Our fender tube replacement sets use premium tungsol 12ax712at7 tubes and the black plate tungsol 6l6gcstr. My name is wayne and this website is about my experience rebuilding a fender deluxe reverb tube amplifier. How to mod a fender 65 deluxe reverb drri for better reverb control. The 1 meg resistor is the grid resistor for that reverb driver tube which could. Better 12at7s notably, the mullard cv4024, mullard ecc81 or rca 12at7 s will also improve the tone of. The 68 cdrs pcb circuit board is very similar to the 65 drri s layout above in the previous section. Fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue tube upgrade the gear page.
It pushed 25 watts through a single 12 inch speaker. You need to have signal going from the driver tube, to the pan, to the recovery tube, and no footswitch bypass, to get reverb. The 65 deluxe reverbs thick guitar tones have been used extensively in many famous recordings, from memphis to abbey road. Changing only the first tube in your amps gain stage can affect how the rest of the circuit responds to your guitar. Because of the high demands placed on this tube by the fender reverb driver design, its important to get a good quality 12at7 for this slot. Drri stands for deluxe reverb reissue fender suggest new definition this definition appears somewhat frequently and is found in the following acronym finder categories. Fender 68 custom deluxe reverb common problems and fixesupgrades this post is what i wish i could have found prior to my purchase. You can also follow fender on facebook, twitter, instagram, or youtube.
Vacuum rectifiers are the hardestworking tubes in the amp and are given to failure without warning. As a matter of fact, the very first tube is the input 12ax7 for the normal channel, so you can pull that one and use it as the tube to start the replacement oneatatime testing process. The goal with this kit was to make the 65 deluxe reverb reissue sound as close as possible to an actua. Fender amp preamp tube layout and recommendations kca. For strictly home use you might also look at the princeton reverb reissue. Home rebuilding a fender deluxe reverb tube amplifier. The tremolo driver cathode resistor increases from 56k to 100k. Considered a good replacement in a deluxe for a browner sound. The twin reverb output transformer is designed to work most efficiently with the following impedancesloads and tube power configurations. Note how the lower phase inverter triodes signal is tapped from the upper triodes output.
These should be checked yearly and replaced regardless of test results every five years, somewhat less often if the tube is a vintage nos type. From the research i have done online, this seems to be one of the better things you can do for the amp outside of new tubes. Unleash the tone of your fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue with the modifications from fromel electronics. Deluxe reverb reissue problems and how to fix them. Fender guitar amplifier owners manuals archive this article contains a list of most archived copies of fender guitar amplifier owners manuals available.
The component numbers match the layout below so you can compare the layout and schematic. By 1954, though, the 15 speaker had given way to four 10 jensens, and fender were utilising dual tube rectifiers and fixed as opposed to cathode bias for a punchier, higherwattage performance. Aa763ab763 tube layout seen from behind, v1 is to the right side. Fender guitar amplifier owners manuals archive fender. December 20 learn how and when to remove this template message. The original bassman from 1952 had a single 15 speaker and was tuberectified, yielding 26 watts from a pair of 5881 power tubes. Casting aside the printed circuit board and stock transformers, mikeymann amplification breathed new life into this amp with thoughtful.
Fender amp preamp tube layout and recommendations kca nos. I recently started playing guitar again after a 45 year break. Ab763 blackface amp model differences rob robinette. Redblue wire from pt is a 50v bias tap, this wire is not connected in this amplifier. The green lines show the extremes seen by the tube at the signal minimum and maximums. Find out how to get your instrument serviced or repaired at an authorized service center in the us or canada. Marshall dsl40cst 4020watt 1x12 tube combo with free. I also have fenders customer service email, which is hard to find, but only use it if you genuinely have some sort of real problem or a serious question. Fender 65 princeton reverb reissue as with fenders wonderful deluxe, the princeton was one of the very first amps leo made under his own name dating all the way back to 1946 and one of the few model names to remain in more or less continuous production, seeing out fenders less wellknown ivy league amps, the yale and harvard. Fender 68 custom vibrolux reverb 2014 my les paul forum. Apr 23, 2012 ny demo pa min relativt nyinnkjopte fender deluxe reverb combo. Fender 2 channel reverb amp preamp tube layout as seen from the back of the. Click here to download the diylc file so you can modify this layout diagram yourself.
