Fixing noise in a Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb

[@ReturnTheSanity]

I swapped out the junk preamp tubes mine came with NOS 4 RCA 7025 and a couple NOS GE JAN 12ax7’s and it is nearly silent. Bridge the channels by plugging your guitar into the 1 input of the vintage channel and use a patch cable from 1 of the custom channel into 2 of the vintage channel and it sounds better than you can ever imagine it would. The EQ will be weird unless you use an a/b/y pedal with a phase correction…find a video if you don’t know…anyway one side the bass will be more responsive to adjustment use that side for bass and turn other side all the way down. The treble will generally be responsive on the opposite channel and you turn the other side down. You will get beautiful break up at 2 or 3 volume. Both channels come through so blend each volume knob in to your liking.

[@JillandKevin]

About 10 years ago, I thought "Gee, what a great idea having reverb on both channels!". after pondering it for a while, I sold my '65 RI Deluxe Reverb and got a '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb, and found out a few things. First, the '68 has about half the clean headroom of the '65. Great for some, but a disaster for me. Second, they are NOISY. I traded in THREE before I got one that was even marginally quiet (and by marginally, I MEAN marginally). Third, the "Bassman" circuit in the Custom channel does NOTHING as far as increasing bass response (the reason I got it in the first place was to enhance the lower strings of a baritone Tele I built, as I back up my wife and use a lot of bass lines) Fourth, transposing after reading her hands while she uses a capo is REALLY a pain, so I switched back to standard guitar, and didn't need the "extra bass" that it didn't do anyway. Fifth, I was WAY better off with a '65, and even better with a Princeton Reverb (lighter and smaller, and STILL more clean headroom than the '68!!!). Thanks for the great video!

[@coryburns13]

I love the way this guy does unboxing! No muss, no fuss, just boom there it is. Then again I’m a male over the age of 35 lol. Great video!

[@aeg_music]

Oh nice! The amp comes with a built-in Theremin!

[@clemdog76]

Vox ac 15/30 were built without any negative feedback to let them run completely unbridled. The silverface reissued amps were deliberately designed to be an overdrive platform. Mine is not all that noisy and I much prefer the reduction in negative feedback... otherwise you’ll be better off buying a blackface for cleaner more traditional tone. The 68 reissues were designed to be modernized recreations of the actual historic mods. Rest assured those amps do function. I LOVE MINE!! it changed my life. It runs beautifully.

[@RJ_HTx]

I bought mine in 2014. Very reliable and great sounding amp. I recently purchased the 68 Princeton Reverb as a backup.

[@DavidImrie]

That's very good to hear. It shows they can be fixed. Have you ever been inside yours?

[@RJ_HTx]

@@DavidImrie I am actually gonna replace all tubes and bias the amp. I am thinking about replacing the electrolytic caps in the power section to F&Ts and changing some of the signal caps to orange drops.

[@DavidImrie]

Cool. Can't hurt. Replacing the power caps and tubes is in my to-do list. Probably will have another vid up in the next month or so. I'm just trying to find the source rather than shotgun approach. Lower noise resistors on the input is something I'm curious about too. Would be greatful if you could report back on the PCB revision you have. Think mine was dated 2002. I'm curious if they have changed.

[@RJ_HTx]

@@DavidImrie okay I will check the PCB revision but this Deluxe came out in 2013 so they are using the same boards or the same revision as the American Series.

[@DavidImrie]

Hmm I'll have to check. It may have been 2012

[@chrisday5341]

Just bought this amp used, sounds fantastic. The noise, tremolo tick and standby pop are very annoying and surprising given the reputation of Fender amps. I found that running an attenuator eradicated all of those issues. I'm using a two notes captor in attenuation mode. I'm not running it super hot, maybe volume at 4.5. Kind of surprised me an attenuator rectified all of the issues with the Amp.

[@Churrosonice]

Good to know. Which attenuator do you use?

