Is the Deluxe Reverb Reissue still worth it? 

Your playing has gone into another dimension as of late. I’ve said this before, but you’re a huge inspiration to my own playing and I learn something new in every one of your videos. Thank you, fellow Matthew!

My take on this is that you shouldn't chase the tone of others or legends but develop your own instead. It doesn't matter if it's vintage, reissue, hand wired, tube, solid state or modeller. Just play and let others fiddle with gear. You'll sound much better a couple of years later because you've spent all your time playing and have saved a ton of money in the process.

The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is that, whether you’re talking about a guitar, an amp or whatever you put in your signal chain, if you feel or believe that ‘that thing’ is what’s giving you ‘that sound’, then it doesn’t really matter whether you’re right or not - as long as it transports your mind, emotions and therefore your playing to a place where the magic begins to happen! You, your brain (and maybe your soul too) are as much a part of the signal chain or feedback loop (if not THE most important part) as every other physical or electronic component, so it really doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you can learn enough to reproduce the same thing when you want it, to get you to (or close to) the same place the next time 😉

Love hearing the tones you get in your videos Matthew , I think you’re one hell of player.

The amp sounds wonderful as do the different vintage guitars played through it. But the bottom line is the sweet tone starts with your fingers as they relay what’s coming out of your heart. That’s the beauty of music….the expression that pours out of the artists heart through the instrument. There’s obviously a lot of great music in your heart Matthew. Let it continue to pour out, we all appreciate it very much.

That bit with the Gibson around the 3:00 mark was glorious!! I could have listened to that all day!! 🎸🎶 That ending with the Strat and all those overtones! Your skills are enviable, sir!! 🙏

"06:01" kicks in drive, such a good tone on the cleans and the driven sound is pretty perfect for my ear. I also love your playing man, really badass combination.

I just grabbed a used one - the 68' custom version. I lucked out. I got a good one - fairly quiet. I play clean country. For $819 I took the chance. Very pleased. Your video helped me make the decision. Thanks.

Always happy to see a new video from Matthew

No matter what amp you play Matthew, it always sounds great because you know how to dial up great tone.

Whatever happened after you kicked in that overdrive pedal was rather epic, like life changing tone!

Some off the best playing I've ever heard from you!

I love my '65 Deluxe Reverb reissue (bought new in 2021), but when I got a Two Notes Captor X to attenuate it, the whole thing just went to another level! Set the volume to 9 or 10 and the saturation is wonderful!!! Pull it back to 3 for clean tones, and it's beautiful.

Dude, I don’t care what you‘re playing through - your guitar playing is amazing! I love your rather „classy“ phrasing compared to the „modern“ styles I normally listen to. Cheers Matthew! ✌🏼🔥

Your playing is out of this world man.. keep up the great work

I just bought a 66 Fender Pro Reverb in Nashville a few days ago, and I haven't been able to stop playing on it. It sounds old and warm, is the best way I can describe it- it's heavenly. Like owning a chunk of musical history.

In my opinion its all about the speaker. Same as almost any rig. Put your vintage speaker ( or just the same speaker) in a re-issue and and an original and they will be so close, you may re-consider the extra cost and maintenance of a vintage. Spend your money on speakers.

I’ve had a hand wired Deluxe Reverb reissue for almost 10 yrs now, and have never even considered owning another amp. It’s the amp for me. The search has been over for quite some time.

US Navy Spec. 5750 use to be a thing of wonder. Every component was checked individually to it's designated spec, if it failed on any indice it was binned. The finished product was then moved to an entirely different part of the factory where independent Quality Assurance would test it above working tolerances. Better it broke in the factory than the combat zone. Very labour intensive, often three-times the price to manufacture.

If you have the opportunity to play a few Deluxe Reverbs in a side-by-side comparison, you will observe that they have qualities that are unique to each amp. Rather than assign the cause to new vs. vintage, or PC board vs. hand-wired, I think there is a bigger variation due to individual component tolerances, the stack-up of those tolerances, the type and age (in hours of usage) of the tubes, and the model and age of the speaker. There are so many potential variations based on these characteristics that it’s a wonder that any of them sound close to one another. Even when you find “The One”, degradation at the component level will gradually alter the tone. It’s like growing older with someone you love; you don’t notice the effects of aging on a daily basis, but it’s still happening.

