5 things to know BEFORE buying a '68 Deluxe Reverb & why I returned mine 

Cutting to the chase on this amp that I commented on about a year ago, I decided to attack the sources of the noise floor and had much success. Here’s what I did: 1) I replaced the 1.5k negative feedback resistor with the original spec 820k, 2) I removed the entire filament (heater) circuit from the main PCB, connected the leads directly to the V8 power tube, removed the jumper lead from V7 to the PCB and made up a new artificial center tap grounded at the power transformer, 3) I removed all power section grounds from the PCB (power transformer center tap, power section filter capacitors ground and power tube grounds) and attached them to the chassis near the power transformer, 4) rewired the V3 reverb driver jumper to confirm to the original vintage DR circuit layout, and 5) ran a ground jumper from the unused power section capacitor attachment point CP13 to ground to shunt any stray noise. The result, now the amp is studio quiet, the vibrato tick is completely gone. No unusual hiss, buzz or hum. All I did was confirm the amp to the way vintage Fenders’ heater and power sections were grounded. Additional noise reduction can be made to the reverb section by changing the way Fender blended the channels, but to me it was unnecessary. Fender could do what I’ve done easily, apparently they think we can’t hear the noises. Wrong!

Interesting... I've had mine for a couple of years and have NEVER had these problems. Sorry to hear that yours does.

This amp is known to have design flaws which make it rather noisy. I‘ve had one for about a week and couldn’t live with that hiss, which had nothing to do with the outlets in my room, cause my other tube amps didn’t have any issues like that at all. I love Fender amps, but Leo would have never approved the 68 Custom Deluxe

Your review really made me want this amp. I love noise in my signal and find extraneous or annoying hisses alongside my pedestrian playing really mask my lack of talent. I’ve considered practicing more, but I think this ticking white noise machine might be exactly what I need.

I've had this amp for about 2 month now and I absolutely love it ! I use a 50s style tele with the volume set at 6 ,no noise I can't live with.The distortion is so good I don't even use my tube screamer.

Spot on. I returned mine the same day due mostly to the high noise floor and ticking tremelo.

Bought mine in October, 2019, and it has been outstanding.

Great review. Studio paint looks awesome!

Really happy with your video. Thanks at lot.

Did you try either of these in different rooms? Most of the time those weird ticking noises are unwanted noise from power issues or interference from other electronic devices (cell phone/router)

Thanks brother you just crushed my dreams of owning one of these 😄

I had two of them as well and sent both back. Psion Audio in Memphis knows how to fix this and greatly improve the circuit for roughly $300. If you get that done and upgrade the speaker it will be a fantastic amp.

I've gigged my 68 SFDRRI like crazy and love it. Totally stock. I have more boutique amps than I care to mention and I always come back to this amp. It's great- sounds amazing and I always get compliments on it. I was in Nashville last week and saw 2 heavyweight guitar badasses do a show in a perfect swampy bar with Tele tones you would die for. They were top notch pickers, but the stage was like a perfect example of "this or this"- one player had a custom boutique amp, a custom boutique tele, and a beautiful but minimalist pedalboard. The other player had an off the rack MIM Tele Thinline, a $99 tube screamer, and this 68 SFDRRI- the tones from both players were totally insane. Goes to show ya it's the player not the gear. Jack Pearson much? :) Anyway, I wish Fender would reissue this amp in a hand wired series like they did the 64. As to the issues you've had, sad to say but "that's Fender sometimes". I remember we went through 5 Fender Supersonic 22w amps in one band I was in. They sounded great, but had tons of quality control issues- major one's too: like heavy static, little/no volume, etc. We bought them new and I went through 2 of them, my bandmate went through 3. Fender stood behind all of them with replacements, but still- that's crazy poor quality control. With mass production it happens in 'batches' so you'll get good ones and then bad ones. Sounds like you got one of the bad ones. Still though- the 68 DR is one hell of an amp.

Thank you for this video. I was just getting ready to buy one of these and that would have driven me insane.

