Fender Deville 4x10

[JLT]

Hey Guys/Gals - Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. I was at GC yesterday and was checking out pedals and effects and then I decided to mess around with some amps, so I dedicated yesterday to the fender amps (Twin, Blues Jr. and Deville). Now that I am learning what sound I am looking for, these bad boys sound sweet, I mean that crisp, bright clean/warm sound and punch is to live for.

But I digress, one of the sales people that I'm really cool with informed me that he is selling his Deville for $600 and is selling it because he doesn't use it (he has a '65 Twin Reverb). So I went home and looked up reviews only to find mixed reviews with comments concerning, the amp being too loud and the reverb. To me the amp sounds great but I wanted to get you all's point of view on this amp and is it worth the $$$??? If I buy it, this amp will be my work horse at church (300 - 400 people with no mic or direct connection) , etc..

[GuitarPlaya2000]

If the amp sounds great to you and it's in good, sound condition, I say go for it! You will especially need a "work horse" amp for church - there's nothing more irritating than a piece of equipment that often fails when it is needed the most.

[jivejong]

There's bedroom tone, and there's live tone.

Something that sounds great alone in your room may not sound great in a mix. If you can, see if you can try it out with some other musicians to see if the sound you're getting will work.

I've jammed with cats that have one of these, and they are loud and you have to tweak the tone a little to get a smooth sound in a mix. Sometimes they can be overbearing, but usually it depends on the player.

[JLT]

If the amp sounds great to you and it's in good, sound condition, I say go for it! You will especially need a "work horse" amp for church - there's nothing more irritating than a piece of equipment that often fails when it is needed the most.

I definitely agree, although my current set up is holding up pretty well, but it's my only amp too.

There's bedroom tone, and there's live tone.

I've jammed with cats that have one of these, and they are loud and you have to tweak the tone a little to get a smooth sound in a mix. Sometimes they can be overbearing, but usually it depends on the player. if the sound you're getting will work.

That's what I've been hearing about this amp. I think I may have been experiencing some G.A.S especially with the price point. I know I just want my next amp to be a tube amp. Thanks for the post.

[thefunkystrummer]

FWIW, I play a Fender Blues Deluxe RI (40 watts @ 1x12). I find it to be a very effective amp. Fairly small, not too big or heavy to move around. Great tone at reasonable volumes (although this amp can be turned up VERY loud). I never need large amounts of volume. My amp is always mic'd during services and our rehearsals are fairly tame.

This amp sounds good both on its own and with a PodXT Live (PXTL), bypassing the Blues Deluxe preamp direct to PWR AMP IN. Of course, I turn off all mic and cabinet modeling in the PXTL. In place of the Blues Deluxe preamp, I often substitute the generic "tube preamp" model (from the PXTL) and a few modeled stomp boxes (compressor, delay, mod) for greater versatility. Best sounding simple set up I've ever played.

[JLT]

Yeah - I will check out the Blues Deluxe, the Blues Jr. Held up nice so I can imagine what the Deluxe is like. I just know I want my next amp to be a tube. I'm learning that it is not all about the wattage and all the other stuff they try to sell you at the store.

[jlynnb1]

i've never played a fender amp that i'd own if it were my only amp...just because they have such terrible gain tones. always good to great cleans, horrible distortion. if it's predominantly clean to mild od, i'm sure any of those amps will do (deville, hot rod, blues junior) alternatives could be a Peavey Classic 30, Crate Palomino 30 (trust me), Peavey Valveking, etc.

i hate dist pedals, so it's always important to me that the amp do both well, that might not be as big of a deal to you.

[thefunkystrummer]

i've never played a fender amp that i'd own if it were my only amp...just because they have such terrible gain tones. always good to great cleans, horrible distortion. if it's predominantly clean to mild od, i'm sure any of those amps will do (deville, hot rod, blues junior) alternatives could be a Peavey Classic 30, Crate Palomino 30 (trust me), Peavey Valveking, etc.

i hate dist pedals, so it's always important to me that the amp do both well, that might not be as big of a deal to you.

The Peavey Classic 30 is a very good alternative to the Fender Blues Deluxe or Deville amps (less pricey too). Fender is indeed noted for their clean tones not distortions, I agree.

However, I'm not really into high gain sounds. I bought my Blues Deluxe specifically for its meaty cleans. For overdrive/distortion, I'd much rather use a good compressor and overdrive pedal in front of a really nice sounding clean amp. This preference obviously varies from player to player and Jlynnb1 raises a significant point to consider.

JLT, I would look at how some of your favorite guitar players achieve tones that YOU really like. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a quality sound.

guitar ->amp/preamp distortion= Great tone
guitar ->overdrive pedal->clean amp= Great tone

Of course, all of this assumes that you are laying down some nice tasty guitar lines. You can't discount those fingers... =)

[jlynnb1]

The Peavey Classic 30 is a very good alternative to the Fender Blues Deluxe or Deville amps (less pricey too). Fender is indeed noted for their clean tones not distortions, I agree.

However, I'm not really into high gain sounds. I bought my Blues Deluxe specifically for it's meaty cleans. For overdrive/distortion, I'd much rather use a good compressor and overdrive pedal in front of a really nice sounding clean amp. This preference obviously varies from player to player and Jlynnb1 raises a significant point to consider.

JLT, I would look at how some of your favorite guitar players achieve tones that YOU really like. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a quality sound.

guitar ->amp/preamp distortion= Great tone
guitar ->overdrive pedal->clean amp= Great tone

Of course, all of this assumes that you are laying down some nice tasty guitar lines. You can't discount those fingers... =)

exactly...and although i don't need metal type gain, i like to have a good amount on tap. of course, i play mostly modern worship...so my tones go from edge type jangly drive all the way to full on marshall type distortion. i went through a lot of amps trying to get what i want (egnater, budda, matchless, vox, L6) but i think i've finally got the amp i'll stay with for a long time, the Bogner Alchemist. Great Fender type 6l6 cleans but with a drive channel that sounds great is very versatile. the only thing i miss is that el84 vox type chime...and one day i'll get another AC30 or el84 type amp (dr z, matchless)...but only to run with my Bogner. I do like pedals for boost and mild od purposes, but i've never heard one (that includes every boutique type pedal there is) that could be my main distortion sound. one of my fav pedals is the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive....can make almost any amp sound chimey.

[JLT]

Thanks guys, I have a lot to consider.