New matt video day is as good as christmas

Man that is the dictionary definition of great Strat tone

I know they’re pcbs, I know they’re not vintage, but these 68 Deluxe sounds amazing! I tried it many times and I dig them.

Still love my 82 Concert. It has always had a big, round, ballsy bass end and sharp, fat high end. I've fallen in and out of love with the mid range over the years. Just had it "rebuilt." Different now but still great.

I think the difference is worn out tubes and leaking caps 20 years past their change date. I have a 70’s twin reverb and years ago had to get the power tubes replaced and thought it sounded worse afterwards. Then recently I had it recapped (from 45 yr old original caps), and again I thought it sounded worse after. Lots of opinions out there but I have a pc board Princeton Reverb RI that is one of the best sounding amps I’ve ever played through.

Your videos always have me rushing home to play my guitar. Vintage amps are hard to come by especially where I live. These reissues are we all got.

The best way to listen to your videos is through headphones 🎧. The sound is amazing - thanks Matt. 😊

I just play in my living room or at my buddy's house. I went through a couple of small amps and finally got a 1979 siveface champ. It is all orginal.with the exception of the speaker and I have the original. I really like this.amp. Great cleans and it has a nice crunch. And 5 watts is plenty.

I had a 1968 fender bandmaster for about a year, and it was my first ever tube amp. It sounded pretty good, super clean amp, then about a month ago I got a 93 DRRI from a friend. It’s literally my favorite amp I’ve ever used.

Matt, that Melody Maker has never sounded better! That particular Deluxe Reverb should be the designated amp for that guitar, no question! I've heard you play it before, and not always liked how it sounded. You got the correct formula this time!

That wailing outro tone … amazing

Putting a Celestian G12H Anniversary in my '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb made the amp into a tone monster! I set the bass to 0 and treble to taste with volume on 10. Use the guitar's volume knob to control the break-up. Zeppelin crunch with LP Seymour Duncan humbuckers, SRV overdrive with 57\62 Strat single coils, mix of both with LP P-94. Do not doubt me!

Man theres just something about great old tube amps when using single coils!

Crazy timing, I was just watching a comparison of new and old Deluxe Reverbs

It’s one of those amps that I’m rarely comfortable playing through. The ones that I played had Celestion or Eminence. There was a Reissue that had the “Iron” replaced with Mercury Magnetics, and sounded excellent. Yes, they do seem to compress and not that musically. I’ve had some success using a Zendrive or B D-2.

What sounds good to your ears in the room, sometimes does not translate when recorded or with a band. What I heard in this recording sounded glorious. As for the hand wired vs pcb, maybe its more to do with the changing components or component quality over the years. A lot of dudes think older has to be better, and its usually the case. At 57 thats how i have thought my whole life, but lately been exploring the potential of plugins and mixing up the front end with preamps. old saying don't throw out the baby with the bath water..al i'm saying is its all good, its all useable in certain applications, and never close yourself off to new stuff.

I own an older 70's silver face deluxe reverb, and it has the best clean tone and driven clean tone I've heard. miniMass attenuator also helps a lot for these amps if volume is an issue, you still get that naturally driven tube sound without bothering all the neighbors. the reissue sounds lovely as well, although perhaps slightly less warmth on the top end and the overdriven sound can be taxing on the ears... in 30 years I bet all the dust and aging on the speakers will have them sounding incredible though. cheers.

Great video! I’ve had an original 65 Deluxe Reverb for many years. I’ve bought and sold many vintage Fenders but I’ve always kept the Deluxe. My favorite. Mine has an Alessandro speaker. Put the original Oxford in a box. Thin sounding. Thanks for sharing.

I just got an idea from one of the other comments. I would love to see you review one of those new tonemasters. You playing through one would give me a good idea of what they are.

