Blues Deluxe Reissue

Steelpickin'

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I recently picked up one of these amps and I am pretty impressed so far.
I usually play through a Fender Twin and was looking for something a little lighter in weight that still had that Fender sound. For a 40watt amp this thing screams!! Plenty of power here and a tone I like. I am a fan of acutronics reverb and this one does not disapoint. Little and loud! Sounds great with my Tele W/ Seymour Duncan Vintage stacks. Even sounds pretty respectable with my 54 Stringmaster and some distortion!...anyone else useing one of these amps? Likes/ dislikes?? Thanks.

Larry
 

BluesDan

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(3) 12ax7 & (2) 6L6 tubes..........What's not to love?? :wink:

Good clean classic Fender tones, great reverb, nice blues bite and LOUD. I love 'em all, the Blues Deluxe, Hot Rod DeVille, Twin,and Blues Junior.

Sounds great with a Blues Driver and Strat.
 

Steelpickin'

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BluesDan said:
(3) 12ax7 & (2) 6L6 tubes..........What's not to love?? :wink:

Good clean classic Fender tones, great reverb, nice blues bite and LOUD. I love 'em all, the Blues Deluxe, Hot Rod DeVille, Twin,and Blues Junior.

Sounds great with a Blues Driver and Strat.

You got that right! I use a Blues Driver W/the Keely mod.
Too Kool for skool! :wink:
 

BluesDan

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.......toss in a Keeley Compressor and a vintage Morley Power Wah Boost and now we're talkin'!!!!!
Gotta love the Robert Keeley mods! 8)
 

Jeff

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BluesDan said:
.......toss in a Keeley Compressor and a vintage Morley Power Wah Boost and now we're talkin'!!!!!
Gotta love the Robert Keeley mods! 8)

Don't know about the Morley prices but Keeley's are kinda spendy. Hate to buy one mail order without giving it a try 1st.
 

Guildgator

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The Keeley modded Blues Driver is the right choice with a blues Junior, but maybe not with the larger Fender Hot Rod amps.

A plain ol TS9 Tube screamer also does the trick, without the additional expense.
 

BluesDan

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Jeff said:
BluesDan said:
.......toss in a Keeley Compressor and a vintage Morley Power Wah Boost and now we're talkin'!!!!!
Gotta love the Robert Keeley mods! 8)

Don't know about the Morley prices but Keeley's are kinda spendy. Hate to buy one mail order without giving it a try 1st.

Hey Jeff,
A good condition vintage Morley power wah boost runs around 100 to 150 on the bay. IMO well worth it. No comparison between the vintage ones and the newer "Mark Tremonti" or other wahs. To me, its like night and day. Again, sound is subjective here so my intent is not to offend any Tremonti wah users out there. I have both and use both.

As for the Keeley Blues Driver, I do agree with Guild Gators assessment to a degree, but I really think there is an overall difference between the Keeley BD-2 and the TS9 that is subjective to the players ears. With the Hot Rod series amps you really have to spend some time tweaking the Keeley, but when you nail it, it's worth it. To me, the Keeley BD-2 is worth the xtra coin compared to a TS9 out of the box, however, I am probably in the minority there. With that said, ALOT of pros with amps larger than the Hot Rod series still swear by the Keeley BD-2.

But then, we were talking compressors, not tube screamers, right? OK. So, with regards to the Keeley Compressor, maybe ask around the local guitar shops by you, maybe someone has one you can check out??? I personally think they are well worth the 229 or so Keeley gets on his website. If you purchase one and absolutely hate it, you could always sell it on the bay, there is a demand for them, probably for about a 40 dollar loss from your cost. I believe, and you can double check, Keeley used to ship for free in the US.

Regards,
Dan
 

Steelpickin'

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I also like the modded BD-2 with my Fender Twin.
I DO like the original Tube screamers but dont really care for there reissues. I got my BD-2 from Gaylon Mathews when he was Gretchen Wilsons steelplayer and he had the mod added and sold it to me very reasonably since it was a spare! :) as far as the Keeley compressors are concerned, I too feel they are worth every penny!
 

BluesDan

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Steel,
I just re-visited your collection of tunes on you tube, amazing stuff! Looking forward to more! Incredible fingerpicking.
Dan
 

Steelpickin'

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Thanks for the kind words, Dan.
Most of whats on there is pretty simple stuff since I dont have any backing tracks....I 'll get to putting some decent stuff up before too long :) Just bought some very good tracks and a couple of the guys I pick with have agreed to let me post a few of our clips from some of our jams.

Larry
 

mad dog

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Only played this amp once, but it sticks in my mind. Easily the biggest bang-for-the-buck gigging amp out there. I've never much liked the similar fender offerings (devilles, hot rods and such), so was surprised to warm up to the Blues deluxe at a rehearsal. It was especially rocking with the G&L ASAT Classic.
 

dklsplace

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Steelpickin' said:
I recently picked up one of these amps and I am pretty impressed so far.
I...anyone else useing one of these amps? Likes/ dislikes?? Thanks.

Hey Larry, I had a 2x12 Hot Rod Deville for a number of years & always heard from folks who knew the line that the original Blues line had better mojo. Not so over the top in the drive/more drive channels.

Anyway, if this is factory stock, it's most likely biased on the cold side with tubes that are less than stellar. Ultimately I replaced the speakers & tubes in my HR & heated up the bias & it became an entirely different animal. Much richer tone & more versatile.
 

GuildFS4612CE

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BluesDan said:
Steel,
I just re-visited your collection of tunes on you tube, amazing stuff! Looking forward to more! Incredible fingerpicking.
Dan
Steelpickin' said:
Thanks for the kind words, Dan.
Most of whats on there is pretty simple stuff since I dont have any backing tracks....I 'll get to putting some decent stuff up before too long :) Just bought some very good tracks and a couple of the guys I pick with have agreed to let me post a few of our clips from some of our jams.
Larry
You don't NEED any backing tracks, Larry. We like listening to YOU. :lol: :mrgreen:
 

MacAoidh

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A few musings from an itinerant blues player, for what they're worth. The Fender BDR is indeed impressive, but only seems to reach its potential at volumes higher than punters in smaller Blues venues are willing to tolerate. The DRRI might be a suitable alternative here. The Gibson GA20, 40 and 42RVT are worthy rivals but there is some criticism that the valve/tube compartment is too narrow and likely to overheat (its sister, the Epiphone Blues Custom 30 has avoided this problem, has a fan as a backup and is half the price to boot). The Chineses Vox AC30 appear to have a lot of cheap electronics, although the AC50 sounds like the real thing. Peavey Classic sounds great but that open back has always been a turnoff, unlike the Crate V series. The Carvin BelAir soak channel sounds like a blizzard of bees, but otherwise is a solid amp for $600. Nonetheless, the BC30, Allen Brown Sugar (1X15) Valvetech Hayseed and Laney VC30 take some beating for blues work.
 

Mingus

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I've got an original Blues Deluxe from '93 or '94 and it's a tone machine. My friend, Mike Marsh (shameless plug: www.marshamps.com), keeps yelling at me to stop playing these "cheap plastic amps." It's just so damn sweet though! Of course, it does not compare to the 18watt Marshall clone he built for me. . .but dang-it. . .what does? LOL

Seriously though. . .it's in regular rotation on gigs. . .and i've got a LOT of amps!

-J
 
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