Neil Spencer Bruce

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Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb Review

Neil Bruce

Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb Review

I have been through a few amps over the years, but for the last 4 I have been pretty much using a Fender Blues Junior III Tweed for much of my gigging needs. Primarily, because it sounds good and it is very light and easy to transport. I have had one or two issues over that time, but nothing to write home about.

Although recently it got knocked backwards during a gig and stopped working for a while, this required me to start using my Cornford Roadhouse 50 Head with a Zilla Custom 2 x 12 cab fitted with Celestion Vintage 30’s. Now this was amazing, because the amp is awesome and sounds fantastic, but this comes at a price, one being that it is pretty damn loud, okay very loud!!

We recently played a stadium gig, and the amp was only on 3-4 (obviously mic'd up!) and was still too loud! So, for the typical function and wedding it was a little too much, plus I got a bit tired carrying it up four flights of stairs to my apartment!Back to the Blues Junior and it would seem that the Blues Jnr III needs some work doing to it, so given that it was recently my birthday, I thought it was time for a new amp!

So what I wanted this time was an amp which was sublime (the Cornford is, but see above for why I can't use it all the time!) and in a different league (and portable!). After some searching around and knowing that the Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue (DRRI) was getting great praise, I noticed that the Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb had come on the scene and was getting a lot of love (a lot).

So I thought it was my duty to try one out! What follows is a real love story, but as with real love there are some complications and the true course of love of course never runs smooth! Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb - A love begins

So, I was out on my travels one day and I popped into PMT Music in Cambridge. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that they had the '68 Deluxe Reverb in, so I asked to try it.....with in about 2 minutes I know that oh wow this is one hell of an amp! The kind of amp that makes you just want to play and play and play! I could have literally sat in the shop all day playing. But, I had to be somewhere and I wanted to know how the amp sounded with some of my pedals, so I left empty handed, knowing that I would return.

The main thing that struck me was that I was not sure how this amp is rated at 22 Watts, as it one one loud amp too, and wow thanks to the negative feedback this amp is SO sensitive to touch!! It is one of those amps you literally feel connected to, the sound coming out of the speakers just makes you smile. The tone has a deep round body to it, which really inspires you to play. The amp is just it is so responsive to your touch and you can so easily coax a note into the most glorious feedback and sustain. What really surprises me about this amp is how he character and tone of your guitar really jumps out, although with the pickup…it is like you can hear the very wood of the guitar.

I would also add that there is a real sweet spot on volume control which is around 4-5 when the amp not only really comes to life in terms of volume but in terms of the most luxurious tone.The amp has two channels (which differ from the original), one being the Vintage Channel (like the original) and the Custom channel - modified Fender Bassman amp with some of the highs removed so that pedals work well with this channel (and they do) Plimsoul, Suhr riot, for example.

Unlike the original amp they both have the reverb and vibro across them. Speaking of which, I find both the reverb and vibro to be fantastic, although with a character (i.e. a typical Fender Spring reverb tone) which may not be suitable for everyone, and personally beyond 2 on the dial it is too much for me. The Vibro channel is lush, but due to legislation in the UK and Europe the Opto circuit has been replaced due to the material used being outlawed here. I am not fully sure of the impact on the sound but it is a little bit noisy, especially at high intensities.

They are both foot switchable which is great, but personally I think the supplied foot switch is a piece of plastic crap. I am surprised when you spend SO much on an amp that they provide a rubbishy plastic footswitch. I will see how long I get out of it...maybe I am wrong and it will out last me, but you get a feeling for gear when you are gigging all the time, I don't think it will last, especially with my heavy feet. But I guess nice that they included it...oh and VERY nice that they included a cover too, I wish more companies would do this!!

Crucially, the amp also takes pedals really, really well, I have use it in conjunction with a Rothwell Audio F1 Booster, Fulltone Plimsoul, TC Nova System and Suhr Riot and they all sounded fantastic. I have attached the following audio clips so you can hear. These clips are from a recent gig and are the isolated guitar track from the Mic in front of the cab so you can get an idea of what it sounds like live and mic'd up. I have noted on the clips the one's which are straight and those with pedals.

The guitar was an American Fender Strat with Seymour Duncan Hot-Rails in the bridge position, my main gigging guitar.

Fender 68 Deluxe Reverb Audio Clips

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Isolated track from live gig of Fender 68 deluxe reverb with Fender American Strat, clean sound from bridge pickup, overdrive from HotRails in the neck.Isolated track from live gig of Fender 68 deluxe reverb with Fender American Strat with Suhr Riot and TC Electronic Flashback pedals.

Okay, so there is a problem (or two), thanks to the negative feedback circuitry there is some Hiss, now live this isn't a problem at all and I have yet to record with it, so I can not tell how bad it is at the moment. It is not a deal breaker and I understand that the circuit modification which makes this amp SO responsive to touch is responsible, so this is a good trade off I guess!

