How to Play your Deluxe Reverb Quietly at Home - and Sound Good!

You may be wondering why your tube amp just doesn't sound that good when playing at lower volumes. In fact, it probably sounds completely different!
In today's video I give some tips on playing your loud tube amp quietly at home. While I'm using a Deluxe Reverb, these tips work well for any tube amp that goes from 0-100 in the first digit of the volume knob, and especially amps with a "bright cap" (including most reissue Fenders) where the position of the volume knob determines the relationship of treble content to the rest of your sound.
While this approach can't help you get your amp to overdrive at low volumes, it demonstrates how you can at least get the EQ right by using a simple volume pedal, as well as make get a large variety of other sounds using pedals to make up for the lack of amp breakup. In my opinion, you can get much better sounds this way compared to using attenuators or other methods that will inevitably suck some life out of your tone.

[@unitoftemp]

Step 1: Wear earplugs so you can't hear the neighbors knocking at your door.

[@fredhystair5789]

Nope, it cut the high ends of tthe amp ;-)

[@marions.120]

Awesome idea! ✌️🤪🎸🎶🎵🎶🎵

[@brutallyremastered4255]

Where are the next steps, please? I've been waiting over 2 years now and had to move 4 times.

[@jbarnhart4672]

This!

[@richardj9016]

Make your neighbours wear earplugs.

[@billvilla7799]

This has to be one of the best explanations of amp and volume control...Well Done!

[@avgjoegeek71]

Just came across this video - and my neighbors are going to thank you for this. The Reverb is such a nice amp. But boy does it want to push some air even at lower volumes. Add some boost and it wants to raise the roof off lol. So thanks - I'll have to give this a shot.

[@zsa5692]

This is one of the most helpful and understandable lessons I’ve ever had. I mainly play my fender deluxe reverb so it’s especially relevant. Great stuff!

[@sooparticular]

me too..Im planning on getting a dr or a princeton and a volume pedal would really help

[@zsa5692]

@@sooparticular yeah expression pedals are my next endeavor as well! Hope you find a great fit 🤘

[@voxpathfinder15r]

Great video, I talk about these properties all the time. You need one more thing you aren’t getting- you preserved the natural eq of the first stage by fixing the volume knob where you like it - and dial back the signal strength with the volume pedal downstream of a buffer of course. One thing you need to add is a compression pedal - you aren’t getting the natural compression by actually having a big signal going through the preamp. A compression pedal will make up for this.

[@Gilyslas]

You can always put your amp in an enclosed area(closet, laundry room etc) that is quieter with a Shure 57 going directly into your interface. Outstanding video.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Turn the amp up and just use the volume on your guitar, try the 50s style Gibson and Fender wiring that helps keep the tone clear when you lower the instrument vol. If not get a vol pedal. Avoid using too many gizmos cos it will eat your time and money and patience away and drive you nuts. The way to good tone is to keep it simple.

[@craiger2399]

I play a vintage Super Reverb in an apartment bedroom. Seriously. I use this same approach and make sure the volume doesn't go much above 75 dBl at the adjacent wall with my neighbors. I have never had a complaint. Of course, I also know when they are gone and I can crank the amp. At the same decibel level, this amp sounds better than all my smaller, supposedly apartment friendly, amps.

[@andreguitars]

Great information. Thanks for the tech breakdown. I didn’t know deluxe didn’t have bright cap on normal channel. Just got one and learning more about it.

[@jasonp1319]

Super helpful. Thanks for the detailed run-through and the close-ups on the board.

[@BadMofoMusicCritic]

So I tried this today. I can definitely hear a slight improvement in touch sensitivity with the volume pedal. I was using a dr z brake lite with my DRRI. It works pretty well, and might still be a better solution for driving the amp harder, but for clean, it's nice having that finger/speaker interaction. I didn't realize what I was missing until I went and grabbed the Dunlop mini volume pedal today. I run it after my pedal board, which has a Boss CE2W at the end (pretty good buffer I think). Anyways, thanks for the video!