Drri original pt left and mercury magnetics pt right as you saw at the top of this page, mercury didnt initially offer an axiom pt as a highend dropin replacement for a drri rebuild. With each sporting twoband eqs and additional controls for reverb, speed, and intensity on the tremolo, the dualchannel design allows easy toggling between. Fender 68 custom deluxe reverb common problems and fixes. Whether you need to speak to consumer relations or simply want to drop us a line, this is your source. Redblue wire from pt is a 50v bias tap, this wire is. Deluxe reverb, vibrolux reverb, super reverb, twin reverb. Featuring dual normal and vibrato channels, the power of two 12ax7 and two 12at7 tubes, and 22w of power, the 65 reissue deluxe reverb is a formidable tool built for the working musician. Mercury magnetics rebuilding a fender deluxe reverb tube. Aa763ab763 tube layout seen from behind, v1 is to the right side v4 12ax7 12 reverb recovery and 12 gain stage for vibrato channel. Click the image to view the full size layout diagram. Fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue 22watt 1x12 reverb.
The biggest complaint about the reissue is that it sounds thin and harsh compared to a vintage deluxe reverb. Manuals are listed alphabetically by model and have been taken from our archives and converted into pdf documents. Swap it for the v2 tube, which is the input tube for the vibrato channel. Fender literally wrote the book on electric basses, laying the foundation for musical innovation and evolution. Notice how convoluted the signal path is shown with orange arrows on this layout diagram. Hello, i have tried today one of the regular mod seen on the web for the drri. Orange amps tube layout guide page 2 orange amps forum. Fender deluxe reverb 65 reissue purist mod voodoo amps home. Vintage reissue series tube amp 15 watts into 8 ohms 1 x 10 jensen special design c10r speaker singlechannel 2 inputs volume, treble, bass, reverb, speed, and intensity controls reverb and vibrato effects 3 x 12ax7s, 1 x 12at7, 2 x 6v6s, and 1 x 5ar4 rectifier tube. The fat, snappy guitar tones heard on many of our favorite recordings, from. I run 12au7s in the reverb driver, those are like lower gain 12at7.
Fender 64 custom deluxe reverb amplifier fender amps. In this weeks blog, we discuss a major upgrade project recently completed for the fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue, which we will refer to as the drri. Pull and replace the reverb drive tube and the reverb recovery tube. The phone number for fender s consumer relations dept. Fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue modifications fromel. For more info see my how the ab763 deluxe reverb works webpage, ab763 modifications and ab763 model differences.
Drri chassis with the main board installed heres a closeup of part of the chassis interior with some features of the amp highlighte drri chassis with the main board installed. The signal flow in red starts at input jack 1 at the far left. The tubes are thoroughly screened, and power tubes are matched closely to extract the most classic fender sound out of your amp. Designing the printed circuit board was probably the most expensive aspect of the engineering of an amp and i cant imagine that fender would start anew with such a minor circuit change as would be present between the beloved drri and the 68 cdr. The amp was filled with cold solder joints and missingincorrect connections. Fender 65 princeton reverb 15watt 1 x 10 tube combo amp features. He has the preamp tube layout with great suggestions as. Rectifier tube recommendations for a drri telecaster. The red lines are the actual operating points seen by the tube. Modified from the original design, this modern iteration offers luscious, tube driven spring reverb and rich, pulsating tremolo effects on both channels. Rebuilding a fender deluxe reverb tube amplifier includes some very useful modification ideas as well as how to convert the. I started out with a deluxe reverb reissue drri and ended up with a reborn, boutique amp. Fender deluxe bias video this video is of a fender deluxe reissue and we are setting a pair of the jj 6v6s at about 25ma using a bias probe.
And dont miss fender play, our complete app for learning to play acoustic and electric guitar, bass and ukulele. At this point, i would not encourage anyone to download or use 2. Support for fender instruments, amplifiers, audio, and accessories. I know he has made suggestions on other fender models. Fender drri someone gutted this reissue amp and built a handwired 6l6 deluxe reverb circuit inside the chassis. In a drri, thats the small 12ax7 preamp tube that is closest to the input jack. The phone number for fenders consumer relations dept. Fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue drri mods how to ab763. Before you call, realize that fender does most of its customer service through authorized repair centers. How to improve your amps tone with preamp tube reverb news. I must admit i quite liked the result as the amp kinda screamed right after that. Reverb driver, first gain stage for channel 2, first gain stage for channel 1.
The build part 4 rebuilding a fender deluxe reverb tube. For rock, country or blues players that want a moderately powered amp they can crank up on the gig or in the studio. I purchased my first tube amp, a lightly used fender 65 drri, and plan on making a few upgrades. This all changed when paul and sergio learned of this project and created one specifically for this task. This tube should be replaced if variances between the sides exceed 10%. It is here now to help others who are considering this amp or may have already purchased it and have questions. In this amp vs modeling shootout, we compare several popular software amp sim products against a real fender deluxe reverb tube amp. Some 12at7s that will work just fine as phase inverters v6 will crackle and hiss in this position. Now that the components and hookup wires are installed on the main board, it is placed inside the chassis.