Fender 65 DRRI vs 68 Custom DR

[Tal_175]

Why is it that 68 customs do not get as much attention on this forum as 65 DRRI's? One would think 68's with their warmer tone are more suitable for jazz. No?

I traded my 65 RI Princeton with a 68 custom Deluxe Reverb. I used to own a 65 DRRI too. I never quite liked the blackface re-issues. I find them to be too thin, twangy, bright but boomy at the same time, even with both tone controls at minimum. May be the stock speakers are making the issue worse. I have never owned an original blackface Fender so I can't speak for those.

68 Customs have one channel with bassman like tone stack and another with blackface tone stack. Both channels have reverb and tremolo. Bassman channel (called custom channel) has more lower mids. It has a fat and warm tone. Very full, jazzy cleans IMO. It's a sort of in-between tweed and blackface tone. A little raw.

The blackface channel (called vintage) is still not as scooped as DRRI may be due to the reduced negative feedback and Celestion speakers. Also much smoother highs. It's still noticeably thinner sounding than the custom channel, but perhaps with more headroom. Amp circuit is identical to DRRI's except a few simple mods. I get that 68's might not have as much headroom but for jazz they should have plenty of reasonably clean tone for most situations.

Oh, one down side is 68's have this loud hiss even when everything is turned down. It would be a bit annoying as a bedroom practice amp. I have a Champ for that purpose but still it would be great if I can solve that issue. Any insights?

[SandChannel]

I don't want to sound totally petty, but I am totally about to be - I just don't like the look of Silverface amps. When I was growing up, I saw my heroes playing Tweeds and Blackface amps. That image and sound are stuck in my head. That said, it sounds like Fender brought some really interesting ideas into that Custom and I will probably have to give one a test run sometime.

[Alfonso]

And the 68 custom deluxes are a steal used, I see them for $500, can't beat that great amp

[blille]

68 has significantly less headroom by design like you said, which is generally not what most people in this forum want.

Even clean, I prefer the 65. All a personal choice.

I personally have a 65 PRRI and a 5e3. I think the 68s fall somewhere in between not necessarily being better than the other two. Again, just IMHO. YMMV etc

[Tal_175]

I don't want to sound totally petty, but I am totally about to be - I just don't like the look of Silverface amps. When I was growing up, I saw my heroes playing Tweeds and Blackface amps. That image and sound are stuck in my head. That said, it sounds like Fender brought some really interesting ideas into that Custom and I will probably have to give one a test run sometime.

Yeah, I think I prefer blackface cosmetically too. Only because I associate silverface with lower quality Fender amps which is arguably true for many older models. The RI's and 68 Customs have identical components. I think blackface's are assembled in the US, silverfaces are assembled in Mexico. There is only 50 dollar price difference.
I tell myself that silverface cosmetics have a counter-culture appeal like Fender Mustangs and Jaguars.

[John A.]

Yeah, I think I prefer blackface cosmetically too. Only because I associate silverface with lower quality Fender amps which is arguably true for many older models. The RI's and 68 Customs have identical components. I think blackface's are assembled in the US, silverfaces are assembled in Mexico. There is only 50 dollar price difference.
I tell myself that silverface cosmetics have a counter-culture appeal like Fender Mustangs and Jaguars.

For those of us of a certain age ... yes, SF=bad (as does big strat headstocks), but the kids don't see it that way. The worst of the CBS era stuff is in landfills, and the good stuff survived to gain retro cachet. That and some of the models SF avoided the overpowered-ice-pick-in-the-eardrum-ification that afflicted Twins and and most of the bigger amps. E.g., DR, PR, Champ, and Bassman (SF Bassman heads are the amps 50-watt Marshalls wish they could be).

John

[vintagelove]

Skip both, buy the correct, non master silver face, spend 150 bucks and have a tech go through it. It will outlive you and both those modern fenders.

[blille]

The worst of the CBS era stuff is in landfills, and the good stuff survived to gain retro cachet.

I’m a fan of the natural selection theory applied to guitar gear but there is still a fair bit of not so great CBS stuff out there so one has to be careful

[takauya]

Cosmetically I prefer the silverface with aluminium frame. I've never liked the look of blackface amps because all of the cheap fender SS amps in 90s and 00s also used the same design and it reminds me of those junks. I'm born in late 80s so.
I've only played the DRRI once but it sounded dead. It was at a boutique high-end guitar shop so I assumed it was a good condition. Nothing like the real blackface. Never played the 68 custom but I'm interested. Again it looks cool to me.

[Tal_175]

Cosmetically I prefer the silverface with aluminium frame. I've never liked the look of blackface amps because all of the cheap fender SS amps in 90s and 00s also used the same design and it reminds me of those junks. I'm born in late 80s so.
I've only played the DRRI once but it sounded dead. It was at a boutique high-end guitar shop so I assumed it was a good condition. Nothing like the real blackface. Never played the 68 custom but I'm interested. Again it looks cool to me.

That's true actually. I had a blackface SS/modeling junk Fender many years ago. It looked like 65 Princeton only a bit smaller (it wasn't the SS Princeton model).

[ESCC]

For those of us of a certain age ... yes, SF=bad (as does big strat headstocks),

John

. . . don't tell that to Jimi