[@dylanmcfarling2033]

From now on i’m going to point friends to this video instead of trying to explain some of these concepts myself, very well and succinctly expressed in a way that shows how all of these things interact. Thanks!

[@seltzer5334]

Cool video man. I bought a 65 drri brand new about a year and a half ago. With a store coupon it was a bit over $900. I just saw today they’re now going for $1400!! I still have mine, and I absolutely love it. Great tone, easy to dial in, takes pedals really well, has the most amazing sounding reverb and a really nice tremolo at slow speeds. I put a vintage 30 in it, and it’s my favorite amp that I own. I cherish this thing. With that said, it’s definitely not worth $1400 dollars. I can see if maybe they put the reverb and trem on both channels, put the bright cap on a switch, or added a high quality alnico speaker or something, but no way in hell is this amp worth $1400. It used to be $1100. That’s about a 27% price hike. Fender did the same with the Super Reverb. Was $1550 (i think) now $1800 and the twin. I forget the price of the twin. I think $1400? Now it’s $1700. Fender is out of their minds. This is absolute highway robbery. EDIT: forgot to ask, what kind of board is that? Looks like the perfect size.

[@allezjohn]

Thanks, great tips and tricks! Very helpful! And very nice selection of amps there!

[@guymorrell]

Excellent, thank you! I have a Hot Cake, which is transparent when drive and presence are at 0. Its level is now effectively a master volume for my DRRI. Sounds ace!

[@robritoboy]

Awesome, and you did it all without mentioning impedance once! I'm off to ebay to buy a Volume Pedal! Actually, just to let you know, I use a loop pedal and put any buffered pedals in that, because I can definitely feel it loses some sparkle when a buffer is on. However like you I like to practice with my real amp (Custom Deluxe 68), so this is a great choice for really low practice volumes, I can include it in my 'buffered' loop for practice. Thanks for the vid!

[@rustyaxelrod]

I’m no equipment junkie but I’ve played the same Carvin 100w tube head and 4x12 cabinet for years at home and in clubs. I don’t understand the electronic theory but I agree, (and found by trial and error) that a passive volume pedal AFTER the pedal board works best. The amp has a 25/50/100% power switch on the back and that gets me in the ball park and the volume pedal does the fine adjustment. I tried power breaks and several configurations on the board/volume pedal but I think what you’re showing here is spot on. You can have whatever tone you want at whatever level you need. I will add I have an old Yamaha R-100 reverb processor (intended for keyboard I believe) that has a volume knob on the front, when it’s in the effects loop, it magically changes volume without much effect on the tone or distortion. It plays well with my other small/inexpensive transistor practice amps also. Even inline with the signal path, you can roll the volume back and keep the sizzle you have dialed in the amp. I don’t know why it “acts” like that but it’s noticeably different than a pedal. I have been using it many years because it has an excellent delay built in.

[@jjmatashi]

I like you, Nerd! I thought I would be bored but your style is great for someone who really wants to understand this stuff, especially those of us Deluxe Reverb fanboys. I shall subscribe!

[@BreauxBobby]

I use an Xotic SP compressor and power it with 18 watts to get lots of headroom and decrease the volume with the volume setting on the compressor. The downside is the volume is down when it goes through the effects. I really like your volume pedal at the very end of the effects chain. That's very elegant. I also bought a tube that decreases the output on my Fender Blues Jr IV so that it doesn't jump from 0 - 2 anymore, but I'm not sure if it's done anything to give me a better tone. But I think at the end of the day, like you said, If you're not getting the amp up to a volume to pump the speaker cone, you're not getting the benefits of a tube amp. That's when it starts feeling right and sounding right. The volume needs to be at least that high.

[@flukyreview9128]

What I used since the 80s is a variac. Eddie Van Halen did this to get great tone from a tube amp. It allows you to turn the amp up to nicely breakup and have the volume at a lower volumes.

[@CoolDaysEnd]

Great video and explanations! Very technical in everyday language. Much appreciated.

[@Hexonip]

Such a fantastic video - bravo man!

[@astr0brain]

If you have 50s wiring in your guitars, turning the volume down on your guitar will roll off less highs. It's strange, but if you have your guitar volume on 5, there's more treble in the signal if you also turn your tone knob down (at least with 50s wiring)

[@lukashchabursky1627]

Thank you so much for this video. There is so much great information compiled. It is very helpful.

[@toreknutsen7251]

Never had a problem with my attenuator, the toneking Iron Man 2. Works great with both my deluxe reverb and jtm50. Cool video tho, and this is another way to control volume:)

[@MichaelThomasAlvin]

Thanks so much for this video. There was a volume pedal left alone in a corner of my wardrobe for which now I found a reason not to sell it. It works pretty good and I’m switching on my beloved Deluxe Reverb again since this goddamn pandemic is locking it down.

[@brentduxbury5814]

Lots of good information in this video. Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@bpsychoz]

Excellent vid. Keep them coming!

[@jeffrywhite6008]

Just found your channel. Excellent. Look forward to more content. SUBSCRIBED !

[@jdmoney1000]

Nice sounding setup dude!

[@jessem53403]

Great educational video! I appreciate your knowledge on this subject. I will pass this on to multiple people I know that use their DRs in their house or apartment.

[@luisxgonzalez]

Makes me wish I didn’t sell my DD-8 and Dirty Little Secret pedals for my 69 deluxe reverb!!! I have a love hate relationship with gear and decided to go the fractal fm3 route but damn I miss pedals! Awesome video!

[@karabinerstudios]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@jaricklosey4607]

Extremely well done video!

[@leftypride126]

This was AWESOME!!!! I bought a 65 DRRI about a month ago and have never owned a tube amp before and struggled with playing it in my apartment initially. Bought the Bugera PS1 on a whim and didn’t love how it sounds. For now I have the amp at 4 and my guitar about halfway and it works for me. Will have to try a volume pedal though, thanks for the tip!

[@neilshane1723]

I have a Fender DRRI and I've just ordered an Eminence Maverick based on this video. Thanks!

[@howardsix9708]

superbly explained.......i learned a lot..............well done

[@JoseMaldonado-xc1dy]

Amazing!! Thank you so much for this!!

[@paulparrish5331]

Great topic, moved a year ago to an apt for the 1st time had em all upset within 1 week of playing my Deluxe Reverb. I bought an Acoustic micro lead amp with a 6 inch speaker put it on my pedal board in the middle of the back row of pedals..it looks kinda hilarious, but it works almost good enough. Thanks for sharing that adjustable speaker ,cap and volume control knowledge.

[@chuckgotautas228]

Excellent explanation. Subscribed!

[@chrisfrost5646]

Thanks for the information. Very helpful.

[@smokepeddler]

Kinman Treble bleed circuit on your volume pot solves guitar volume knob. I highly suggest it. Crank the amp and control the gain with your guitar. As simple as that.

[@MrNightspore68]

Super informative, thank you!

[@carpetcrawler79]

You should do more videos. That was perfect

[@Jonas5163]

Thanks so much! That was really helpful 🙏

[@mnienow]

Worked for me. Totally diff amp. But 100% the same problem and I never thought to move my volume at the end. Brilliant. Saved me from buying an attenuator.

[@sbperki67]

Thank you for this video. Very helpful:)

[@joehenry9787]

I've done exactly this in a Mesa Boogie - the Maverick is brilliant. Had it in for about 5 years. It's brilliant

[@jamestoops7228]

Thanks for the advice.

[@jasong546]

Hi, I also have the dirty little secret, and next to it I have the 5F6 pedal and I used to use the formula 55 like you. I can get anything I want with those two. You have great taste.

[@Gern5838]

Omg I love the 5F6!! So good, right?

[@carvereller688]

This was so helpful!

[@o.w.dobbins6927]

Great info video!

[@JohnnyRebKy]

I played a Twin Reverb for years at home. For clean country stuff it did just fine at home played quietly. If I wanted some drive I just kicked the tube screamer on and left the amp turned way down. I couldn’t turn the amp up past 2 but it sounded fine lol 😂. But to be fair it’s impossible to make a twin reverb sound bad.

