I am looking to buy one of these. The Fender is incredible. I can't find a Delta Blues locally to play. Can you guys help me? I looked at a video someone posted on YouTube comparing the two. They sounded pretty close. Guitar Center has a 15% off sale today but unfortunately Fender is not included.
You can get the Peavey with the discount. What would you do? Thanks

I owned a Delta Blues for about 6 hours and returned it! I found it to be muddy and not have the tonal range I wanted. I instead bought a Blues Deluxe Reissue by Fender which had a much wider tonal range and foot switchable boost which was nice along with two channels. The Deluxe Reverb blows my BDR outs the wahtah!!! That is a sweet amp, and in my very humble opinion the Peavey does not even come close! I would save my nickles for the Fender!

I have to disagree about being muddy, my pedal steel player runs 2 in stereo, it is anything but muddy. It's loud, full, clear.

Gonna have to claim user error, they do take some knob twisting, to get your sound, but they are still built in the U.S.A.

They are buit 10 times better than modern Made in Mexico Fender amps. Peavey's can take a beating that would send Fender crying for it's mommy.

I've got a peavey 210 delta and it is a very nice amp, that said, it ain't no Fender. I use the Peavey in church and my HRD or cyber D or twin or super or exec or victoria or standel or dual showman reverb for all gigs where others "main" instruments are involved. If you don't have a Fender, start there.

I appreciate the input. I don't have a Fender at present. I did have a Hot Rod Deluxe 40 watt. Man was it loud. At home I couldn't play pass 1 1/2 or 2. It did have full deep tube sound though. I mostly play at home and some in church. My wife and I are starting a Nursing Home Ministry and I didn't want to blow the little people away. ha ha

I have to disagree about being muddy, my pedal steel player runs 2 in stereo, it is anything but muddy. It's loud, full, clear.

Gonna have to claim user error, they do take some knob twisting, to get your sound, but they are still built in the U.S.A.

They are buit 10 times better than modern Made in Mexico Fender amps. Peavey's can take a beating that would send Fender crying for it's mommy.

I'm going to dis-agree with you there. I had a Peavey Delta Blues 115" and it did sound muddy and it did lack tonal range. The reverb was of the worst of any American amp I ever heard with the exception of the earlier American made Blues Jr.

As far as build quality, the Peavey tube sockets are mounted directly to a very flimsy circuit board that utilized chinsy computer type ribbon fly leads and the chassis construction was almost paper thin. Now I don't know much about Mexican made Fender amps with the exception of the Blues Jr. which is definatley pure crap construction, however I don't see how the Peavey is built any better.

I will never again own an amp that has it's tube sockets soldered to a circuit board period!

In fenders defense thier newer amps like the DRRI and the Vibrolux Custom are well built and all of the tube sockets are chassis mounted but these are American made or so they claim.

I guess the old saying (You Get what You Pay For) rings true here

I will never again own an amp that has it's tube sockets soldered to a circuit board period!

I guess the old saying (You Get what You Pay For) rings true here

I agree. The circuit design on many new amps are great, but they are cheaply built.

I have a delta blues 1x15. I really like it, especially with my Gibsons. It has a really great blues sound. If you are here because you love the Gretsch sparkle, then it may not be the amp for you.

I think the Error in the Peavy is simply:

A. Speaker. A nicer/more efficient 15 is going to sound better. Also needs time to be broken in, not to mention 15's aren't really known for their highs.
B. (possibly) tubes. they could be crap.
C. expert knob twiddling necessary.
D. Letter "A" again... but simply because these are mostly for CLEANS!

I Didnt like my hot-rod deluxe, but after getting rid of it I found tons of mods to sweeten it up and feel silly for having gotten rid of it.

Drri's are awesome, but I'm not a fan of their breakup, great cleans. Blues Deluxes are awesome amps all around.