Did you noticed this issues with the 65 reissue? I was getting sole weird sounds from the 65 while trying it at guitar center idk what was causing it but now idk if i want that or the jcm800

So Sweetwater sent another without sending the other one back? I’m having similar issues with my 68 Princeton and wanna compare as well. How did you get them to do that? Thanks for the video

I've had mine for about 6 years and I haven't had any noise from it. It's too bad you have had bad experiences. I think it's an amazing sounding amp and from my experience I would highly recommend

What did you use to power it? Is it your home wiring? I’ve never had that noise unless it was my strat causing the noise lol

I bought this amp and the vibrato didn't work. Exchanged it for a new one and have the same problem. Anyone know how to fix this?

I have a 68 deluxe reverb and i love it mine does not have any issues and i have had it for 5 years

Did you try plugging it in a different outlet? I have the same amp and if you plug it into an outlet with a bad ground the amp becomes noisy.

The ticking is a lead dress issue that I've solved on many Fender amps. The noise floor is mainly to do with the electrolytic caps and further lead dress issues than can be cleaned up with higher quality electrolytics and better lead dress technique.

Thank you for this video. A very valid review of your experience with the amp. I had considered this amp, but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much money on one and after your review, I've decided to take it off my want list. At the price these are going for (regardless of where they were made), there shouldn't be the type of issues you had experienced. Thanks again for your honest review.

I have the 68 vibro champ reverb and it has next to no noise with a big sound. I was interested in the princeton 68 but this noise would annoy me also. Wonder if the 65 princeton is noisy? I also have a pro jnr iv tweed. The first one I purchased was very noisy. The store said it was my power outlet so I moved it around the house and to friends house with same result. They eventually sent me a replacement and it was a different amp, very quiet.

Very useful video .!!! These issues on 68 custom deluxes are being present for a lot of years ,it’s was about time for a video to come !!Maybe Fender will listen and fix them , and then 68 dlx reverb will be a great great choice !!!

Thanks Jeff! I’m dealing with this right now. I got the 65 Deluxe and it’s the exact same thing. I’m on my second amp as well. Slightly less noise, but still there. My uses are exactly the same as you mentioned (home use and recording/not live). I love tone of the amp and feels great to play, but the hiss can get maddening. There’s plenty of people saying that a mod to the reverb circuit fixes it, but it’s hard to justify having to mod something right out of the box. It’s disheartening, but this one will probably go back too.

I sold mine and bought a 71 Silverface Deluxe...Now I'm completely satisficed!

could it be a bad grounding of your house mains installation ?

I bought a 68, Vibro Champ Reverb and I had all that noise but then I bought a Boss Noise Suppressor NS-1 and all the noise when away and now I love it.

Good info. Thanks, Jeff! I almost bought one of those today. That noise and ticking would've definitely been a disappointment.

What about Fender tonemaster deluxe reverb free from any issues? What amp you recommend and another issues for me why they don't have fx loop 😢

I have one of these. I think the "ticking" sound comes directly from the tremolo. Wonder if you had It bypassed if it would go away. Sometimes mine ticks sometimes it dont. But if I increase the tremolo it gets louder and worse.

I must have got lucky because mine has no trem ticking! Mine is not the quietest amp I own, but the noise is masked when I start to play (usually about volume at 3). I don’t know about how it performs at extreme settings. The fact that you received two brand new amps with unusable problems suggests a QC issue, I agree. Thanks for the video.

So if I want clean tones I have to play it at volume 5? Or is that just the volume you’d likely have it at

A couple of comments on this. First, whenever you've got a noise problem with an amp like this, you need to unplug the guitar from it. Let's hear the noise floor with nothing plugged in, that's how you judge an amp. WIth a guitar plugged in you can have stray rf signals getting picked up by the guitar and riding in on the cable. Unplug the guitar and see if there is till a lot of noise. Second, the tremelo ticking in Fender amps is a well known problem going back to the original black face amps, you've not uncovered anything new here. People have been dealing qwith this issue since the mid 60's, yet somehow the amps are loved by many. Maybe they just aren't for you and a Hot Rod Deluxe is more your style.