[@simonblankenbichler]

great tips! subscribed! greets from vienna :)

[@jmacc9876]

That was awesome thanks. Have to check out the catalinbread pedals

[@songwritercircle1330]

fascinating. Love to explore this very question. How to sound good. Subbed! Warm regards, -Dan

[@SweetPicklenation]

Klon stacked sounds great. I use the same setup with a KTR, cmstmods singnadrive and and rnc booster. . Trying figure that ktr pedal out. Good info. Thanks!

[@Jinjer13]

many thanx for your efforts! greetings from germany and stay safe

[@pomod]

I've the '68 deluxe reverb and it sounds great pretty much anywhere on the dial. I play it at home all the time just barely cracked open its like television volume, if i want dirt i just kick on a tubescreamer.

[@JohnnyRebKy]

That’s what I did with my twin reverb. Everyone says they are to loud ( and they certainly can be lol) but I just kept it turned down and it did fine. Used to play it at night with family in bed. I couldn’t turn it up past 2 but for clean classic country it sounded fine. If I wanted some drive I just cranked the tube screamer up and kept the twin turned down

[@TheEddiez06]

@@JohnnyRebKy we’re in the same page 👍🏻

[@bayougtr]

Is your goal to play amplified at a lower volume than a acoustic guitar?

[@pomod]

I have an acoustic as well but its a different thing. I also have other smaller so-called "bedroom" amps - a Vox AC4 and a Spark mini, but I think the larger speaker and headroom of the Deluxe just gives a bigger, punchier, more satisfying experience, even when run really quiet.

[@peacock1977]

I got a master volume mod done on mine at Flynn amps in Glasgow. It amazing now. All at bedroom levels.

[@chrisevans1546]

Very insightful and loved the technical breakdowns. I'm on the second floor of an apartment unit and I'm determined not to let the volume and bass frequencies stop me from upgrading to a DRRI. I am hesitant to use attenuators so this video gave me much more confidence.

[@LeviBulger]

Keep in mind he has a special attenuating speaker that is no longer being made. A volume pedal alone is going to just kill your amp tone. Believe me, DRRIs are far too loud for apartments

[@LeviBulger]

@Coma White those things are pretty awesome for their price. Sure you lose so much tone but in a situation where you can't be loud, it's hard to beat for a hundred bucks. Mine died after about a year but it was worth it. Just be careful not to use for too long at any given time because they can do big damage to your circuit board with all the heat being generated at pushing the amp for long sessions. It's not really the attenuator doing the damage directly, but the more volume you have going on with the amp the hotter it's gonna get inside. I used a bugera with my marshall for 6 months in an apartment and had to change tubes twice in that time, which started to get expensive so I just eventually got an active attenuator. A friend of mine recommended wiring a powerful PC fan and It really helped to keep the board and tubes a little cooler. Definitely recommend some kind of cooling mechanism if you don't already do that.

[@johnthelad]

@@LeviBulger Very good point here.

[@godofspacetime333]

Wow. Guess I need a volume pedal now. Never saw much use for one, not doing any swells or anything, but this I would use. And maybe I’ll start doing swells too..

[@davidg5629]

Great video, sir.

[@rickcypher4240]

Note that on many Fender amps, and definitely the Deluxe Reverb, input 2 has less gain than input 1...I think I read either -3 or -6db. I also read that using input 2 will load your pickups differently, so worth experimenting anyway (source Telecaster Discussion Page Reissue forum)

[@adjustablebias]

Yep! There's a resistor on the input jack for input 2! It's conceptually the same as having a volume pedal right in front of the amp permanently set on ~5-7. Like you say, without a buffer that will interact with your pickups. With one it should mostly just drop the volume.

[@stevespringer4952]

The input impedance is set differently. #1 is set to give it a peaked mids sound, and #2 gives more of a scooped mid sound.