RIGHT NOW. If i wanted Super cleans, and Sonic breakup/distortion... I would get a Fender Supersonic 22, or a 60 if you play in places larger than 3000 Square ft. the 22 Is similar to a DRRI. It basically does Bassman-Vibroluxe (but in my opinion it can get to mesa with a tube swap if you like Super hot/crunchy.) I also recommend putting a V-30 in there, while the Supersonic 60 could use a second V-30 in it. haha.

Far Out! I just wrote a long reply to this thread and then lost the whole thing in the ether. Bummer.

Here's the guts of it: The Peavey is not a Fender. I have a Twin that I love and will never replace. Great sound, and great with pedals. If you want a Fender and that sound like many other players, get a Fender. Save up your pennies.
I bought a Delta Blues 115 because I wanted a smaller wattage amp. I had decided to get a Deluxe Reissue (lighter and less volume dependent than the Twin). I played one. It was great. It was another Fender. An expensive Fender. Then I decided I would like to expand my tonal options. I've never wanted to sound like every other player. (Ironically, when I bought the Twin in the late 80s, Marshalls were de rigeur, and the Twin played clean gave me a point of difference!). The DB has more chime, a different and distinctive clean sound, great low end punch and tightness from the 15" speaker, nice crunch in the drive channel, and a different reverb and tremelo (both of which are best used subtlely, or they can sound silly). I cost about half the price and I've played it every day since I got it with a 5120 with filters, a Strat, and a 335. Loads of good sounds by varying the tonal controls, especially when exploring the volume controls on the guitar as well. There are some mods you can do:
http://www.blueshawk.info/peavey_delta_blues_15.htm

Try one out, but don't expect it to be a Fender. It isn't. Check out Darryl Higham playing his with Imedla May to see what it can do with a Gretsch.

Yeah, you get what you pay for... but you also make what you will.;)

I AB'ed the blues deluxe and the delta blues and went for the blues deluxe.
Here is the thread on that:

http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/ampage-area/30813-shopping-bigger-amp.html#post210838

I loved the sparkly yet warm cleans of the BDRI. Excellent sound stageing and lovely spacy reverb.

The Delta Blues disappointed me. The soundstaging (note separation, clarity) was not what I was looking for. It turned all my jazzy chords into a brown warbly mush.

That said though, the delta blues would probably work really well for power-chordsy stuff. The warble that I disliked for jazz might actually add some nice texture and depth to power chords.

I AB'ed the blues deluxe and the delta blues and went for the blues deluxe.
Here is the thread on that:

http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/ampage-area/30813-shopping-bigger-amp.html#post210838

I loved the sparkly yet warm cleans of the BDRI. Excellent sound stageing and lovely spacy reverb.

The Delta Blues disappointed me. The soundstaging (note separation, clarity) was not what I was looking for. It turned all my jazzy chords into a brown warbly mush.

That said though, the delta blues would probably work really well for power-chordsy stuff. The warble that I disliked for jazz might actually add some nice texture and depth to power chords.

"Sandy Chimes and the Brown Warblers" may just make it as my new bands name!:)

ROTFL, nice one sligo! :)
I like it.

I never warmed up to the sound of the Delta Blues. I play through a Deluxe Reverb RI and couldn't be happier. Very versatile.

Honestly I just think the 15' in there is junk... Doesn't represent any higher-mid frequencies appropriately, and the bass just distorts out the mids and highs.

This is why in Car-Audio we have "Multiple stages" "Multi-stage setups" For instance. You have the sub for your bass, then you have a midbass woofer so it doesn't distort your your high mids and highs, then you have a normal speaker which doesn't allow anything below 400hz to pass through, and then you get some tweets for everything above that.

Loudspeakers while designed differently still have the same fatal flaws... These are meant to be BIG Boomey amps. I'm sure they are manageable amps.... But I dont even know why I'm advocating for it... Rule of thumb from DAY 1 since I've been playing. Peavy has always just been junk to me... (sure every line has something going for it.) but other than like the Windsor Series heads I could care less about Peavey.

