Fender blues deluxe tweed reissue

[seagulc]

Hey guys. I'm looking to upgrade my Fender Blues Junior into something with more clean headroom - I need to be able to play jazz music with a drummer at small gigs without overdrive. I've heard this amp is very nice, and I see one for sale in my area for only 200 dollars more than I can get for selling my Blues junior used. The amp is a fender blues deluxe tweed reissue, made in USA. If anyone has experiences with these - how do they compare, in terms of sound quality and loudness?

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I have a Hotrod Deluxe, which is very close to the Blues deluxe.  Minor circuitry changes on the lead channel and a tad different circuit with respect to the Reverb.  It is loud.  40 watts tube loud.  Quite loud.  The clean stays clean unless you crank the gain, then you get that Sultans of Swing style overdrive.  A really odd thing about the amps is the master volume is a linear pot (wrong wrong wrong) and only for the distorted channel.  It is an easy fix.  You make a pedal box with a volume knob (100K-250K Audio) and put it into the effects loop for a master volume.  But beyond that, it has very nice fender cleans, the dirty channel will let you get by, nothing special, and if you do want to tame the overall volume, you can get some THD yellow jackets for it later.  If you can play one at a shop, go for it.  If the price is good on the one for sale it is a good amp in that price range.  Oh yeah, the exterior on those amps doesn't mean much other than for looks.
Patrick

 

[metz420]

I had a Blues Jr. and recently upgraded to the Blues Deluxe Reissue.  I liked the Blues Jr. but I am totally pleased with the recent purchase.  I much prefer the larger cabinet and prominent low end (courtesy of the 6L6 power tubes) which I felt was lacking in the Blues Jr.  The Blues Deluxe is more powerful (40w vs. 15w Blues Jr.) so there is a lot more clean headroom available.  I replaced the 6L6 tubes with 6V6 tubes which allow for earlier breakup from the power tubes.  This thing is capable of bedroom volumes as well and I usually play the clean channel and rely on pedals for my dirt.  Personally, I prefer this amp over the Hot Rod Deluxe.  The HRDx gain channels are pretty unusable for my liking.  While I use dirt pedals primarily, the "lead" channel on the Blues Deluxe is very usable and much smoother than the HRDx IMHO.