[@wahivalleys3011]

What I learned from this video/demo is that if I want to play my DR quieter, I need to spend more money on a speaker and pedals, or just buy a small, awesome Vibro Champ, which is not cheap anymore. Good information regardless. Wahi' Valleys

[@okiwatashi2349]

I fitted an Eminence Reignmaker speaker to mine, it makes it more useful at home without using a power rake and ruining the sound

[@gwnas777]

Thank you .. great advice!

[@johncook7286]

great video, thank you!

[@otaviosmartins1]

Perfect video!

[@marccarter1350]

I fitted Yellow caps to my amp. Lowered the output level to 40 watts in total. I mixed them with 2 normal tubes. Yep, it has changed the sound a little, i have a sound that's like a cross of a Fender and A Vox. I am able to keep the old beast thou as i no longer gig! Not sure i am going to part with my mid 1990's beast just yet!

[@paulsharp6559]

I can appreciate what you are saying and I still love the fender deluxe tube amp for the tone. But I fell in love with the all new blonde fender twin reverb. Problem solved. Especially if you are a pedal steel player. I like your video best wishes to you.

[@GlennFloering]

great information! thx

[@Love_Noise]

Super informative. Ty

[@L.C.Sweeney]

Interesting video. You explained some interesting concepts I hadn't come across. A small note on decibels ... a 3 dB decrease in volume is a halving in volume when measuring power [W], only. In dB SPL 6 dB would be a halving in perceived loudness since SPL is calculated using 2log10 and when it comes to human perception SPL is the most accurate scale.

[@praneethgadam9625]

This exactly why im getting a TOne Master - with the built in attenuator.

[@dreyn7780]

Silver faced fenders are volume amplifiers. Black faced fenders are designed for increased tone sound. Jimi hendrix and fender built a special cable to allow the fender low impedance signal to work in the high impedance marshall amplifier. Gibson humbuckers were originally high impedance pickups. Your fender amplifier accepts signal from low impedance pickups- tone controls. Your Jimi hendrix pedal requires a fender tone control low impedance signal travelling through the JH coil cable.

[@edwhite7475]

So use a booster or fuzz or distortion pedal basically. I live in a remote area and my kids are grown and gone, but when the wife is in town this will help. Im getting one of these DRRI amps.. I think im paying $650, its brand new, from a collector never played. Still got the tags on it. Ive got some old 70s Marshalls ive been using for 40 years, 50 watt 2204s, and i love the master volume heads best. I played through the Deluxe in May, and im gonna make some changes, the speaker for one... I liked yours- But its a very different sound, as a Fender should be . Im gonna record with it. So im learning all i can about these amps and your technical expertise was a big help. Thanks

[@dinmentor]

Great video, thanks :) i'll add the Mad Professor Orange Evolution underdrive, which could be more practical than a moveable vol pedal, as an always on pedal.

[@Hunter-xw9pl]

Dude you nailed it. 😂

[@jamesconraadtucker]

Thank you for sharing your findings. I'm particularly interested in the Eminence Maverick. Good job detailing and conveying your setup.

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

hi. loved your video,your playing and espicially the technical reasons for your actions. at home i'm playing a hanwired 5w bassman clone and a 18w marshall with 2x12 greenbacks. i also use a dr z attenuator on -2db with the marshall sometimes. if you like the feel and response of a tube amp, nos tubes will change your life. because now at the heart of your amp it's harsh modern russian excuses that set the tone.

[@marctheshark7567]

100% agree with the NOS tube comment....just changed the tube on my amp ....omg great upgrade

[@adjustablebias]

Agreed on the tubes front - especially if you drive your amp into breakup (I find it matters less if you keep it clean) and it doesn't necessarily have to be NOS, although tubes that are both good sounding and reliable are getting ever harder to find (maybe impossible at this point...). In the Deluxe Reverb, I'm currently running the original reissue Mullards, which I think were from the early 00's, and which they stopped making at some point (the current reissue Mullards are different), I think due to difficulties with reliability. I also find it tends to have a different impact depending on the amp. Any master volume amp, like a Blues Jr for example, will sound very different with a different 12ax7 in the first position given that you're often relying primarily on preamp distortion unless the volume is pretty loud.