"I'm sure they are manageable amps.... But I dont even know why I'm advocating for it... Rule of thumb from DAY 1 since I've been playing. Peavy has always just been junk to me... "

LOL. Good thing you were advocating for it, and not just totally negative!;)

Holy Cow, with all the Peavey bashing I feel compelled to reiterate, I really like mine.

Holy Cow, with all the Peavey bashing I feel compelled to reiterate, I really like mine.

Well this is a pro FMIC site, and everything else that isn't FMIC stinks.. Hahahaha

If you play through a Peavey Delta Blues, you'll either like it and what it does, or not. You'll trust your ears.:) Personally, I just love it when people "bag" gear that works for me. Tells me I may be onto something...;)

Well this is a pro FMIC site, and everything else that isn't FMIC stinks.. Hahahaha

Dare I say that my '01 Duo Jet (pre-FMIC) sounds really great through it ;)

Holy Cow, with all the Peavey bashing I feel compelled to reiterate, I really like mine.

I didn't mean to bash anything. I've heard someone sound great through a Delta Blues. It just didn't work for MY sound. Gotta trust your ears. If you like the way you sound, you play better.

I have heard all sorts of players sound great through all sorts of amps. Buying their choice of amp has not made me sound the same as them. The best amp I've ever heard was a head in an unbranded box under a work bench at my luthiers. Going through a similarly unmarked speaker cab with (from memory, it was years ago) a single 12". He wouldn't tell me what it was (I'm not sure he actually even knew), but it was simple.

So, here's the Schrodinger's Cat part... (and I know the analogy is crap, but anyway)... would you be prepared to make a blind choice of an amp, and have its identity forever hidden in a blank box, basing your choice and use of it solely on your ears?

Which is why I shun both of them and play through a Kustom 72 Coupe! (4 x 6L6, 4 x 12AX7):D

I DON'T want to sound like everyone else...I want to sound like MY tone. This amp gives me the sounds I hear inside my head.

http://www.kustom.com/Content/72black.jpg

Bravo! And it looks sweet, too. How much does it weigh? That handle looks like it might be a bit harsh with two 12s?

I have a '65 Deluxe Reverb original, not a re-issue that sounds wonderful with my Gretsch and Fender guitars, my buddy has a peavey and I can't get a good sound out of it for the classic country we play.

Bravo! And it looks sweet, too. How much does it weigh? That handle looks like it might be a bit harsh with two 12s?

Haha, it weighs in at 63 pounds (28.5kg), which is about 10 lbs. more than the 15" Delta Blues, and about 20 lbs more than the 65 DR--which is precisely why you get the optional caster kit!;) Even so, we're talking about 72 watts as opposed to 22 or 30 watts.

The alternative is the Kustom 36 coupe, which weighs in at 45 lbs. (20.5kg). It's basically the same amp with a 1 x 12 speaker, but without the tremolo/vibrato circuit, and it runs 2 x 6L6's for a 36 watt output.

Well just to throw some marbles on the floor, I don't play my Fender anymore either, I play through my Playboy and nuthin sounds bettah to me! I really want to be a Peavey fan, I really do! I love the idea of the company and being American made! I have owned a few of the solid state amps and they really sucked tone wise, but they were bullet proof. I keep a Bandit around for an emergency. I really don't need it anymore since I have a Legend, a BDRI and the Gretsch Playboy. I am sorry if I have hurt anyone's feelings, this is all so subjective. There is no right or wrong just opinion.

Great posts. Some of the guys are modding their Delta Blues. Here is a post I found at http://www.misterguitar.us/forum/ among others that shows there may be some appeal to a few pickers:
Delta Blues Mods:
"The upgrades to my Delta Blues are now completed and wow...it sounds great.
I put in a Weber NeoMag 15 speaker which is their version of a JBL D130, I ordered it like the original D130 (not D130F), smooth cone, no dope with the aluminium dust cover.
I replaced the pre-amp tubes with JJ Electronics ECC83S (12AX7).
It is now very smooth, lots of headroom on the clean channel...it is a winner."

