Fender Blues Deluxe for jazz?

[Misty]

I'm in the market for a tube amp, I've limited my choice to 44lbs or less, and at least 30 watts.

After looking around a lot I think the blues deluxe would be a good choice, I played the blues deville in the past and really liked the punchy yet warm and bright tones.
However, I never played that deville very loud and I don't know if the deluxe would have enough clean headroom to play jazz with a quartet/quintet.

Anyone owns/owned one and can share their experience?

Thanks!

[medblues]

Fender George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe is very similar to the Blues Deluxe but redesigned for improved headroom, has an extra drive channel and is a bit lighter in weight (pine cab vs particle board) but $100 more. I have one and like it a lot.

[Misty]

Fender George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe is very similar to the Blues Deluxe but redesigned for improved headroom, has an extra drive channel and is a bit lighter in weight (pine cab vs particle board) but $100 more. I have one and like it a lot.

the george benson would cost me twice as much.

I can get the Blues deluxe used for 400, the benson goes for at least 1000+ used :/ if i put in an efficient speaker and a 12AT7 tube in the first slot, would it not be basically the same as the benson? (aside that the Blues Deluxe will still be heavier).

I don't need any drive channels btw, just cleans.

[Gitfiddler]

I had a Blues Deluxe several years ago and found it to be a reasonably toneful amp. It wasn't loud enough for the 10 pc. RnB band I was with at the time, however. It sounded much better after swapping out the factory Emi speaker for a Weber AlNiCo. It was a cheaply built amp in my view. I sold it and don't really miss it. It might be OK for jazz, but there are many much better alternative amps available these days.

[Misty]

I had a Blues Deluxe several years ago and found it to be a reasonably toneful amp. It wasn't loud enough for the 10 pc. RnB band I was with at the time, however. It sounded much better after swapping out the factory Emi speaker for a Weber AlNiCo. It was a cheaply built amp in my view. I sold it and don't really miss it. It might be OK for jazz, but there are many much better alternative amps available these days.

what alternatives are there in it's price and weight range?

[Gitfiddler]

what alternatives are there in it's price and weight range?

$400 price range limits your choices for a comparable tube amp, but if I were in the market for a toneful, lightweight amp, I'd consider the new Peavey Bandit combo, or Classic 20 Mini head. You would need a speaker cab for the latter.

I'd also consider a solid state Fender Deluxe Reverb Tone Master amp. Look for sales and you could land a great amp at less than full retail.

Good hunting.

[medblues]

the george benson would cost me twice as much.

I can get the Blues deluxe used for 400, the benson goes for at least 1000+ used :/ if i put in an efficient speaker and a 12AT7 tube in the first slot, would it not be basically the same as the benson? (aside that the Blues Deluxe will still be heavier).

I don't need any drive channels btw, just cleans.

Yes I definitely agree and if you swap an efficient neo speaker ($$) you can also get the Blues Deluxe quite a bit lighter. If you are going to spend time and money on a speaker, I would suggest rethinking about Fender Super Champ X2 head version. That will get you down to $200+ used and you don't end up with a spare speaker sitting around (unless you have projects for it).

BTW, there is a cheaper used benson here Fender GB Hot Rod Deluxe George Benson Signature 3-Channel | Reverb

[christianm77]

Blues Deluxe has clean headroom for days and is built like a brick shit house like all DeVille amps. They often show up at jazz gigs as house amps, and I've found them to be reasonably consistent with things like Deluxe Reverbs and Twin's tonally in that they have the 'Fender sound', albeit perhaps a little rougher around the edges.

TBH if there's one of these at a gig, I'll know things are going to be OK.

[Misty]

Yes I definitely agree and if you swap an efficient neo speaker ($$) you can also get the Blues Deluxe quite a bit lighter. If you are going to spend time and money on a speaker, I would suggest rethinking about Fender Super Champ X2 head version. That will get you down to $200+ used and you don't end up with a spare speaker sitting around (unless you have projects for it).

BTW, there is a cheaper used benson here Fender GB Hot Rod Deluxe George Benson Signature 3-Channel | Reverb

thanks for the link, however the seller has not set shipping to my country which is probably why it didn't show up on my reverb feed, i would also have to pay 20% import tax + shipping on top of that so it would again come close (or more) than double of the blues deluxe (even with mods).


the super champ looks cute, but it's 15watts vs 40 on the blues deluxe, I'd like to have some headroom to spare.