Really useful video, Jeff. I stumbled across your channel while looking at demos of the Fender Super Champ XD, and you have some great content, really nicely presented. It's a mystery to me why your numbers aren't much higher. Anyway, I'm looking forward to watching many more of your videos. Thanks!

Great review Jeff. I had the same exact issues with my 68 Deluxe. Plus, there is a lot of background hiss with everything turned to zero that kinda spoils the vibe of this amp. There is no possibility to play quietly to enjoy the subtleties of this amp. Mine went back to the Guitar Center. End of story. I bought a 65 Princeton Reverb and it does everything I want. Fantastic dripping wet reverb and pounding vibrato, and you can play it at low volumes.

Had the same issues….. isolated power bar (rack mount) helped a lot!

Thanks so much Jeff! You just saved me, Time, Energy, money, and peace of mind, considering I was thinking of getting one recently. I also recently heard that these are built in Mexico, not USA like the 65 reissues, so that could be the issue right there. So looks like I’m going with the 65 reissue instead! Thanks again for posting this informative video.

I've found that the noise floor that you're talking about might be due to the Reverb. Does it go away when you roll the Reverb back?

I have had those issues as well and returned to Guitar Center two days later...waiting on the replacement. When I turn on my Ho tRod deluxe III after 8 years with it, still quite (of course changed tubes a couple of times). Love the sound of the 68 and need a backup for live band gigs. Use a Roland JC 40 as well.

I've had mine since January and recently the transformer blew...had to get the amp repaired and when I did, I got a 6L6 conversion done to it and It sounds amazing. It's definitely noticeably louder now. Also, I haven't had any of the issues you've had in this video.

I really love my '68 DRRI. Yes, it is a bit noisy, but when playing it's absolutely luxurious. Sounds like you might want to try an Ampeg Superjet SJ12T. Super quiet and amazing vibrato.

i have a 2015 68 twin reverb. same problems, noise, i reversed the reverb pan and it solved about 90% of the noise, still has original tubes, a complete tube change with some good tubes probably would help too!

What do y’all recommend as an alternative in the 1200 range?

I love mine, no problems. No floor noise at all, and I'm in a very quiet apartment. Quality control at Fender seems problematic though. For those who wanted one of those, I suggest going to a store and taking one that you tested for problems, I am really happy with mine.

All you described all happened when i bought my first 68 deluxe reverb. I returned it and recieved a new one my current custom 68 deluxe reverb is The best sounding amp ive ever used super reliable and versatile with pedals

I will say that the Volante spring reverb sounds amazing, and you can adjust the dwell using secondary controls.

Did you check same configuration with an amp you know (to make sure not a bad cable etc)?

Thank you for this video. I am in the market for a low wattage tube amp - and was attracted to the Fender reissue 68 Deluxe Reverb - until I saw this video. Half way into the video and I've already got a headache from the ticking. I've already had a bad experience with another well known guitar amp manufacture - so I can definitely relate to your account with this Fender amp. Whatever you do - don't buy an Orange Rocker 32. I've gone through five of them (returned three - kept two). One died two hours after purchase (yes two freaking hours), the second died one month after purchase, the third died eleven months after purchase, and two years later the switch died on, yet, another Orange amp. I had an LED light go out one of these amps too. The volume pots on the Orange Rocker are very scratchy. Cleaning with contact cleaner help some - but the scratchiness returned - basically those potentiometers need to be replaced with quality pots. The obvious conclusion here is that the Orange Rocker 32 amps are low quality amps. I always toted a backup amp for gigs out of fear the Orange amp would suddenly die during a paid gig. I'm guessing most of the famous brands that produce modern tube amps introduce reliability issues that old amps don't have - due to cost cutting for the sake of profit margin. I'm not surprised the design with the Fender Deluxe Reverb took a hit with increased noise. That ticking sound is just unacceptable and ridiculous. Shame on Fender! But, do they even care? If they're anything like Orange - I doubt it. I've owned a 1979 Fender Twin Reverb since the 80s (my first amp) - that amp is WAY better than those crappy Orange Rocker 32s - in terms of quality. Obviously, those amps are very different from each other. At the end of the day it might actually be well worth the money to buy a used vintage Fender tube amp - or maybe something such as Toneking's Imperial amp (or some other quality boutique amp) - because perhaps a smaller company with passion will just care a lot more about sound and reliability compared to companies like Orange or Fender. BTW - I happen to be an analog engineer with 24 years of experience working in Silicon Valley (BSEE from Cal Poly SLO and MSEE from Santa Clara University). I repaired amps when I was 17 - working at a repair shop (rebuilt many blown 70s stereo receiver solid state amps). And, of course, I've repaired my own guitar tube amps in the past.