I have bought and returned 2 Delta Blues 1-15 amps. i liked the features, but they were missing the top end shimmer of a Deluxe Reverb. Plus, the amp sounded anemic with the boost switch off, and muddy with the boost switch on.
I really wanted to like this amp, because it had reverb, tremelo, and channel switching, meaning I could gig without pedals, but I couldn't dig it's sounds.

for me, a vox ac15cc into a b-52 (yes b-52) 4x12, the vox provides the higher treble and mids, the 4x12 handles the low mids and lows, and its ported,......so far im happy as hell

I'm going to dis-agree with you there. I had a Peavey Delta Blues 115" and it did sound muddy and it did lack tonal range. The reverb was of the worst of any American amp I ever heard with the exception of the earlier American made Blues Jr.

As far as build quality, the Peavey tube sockets are mounted directly to a very flimsy circuit board that utilized chinsy computer type ribbon fly leads and the chassis construction was almost paper thin. Now I don't know much about Mexican made Fender amps with the exception of the Blues Jr. which is definatley pure crap construction, however I don't see how the Peavey is built any better.

I will never again own an amp that has it's tube sockets soldered to a circuit board period!

In fenders defense thier newer amps like the DRRI and the Vibrolux Custom are well built and all of the tube sockets are chassis mounted but these are American made or so they claim.

I guess the old saying (You Get what You Pay For) rings true here

While I like the sound of the Peavey Delta Blues 1x15" amp I have to agree that the quality of the construction is nowhere that of the Fender Vintage RIs, IMHO. the xxRI Fenders are well built and the chassis mounted tube sockets remove concerns about repairing problems that could happen as a result of blowing a power tube.

I've just re-read this earlier thread on the Peavey Delta Blues on this forum:

http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/ampage-area/16924-peavey-delta-blues.html

which was one of the reasons I explored this amp as an option and eventually bought one. Some of the same posters as this thread, and it makes revealing reading.
It seems to me that the received wisdom for many on this forum is biased towards a clean, transparent sound, probably referenced to specific players in seminal styles. (add your assumptions here). I think Gretsch guitars can do more than that. Specifically I'm interested in how filtertrons, as lower output humbuckers, sit somewhere between single coil and humbucker territories. And how they work with tubes like EL84s that have "more colour" than, say 6L6s. I've read other threads where the combination with Marshalls or Voxs has been discussed, and after the initial "all due respect" has been paid, that same received wisdom about the preminence of the Fender clean combination seems to emerge.
OK, now before I get flamed, let me note, as I have above, that my main amp has always been a 1972 Fender silverface Twin Reverb. It has a very typical Fender sound and I love it. I'd also concede, though, that without tweaking for the room and the guitar, it can sound "thin" or glassy. And it just doesn't do what my Vox AC30TB (or for that matter my Delta Blues) does well.
Now, the OP for this thread states, "The Fender is incredible." So, great, go buy the DRRI. It does what you want. The Delta Blues won't do that for half the price. That doesn't make it a bad amp, just a different amp. Apples and oranges.

Exactly , i m fond of fender sound, that s my favorite. But i had exactly the same amps than you : a twin silverface and an ac30tb originals . Two different worlds i played with my 88' es335 on both and it was amazing. I made choice of Fender sound because ... I prefer it, and know it more because i start playing with a fender champion110

Well, after reading all the great posts here and a few other places and after reading numerous reviews on both amps and watching numerous YouTube videos I bought the Peavey Delta Blues. I got a real bargain, about half the price of the Fender. I have found there are numerous settings and mods that can be done. Some guys on the Chetboard suggested, changing the speaker to a vintage JBL D130 or its Weber equivalent for a cleaner tone. Anyways, this will hopefully do for a while. I'm pretty satisfied with my decision and I have some money left over for pickups!!! I appreciate all the valuable input from you Gretsch folks! That means a lot!
Someone had this posted on the Telecaster Site of a Delta Blues in action:
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Hey J-loud EAT THAT D130 up now! pull the trigger! NOWNOWNOW

That will seriously improve the tone of that amp by..... 80% and those things dont come around every day, and WEBER's while great speakers CANT match those JBL's!

