How to make a '65 Deluxe Reverb RI sound

[Jesse Rev]

First of all, thanks for your help and good times reading you. Now, my first thread:

I recently got myself a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb reissue Fudge Brownie (FSR) at the time as a friend of mine got a standard one as well.
Checking both, we realized that mine lacks that "fenderish" tone wihle playing a Strat in neck pickup position. I mean that deep-resonant-woody tone. Its a little bit dead or plain in that sense, whereas my friends amp perfectly sing it.

Another feeling was my friends amp has more sensitive response when your fingers touch the strings, is "easier to play", has more bite and sounds more natural.


I only changed C8 and C9 caps for .022uF and installed a mids pot to change the voice, but doesnt work to achieve that tone.

Does anyone know if could be a filter caps or trannies matter or any other circuit section?
I guess should be able to get the same sound from them, maybe locating and fixing any defective component (am I wrong?!). I've red threads and mods for that amp but I think there's no one describing this case and a concrete solution for it.

Of course, the soundcheck was using the same speaker (WGS G12C/S), same tubes (swapping them between the amps), and both are stock AB763 year 2002 circuits, not modified before.

Thanks in advance

[Randall]

By "standard one" do you mean a vintage amp, or is it also a Re-issue. The re-issues are printed circuit boards with smaller components and wiring, where the vintage amps are hand wired with older components on a fiber board. They do not sound the same. The new ones are more sterile and less sweet sounding than vintage amps. Older steel in the transformers, older speakers, different capacitors, carbon resistors that drift and change value, it all contributes.

I got the same reissue amp, and ended up gutting it, leaving only the power transformer and the tube sockets and switches. I rebuilt it as a real AB763 circuit on a turret board. No question it now sounds better than it did. But that is an extreme example. I don't think there is any one magic trick or mod that will change it all that much.

[Jesse Rev]

I mean a reissue when I say "standard". Thats why I said it should be able to get the same tone from both.
Of course, an original deluxe "has nothing to do" with a reissue, but at this moment the 65 reissue is a good enough sounding amp for my ears and what I need... but my friend's reissue sounds a lot better than mine... why? thats the matter

[copperheadroads]

Are the tubes Biased fairly even in both amps ?

[Enzo]

So we ar talking about two seemingly identical "65 Deluxe Reverb RIs then?

Do they sound different side by side, or are you listening at different locations? Oh, side by side, OK.

Do they have identical speakers? Oh, you said they were.

First off, if the amp stock has a problem the other stock amp does not have, don;t do any mods to it. Make it work right FIRST. All mods do is confuse the issue. You mod a defective amp, it becomes a defective modded amp.

Yes, their bias(^^^)) should be the same, are they?

On the bad amp, do both channels have the same issue, or just the channel you use? If both, that probably puts the issue at least half way in.

It may be a bad component, it may not, do not assume.

On both amps, set the reverb control the same, say 5, then lift one end of the amp an inch and drop it. Do the crash sounds sound the same or does the one have the issue?

Has it ALWAYS been this way, or did it change at some time while you had it?

From a technical standpoint, I first want to verify operating conditions: B+ at each node, at each plate, at each screen. Cathode voltages. I want to scope the system looking for RF oscillation. I look for evidence of prior repair, another thing modding covers up.

[Jesse Rev]

Excuse the waiting, but i had to go far and have the two amps to test.

Yeah... both of them seemingly identlical amps (but tolex color). The mods that i did (mids pot installed and .022uF C8 and C9 caps were changed for the original again to prevent confusing issues testing "identical" amps).

Both hot biased and same tubes (not same brand, but same set changed from one amp to the other).

Now, the lifting and dropping reverb test was contradictory. In both amps the reverb works perfectly while playing. Now:
The "good" amp reverb tank noise when dropped was a deep, resounding buzz and sometimes with spring "lashes".
The "bad" amp reverb tank noise when dropped was no deep and no resounding buzz, but sometimes the same spring "lashes".

Then I plugged RCA connectors from one amp to the other one and backwards to test any reverb tank problem and heard the same noise.
So, I mean that it looked more a reverb tank than a circuit issue, because the tone of both amps was still the same:
Good amp + bad reverb still sounded good tone (and same no-deep reverb tank noise).
Bad amp + good reverb still lacks the tone I'm looking for (and same deep reverb tank noise).
(Both amps were tested with RCA reverb pilled out and it resulted the same).

On the other hand, a little more volume, more clear and natural sound and more responsive to fingers feeling in the "good" amp was still a main point to think about what could happend inside them.