[@chrisday5341]

@@Churrosonice I initially used the Two Notes Captor, but the -20 DB was a little too much. I switched to the Weber Mini Mass and it seemed to do the trick! I didn’t mind the attenuator on its own, but with pedals it really darker the amp a little too much. I ended up parting with it entirely. Now looking for something else

[@pauldavis6356]

For being a "non-tech" you sure teched the heck out of that amp! Removing the board and adding the coupler and rewiring the power, nicely done. Surprising tho that the vibrato & reverb work on both channels. The originals were separate. That's why there's a "Normal" channel and a "Vibrasto " one.

[@DavidImrie]

Thanks. Yes as far as I'm aware the effects on both was one of the mods incorporated in to the "custom"

[@charlie-obrien]

Having both reverb and vibrato on both was a feature that was built in on these reissues. It's a great concept, but some say contribute to the noise issues.

[@twirlyboggs]

Yeah these modern Fender amps definitely have some hiss! and if it's any constellation, the way I fixed my SS22 is to put a 12AY7 in V4 and voila it's dead silent at idle. and it really sounds great - doesn't affect the tone! of course that's not really fixing the problem but for me it works been playing it like this for about five years

[@jasonmcelveen6295]

Awesome video. I have this amp in the US, live in Nashville. The tone is incredible and I've owned every model deluxe reverb from 1960s original to every iteration of reissue. This one tho full of junk hiss and it's loud\annoying hiss, I think this model made in Mexico has the best tone of the DRRI models fender has made. The two channels are different and lovely. Wish there was a way to actually get this amp to be quiet and remove the noise/hiss. Just learn to live with it.

[@idanramos1942]

Not ideal, but using a boss tube amp expamder between the power amp and the speaker reduces the noise ratio,

[@jasonmcelveen6295]

@@idanramos1942 after years decided to trade my deluxe reverb for a mesa boogie 5:50. Hands down mesa is better in every way

[@DavidImrie]

Except repairing them. Mesas can be a nightmare

[@DavidImrie]

I will get round to trying some tweaks to make it quieter sooner or later :)

[@jerrymcgeorge4117]

The hiss has a couple sources, the coupling of the channels, the y shielded trace and its distance from the pots & jacks board to the valve, and, of course, the substitution of a 1.5k for an 820k resistor in the negative feedback circuit.

[@grass_hopper]

To fix the ticking tremolo, see the tremolo circuit of Twln Reverb. There is a 220pf/1kV cap added between the pin 1 and 3 of the trem valve.

[@incognito2246]

A very helpfull explanation , this is the last problem I have on my 65’ reissue model. Thanks !

[@jerrymcgeorge4117]

FWIW, I exorcised the noises from my ‘68 CDR by swapping out the NFB resistor and moving the heater circuit and power section grounds off of the main PCB to places near the power transformer.

[@DavidImrie]

Good to know. Many ways to improve this amp I think. Sounds lovely when it's sorted though

[@jerrymcgeorge4117]

@@DavidImrie I forget to add that by doing so the vibrato tick was completely eliminated as well. It appears Fender’s design grounds everything, including the power section via the pots. I’d have to find a main PCB that I could study to tell for sure. My hunch is that by doing so they create either poor grounds or ground loops that led to the numerous noises. My amp had an obvious filament hum that went away completely when I moved the heaters off the PCB and wired them conventionally.

[@ADFinlayson]

Best unboxing I've ever seen

[@DavidImrie]

🤣 I hate unboxing Vids. Lol.

[@jessepearson5579]

Excellent analysis and presentation. Thanks...

[@PabloMollAN]

This video is awesome. I have the same amp with the same issues, although it doesn’t make the noise all the time. Hopefully my amp technician can fix this the same way you did. Cheers.

[@DavidImrie]

Thank you. I need to do another one and try and get the noise floor down further on mine. Would love to hear what your amp tech finds.

[@Grumpyoldman60]

Oh so we may get to see you light up like the preverbial Christmas tree? Super goody!

[@ChrisNolteRips]

I HAVE SAME AMP AND SAME PROBLEMS? TREMELO AND REVERB SEEM TO MAKE NOISE WORSE. ENJOYING THE VIDEO. VERY INFORMATIVE.