There is also a LOUD pop (capacitor discharging no doubt) when you switch it from stand by mode. Again I know why this happens but I guess we are used to modern gear and these issues being resolved. I hope it isn't a indicator of any other problems....speaking of which!

Love never runs smoothly

So, I popped into the PMT Music in Manchester to buy the amp, I tried it out for a while and also with some pedals, I knew I was in love!!! So I brought it, took it home, re-confirgured my pedal board with the pedals I wanted, and had a little play....happy days!! But, a day later I had my first gig with the amp!! During soundcheck, everything was fine, I had a big smile on my face as this amp just sung and also had a real depth which filled the sound stage really well!

Soundcheck over, switch amp off....amp blew a fuse straight away. Replace fuse, amp comes on, and then blows it again, add to this a very strange sound from the vibro channel and then it just got SO hot, it was impossible to touch the front of the amp for a very long time without potentially getting burnt. My heart sunk, in all the years and amps I have had, I have never had this happen to me, more worryingly I had a gig to do, luckily I had a back up!!

This really really dented my confidence with the amp, and also quality control at Fender. This is NOT a cheap amp at all, and I WOULD not expect these kinds of things to happen with a brand new high end amp, and I was very sad and my heart broken. I had found love, but it was troubled!!

Needless to say I took the amp back, PMT were excellent in sorting it out, even lending me an amp to get me through the next couple of gigs until they got a new FDRI in stock for me. I now have the next amp, and I do love this amp, even after a very short time with it, BUT it makes me nervous, and when you gig weekly nervous isn't good. Hopefully my Mark II doesn't suffer from Fender quality control issues....but it doesn't make my have confidence.

Only time will do that. I will report back!!!

Okay, so yes I really, really do love it, even thinking about it make me want to go and play guitar and when I playing through it, I really just don't want to stop. That really is something very special in an amp. I think that I have been very fortunate over the years to have either played through or owned some exception amps. Some have been amazing, some have been workhorses, some have been fleeting romances and some have been downright hype and rubbish.

I think your amp quest is a journey, you will probably never really ever stop thinking about your first love, but you will find those along the way which change your mind and take you to different places. There is nothing wrong with that. For me personally, digital processing doesn't rock my world, most solid state doesn't rock my world, Mesa Boogies don't rock my world, but I think this amp really does. After years of searching I have 3 amazing amps, each different, perhaps think of them as a blonde, brunette and redhead, if you are that way inclined.

My very first proper amp, the Marshall JMP-1 preamp with EL34 50/50 power amp, is the business, I do love this more than anything. I have owned it for over 20 years and it still is my first love.Recently, the Cornford Roadhouse 50 has become a contender for my heart,  it sounds epic, the crunch and dirt is out of this world, and when you kick in the boost channel, well there ain't no feeling like it.

Finally, the trio is now complete with the Fender Deluxe Reverb 68, it is creamy, it is crystal clean, it is crunchy, it is dirty, it sound proper, it sounds authentic, it sounds amazing. Reliability still issues at the forefront of my mind, I am hoping that this will be come the one, the one I take out week in week out and gig the hell out of and I can't wait!

The FDR 68 just has a sound you feel connected to, the sound coming out of the speakers just makes you smile. The tone has a deep, round body to it, with plenty of sparkle, especially on the Vintage channel. The Custom channel, is also deep and sensuous, but the treble is tamed a bit, which means it works well with pedals, which don't end up making it sound harsh at all. The controls on both channels are very responsive and it is kind of amazing how much low end this amp seems to have. It fills a stage, it enhances the soundscape and makes the guitar sound present in a band situation and more than that, this means it really inspired you to play.

Thanks to the negative feedback mod on the amp which Fender have done, the amp is just it is SO responsive to your touch and you can so easily coax as note into the most glorious feedback and sustain, the only slight downside is this results in the amp sounding a little bit hissy.But it gets better, the EQ section is amazing and very responsive and interactive, you really have so many options as you move the controls around.

The cleans sound glassy, but without any ice-pickiness, where this amp really shines in in the break-up territory. Instant classic Fender Tones, add an overdrive and you are in heaven. The sound is powerful and it really makes those around sit up and take note, you can get some great overdrive and distortion sounds out of this amp, not death defying metal, this is a classic rock/blues amp. The tonal changes between a single coil or humbucker guitar are immense but just as they should be.

Fender 68 Deluxe Reverb Conclusions

Pros

  • This is a proper Fender amp, it sounds so rich, clean and organic

  • The custom channel for me is a think of beauty with pedals!

  • The TONE, THE TONE, THE TONE!

  • The Tone!!

  • You get a cover!

Cons

  • Hiss

  • Reliability (time will tell!)

  • Footswitch is a bit sh*t for an amp of this price, crappy plastic.

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