Dies it make the noise when there is nothing plugged in to the amp?

I had similar issues with mine. I don’t recall the ticking but it was really noisy. I just tried an Orange TremLord and it also had the ticking issues and was also super noisy :(

I wanted to add that I played another of these amps, brand new, in a Guitar Center recently. It also had the horrible ticking when using the Trem. Such a bummer.

I just picked up a used one made in 2014 for $599.00. I already own a 21 year old 65 deluxe reverb reissue that I did a Fromel Supreme Mod job on, Mercury OPT and and GA-SC64 speaker swap, sounds amazing now. This 69 custom Deluxe Reverb is also amazing in it's own way, different Timbre that is absolutely wonderful. I musta got lucky because there is no real noise floor issue I can't live with for gigging and recording with my 68 custom deluxe reverb. You can always learn electronics enough to not get yourself killed and fix stuff. I love working on Fender Deluxe amps, because they are easy to work on and fix no matter what, and they last forever. Great sounding amps by themselves that also take pedals well...

I have one of these. Mine was noisy, not quite as much as yours. I have solved the noise problem by replaceing the four ATX7 preamp tubes. Noise gone. I also replaced the two AT7 just for good measure. ATX7,s are Mullard and AT7 Genalex. In my experience with my amps, Fender and Hughes & Kettner I have four, by replaceing the factory tubes has improved them from lack lustre to, I am not going to sell this. The tubes supplied in AMPS are just crap. Major guitar companies are not doing themselves any favours by supplying products with sub standard tubes. I understand you shoudn't have to do this but I recommend that you factor in when purchasing a new set of tubes.

Thanks very much for the advice, now I will try the 68 twin reverb or the custom pro reverb. I use a strat with 69 custom shop pickups, I will keep my fingers cross

All these people that are deciding against this amp based on this review is stunning. I just got 68 DRRI and I love it. Maybe it has some noise but I don't really notice it at all. What I do notice is the amazing tone with all the right frequencies being amplified. This amp makes my guitars and pedals sound fantastic.

I think every criticism is valid, I actually use the Strymon Flint for Tremolo cause the amp one is annoying. However, I do still love this amp. I did put in a Creamback speaker, not positive it sounded better but definitely still sounded as good. And I always turn the bass to zero when I play with a band. I tried one time at rehearsal to not bring my amp and just use the Hot Rod Deville the rental place had and I absolutely hated it. Looking forward to see your review if you get a different amp Jeff! I'm kinda craving to try one of those Marshall Studio vintage heads.

Thank you.

I own one and love it. Best amp I've ever owned.

I experienced the same noise with the first of 2 of these that I got from sweetwater. The second one was better but still a bit noisy for low volume studio recording. It seems less apparent as the amp has “broken in “ over time. I bought an attenuator so I could get a more driven sound at lower volume, the added benefit being lower noise. I bought this amp for its sound and yes, the reverb is great. When performing live with a 4 piece band in a medium sized venue , without an attenuator , the volume at 3 1/2 is loud enough in the mix. Interesting that it may be the negative feedback reduction that causes the high noise floor. I kept mine

I have great success with the bassman channel.. no problems other than loud pops when you engage the standby switch. I find at 3/4 you get good tones without breaking windows

THANK YOU! I've had these EXACT problems. I thought I was crazy until I saw this video. Never had this issue with another amp in my space. I tried different outlets as well as turning off breakers in the house to see if it was interference. The amp had a huge noise floor which made home recording nearly moot. Plus the trem tick! WTH? I was unable to demo this amp in the store before I bought it due to the pandemic. Fortunately the store took it back. Hilariously enough, the manager said "oh yeah, people return these all the time for the same reason."

