THE CLASSIC FENDER CLEAN SOUND
Most people are well aware of the portability and punch that this 1X12 combo amp delivers. However, that said, most are NOT aware that this no frills, gutsy powerhouse amp is the "signature sound" of many of the great guitarists of the present, and times past. You absolutely must bias this amp to the power tubes you are using, with GL6GC and 6L6GE Groove Tubes in "white," with a "Groove Number" of 6 being as good as it gets. If you end up with one of these amps with a set of "blue" 6L6GC Groove Tubes(from China), you should resign yourself to a rebias with a decent set of power tubes per above. I also got rid of the Russian-made(Sovtek)12AX7 Groove Tube preamp tubes, replacing each of the three of these with JJ's.
As this amp is an alternate stage rig for me, I needed to broaden my sound field, so I also purchased the 1X12 extension cab, which has a Celestion Seventy 80 speaker(rated at 80W). For the sake of tonal balance, and since the factory Eminence Legend speaker is only rated for 50W, with a frequency response up to 4K, I opted to also replace the speaker in the Deluxe cab with an identical Celestion. The headroom in the clean channel and in the "drive" channel is unbelievable and substantially increased, also due in no small part to the JJ preamp tubes working with these Celestion drivers. Gain with grain you can almost taste, and cleans that chime and swirl with more pinch-type harmonics than you can imagine.
A long-spring Accutronics tank reverb, an excellent effects loop, bright switch(treble boost a la VOX), and a "presence" control round out the most significant features, but the tone is what sets this amp apart....every bit on par with the Fender blackface Deluxe Reverb or Vibroverb's of the 60's, and would even give the Super Reverb a run for the money IMO. The noise floor on this amp is VERY low, and the shielding/grounding certainly helps with AC hum from external sources. I am not a big fan of the PCB-mounted jacks with the plastic barrels, but these can be changed out. This is a very gig-worth, professional combo amp platform with a lot of flexibility and versatility. My complaints are really minor and involve some personal preferences, which have developed over the years and across a number of amps. If you want primarily that signature Fender clean tone, play country, swing, jazz, or classic rock(especially surf guitar), you will thoroughly enjoy this amp.Read full review