I find that vintage amps are easier to service than most modern amps, point-to-point wiring is easier to diagnose replace and fix components than modern circuit board amps. For example, I had at different times, 3 Fender hot rod deluxe amps circa (90's-00's) that all ended up having awful issues that could not be fixed long-term. I never had a pre 1980 Fender tube amp that was decently cared for where it needed to be dumped or have long term unfixable issues. So to me its more worthwhile to go thru the tube, cap replacement on vintage tube amps and have an amp that has mostly retained its value than a more modern circuitboard reissue. I have read on many forums many more nightmares with modern reissues vs the older originals (especially for DRRIs), and the resale value has mostly followed this. Totally agree about the Princeton as the perfect home-volume-friendly amp! I prefer them over champs because the low end on princetons are more pronounced, present and rounder.

The vintage sounds better imo , plus I truly believe tone is in the hands. And your playing is very good!!

Sounding good Matt and really appreciate the info. Keep on keeping on ! D

That les paul is easily my favorite of your guitars it just sounds absolutely incredible. Great playing and demo as always!!

I love old Fender amps. But the tone and how one feels about it is completely subjective. What sounds wonderful to one ear may not to another. One thing I know for sure, no matter what Matthew is playing he makes it sound great

I bought this same amp - wish there was low volume overdrive . Great amp . 🇺🇸🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🎸✨ ( I use a Clapton Strat and an OCD pedal and sometimes an MXR Uni Vibe . )

I bought a Deluxe Reverb "Tone Master" two years ago and I love it. The ability to attenuate the output for "bedroom" use, while still enjoying the full range of color from clean to distorted, makes for one hell of a versatile amp at a very reasonable price!

Woah was just watching a few of your other videos as I'm about to get a fender tube amp. Perfect timing!

Loved the Gibson pairing, gorgeous!

I would love to get your take on swapping out speakers on amplifiers. What brands and types available, vintage speakers vs new and perhaps a demonstration on how to do it at home.

I believe it’s a combination of factors with old hand made amps. There’s drift in component values. There’s microphonic traces in the wiring. There’s inconsistencies throughout the amp that give them character. There’s simply less inconsistency with PCB amps

I have a 1979 Super Reverb 4x10 Silverface. mods include putting tremolo and Reverb on channel 1. Use the ground polarity switch on the back to turn off Tremolo. It was all original when I got her at a pawn shop for $600. With new Tubes, mods and my amp tech replaced a few tube sockets and capacitors. She is a keeper.

You need to play that Mary Kaye Strat more. Always see it in the background but hardly in the spotlight. That project is what got me into your channel years ago.

Had my 2005 drri Handwired by George Alessandro, with the speaker he makes. Channel 1 now is a bassman circuit with the reverb and vibe active. The Deluxe Channel now is just used for my clean tone, I switch channels and combine them. Best Amp I ever played. Likes to live below 4.5 on volume. The Speaker made the biggest difference

I am 70 years old now but back in my days of rock music that I played, I had a Twin Reverb sitting on top of a 4-12 Bassman cabinet running my 67 Les Paul Deluxe Sunburst through it. That Twin would push those six 12's and boy was it fun to play. But, in those days, JBL was the speaker of choice. They could handle the overdrive much better than Jensen with more bottom end too. Today I have a reissue 65 Deluxe Reverb that I play in my house and that is it. I just ordered a new Duesenberg Lap steel to run through the Deluxe. I won't get the lap steel until late February due to it coming from Germany and hand made.

love it all, great tone, great playing, I mean OMG... fantastic

I have a DRRI and I still love it. I had a couple mods done, including 6L6 conversion and "slow mod" on the tremolo....also has an Eminence GA64 speaker in it, which I love.

PCBs do not effect tone. It’s just a replacement for wires. In fact they can help reduce noise. I think people confuse PCBs with computer chips. The reason the Reissues sound different is because they changed the circuit. It’s not the exact same circuit. Even the hand-wired RIs have changed schematics. It’s possible to create the exact same circuit with PCBs but Fender didn’t do that. They also use components in some places with different values than the originals.

I really enjoy these videos, thanks... Last week I picked up the exact same man that you have about a ten-year-old Fender Deluxe in excellent condition. My amptek told me to bring it to him he'll make it sound like an original black face. I'm a player not an amp Tech. I sort of reluctantly took it to him, he clipped the bright switch swapped out JJs for tung sol.He assured me I'd love it. Also added a master in back it now is the Best amp I've owned since I started in1968. My twin is now collecting dust.Bassman I sold.Everyone should have a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb.