Wow, their QC must have gone downhill on these or something. I bought mine in 2016 or thereabouts, and it doesn't suffer from these issues to the degree that yours did. There is a noise floor, but it's in line with any of my other amps. And the tremolo does tick a bit, but again, it's not nearly as noticeable as yours. I think it's a good amp. I'm just not in love with its drive when cranked beyond about 5 on either channel. Excellent cleans and "on the edge" breakup though.

I ended up purchasing one of these second hand for a good price and took it as far as I could attempting to fix the problems with no luck. I have recently started rebuilding it on an eyelet board as there was no hope of selling such a badly made amp!

Great video. I definitely hear what you’re talking about. Does the ‘65 have the same issues?

Had a 65 DRRI with a ticking tremolo. Changed out the corresponding tube and the problem was solved.

I want to thank Joe Schafer at Sweetwater where I purchased this amp. He made swapping out the '68 Deluxe Reverb for a second copy, and then later returning both, extremely easy. Please contact him when you buy any gear from Sweetwater. I earn nothing from giving this recommendation. He's been amazing and I can't thank him enough. Please let him know that I (Jeff Starr) sent you his way. www.sweetwater.com/joe_schafer

Thank you for saving me money....Instant sub!

Mine is incredible.

Yeah Jeff, lately I’m hearing nothing but good stuff about Sweetwater, and that their customer service is second to none and the online tech-support are very knowledgeable. and I love their videos as well!👍

i have that amp and playing through it right now...and that floor noise is absent in mine

I own this amp for one reason...live only! These amps are the perfect size for venues. These easily handle small bars up to decent sized outdoor events with a shure 57 in front of it. I won’t lay tracks with fender amps anymore because of this reason. You would be surprised how bad fender amps hiss when you put a royer 121 ribbon mic in front of it. It’s bothersome in the headphones while tracking and the engineer hears it as well and has commented negatively in the past. I have owned a 65 and 68 deluxe, 59 baseman reissue and custom vibrolux. I had a 66 super reverb that was just as noisy so I think the constant hissing is just a fender thing even though the deluxe is considered the most recorded amp of all time.. one good thing I can say is that fender tube amps seem to hold up to a lot of use.. guys around here gig them every weekend with no repairs and they are hot enough to fry an egg after having them cranked for Several hours.. If you record, the tone king imperial, vintage sound amps and just about anything Steve Carr makes are a few amazing expensive “fender” tones that we all grew up on without the annoying hiss for around the price of the two 68’s..awesome and honest review BTW !!

I had the same experience trying out Fender amps. Just decided to get a Dr Z Z-Lux. I’m glad I did. Not one issue and it sounds amazing.

Export models do not feature a optocoupler for tremolo, but some kind of oscillator circuit which is fed via flying leads all across the amp. That seems to be the reason for 80% of the floor noise. Just removed the 2 boards for that oscillator and added an optocoupler. Noise not completely gone but fine for recording/playing at home. Perhaps some US/non-export units are loaded with that as well, which would explain the noise issue in every country. Apparently the optocoupler part doesn’t meet RoHS standard, hence export model modification. I think this applies to the whole “Custom” silverface reissues.

I was playing around with my 69 DRII tonight and from time to time would notice radio static and then I heard the ticking you was talking about. I also realized when I had my cell phone near the amp, the noise and ticking would start up! And if I had my screen light on Luke I was to look into the back of the ago it got real bad! I kept experimenting with moving my phone away from the amo and turning on the screen and sure enough it was all coming from my cell phone! Did you happen to have your cell phone near the amp? I tried the same experiment with my Carol Ann Silk and it did the same thing! Buzzing and that ticking noise. I thought I would share this to see if anyone else notices the same thing?

I had one and returned mine also. I like the 65’ reissue but the 68’ didn’t do it for me. I was excited about the “bassman-ish” custom channel and both channels sharing the reverb and trem but I was underwhelmed for sure. I am pretty excited to try the new pro reverb RI but, for what they’re charging, it still may not be worth it.