If you dont want to buy a 15' cause of price, I recommend buying a 1-12 extension cab with a similar wattage/efficiency, and the SAME impedance and plugging it into the extension jack to represent the highs better. Either option is a great idea.

Tubes would be your next step. Experiment with pre-amp tubes. Replace 12ax7's with a 12ay7 for cleaner/more headroom, or with a 5751 for more breakup/less headroom.

. Replace 12ax7's with a 12ay7 for cleaner/more headroom, or with a 5751 for more breakup/less headroom.

The 5751's output is less than a 12AX7, but more than a 12ay7.

Hey, JLoud, congrats on the amp, I hope it works well for you. Thanks for posting that vid... some pretty impressive playing in that style. Made me want to crank up my Strat with the DB, 'cause it does sound great with a Strat.

The 5751's output is less than a 12AX7, but more than a 12ay7.

yeah. 5751's break up earlier I thought...

yeah. 5751's break up earlier I thought...

After second guessing myself, I researched the answer.
The 12AX7 breaks up earlier =100%
Then the 5751= 70%
Then the 12AT7 = 60%
Then the 12AY7 = 45%
Then the 12AV7 = 41%
Then the 12AU7 = 19%


I tried a 12AT7 (used as a reverb driver in many circuits). It has less gain than the 12AY7, but it was not very musical sounding in my Tweed Deluxe clone. It's fun to experiment...try them all.:)

This is from Tube Depot:
"One of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s favorite tubes was the 5751 preamp tube. With 30% less amplification than a 12AX7, but 100% interchangeable, an amp using the 5751 preamp tube creates a creamier and smoother tone than with a 12AX7. If your amp has too much gain, the 5751 is the perfect choice to "calm" the amp down and get more break-up without all the volume. We prefer the U.S. made JAN 5751 over any other 5751 available."

I corrected the gain structures. Listed is from the Tube Store:

Now I want to buy more tubes to experiment with:D.

12AX7 =100%
5751 = 70%
12AT7 = 60%
12AY7 = 45%
12AV7 = 41%
12AU7 = 19%

Well, after reading all the great posts here and a few other places and after reading numerous reviews on both amps and watching numerous YouTube videos I bought the Peavey Delta Blues. I got a real bargain, about half the price of the Fender. I have found there are numerous settings and mods that can be done. Some guys on the Chetboard suggested, changing the speaker to a vintage JBL D130 or its Weber equivalent for a cleaner tone. Anyways, this will hopefully do for a while. I'm pretty satisfied with my decision and I have some money left over for pickups!!! I appreciate all the valuable input from you Gretsch folks! That means a lot!
Someone had this posted on the Telecaster Site of a Delta Blues in action:

Cool Man, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I like mine!

I remember having plugged in one of those amps . It works very well in clean sound and was reliable! Curiously i remember i liked the reverb on it . It also looked very nice. It is a good choice imo.

yeah. 5751's break up earlier I thought...

I corrected the gain structures. Listed is from the Tube Store:

Now I want to buy more tubes to experiment with:D.

12AX7 =100%
5751 = 70%
12AT7 = 60%
12AY7 = 45%
12AV7 = 41%
12AU7 = 19%

There's a couple of ways to look at this. Keep in mind that a blackface amp has a LOT of gain in the preamp. It's pretty easy to push the front end into overdrive. Putting lower gain tubes into the front end of the amp means that you are shifting more of the burden to the power amp. So, at least in theory, you could be hearing power stage overdrive when a blackface with low-gain preamp tubes is pushed into overdrive.