I think i will pick up the blues deluxe and mod it closer to the benson spec, that's a great compromise i think, thanks for the idea!

$400 price range limits your choices for a comparable tube amp, but if I were in the market for a toneful, lightweight amp, I'd consider the new Peavey Bandit combo, or Classic 20 Mini head. You would need a speaker cab for the latter.

I'd also consider a solid state Fender Deluxe Reverb Tone Master amp. Look for sales and you could land a great amp at less than full retail.

Good hunting.

doesn't have to be in the $400 price range per se, i'd say maybe up to $800, but i'd like to keep costs low and i really liked the blues deville 410 i played, it might be the most satisfying clean amp i have ever played, so if the blues deluxe is cut from the same cloth that seems like a safe option, if it has some headroom.

the tone master stuff looks cool, but i've tried so many solid state amps, analog and digital, that i realized i really prefer to play on tube amps; i also think they are overpriced for a made in china solid state amp.

Blues Deluxe has clean headroom for days and is built like a brick shit house like all DeVille amps. They often show up at jazz gigs as house amps, and I've found them to be reasonably consistent with things like Deluxe Reverbs and Twin's tonally in that they have the 'Fender sound', albeit perhaps a little rougher around the edges.

TBH if there's one of these at a gig, I'll know things are going to be OK.

rough around the edges as in breaking up earlier or just in the way they sound?

[christianm77]

thanks for the link, however the seller has not set shipping to my country which is probably why it didn't show up on my reverb feed, i would also have to pay 20% import tax + shipping on top of that so it would again come close (or more) than double of the blues deluxe (even with mods).


the super champ looks cute, but it's 15watts vs 40 on the blues deluxe, I'd like to have some headroom to spare.

I think i will pick up the blues deluxe and mod it closer to the benson spec, that's a great compromise i think, thanks for the idea!



doesn't have to be in the $400 price range per se, i'd say maybe up to $800, but i'd like to keep costs low and i really liked the blues deville 410 i played, it might be the most satisfying clean amp i have ever played, so if the blues deluxe is cut from the same cloth that seems like a safe option.

the tone master stuff looks cool, but i've tried so many solid state amps, analog and digital, that i realized i really prefer to play on tube amps; i also think they are overpriced for a made in china solid state amp.



rough around the edges as in breaking up earlier or just in the way they sound?

If you can actually make one break up, you are probably playing in Led Zeppelin circa 1972.

Just not quite as smooth as one of the more expensive BF amps (Princeton, Deluxe, Twin), but never any less than clean. They are not that different TBH. Sound fab with pedals.

[Greentone]

All of the Fender "Blues" amps are pretty good amps. I have had experience with the Blues DeVille, the Blues Deluxe, and of course the Blues Junior amps. In my neck of the woods, all three amps are quite popular--with the Junior being the most popular of the three. (Seems like every player has a Junior--I have two.)

They all sound great, but I think they sound great in descending order: best = DeVille, next best = Deluxe, third best = Junior. (For years, the Junior was my "leave it at the venue" amp. It stayed in the pit for show work.)

All three amps have an Achilles heel: the input jacks are soldered directly to the circuit card. With repeated use, the jack to card connection works loose and needs resoldering.

The Deluxe and the Junior are reasonably "carry-able" IMO. The Deluxe sounds better than the Junior, too--better power amp final tubes.

[rabbit]

Just an idea, 'prolly not a good one...Fender Mustang GTX

[wzpgsr]

I got an original 1990s Blues Deluxe a few years back on a trade deal. It got very loud very quickly and was was too boomy for my uses, which at the time were small quiet-ish guitar duo gigs. I sold it almost immediately.

[christianm77]

Yeah the volume control on those things are like this

[Alter]

I 've owned the Blues Deluxe, the Super Champ and the Blues junior, also have gigged the Deville numerous times. To my ears the Deluxe can do any type of gig, i prefer it to the deville, but both are fine for jazz. Super champ is a smaller amp, digital preamp for both channels, i think the combo is a bit weak cause of the small speaker and enclosure. Nice cheap giggable amp, but not in the league of the other two. Didn't particularly like the blues junior, too heavy for 15 watts, and didn't care for its el84 sound. Much rather prefer the pro junior.

