Gigging Amps - Combos

[noodles]

I had one of the original Blues DeVille 4x10 amps, with the real tweed covering. 2x6L6, 3x12AX7, and the four Fender blue alnico speakers (I think they were made by Eminence). This was back in college, and I was playing in a funky blues/rock band, which was pretty popular in the early to mid-nineties college scene.

As Drew said, they are seriously loud amps, especially since mine was 60w and had four speakers. They also had pristine cleans and wonderful, gritty overdrive. The reverb on it was also pure Fender, which is to say awesome. Than, a Strat, a wah, and a tube screamer was all I needed. I got a lot out of it, and regretted selling it--I just didn't have enough money to keep it around, and I really needed something with more gain when I moved onto heavier stuff.

Looked just like this:

[Drew]

For some reason, I always figured that amp would be about perfect for playing Everclear covers, haha. Something about the distortion... It sounded pretty damned good, though. I'm obviously biased towards anything that says "Mesa" on the front, but if you go for something else, I can totally recommend any of the Hot Rods with a clear conscience.

EDIT - this thing:

.:: Fender®.com ::.

If budget wasn't an issue (or space, haha), I'd totally love to have one of these kicking around for the occasional SRV fix, but I guess the Rectoverb and a tube screamer handle that well enough, in a pinch...

[budda]

I'd just like to say that the JSX's crunch channel is taken from a peavey classic 50 head.

That aside, now im all curious as to the drive channel on a DeVille...

[7stringofablick]

Originally Posted by budda

I'd just like to say that the JSX's crunch channel is taken from a peavey classic 50 head.

That aside, now im all curious as to the drive channel on a DeVille...

They say that, but I've owned both and the voicings are definitely different, and the JSX has WAY more gain on tap, even on the crunch channel.

[budda]

I can believe it.

*runs the gain filthy low on his JSX, proceeds to catch flack*

[satchownz]

Originally Posted by budda

I'd just like to say that the JSX's crunch channel is taken from a peavey classic 50 head.

That aside, now im all curious as to the drive channel on a DeVille...

It's not a metal amp. But, I was really surprised just how dirty it got. Rather than a "fuzz crunch" tone, it was more of a hard, gritty rock tone. It actually had more than I need, but enough available if I want to "go to eleven" sort of speak.

Honestly, I thought the fender line was all about pristine cleans matched with mild "bluesy" gains. This thing changed my mind in about two seconds.

I need to remember that this is after all a "metal guitarist" board, so it may not stack up to some of user's Mesa's and whatnot - but - from whatever angle you survey it, the all-tube 410 Deville is definitely proven amp that sounded awesome to me.

Go give it a try.

I'll have it on stage in the next couple weeks if anyone wants to hear it.

[budda]

with my boost off on my crunch channel, I'm running a fairly low gain rock sound. Kick that TS on and its packing way more of a modern punch.

so if it has low-med gain on the crunch channel, then if i throw the JoBo TSoC in front of it then chances are I can get enough out of it.

A dual rec's clean channel in Pushed mode w/ the gain up is as much gain as I need

[Drew]

Originally Posted by satchownz

I'll have it on stage in the next couple weeks if anyone wants to hear it.

Kickass, you pulled the trigger?

You'd mentioned TT and the Bear's, right? That's not too far from my place, let me know when that is and I'll try to head over.

Yeah, it's no metal amp, but I'm hardly a metal purist myself, and it was really a rather spectacular rock amp. Nice girthy crunch to it, great cleans, great reverb, and just an all around solid amp.

[satchownz]

Originally Posted by Drew

Kickass, you pulled the trigger?

You'd mentioned TT and the Bear's, right? That's not too far from my place, let me know when that is and I'll try to head over.

Moving some money around. I hope to pick it up this week.

My singer had to go away for a bit (family), so we can't do the T.T.'s show. We have some more lining up right now. Amesbury, Newburport, Manchester NH, Portsmouth. Working on a bunch.

By the way, do you know anything about the "tube screamer" pedal? Everywhere I read sells this thing as a necessity with Deville-type amps.

[Drew]

It's ironically super-popular as a boost in front of a metal amp, so yeah, I've got one in line between my Recto and whatever I happen to be plugged into it.

SRV was the guy who made it popular - it's a really great bluesy overdrive pedal. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "necessary," especially as the Hot Rod series amps have plenty of gain on their own, but yeah, it brings more options (say, if you have a clean and a distorted channel, set the amp pretty clean, the distorted to a nice crunch, and then further control them with the Tube Screamer set for a little bit of grit, so that you can have a slight breakup on your clean, and then push the distortion further into saturation for a higher gain sound).

Anyone who says you "need" one with a Fender amp is probably something of a SRV fanboi, especially if you're playing a JS with fairly hot humbuckers. But, they're fun. Again, we should get together to jam sometime, and you can fuck around with mine.