I have a 2016 68 custom deluxe reverb and never have had any noises like your experiencing. I love mine!

Definitely issues with the Deluxe you purchased, and the 68 Custom that was replaced. Glad I did not purchase one now, but I have a 68 Deluxe Custom Reverb I purchased - maybe it was the second year they had been out. I have had no issues with mine...wow!

To everyone thats concerenced about the noise issues i suggest you go try one yourself. It took me a couple of months till i pulled the trigger on it due to the complaints of hiss and noise on the internet. ended up purchasing one from reverb and requested video demos from the guy. once i received it theres literally 0 noise at all volumes, from super low volumes to 9-10 its no where near the level of this video. that being said alot of people complain about this issue so i guess it varies from one to the next

Thanks

I'm real interested in the new 68 custom pro reverb that hasn't been uk released yet, hands staying in my pockets until I'm 100% sure it doesn't exhibit any of those issues, you were right to send your amp back and no way I would be happy with that model

Thank you for sharing this. Dam good thing I saw this because I was thinking of buying one. Not anymore!

I’m sure you checked this already but I had the same problem with noise and ticking. The noise came from my outlet and the ticking went away when I unplugged my router and moved it to a different room. Most of the time unwanted noise comes from your power and is picked up in certain amp circuits.

Man, this review is spot on! I really appreciate your honesty, it's refreshing. I borrowed this amp from a friend and I was very surprised by the level of noise it generated, it was really distracting to me. My Hot Rod Deluxe, my Peavey Classic 50 were almost dead quiet in comparison. But my Rivera Chubster is also noisy - but not as noisy as the CDR. Maybe noisiness is a feature of blackface-style amps? And you are right, the custom channel and the vintage channel are very similar.

Wow, thanks for this valuable clip. This is really a deal breaker for me and that will definitely drive my depression worse. It's not a $120 amp which we can figure out what to do😑 if not returnable. Sorry, i dun mind upgrading the speakers for better tone but its not justifiable to " repair" the amp myself.

Thanks for the video. I think you make some good points here and Fender is basically selling an overpriced, really not so well made product... What amp did you end up with?

Trem tick is a normal thing on older Fender amps as it's optical... I got one used that was "broken"... had a constant "splashing" clanging reverb sound when engaged... Ended up being a bad tube... New tubes can be bad... Also, cell phones or other devices in close proximity can cause erratic noises like crackling, ticking, and sizzling

I have this amp and there isn’t a noise anywhere. This is the quietest tube amp I have ever owned.

I’m extremely picking with idle noise/hum as well. Which is why I avoid these and go to a hand wired amp preferably without reverb since I use a pedal. Fenders reverb units are so noisy

Did you try it with a different power source ? Could be a bad power source as well .

Darn it, you're right. I wanted to love this amp, but I agree with your assessment. Gonna sell it.

Is true .....thank you friend ......✌

If you’re in the studio environment, use a gate plugin. If you’re live, have your sound guy put a gate on the amp mic. If you’re live and don’t have sound guy, buy a gate pedal. There are solutions.

So this is the same as a fender CUSTOM deluxe reverb right?

thank you for explaining the floor to noise ration - i thought my amp was broken. i want to return it.

Recently bought one as well from GC, to relive my college years, and I am fighting with the "ticking" noise issue as well. This is ridiculous that Fender would release a product like this and not stand by it. I removed the V1 12AX7 tube, and the 2 middle 6L6s, and play through a single speaker, (saw this "mod" in another RU-vid video) playing same guitar only on the vintage channel since the other channel is now disabled, the noise is cut dramatically, but what is the point of buying a muscle car, then remove half the sparkplugs. I feel cheated by Fender and Guitar Center!!

I had this noise problem with my Princeton 68. I went to the store and exchanged it by another one with no humming at all. But apparently many of them come fucked up.

Glad I bought the Princeton 🙂

This was is my dream amp and was hoping to get one this year does anyone know if the other models like the 64 reissue or even the tonemaster have these issues thanks for sharing Jeff I would have bought blindly