In my series of reviewing the gear I am trying out for future members I thought I would review my Blues Deluxe. I struggled doing this with G.L.'s problem with his, but wanted to get the ball rolling. No disrespect sir.
I bought mine used off of CL from a nice enough guy. He had all the internal wiring re-soldered and new tubes put in so this will not be an "out of the box" review.
Light weight at 40lbs. Transporting will be a breeze along with two guitars. It sports one 12" speaker and is 40 watts. Plenty enough for me seeing as I am only looking to start a three piece traditional Rockabilly band a lá High Noon.
Plenty of volume out of this amp. I have mine on a stand so it's at ear level. I play between 1 and 2 and have no problems. At 6 it starts to break up. Have not tried going to 12 yet, maybe this weekend. You do have the option of hooking up an extension speaker or cabinet. Just match your impedance!! They have the output set up in the owners manual or online so you know what the impedance will be. Tone was super easy to set up.
Drive. Ahhh the great debate. This will not get you a metal sound, blah blah blah. That being said in every review, you can get a cool overdriven sound. It has a separate channel just for the "overdrive" and is controllable with the foot switch included. There is a separate master volume just for the drive but it stills uses your treble, bass, and mids. I think this would be great since your are not trying to play the matching game with the channels. Final thought on this channel, you can get a cool blues sound. Dare say 70's type rock at best.
The reverb is lacking to me. It's there, but it feels like it is not full on or maybe it's just super weak. I hope someone who reads this tells me there is a better unit I can put in there. If not, I will just get a pedal and add it to the effects loop with the echo. The reverb can be controlled with the foot switch as well. After the novelty of being able to switch channels has worn off, the foot switch is going into the closet. Less is more to me.
Super easy to dial in your sound. Not a million knobs or extra bells and whistles. Ascetically it's beautiful. The tweed and oxblood are awesome. It oozes Rockabilly/Blues cool. I have seen a picture with Cliff Gallup next to one that looks identical. The lettering is upside down when looking at the knobs from the speaker side. Since its a basic set up this is easily over looked.
I would get another, but a used one so I knew it was put through its paces. For the money it's worth it being light, great sounding, and just cool looking.
Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue Review
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