I remember having plugged in one of those amps . It works very well in clean sound and was reliable! Curiously i remember i liked the reverb on it . It also looked very nice. It is a good choice imo.

😓 i talked about the Peavy

OK Lizardkinged, I took your advice and "pulled the trigger" on that JBL D130. I was watching a couple yesterday on eBay but they got away from me. I was following a couple more today but I got tired of waiting and possibly loosing them so I clicked "BUY IT NOW" and bought one. I'll have to do some odd jobs to make up for my spending this week. ha ha
Thanks again guys. I really appreciate this website and the great input from all of those who post here. I'm not a great player but after I get the D130 in I'll post a video.

OK Lizardkinged, I took your advice and "pulled the trigger" on that JBL D130. I was watching a couple yesterday on eBay but they got away from me. I was following a couple more today but I got tired of waiting and possibly loosing them so I clicked "BUY IT NOW" and bought one. I'll have to do some odd jobs to make up for my spending this week. ha ha
Thanks again guys. I really appreciate this website and the great input from all of those who post here. I'm not a great player but after I get the D130 in I'll post a video.

Great idea! Do a before and after job, so we can compare the degree of difference.:)

Holy shcnikee that boy can PLAY!

I got the JBL D130 installed and wanted to post a video for those who may be interested in the before and after sound. So here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzvaS_HLw-c

i owned a delta blues 115 and have been around a lot (and played a lot) of deluxe reverb RIs.

here is my take:

i really like the DB115. i wouldnt call it muddy but its pretty tubby whereas the DRRI is very focused by comparison. the DRRI has that "might blow up" feel to it at times which isnt a bad thing necessarily. the DB115 is really really loud (this coming from a guy that knows loud). it does take some tweaking though. the trem isnt footswitchable but the reverb is, go figure. the boost is nice. the clean channel is fab and i actually liked the lead sounds once i tweaked enough, its incredibly solid built. the only thing that didnt do it for me is A) all peavey stuff has a certain mid freq that cannot be dialed out and B) it wasnt near edgy and bright enough for me...too smooth. the DRRI can sound a little bit boxy to me. the DB115 has more "bloom".

if i had to choose between these two, i would choose the DRRI. switchable trem and verb are great and i like the cleaner chime it has, not to say the DB cant get a good clean though, it can...its just too smooth and tubby for me. i prefer edgy and bright yet not too overdriven.

hope this helps.

PS: i will add, after the DB i got an ac15, then sold that and now have a silverface bassman 410 combo that i am over the moon about.

I think the sound of the 15in speaker is going to be crucial. I once put my Tiny Terror head through my 1x15 Ashdown bass cab. At first I was impressed with the massive low end, but I soon noticed that the speaker mashed the treble in a most unpleasant way. Based on this very unscientific experiment, I would speculate that if any corners have been cut on the speaker in the Peavey, you will hear it after about 10 minutes of playing.

That's weird. On my DB115 the tremelo is footswitchable, but not the reverb.

I think the sound of the 15in speaker is going to be crucial. I once put my Tiny Terror head through my 1x15 Ashdown bass cab. At first I was impressed with the massive low end, but I soon noticed that the speaker mashed the treble in a most unpleasant way. Based on this very unscientific experiment, I would speculate that if any corners have been cut on the speaker in the Peavey, you will hear it after about 10 minutes of playing.

I agree 100%. However the combination of a 15 and a 12 is pretty nice. I used my Hot Rod Deluxe with an old GK bass bin I had lying around for a bigger gig and what a result. Loud and clear!

This Kustom 72 Coupe! Looks very very good!

http://www.kustom.com/Content/72black.jpg

Is it an expensive amp???:rolleyes: