Brown Deluxe Owners...

[wingwalker]

Talk to me!

My main amp is a 61 brown Deluxe and I love this amp, it really is amazing.

I am mostly a Les Paul or Telecaster guy and this amp pairs up great with any of my Tele's or my Gibsons however when I plug in a Strat it's over...the tone is much thicker and darker than the Strat sound I hear in my head...

Now, question time...

Am I just used to hearing Strats through blackface Fenders and the brown Deluxe lacks that much sparkle and glass on top...

or...

Is the Greenback in my Deluxe not letting enough of the sparkle to come out of my Strat...

or...

Do I just have a crappy Strat?!

I'm kidding about the crappy Strat (most of the time!) but I do need to figure out something.

So, to you brown Deluxe users out there, if you use a Strat do you feel you get enough glass and chime from a Strat and the brown Deluxe??

I have thought about adding an EQ to my pedal board just to get the Strat sound I hear but I'm curious to see if anybody else has this "issue".

 

[MBreinin]

I had a hardtail swamp ash Strat that was featherweight and had WCR SR's in it. It had plenty of sparkle through my Quinn Derby with a Greenback.

Mike

 

[[email protected]]

IME, that is the biggest difference between brown vs. black..

brown = thicker, darker
black = brighter, more "chiime/glass" or whatever you want to call it....

If I had to choose, I'd still go brown... easier on the ears overall, and I think the best Fender era

 

[slider313]

The best brown Deluxe I ever heard had a Celestion G12H30, JJ 6V6's, RCA 12ax7a's and a Sylvania blackplate 12at7 in the phase inverter position. Before you start changing speakers, try a blackplate 12at7 in the pi.

 

[zombiwoof]

When I had my brown Deluxe, it had an Alnico Celestion in it, and it sounded awesome. No lack of treble detail, and broke up just right.

Al

 

[GrungeMan]

Have you tried adjusting(lowering) the overall pickup height or maybe just on the bass side?

Grungy

 

[Doc W]

A friend of mine has a brown Deluxe and I played throught it just last week. It was not as bright as a blackface but it had a really nice warm sound and it growled without a lot of provocation. Very bitchy little amp. I love it and wish it were mine.

 

[tommytomcat]

The brown deluxe and BF DR are very VERY different circuits. The Brown Deluxe is only a step or two away from a 5E3 tweed deluxe, which is a very midrange heavy circuit. The BF tone stack scoops the midrange a lot.. not to mention the reverb mixer circuit contributes heavily to that BF glassy sparkle. Considering your amp is vintage classic, I wouldn't mod it much at all. Maybe try an EQ pedal to see if you can dial in something closer to what you're wanting..??

 

[wingwalker]

When I had my brown Deluxe, it had an Alnico Celestion in it, and it sounded awesome. No lack of treble detail, and broke up just right.

Al

I have a silver frame alnico Celestion from a Vox downstairs...tried it in there once and pulled it, maybe i'll try it again.

 

[wingwalker]

Have you tried adjusting(lowering) the overall pickup height or maybe just on the bass side?

Grungy

Yeah...they are already pretty low, just the way I like them.

I think it just might be that guitar+that amp+that speaker thats just a thick tone...

Either that or Im just used to hearing Strats into BF Fenders...

 

[wingwalker]

A friend of mine has a brown Deluxe and I played throught it just last week. It was not as bright as a blackface but it had a really nice warm sound and it growled without a lot of provocation. Very bitchy little amp. I love it and wish it were mine.

They are great amps...I love mine and would never even think about getting rid of it. Pound for pound it's the nastiest vintage Fender amp out there!

The brown deluxe and BF DR are very VERY different circuits. The Brown Deluxe is only a step or two away from a 5E3 tweed deluxe, which is a very midrange heavy circuit. The BF tone stack scoops the midrange a lot.. not to mention the reverb mixer circuit contributes heavily to that BF glassy sparkle. Considering your amp is vintage classic, I wouldn't mod it much at all. Maybe try an EQ pedal to see if you can dial in something closer to what you're wanting..??