[@DavidImrie]

Thanks

[@leonardpeters3266]

I have one of these amps. It is absolutely the best sounding amplifier I have ever owned. And I have owned and do own a bunch.

[@midnightwind8067]

If you turn the amp onto its side, the weight of the chassis is handled by the desk and the chassis is easier to handle firmly.

[@AndrewJohnClive]

I have one, and yes, the Tremelo is unusable. So I don’t use it. Unfortunate, but man, what an amp!

[@russellesimonetta3835]

There is alot needed to be done. The caps need to be replaced for starters. Three hrs of work by a competent tech. Look at Psionic audio!! Lyle is a master of vox and fender amps!

[@Ian_sheridanuk]

I always imagine fender amps being the gold standard for guitar amps. They wrote the book. But seeing this, and recently seeing a video on a handwired Princeton having noise issues, and having owned a blues Junior that crapped out on me, it makes me value my £200 Laney cub 10, and free rescued Traynor YVC40. Good vid. 👍

[@bciecko1]

No joke, I was reading this and those that, huh, sounds like Ian... Then I looked and there you are! Haha. I think the amp(s) are great but I'm also think it's like meeting your hero a little too. I was just telling another friend, last night, how my DR is changing my life. It's so amazing. But it isn't perfect. There is noise. There is hiss. It's all good though as when playing you don't hear it.

[@Ian_sheridanuk]

@@bciecko1 it's a small club! Your amp looks beautiful! I'm proper jealous again!

[@bciecko1]

@@Ian_sheridanuk It is a small club. The amp is beautiful. For sure. I sold the bike to get it. I don't ride much. It's to my uncle, who's in his 80's and he told me I'd be getting it back when he does anyways. Haha. His words, not mine.

[@Ian_sheridanuk]

@@bciecko1 next time you see him he'll be smuggling guns over the border with his motorcycle gang

[@bciecko1]

@@Ian_sheridanuk 🤣😂 Probably.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Well done, you solved the problem. Did you put that capacitor in to stop the "Pop" when you you turn standby off yet, I would like to see how it works? BTW , do they still use ATs (ecc81) for the reverb and phase inverter or is it all 12ax7(ecc83) which will make it noisier?

[@robbyclark6915]

Sounds to me like head engineer guy at Fender designed this replacement circuit that he's super proud of and it's going in every damn European model that heads out the door whether it works or not because anything and everything is more acceptable than admitting failure to a proud engineer. Or any proud person regardless of their trade. We've all met them and worked with and for them. They can never be wrong, even if it means eminent disaster.

[@musicplaylists59]

these 68 Custom's all seem to have a problem with being very noisy, pretty ridiculous for such an expensive amp from one of the biggest amp manufacturers.

[@jasonmcelveen6295]

Yea for home or studio these amps suck but in a band situation or at a jam these amps rule for the price

[@AlexSoutheyMusic]

@@jasonmcelveen6295 Feel exactly the same way. The noise isn't really an issue in a live setting especially if you're playing with even a bit of overdrive. I bet even if you play clean in a live atmosphere it wouldn't be that bad. Still ridiculous for the price though

[@nathanglass512]

For how much you pay there shouldn't be any issues that you have to fix yourself. This is a common issue with the 68' but worth the best clean tone for some.

[@mtbmadman011]

Whaaa, a noisy Fender reissue ? un heard of! Built from some of Chi Nah's best and cheapest price point parts! Fender should concur up another model called "The White Noise Gambler" Bet the bottom dollar suits at the round table would love it

[@DavidImrie]

Bro.. are you okay? 🤣

[@Whydyoucare]

Man, you solved my day! thank you so much!

[@AlexSoutheyMusic]

LOL I love the unboxing bit at the beginning. Also yes I will subscribe and I'll have you know i'm under 35..... 29

[@DavidImrie]

A trailblazer! Lol

[@AlexSoutheyMusic]

@@DavidImrie God damn right, david! Happy I found this video though I very late got my footswitch pedal for reverb and tremolo that comes with this amp typically, and prior to that my reverb worked but my tremolo didn't - it somehow "needed" the footswitch. Now I have it and it works but it makes the ticking noise you reference, plus honestly i've always been curious where the tremolo then "sits" in the chain? I have other pedals on. Does this mean if I hit the tremolo foot switch, it's as though the tremolo is one of the first effects after the amp itself? Or is it coming at the end of "chain"? Anyway thanks for the great in-depth content.