2 years ago I wrote a comment on your picking, a suggestion on technique witch wasn't well taken by some of your fans in the channel. Now I see that you improved your picking a lot, you sound cleaner , play effortless and faster ,and still kept the tone and feeling on your playing. The review on the amp was great...thanks.

Mine was after I warmed up the bias and put in NOS tubes in it!! Now a days at $1500.. not so much!! I loved it and still do.. but I only paid $700 for it in 2008!! People give up on C-12K speaker, but after mine broke in it was great!! I also ran mine with TS-9 and at times just the amp at 5-6 on the volume.. but mostly with pedal in front of it.. miked up it was glorious!! No issues ever!! You can also pull V1 and get a bit more out of it in the Channel Two Tremolo section.. Thanks for sharing Matt!!

Great video and very informative as I am considering one of these amps right now. I had a '69 Super for about 25 years that was an absolute monster of an amp. Cleans were great, and when pushed to around 6-7 on the volume it broke up in a way that was full, lush, and distinct. BUT - at that level it would literally rattle the windows. Haven't played out in years and it was just too much for home/hobby playing. Let it go and replaced it with a Nace M2-7R that I'm in love with. Doesn't break up the same as the Super, but has incredible tone and handles pedals in a way the Super never did. I also have a reissue Champ 600 that I use as a head that I really enjoy. Run it through 2 12's (Warehouse G12Q's). I agree though that the PCB boards have something lacking. Depth? Character? Whatever you want to call it, there is something different. As much as I like it, I'm not in love with the Champ the way I am the Nace or was with the Super. Before the Super I played through an early 70's Bassman 10. Great amp with that glassy Fender high end, but never could get it to break up the way I like. Would just get louder.....

Yesterday I’ve changed the blue alnico speaker of my original 65’ deluxe reverb into a canabis speaker , I couldn’t believe my ears , so much better , bite and warmth all together , the breakup is still around 3 and i wished i had a bit more head room

Biggest difference I've found in the vintage audio category (audio of any sort really) are speakers. Outside of brand on so on, old speakers (good and functional) are well "broken in" and that's where most of the magic is when comparing exact/similar amps. You should not compare new speakers to old ones... When I hear "old combos are so much better", this should, most usually, translate to "this combo has a new speaker, I should wait a few years of playing it, and then see if I really like it"... I've seen this so many times -> take a new amp, plug it into an older good speaker and the thing just signs.

one amp, over a hundred components that slightly vary with age, the combo of which is unique to each amp,

damn that tone is so sweet and smooth and your playing so sic brother..just WOW

That riff you play at 3:09 totally reminds me of “You’ll Be in My Heart” by Phil Collins

I agree with the gentleman on the speaker swap. When I bought mine new several years ago it sounded good but it just seemed a little edgy and a little sterile for a better word. I knew the speaker needed some time on it but I had a gut feeling it still may not have what I wanted. I installed an Eminence Cannabis Rex in it. Tone you know is his own but after the swap Daddy had come home for dinner!!! The louder I cranked it the sweeter it got. Oh and also a new set of JJ tubes iced the cake. I am thinning my herd but this amp is hear to stay and they for sure have gone up in price. Wonderful video Matt and your superb playing is a joy to this old Texas fellow! Rock On!!!

You weren't playing guitar, you were cooking🔥🔥🔥 Great chops and great tone from that amp dude❗👍👍👍

Man honestly, I felt that thing sounded great with the overdrive!

I have had a lot of different amps since I started playing in 1969 and I have to say my 1965 Fender Deluxe (which I still own ) is the best. When I played larger venues, I use to run the Deluxe into a black face Super and the sound was sensational.

Deluxe Reverb sounds pretty dang good. Even when pushed. Like most Fender amps, a winner. Of course I'd rather have a Super Reverb JBL or Vibroberb, but this Deluxe Reverb is really good.

Just awesome.................INCREDIBLE OUTRO!!!

I am so impressed by your feel you kinda sink into the notes, you let your fast moving fingers find them and then sometimes bend the heck out of them to make them make sense as i slowly become better as a guitarist myself i can now apreaciate your way of playing in a deeper way...the way your neck pick up was breaking up so dark and fuzzy and wooohhhmysxhrrrrrrrooouuzzhhhnmmmm that was awesome 😅

I have a Deluxe Reverb reissue with a Celestion Blue .I play a 2003 Lone Star Strat and An Am Pro II Tele Deluxe so These Combinations of Fender gear with the brand new Tele and the 10 year old amp and 20 year old Strat sound amazing would love to play some Vintage gear from th 60's but I love my set up.Your playing sounds great here by the way .