Yeah...I know Fender amps quite well...truth is I've thought more than once about getting a Barber Barb EQ just to use with my Strat to scoop the mids out just a little to sort of fake a BF Fender just from time to time...

I have a feeling thats my best bet...

 

[TELECOLLECTOR]

Sometimes I wonder - just a bit mind you - but wonder nonetheless, if I am in step with others

If I have a "favorite" style of amp it certainly is the odd-duck Fender Browns. Most were not made long and have a certain visual and aural appeal to me on a very emotional level for some reason.

I have many Browns and I have a confession to make. I resolved to never put a pedal in front of any of them and have held true to that commitment - well...............so far anyway.

Regardless, I only have one LP and many Strat's and Tele's and I absolutely love the tones I can get with them.

Last week my son came down for a visit and we pretty much agreed that any darn setting on the Deluxe sounded good with the Strat's - certainly NOT as bright as BF's but, to my old ear, beautiful!

Here is a pic of my 62 Deluxe and a 74 Strat.

 

[GrungeMan]

What about changing the capacitor on the Tone pot to a smaller value?
Best

Grungy

 

[TravisE]

Talk to me!

My main amp is a 61 brown Deluxe and I love this amp, it really is amazing.

I am mostly a Les Paul or Telecaster guy and this amp pairs up great with any of my Tele's or my Gibsons however when I plug in a Strat it's over...the tone is much thicker and darker than the Strat sound I hear in my head...

Now, question time...

Am I just used to hearing Strats through blackface Fenders and the brown Deluxe lacks that much sparkle and glass on top...

or...

Is the Greenback in my Deluxe not letting enough of the sparkle to come out of my Strat...

or...

Do I just have a crappy Strat?!

I'm kidding about the crappy Strat (most of the time!) but I do need to figure out something.

So, to you brown Deluxe users out there, if you use a Strat do you feel you get enough glass and chime from a Strat and the brown Deluxe??

I have thought about adding an EQ to my pedal board just to get the Strat sound I hear but I'm curious to see if anybody else has this "issue".

If you're "mostly a Les Paul or Telecaster guy" are you sure you wanna mess with the amp just to make your Strat sound a little different on the rare occasions that you play it? I don't know that I would take the chance of not liking the tele or LP as much after whatever changes you make to the amp.

 

[JimmyR]

I pretty much just accept the fact that as most of my amps sound great with my P90 LP, Gretsch 6120 or 335 I will have to use some sort of pedal to get a good sound out of my Strat. It's no biggie for me.

 

[wingwalker]

Thanks gvuys...I have NO interest in modding the amp mostly because it's near perfect as-is and Travis brings up the point thats on my mind...if I make the amp better for a Strat then I loose the tone I get with LPs and Teles...not good!

I'm really thinking an EQ is the answer for me.

I mean I can (and do) use a Strat with it juust fine but there are times I'd like to get a more glassy Strat tone and it's just not happeneing right now...

 

[GrungeMan]

Just to clarify, I meant the cap on the guitars tone pot.

 

[Amp_Addicted]

I am with you on the Les Paul & Tele sounding great through this amp. This circuit is a bit darker than the Blackface, but I have had good luck with an early Rola alnico speaker with large magnet. I think the idea of a graphic eq would work as well.

A Stratocaster also has a great deal of variance. My 1973 hardtail sounds great through the Deluxe while the 1986 US 1962 RI sounds way too bright on this amp. The point being that the pickups in a Strat have a great deal of influence on the sound.

 

[slider313]

I mean I can (and do) use a Strat with it juust fine but there are times I'd like to get a more glassy Strat tone and it's just not happeneing right now...

Try the 12at7 in the phase inverter with the strat. That should give you a more glassy tone.

 

[A440]

just chalk it up to the fact that one amp may not cover all the bases.

I would recommend trying something like the RC boost to re-eq and add some high end or reduce the bass.

you could also try going with brighter strings for that guitar.