Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

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Larsongs
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Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by Larsongs » Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:26 pm

I’ve been looking for a clean, early, all original, needs nothing Silverface Deluxe Reverb.. They are rare to non existent & high priced from what I see. Not sure even if I find one it won’t need repairs sooner than later..

Are there any reasonable priced new Boutique Amps worth considering? By reasonable I’m thinking $1500 - $2000..

If you know of something Post your recommendations please..

Thanks

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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by Surfysonic » Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:54 pm

Allen Amplifications ( http://www.allenamps.com/index.html ) has a variety of amps in the mentioned price range. You can get one built or buy a kit. There are various configurations of how you want the amp made (depending on the specific amp) such as head, 1x12 combo, 2x10 combo, 1x15 combo, 4x10 combo.

There are a number of Allen amp demos on YouTube by Tony Sims (Dreamlab Production is the channel) about 5 years ago.

In Jan 2020, I found an already built used Allen Encore head off of Reverb. The design is loosely based on the mid 60s Fender Vibrolux Reverb but without a normal channel. Design is enhanced with 2-knob reverb, non-opticoupler tube tremolo, master volume control, middle control, RAW control, rear-panel bias measurment jacks, impedance switch, and front-panel power switches. It has brownface and blackface amp in one.

It's a fantastic amp. :)

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I had the 1x15 tone-ring cab custom built by Beaver Bottoms prior to getting this head for a previously owned '67 Fender Showman head. I reached out to David Allen and he hooked me up with a second Allen nameplate to match up with the head. Very decent guy.
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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by Veitchy » Sun Aug 01, 2021 4:16 pm

Sweet Amplification does some pretty nice Deluxe-style amps that are in your budget. They also seem flexible in terms of speaker configurations or tweaking cabs and circuits if you want something more tailored.

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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by MrJagsquire » Mon Aug 02, 2021 3:21 pm

I don't know where you are located, but have you considered a used Custom Deluxe '64 handwired? I bought mine new in the UK, so prices were a little strong, but maybe over where you are they might be a bit better. The '64 is a better long term amp in my view as it's easier to repair than a PCB amp (or rather I'd be able to repair it in years to come).

My Strat, Tele and Jaguar sound fantastic through it. I waited nearly 30 years after playing through an original 60s Twin Reverb (Blackface) and decided that I'd pay the extra over the '65 DRRi model just for piece of mind regarding longer term repairs since I'd got burned on a previous amp that couldn't be repaired. I'd realised that a Twin would be too much for my needs, but it still has the lovely rich clean tone I remember from my friend's Twin.

Funny thing was that I couldn't find a used vintage Deluxe that didn't potentially need a rebuild or might have been non -original, so not worth the inflated asking prices. I got a bit of flack on some forums for being a 'lawyer/doctor' guitarist and paying 'too much' for a new Fender amp, but 3+ years on I still love playing through it.

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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:14 pm

I really like my Swart AST.

Not a Fender clone and doesn’t claim to be, but great sounding spring verb and tube tremolo and a little more midrange presence than the typical blackface Fender thing. A little earlier and smoother breakup as well.

If you need a lot of clean headroom it might not be your jam, but I highly recommend trying one if you have an opportunity.

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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by Embenny » Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:59 pm

I believe the Victoria Club Deluxe can be had in that price range on the used market.
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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by Larsongs » Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:48 pm

I’ve owned a 65 DRRI for about 5-6 years that I have never bonded with.. While it claims to be a 65 Reissue to my ears it doesn’t sound like most of the real vintage Deluxe Reverbs my friends have from that Period. No matter what kind of Guitar I play or how I adjust the Amp..

Looks like I got some research to do! I did watch some You Tubes on the Allen which sounded quite good.. I couldn’t find any Sweet Amps videos though? I’ll check out the others & any others you all would recommend…

Thanks
Last edited by Larsongs on Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by Maggieo » Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:42 am

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:14 pm
I really like my Swart AST.

Not a Fender clone and doesn’t claim to be, but great sounding spring verb and tube tremolo and a little more midrange presence than the typical blackface Fender thing. A little earlier and smoother breakup as well.

If you need a lot of clean headroom it might not be your jam, but I highly recommend trying one if you have an opportunity.
The AST is great, but way more swampy than a DR.
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Re: Best Boutique Amp for vintage 60’s Fender DR Sound???

Post by marqueemoon » Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:18 pm

Maggieo wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:42 am
marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:14 pm
I really like my Swart AST.

Not a Fender clone and doesn’t claim to be, but great sounding spring verb and tube tremolo and a little more midrange presence than the typical blackface Fender thing. A little earlier and smoother breakup as well.

If you need a lot of clean headroom it might not be your jam, but I highly recommend trying one if you have an opportunity.
The AST is great, but way more swampy than a DR.


Agreed. Not in a muddy way, but yeah.

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