Tone King Imperial imho is a very good alternative to the (new) Fender amps. With the build in Ironman attenuator it's a great amp for home use as well band settings. Most important, it has amazing tone.

love your videos!

That second song you were playing (with the Gretch) was great !

WOW just the video i was looking for.

Love Fender amps! Great playing sir!

Awesome review and detailed explanation. Thank you.

Hey Matthew! Could you also review the Custom Vibrolux Reverb Reissue if you get the chance? That would be awesome. There's not that many videos on that amp. Thank you man and keep rockin 😎

I do love the tone of the Deluxe Reverb re-issue, at least to my ears ;-) Thank you for the comparisons between the fender amps. I do think that vintage amps do sound better to me. But when you have great guitar chops, like you, the hands and experience of playing make the sound ;-)

I have an older one, not sure how old maybe 2000 vintage.. I've had it maybe15 years or so. I've put a set of older GE USA made tubes in it. Also made the bright cap switchable using the cosmetic polarity switch that was never wired up in the early ones.. cosmetic only. Also I've put a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker in it which pushes the mids up a little bit, and just tightens it up a bit... It's the best sounding amp I've ever had and I've had a few of the old hand-wired Fenders. I've played some of the old hand-wired Deluxes that to my ears don't sound as good as mine. Something to remember is that the original black face Deluxes are going on 50 plus years old. Many of them are worn out. They need complete rebuilds before they'll sound good. By the way the one you are playing through sounds fantastic IMHO.

I’m so glad “Mad Matt” is courageous enough to tackle these extremely tough questions,is the fender Deluxe Reverb reissue still worth it? Surely this question should be left for the United Nations!! ,but NO Matt is willing to place himself in controversy and boldly ask it. Thanks Matt for having the guts to ponder a question I myself would be to afraid to ask.

Man you get some great tones! I’m sure a lot of people would love to know your recording/mic setup! ✌🏻😎

Nice work. I took my Deluxe RI put it back to back to with my 60s black face Deluxe ,switched speaker cables, big improvement in the deluxe Ri. Much of the improved sound comes from the wood the cabinets made from . The original deluxe was diminished by the cabinet and speaker of the RI.

I had been using some solid state amps for years as we Japanese can not play at loud in the house or apartment due to the strict policy about the noise. I somehow bought a VOX modeling amp with tube circuit on, or a Vox AC30 with nutube, and so on. Last last year, I purchased a full tube amp, VOX AC15 current model and I liked the sound for the first time, especially when the sound is distorted, the tube amp is very good. However, I gradually became dissatisfied with the tone, especially the reverb sound, as I have sub Fender amp to use with headphone at night, and the reverb is much better than the VOX amp. And I saw your video, and others using Fender vintage amps, and I was very inspired by them to use Full tube fender amp, hopefully vintage ones. But the silver face or black face amp is getting very expensive, and just can not afford to buy a real vintage amps, I saw a 90s Fender blues deluxe amp at Japanese auction site and bought it. I could not play it at loud yet, but surely the reverb sound is much better than that of current Fender amps. So, thanks for the inspiration, and I like your policy to use vintage gears, but purchase at the inexpensive priices.

I used a Blackstar Artist 10 AE (it has a 12'' Celestion speaker) for a long time. Recently I got a 1973 Guyatone Reverb Jazz which is a copy of a late 60's silverface Twin Reverb and I am very happy with the amp. I've read that the circuit of the amp is very close to the circuits of Fender Twins.

An audio amp is more than its circuit on a piece of paper. And it's more than the brand of components. The layout really is important. If you've ever hand built an amp you know that. And you can't compare 6V6 to 6L6 - apples and oranges. If you can't play an amp above 3 and get a good sound something's wrong with the product. You can't expect it to sound great at 10, but you should be able to push full volume and get something usable. That's a design flaw of some kind.

