyelet boards with hand-wired push back cloth-wiring. Originally Posted by ccroft
Quality of components like the trafo's and speakers do make a difference, IME
I have yet to decide if there is an audible difference - as long as the values are the same - between old Blue Molded caps or PIO caps and cheap little Chinese caps. Same for carbon composite resistors versus metal resistors. I have not experienced dramatic differences....
Badly soldered connections can make an amp sound noisy or thin though!
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A new Twin is a grand less and will sound way better and yes I know that Twins are heavy but a Twin is the Cadillac of amp sound. I bought a new Twin a couple years ago and must say the QC is impeccable. They are making them again in Corona not Mexico. Mine you have to hold your ear to the speakers to tell it is on. It's that quiet. I also bought a new Bassman that is even better for $1150. The tubes even say made in USA on them. I must say Fender has really stepped up there game. Nothing beats that good Fender tone. You just need a strong back.
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"Hand wired" so they use a robot or workers feet to wire the other amps??
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Originally Posted by Little Jay
Fender has or had a video about their high end hand wired tweed amp. Showed woman with parts pre-cut, stripped, and leads bent in boxes on bench. She main just grabbed parts and inserted into the board, then got her solder iron and roll of solder started tacking them in. Then they showed how her work was attached to chassis and sent to a guy with transformers all cut and stripped to be mounted and soldered in. It was a pretty fast process being all the parts were preset ready to drop in place and solder. Not the vision of someone hunched over a bench, taking raw parts and bending, inserting, solder, and cut to trim I think most people have. I imagine there are robots prepping the parts and only hand part is inserting and soldering.Last edited by docbop; 07-30-2017 at 02:09 PM.
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Should still sound great
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Did you know Chipotle's guacamole is "hand-mashed?" Just sayin'... Originally Posted by icr
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
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There are a lot of boutique amps in that price range that don't sound as good as an original blackface Deluxe Reverb. If they really build it to the original specs it's probably worth it.
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Chipotle makes the best sounding guacamole available.
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Like and old Gibson plugged directly into an origianl Fender Tweed it Organic sounding. Originally Posted by Greentone
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All true. But I've heard, played, owned non-Fenders inspired by this amp that do sound as good. Costing less. And there are plenty of SF DRs around at reasonable cost. No, not '64 blackface DRs, but it just so happens that the best DRs I've heard are silverface. Originally Posted by Jonathan0996
Which tells me they have a marketing challenge here. Not so much the boutique builders ... it's the sheer number of excellent old ones still around, costing less than this new one.
MD
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At this price, I'd do it myself.
This winter, I'm gonna build me a 5E8A clone
I'm happy with my last winter 5F1 build, but when I need more power, this LPTT will be just fine !
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Fender and Gibson make hundreds of the same Strat or Les Paul mainly with cosmetic changes then criptic name tweaks. Fender appears to be moving into the same and taking advantage of 64 to distinguish one from another. 65 DR, 68 DR, now 64 DR, plus they have the FSR versions with cosmetic and sometimes a speaker change. They've saturated the market with the PCB reissues and now doing a hand-soldered version to try and generate sales. Originally Posted by mad dog
We seen the threads here and other places guitar and with the guitar market is on a decline and companies are doing all the inexpensive changes they can to try and generate sales. Be interesting to see Fender COGs on a 65 DRRI and this 64 Hand soldered, bet it's less than $100 but profit margin is much bigger.
Fender and Gibson both have been looking to the future and diversifying product lines, but IMO Yamaha is the one that is king of diversified product lines covering all bases for the future.
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the price is in keeping with what fender does their vintage custom handwired amps for....their 50's tweed series of twin, deluxe.etc was in same ballpark $$$
lots of players don't want to take a 50 year old amp on the road...so the vintage used vs new $$$ argument doesn't really hold....
as to wheteher hand wired amps sound better...well...
but they are certainly easier to repair and less prone to catastrophic problems....one of the most common fender amp pcb problems was that the input jacks were soldered directly to the board...was just a matter of time before just plugging your cable in took its toll and weakened the solder joint..causing the amp to die..also a burnt tube can take out half the board...handwired avoids these pitfalls
fact thats there's still many original blackface deluxe reverbs around shows you how good they were made!!!...hopefully these new ones will be of equal longevity
lastly, a clone amp, no matter how well it's made is still a clone when it comes to resale..(of course there are exceptions!)
but the fender name still packs some clout
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 07-30-2017 at 05:01 PM.
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I can make a clone that you'd have a hard time distinguishing from a Fender. It would never have the market value of the Fender though.
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I think this new amp will sound better than the 65 PCB reissue if by nothing else, having a pine cabinet. But will it sound like an original? I doubt it. The Italian made Jensen speakers do not sound like the vintage ones. And the transformers and other electronic components made today will create a different tone than from yesterday's products.
I am sure it will be a fine amp that will be reliable and easily repaired. But I would bet that it will sound different than the real thing.
Like the song says, ain't nothing like the real thing baby!
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But have you checked out the original 1964 Chipotle guacamole? With the blue mold caps? Originally Posted by Greentone
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Haven't they been closed at times for this? Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
Hey when we can't go on the road or survive road food then the gear has a right to complain but until then we might as well take the same chances to get the sound we want. Your favorite isn't going to sound the same without you playing it so you might as well play fair and bring it too.
That said I remember the terrible night opening for Robin Trower when his roadies stole Fast Eddie's original blackface Deluxe. He was never the same and went on to write "The Awesome Possum" for Sesame Street ....
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Say, this is small ball, but I wonder if Fender is going to use the .033 mfd tone cap in the circuit just ahead of the bass pot? Early DR amps (AA763) used this value. Later DR amps (AB763) used .047. As most folks know, the '63-4 DR is a bit darker than '65 and onward because of this choice.
It seems to me that this simple part change in favor of the original circuit could make the amp even more desirable for jazz folks. All I know is that the one example I ever played of an honest-to-goodness Pre-CBS Deluxe Reverb was the best DR I ever played. It's been 40 years, so memory may play tricks. However, my recollection was that this little amp was insanely toneful--especially with Fender single coils. (I played an Esquire and a Stratocaster through the amp, as well as a Gretsch CA 6120.)
Of course, the '66, '67, and '68 DRs that I played a lot were exceptionally great sounding amps, too. Still, I'd be very interested in the "AA" circuit. Hmm? Think I will build one.
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If the only difference in the AA circuit is the bass cap, then it's an easy mod! Especially on a 'hand wired' eyelet board.
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