I'd buy a used blues deluxe or deville, but try to play them beforehand cause they sound pretty different and you might have a strong preference for one of them.

[Greentone]

Mustang GTX is a very good, affordable amp that tags all the bases.

[Misty]

All of the Fender "Blues" amps are pretty good amps. I have had experience with the Blues DeVille, the Blues Deluxe, and of course the Blues Junior amps. In my neck of the woods, all three amps are quite popular--with the Junior being the most popular of the three. (Seems like every player has a Junior--I have two.)

They all sound great, but I think they sound great in descending order: best = DeVille, next best = Deluxe, third best = Junior. (For years, the Junior was my "leave it at the venue" amp. It stayed in the pit for show work.)

All three amps have an Achilles heel: the input jacks are soldered directly to the circuit card. With repeated use, the jack to card connection works loose and needs resoldering.

The Deluxe and the Junior are reasonably "carry-able" IMO. The Deluxe sounds better than the Junior, too--better power amp final tubes.

Does the deville sound better because of the different speakers? as far as i see that's the only difference? and that it has a bigger transformer?

[Little Jay]

I gigged a couple of years with the BDLX (first US-made generation) and my Strat and in the soulband I was in it was a great amp with more than enough clean headroom and volume and a nice punch and ‘oomph’ for the soul repertoire (untill it started having technical issues: Cracked solder joints because of jacks, pots and tubefeet directly connected to the PCB’s, but that’s another story).

When I started using it for jazz with my ES-333 and ES-125 I had troubles with too much bass response, especially on higher volumes. Couldn’t dial out the bass enough.

I modded the circuit, put a new speaker and changed tube configuration, the circuit is now closer to blackface and speaker is a lightweight Jensen NEO 12-100 and now it sounds really good, especially for jazz (but it does distorted tones also much better as an added bonus). Also removed some caps and changed valuess of others to tame brightness.

This was recorded with an SM57 in front of the speaker:

[Little Jay]

Does the deville sound better because of the different speakers? as far as i see that's the only difference? and that it has a bigger transformer?

Circuit is the same indeed, so if it sounds better to your ears it must be the speakers.

[Misty]

Circuit is the same indeed, so if it sounds better to your ears it must be the speakers.

The Deville has Alnico blue and the Deluxe has Alnico gold, the gold was designed to be a higher wattage blue, so they should sound similar, maybe the tone difference that user Greentone was referring to is simply due to the speaker size/amount and cabinet.

[Greentone]

The DeVille I am familiar with had 4 x 10.

[setemupjoe]

I have both the DeVille and Deluxe. I think the Deluxe is a great jazz amp. It’s got plenty of headroom for jazz. Most gigs the volume stays on 2-3.

[wzpgsr]

I gigged a couple of years with the BDLX (first US-made generation) and my Strat and in the soulband I was in it was a great amp with more than enough clean headroom and volume and a nice punch and ‘oomph’ for the soul repertoire (untill it started having technical issues: Cracked solder joints because of jacks, pots and tubefeet directly connected to the PCB’s, but that’s another story).

When I started using it for jazz with my ES-333 and ES-125 I had troubles with too much bass response, especially on higher volumes. Couldn’t dial out the bass enough.

I modded the circuit, put a new speaker and changed tube configuration, the circuit is now closer to blackface and speaker is a lightweight Jensen NEO 12-100 and now it sounds really good, especially for jazz (but it does distorted tones also much better as an added bonus). Also removed some caps and changed valuess of others to tame brightness.

This was recorded with an SM57 in front of the speaker:

That’s the stuff right there! Couldn’t ask for a better sounding combination. What‘s the non-altered circuit based on—tweed deluxe that drank too much juice?

[Little Jay]

The Blues Deluxe circuit bares the most resemblance with the 5F6A Bassman I think

[Fusionshred]

I have a Hot Rod Deluxe IV for sale on The Gear Page but would be happy to show you here. The version IV solved the volume pot taper issue so it's more linear and not full-blast on 2. Very nice looking limited edition as well.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...#post-31116800