[@drbalchin1]

Great and really interesting video! Not sure if you mentioned in the video, so forgive me if you did....But that nut next to the transformer on the outside of the amp, is that just a hole for the bias pot? You can see it quite clearly around 25:15. I've recently picked up a '68 custom pro reverb and looking at the bias options for when I later change the output valves. Cheers!

[@DavidImrie]

I don't have the amp in front of me but yes I believe you are correct. If you Google the service manual for this amp I don't think it shows it on a chassis diagram but the pot is listed/drawn on the layout diagram so you can confirm its function.

[@markarita3]

That emulation circuit is crazy! I feel so bad for you chaps in the UK.

[@mattdavies7809]

Did you have to add connectors to the red power leads or do they have them already fitted? Thinking of fitting octocoupler but want to make sure ive everything i need before pulling it apart!

[@DavidImrie]

Good spot. Yes I added spade connectors

[@mattdavies7809]

@@DavidImrie ok thanks 👍

[@therealLTS]

Can’t seem to get that link to work. The paperwork you worked after. Hope you can repost?

[@DavidImrie]

Which link matey?

[@therealLTS]

The link that describes the mod you did in the vid. The one in the description doesn’t lead anywhere.👍

[@DavidImrie]

I've replaced the links with long versions. If you are planning on following the instructions for removing the term board, note that when they say yellow wires I think they meant orange

[@mattdavies7809]

Making sure ur voltage is set to 240 not 230 as its supplied( same prob with blues jrs) will help as well

[@DavidImrie]

Interesting. I don't believe this model has selectable voltage. It is simply labeled 230v with a 250v fuse. I think that's fairly common to see that in the UK on devices that will tolerate %5 difference. I will check what windings the transformer has though. To be fair I really should check all voltages having removed some components

[@mattdavies7809]

@@DavidImrie yea shoulda mentiond that australia uses 240 but fender uk amps are set to europe at 230 the diagrams for voltage select are available iv changed my blues jr and 68 deluxe,aftr seeing some horror stories about the blues jr,just a case of swapping connectors

[@DavidImrie]

I'll add it to the ever growing pile of things I want to try with this amp 😅

[@grass_hopper]

Check the right hand side of the schematic. Move the pink spade connectors to the appropriate points for 240V.

[@anthonybenavides720]

Is this only for UK/import models? I feel like this plagues the 120V (US) amplifiers as well.

[@DavidImrie]

Hey. I'm fairly sure it is export models only that have the special trem circuit. It is true though that US models can suffer the other problems including trem tick and loud hiss. In hindsight, In this video i over emphasize the trem board as a source for this when it was more the erratic interference I fixed. I'm going to do another video attempting to get the hiss down further etc. Bad tubes, caps, or plate/grid resistors are all possibilities.

[@jasonmcelveen6295]

US have loud hiss, not noticeable at band or jam levels. Definitely loud noise for home use but the versatile and tone at louder levels is actually unbeatable

[@alafenetre81]

All the 68 Custom amps have that noise problem with the reverb and a ticking problem with the trem. I contacted Fender and they refused to acknowledge the problem.

[@DavidImrie]

Doesn't sound like great customer service 😔

[@Jamortainment99]

I've had my 68DR for roughly 4 years and haven't had an issue. I guess I got lucky!

[@stephenquinn7603]

I have one and no problems

[@alafenetre81]

@@stephenquinn7603 I inquired about that and found that the problem affects the European 68 Custom range mainly.

[@ChristopherClause]

I just started laughing out loud at your unboxing. Great to be older, isn't it? lol!! :)

[@DavidImrie]

Haha😅

[@ChristopherClause]

@@DavidImrie thanks for the video on this...bought a DR this past summer and wondered why this amp has such a high noise floor.