[@bluesbondsman]

My route 66 compressor gives it a clean boost that kicks it into sweet tones without crazy volumes. I've tried many other comps, but nothing does what the Visual Sound Route 66 does !!!

[@johnthelad]

Very interesting information on this subject. I'm very keen on getting a Deluxe Reverb soon. I have a 59 Bassman which sounds nice, but it's Deluxe Reverb sound that I'm after. I want the 64 handwired Deluxe but they are hard to find right now. I use a Boss Tube Amp Expander as an attenuator, that doesn't affect the tone of the amp.

[@lmgtexas]

Get the ‘64 Custom Deluxe! I did and got rid of my DRRI. Having reverb and tremolo in both channels is great, and the overall tone quality is heavenly! You’ll not regret it.

[@johnthelad]

@@lmgtexas I will when they get shipped over to Australia. Always on backorder here.

[@jasonkerepesi]

this is a great tip that i will certainly try. however, despite your original comment about attenuators would you consider the Tone King IronMan mini to be an exception to the rule? i have one for my 68DRRI and it seems to do a great job of preserving tone. it's praises have been sung by many. that said i still want to try this trick to compare. thanks for the video!!!

[@adjustablebias]

I've never tried the standalone unit, but I've used the built in one on several Tone King amps - Falcon Grande, Sky King. First off, Mark Bartel (the founder of Tone King and designer of all their amps) is a mad genius. He's one of the few amp designers out there with both an opinionated ear and the technical chops to go after the sounds he wants without purely rehashing or recombining classic designs. If you aren't already following him and his new company Bartel Amps on Facebook, you should check him out just to see how meticulous he is in every single aspect of amp design. His new amps are incredible, but justifiably expensive given the quality work he's doing custom building so many parts mostly by himself. As far as the Iron Man goes, I think it sounds really great as a way to drive the amps into breakup at low volumes, and it was pretty innovative at the time it was released for introducing Fletcher-Munson curves to increase the highs and lows as you reduce the volume to keep the perceived eq the same. Personally, I still think it introduces a little wooly-ness that's most noticeable if you use it when the amp is mostly clean. Don't listen to me though! If you're using it and it sounds great to you and feels great to play, that's the important part! No one ever went to see a band play or listen to a record and said, "Man, that sounded great, but I wish the guitar didn't have an attenuator on it!" Will be interested to hear your thoughts if you try the post-buffer volume pedal approach on what the differences are!

[@Flat_Stanley]

There is a reason Fender has added built in attenuators to their amps. Using an attenuator to reduce volume makes way more sense. The tubes are still being driven the same when using an attenuator so adjustments do not change the tone like this method does. With this method, you hear a clear difference and adjustments have to be made on the pedals/EQ to compensate. With an attenuator, you may hear a little treble loss, but everything else is the same. A slight tweak of the tone knob of the guitar is all that’s needed to get that back. By all means, add a volume pedal, they are very useful but they go first in the signal chain. If achieving the same tone was as easy as turning the volume down the knob in the amp would work that way, but it doesn’t. The Bugera PS1 is an amazing attenuator and cost less than a volume pedal.

[@michael_caz_nyc]

I like my 65 Blackface Fender Princeton Reverb Amp "Spanky Clean" ( like Prince or Nile Rodgers ) and I use: (3) gain stages: Barber Gain Changer > OCD > Thorpy Muff = killer tones.

[@ItsVictoriaG]

I’m considering a 65 Princeton Reverb RI and I was looking for Prince and Nile Rodgers tones. Sounds like it will check those boxes. Thanks!

[@daniorl11]

Thanks for such an awesome video , I wonder how much noise reduction you can achieve by just using the volumen pedal + buffered approach , it seems like a pretty low cost compromise of the whole approach but. It sure it you could tell a great difference with just that

[@adjustablebias]

You should be able to get it whisper quiet with just volume pedal after a buffer! The speaker trick is really just if you want to tame the volume and the treble and get the amp cooking enough to overdrive at a slightly lower (but still pretty darn loud) volume.

[@kevinlendrum8658]

Great video, awesome gear! The only thing missing on your board is a TUNER!