My DRRI is from 2008. I changed the speaker to a Ted Weber F150. Quality is spot on. PCB vs handwired sound wise there is no difference. Handwired amps are difficult to build in any volume manufacturing setting due to soldering problems. Arguably handwired is easier to service. Any sound differences lie in the component choice. I have handwired amps too and of course there is the psychology of that it's better... The sweet spot on a DRRI varies from amp to amp. It's usually between 4-6. I run a wet dry rig and my other amp is a Marshall 2061x. It's a great combination. Volume wise there are very few indoor venues where you can run your super reverb flat out - I suggest 22W is more than good enough.

Awesome vid, thanks! - Interesting, I find the Vintage amps to be MORE reliable and certainly far more serviceable. But the reissues are nice amps too

You are own your way to having a mini nerdville, awesome gear!!

got a tone master ofher day.great anp also. has the same spongy crunch and clean tone and weighs 24 lbs. glorious with a TS808

I know what you mean when you talk about the older Fenders having a very nice and natural overdrive when cranked. I recently aquired a 1960 brown face Super Amp (center volume), and I tell you what, I have never heard such a good natural OD from an amp straight in with no pedals. You just can't replicate that natural tube distortion when you push the tubes. But honestly with your playing, you could play a Squier into a Frontman and make it sound like a million dollars lol. Keep it up!

Thing is about the 'reissue' versions over recent years is that it's sort of doing an 'imposter' thing with that Jensen C12K speaker in it. That speaker with its huge magnet and really rolled off highs takes what's normally a very spanky and live/bright amp and seems to make it sound more like its much larger brethren like the Super and and even Twin...really bassy and scooped which for some will be pleasing to the ear especially at lower volumes where the amp and its hard-wired bright cap can get pretty spikes. But it takes away what the amp does bet which is cut through in medium colume settings when it starts to drive. So that stock Jensen C12K really throws things off. Again I could see how it makes it a bit easier on the ears for some, but it's kind of smoke and mirrors for bedroom or guitar store playing. Something more akin to an original Jensen C12N to me lets the amp really do its thing, which for some can be kind of elusive since it's a pretty bright sounding amp. But stay away form the current production Jensens. I've always liked the original Reverend AllTone 1250, and more recently, the Eminence Red White & Blues to me does a good job of approaching an original 60's brown-label Jensen C12N that's been played in for a while. Of course, something like the Celestion Alnicos makes it very lively and loud. And yes, a night and day difference between the original hand-wired and the reissue PCVB ones. I've owned a few original vintage '67s and built a few from amp kits. That's where it's at for this amp especially as yo turn it up into its 'happy zone' around 6. The transformers they use on these reissues get rather blatty and kind of nasty when you start to push this amp into overdrive. A hand-wired unit with good Mercury Magnetics trannys (I used to use ones from Allen Amps when he was still around) transitions more smoothly into overdrive, more musical the the reissue ones.

Matt, Anything you do on an electric guitar and any amp, is incredible. Wish I had a 10th the dedication you have. I guess raising kids, teaching, getting bullshit degrees was my priority for so many years. Now since I retired a few months ago, I can focus much, much more on guitar. Wish I would have picked it up as a teenager. My cousin TracyG started playing guitar at nine years old. It was his life. No partying, booze or drugs. His guitar was his drug. He played for Dio for six years in the 90's. Sorry Matt, I digress.

fantastic as always Matt. would love to see a run down of the recording setup. always sounds outrageous

I bet the difference comes more down to the speakers and transformers, and maybe some what the components. I bought a 73 deluxe reverb last year for $1500, great amp, perfect for most situations. But then I just bought a 65 super reverb, and man I love that amp. I mostly play funk, soul, blues and reggea, so I love clean punchy headroom. Between these 2 amps I'm pretty much covered, but would like to get a Princeton for home use and maybe as a second amp on stage mic'd and used for amp overdrive with an a b switch

I have had many Deluxe Reverbs , The Reissued Version is great for saving costs and does the job, But I recently bought the 64 Deluxe which is Hand Wired and there is no comparison! Totally Silent and no popping when you turn it on. ! At any volume it’s great ! No Harsh Tones !

Man, it sounded great throughout the entire video… how are you mic’ing it? I see what looks like a ribbon mic. Do you have a room mic as well?