[@DavidImrie]

I need to get round to doing a follow up and seeing if I can reduce it further but it has actually been perfectly acceptable since.

[@Grumpyoldman60]

So you have just one screw loose? I still like your channel.

[@stevec.1802]

I’ve heard of similar issues with the Pro Reverb as well. Btw- who’s the artist playing the jazz organ rendition of when Johnny comes marching home on this video? I like it. Great presentation and explanation.

[@DavidImrie]

It's actually one of the free tracks youtube provide. "When Johnny Goes Marching" - Ethan Eubanks aka "E's Jammy Jams "

[@stevec.1802]

@@DavidImrie love it. Thank you.

[@jamesgrobertson8024]

Yep I nearly bought one but found the noise to much

[@dragonsquare2802]

Love your humor!

[@markwright9352]

Lol 😂 loved the unboxing 👍🏼

[@MikeGervasi]

This is why I built my own.

[@Ivanovich2112]

I wonder if just replacing the long lead wires to and from the circuit with some 4-wire shielded cable would fix it?

[@DavidImrie]

Quite possibly.

[@zbaby82]

Fender should have never shipped this amp out with a noise problem that bad.

[@caryboudas4771]

Not bad for a guy that says he doesn't know what he's doing!

[@DavidImrie]

Haha. Thanks. Well you can find a lot out via Google. This was only my 3rd time trying to fix a tube amp. I just don't want people thinking I'm an amp guru and taking what I say as gospel. It's more about the learning as we go for me.

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

a dr z break lite attenuator solves the hiss

[@MrRadioGypsy]

Tell ya what . . . If they sold me that amp as a 'reissue' and then I looked at the circuit board, I'd take it back and get a refund. That is certainly no 'reissue'. It is a hoax. Or, I would gut the circuit board out and get a real point-to-point fiber board and use as many components off of the removed board and forcibly make it a real reissue using the original schematic. Why not? After all, the chassis, tubes, pots, jacks, reverb tank, and transformers are already present . . .

[@DavidImrie]

A few people have done that. Its a fair shout. To be fair I think you can get most of their re-issues in either PCB or hand wired/turret board options with the latter costing more. I think it's a fair to have those options as long as you know what you are buying, but the optocoupler emulation thing baffles me. Purists wouldn't want it, and people like myself would be happy with an alternative.

[@pablodevera3278]

Disclaimer; Im not and expert by any means, proceeds with expertise

[@tjnugent62]

If you unplugged all the cables from the amp, it still made noise just sitting there no tremolo on.. .It was a problem a lot of people had.. So says Zounds.

[@DavidImrie]

Yeah it does / can have a high noise floor. I do intend to try some things for that eventually, but it's been serving me quite well since so I'm in no rush. The electrics in the workshop are not the best and it can be quite sensitive to environment. It's dead quiet at home or in open air, but stick it near florescent lights and forget it.

[@tjnugent62]

@@DavidImrie That is great.. Mine would hum without any cable plugoged in to it. It was crazy.. I sent one back and got another same deal. I stopped with that amp and bought a Marshall DSL40 `1x12 I do worship as well and for bigger stages that we did, the Marshall sounded good. But it had 2 channels and a lot of things I had no interest in. I am ocd so it drove me nuts that is had 2 chennels and it made all sorts of different amps. Too much. i wanted and amp that did one thing single channel. I went with Fender again. I bought an amp 2 years ago when it came out , the Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb with the attenuator. It is 23lbs and sounds just like a blackface Deluxe. . Amazing.

[@tjnugent62]

I sent mine back because it was must too noisy..

[@willhuslig9104]

I have this same issue. I am selling it if it doesn't get fixed...

[@danraan]

Send it back

[@DavidImrie]

Hell no. I bought it for 50% off not working as a project. Since I did the mods it's been working great

[@coreyrenstrom]

Easiest way to fix it is to sell it and buy a helix.

[@butterscotchtele]

It’s borderline criminal that Fender continues to produce this piece of shit.