[@adjustablebias]

Haha - yes, I wish I could say I had perfect pitch or perfectly stable guitars, but I've been using clip on tuners as I have been wandering around the house unplugged a lot these days :).

[@Seror125]

Great vid. I have the same amp. Nowadays i use attenuator but i like the breakup and overdrive from the valve amp. I have read input 2 for hambuckers. What about use input 2 plus volume pedal? Can i get the drive from the amp without pedals?

[@Tonetwisters]

That bright cap can be removed. When you turn down the volume on the guitar, you are putting a resistance on the pickup signal, so not all the frequencies remain operable. A "buffer" (misnomer ... anything that buffers, acts as a wall to diminish something) is a preamp of sorts, which can boost the signal.

[@peterevans202]

Ideal buffer has gain = 1, infinite input impedance, zero output impedance.

[@danschoenharl3856]

After reading an online comment, years ago, I took out one of the two power tubes of my 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb. It was nice before, but now, naturally attenuated, it sounds great without pedals. On 3 to 4 it's only pleasantly loud and breaks up (enough for expression) nicely when played with a stronger touch, but sounds like "glass" when played with a light touch. Though still too loud (usually) for others in the house or to play at night at home.

[@adjustablebias]

Are you sure you took out a power tube? I don't think your amp would function (and indeed it might blow something up). Maybe you took out the V1 preamp tube from the normal channel which will gain up the V2 powering the effects channel? You can take 2 power tubes out of some amps with 4 power tubes, but with a class AB amp where you need one tube pushing while the other pulls, I don't think you can get by with an odd # of tubes

[@danschoenharl3856]

@@adjustablebias Yes, I'm sure. My '68 custom reverb is a little different than the standard reissue, but basically the same, I took out 1 6V6 power tube tube, the one right next to the 5AR4 rectifier tube, though I don't think it matters which one is taken out. I have played it that way for years, without any issues and it sounds fantastic. Though there seems to be some general debate, whether this is possible or not. My tremolo does not work right now, but I think it may be a broken foot switch.

[@nikkisimpson1835]

EDIT: No offense to this person, it's the people who are suggesting these silly mods that are off base. Geez, this is a hilarious situation...the blind leading the blind. First of all its possible to run you amp in this manner but completely ridiculous. It always boils down to using the right gear, drastic measures like you are doing means this amp is not right for your home use. Here is some technical information: 1) Class AB (push pull) power amps like the deluxe utilize two out of phase signals to drive the speaker (coupled by the output transformer). This is a balanced system that requires one power tube on each side of the transformer primary. 2) If you remove one power tube thus unbalancing the transformer primary the sound and function will suffer...reduced power and distortion and hum! 3) Why does the amp still function? This is because of the class of operation AB, which mean class A plus class B. 4) Class A = tube operating 100% of the cycle, Class B = 50%, Class AB = more than 50% less than 100%....Soo at very low signal levels (volume) the tubes are operating in Class A and this small area is where both tubes are working 100% and where you can have an unbalanced system still amplify somewhat cleanly. Note this is a very small margin at low low signal levels. Now when the signal level increases the tubes go into Class AB and start trading off the work...with only one tube installed now this tube is driven into near Class B and will become extremely asymmetrical...this results in huge amounts of distortion and harmonic content and also HUM! 5) A final note, it takes 6db reduction to equal a perceived loudness reduction of 1/2. So people who are pulling power tubes from there amp in hopes to achieve some great reduction in volume are not experiencing what they think they are...mostly the difference that will be heard is the chance in impedance, voltage, feedback and interaction with the speaker(s).

[@danschoenharl3856]

@@nikkisimpson1835 No offense taken. But it's not exactly a mod, just an experiment in attenuation, that is easily reversible. And I was not really suggesting it, so much as reporting my experience.The truth is my Deluxe actually sounded good with one tube. Though the Deluxe sounds great with two tubes, of course, I pulled the second tube, not so much for lower volume, but increased distortion and better tone at lower volumes. The sound I got was very musical, not really any more noisy than usual. This being said, you are right that a different amp is better suited to what I was using it for. I mostly play a tweed Champ, with and without a Tumulus pedal, which sounds great at the ridiculously low volumes at which I am forced to play it. The Champ is also much nicer to carry around.

[@nikkisimpson1835]

@@danschoenharl3856 Understand. I meant the people on the internet suggesting these actions. And of course its a Mod...the design has been modified, right?! The distortion is full of second order harmonics, you can achieve this effect with many pedal options...or better yet get a single ended class A designed amp which produce the harmonics you like and you only need one power tube! It's your amp to do as you will, I just don't want people to be misled with this crude action of attenuation. You should try a tweed style Champ or Princeton (same as champ plus a tone control)...these circuits are perfect for what you a describing...connect it to a 12" speaker and add an outboard reverb and you are set!

[@adrianr87]

I was just gifted a 79 pro reverb and I live in an apartment so I'll be trying this asap. 🙏🏼

[@Hunter-xw9pl]

I have a 73’ attenuators are kind of a no go. But let me tell you the MXR badass distortion allows me to get all the distortion I want without waking up the whole block! Lol

[@adjustablebias]

Whew! If only your neighbors knew the alternative if you decided to just go at it full blast =).

[@justaguy2365]

What about the mod I've been reading up on. You pull the v1 and two of the power tubes, then disconnect a speaker. It's supposed to cut the volume while retaining the tone.

[@nicvortec]

thank you, very helpfull

[@DavidGarcia-pi9wn]

dude make more videos on the 1965 deluxe reverb reissue, i was about to give up on mine

[@DavidGarcia-pi9wn]

Man o man A speaker change makes a HUGE HUGE HUGE CHANGE I was gonna send it to a amp mod shop for all this expensive mojo and these vintage tube but before I shelled out $600 I decided to try a eminence Ga-sc64 Wow man It gets rid of every issue Like the ice picks, the boomy bass The farty distortion and the weird artifacts But the amp sounds exactly like it did before Just with no issues I cancelled the work order and have been happy since I highly highly Recommend it You will not regret it one bit

[@DavidGarcia-pi9wn]

It’s also only like $109 and the speaker makes a much bigger difference than tube brand and build

[@sboistan]

Thanks so much for this. I still think you might want to consider one of the modern reactive load attenuators (maybe the tone king 2). Aside from the speaker, is that just a standard deluxe reverb reissue?

[@adjustablebias]

It is just my standard 65 DRRI apart from the speaker! I've had it since 2007 or so. I've tried the built-in attenuator on some tone king amps, and it's great for really cranking them into distortion, but IMO it gives a pretty different character to the sound - not necessarily bad, but not what I like for cleaner sounds, or even edge-of-breakup.

[@Old_Sailor85]

Deluxe Reverb, the best all-around amp I've had. Liked it so much, I bought and sold one twice... Still too loud for home. Just using an old Champ these days.

[@cowhidemusic8904]

Modifying a guitar volume control with a treble-bleed mod can help too.

[@Wolf_K]

I use a Sunn Model-T JFET preamp I built. I turn my twin reverb up to 2 and turn it all down via the preamp which is now effectively a “master volume” for setting overall home playing level. All other effects - fuzz, etc - go into this then into the amp itself. The Sunn has a bit of breakup but isn’t much when the gain is set low. If you set the volume high and gain low the character changes compared to volume low gain high. It has a 3 band eq and two independent gain channels so it’s pretty useful. Of course that’s still not crystal clean. However, there are crystal clean preamps you can buy or make. I’ll be making a JFET Twin Reverb preamp so I can turn it all down and still sound like a clean twin reverb. It’s a great amp - my favorite amp - and I like it clean but it’s far too loud for home use without taking some form of action.

[@twirlyboggs]

Hmmmm.... Never really noticed this and I normally use my giant fender vol pedal first in chain, I'll have to give it a try last. When im wanting to crank it up I will turn it over face down on carpet or move the amps up against the bed facing the bed and it breathes a lil underneath, makes a lot of difference.