VINTAGE Fenders amps VS. NEW ones VS BRUNO! Orange as well!

[Tag]

Had a chance to do some SERIOUS A\Bing with a Fender CS Dual Profesional, a Silver Face Pro Reverb (an amp I LOVE), a blackface Twin reverb, Blackface Deluxe Reverb a Victoria 2\10 and a new Orange. (Not sure which one)

The Dual Pro is a GREAT sounding amp, that in every way, holds its own with the vintage Fenders. The highs were every bit as clear, without one bit of harshness compared to the other Fenders. The Twin reverb I have never liked. Not enough bottom, not enough punch, and all around just weak and sterile sounding. The Pro reverb is KILLER! Nice punch, nice note detail all over the entire frequency range, and a nice tight bottom until you REALLY crank it up. The Deluxe reverb I have never liked either. They sound nice when they are almost wide open, but flub if you try to add any bottom, and are a bit thin sounding at lower volumes. If I was going to buy one of these amps, it would be the Dual Profesional for sure. The fat switch is really cool, and I like the fact you can leave it off on channel one, and have it on for channel two. Nice touch! All in all, the SRRI and HotRod Deville sound every bit as good as any of these. They are all just slight variations of the same basic Fender clean tone. NONE of these touch the Brunos cleans or natural sounding reverb. They are a large step UP.

Now the surprise. There was a new Orange amp head there as well. I hate to say it, but I am not sure which one. It was not the rockerverb as it had no reverb. It also had a problem, and was humming really loudly. HOWEVER, these amps KILL! What a great clean tone! While it is more compressed sounding than the Fenders, it had great detail, nice tight bass, and just a great feeling amp as well. VERY cool! It also had lots of gain on tap. Give the knob a twist, and a rocking you will go! :RoCkIn Nice even and smooth overdrive. Never a buzzy moment. A totally unique and different sounding amp, that is SOOOO cool sounding. It reminds me of a LARGE, ICE COLD glass of Orangeade on a hot summer day. Completely refreshing! KILLER amp!

 

[shallbe]

I agree that the Orange amps have a great clean and distorted tones.

Also, I agree that the Dual Professional is a superb amp. It does have the 3 knob verb---so it may come close to the Bruno there? It does have the nice tremelo, which is a big plus for me.

However, that amp will just walk all over a SRRI or Deville in the loud, punchy AND clean dept. Don't take my word for it, just ask GP-----they called it one of the loudest clean amps ever tested.

 

[Tag]

Originally posted by shallbe
I agree that the Orange amps have a great clean and distorted tones.

Also, I agree that the Dual Professional is a superb amp. It does have the 3 knob verb---so it may come close to the Bruno there? It does have the nice tremelo, which is a big plus for me.

However, that amp will just walk all over a SRRI or Deville in the loud, punchy AND clean dept. Don't take my word for it, just ask GP-----they called it one of the loudest clean amps ever tested.

Hey Steve! Agree 100%. The DP is with out a doubt WAY louder than the deville or SRRI. WAY more headroom for sure! Tonally is what I meant. Very similar, just each a slightly different type of tone.

The DP has the 3 knob verb, but it is not nearly as natural sounding or deep as the Brunos. The UG 30 has the 3 knob 4 spring tank, the Cowtipper has a 2 Knob 4 spring tank. Very different sounding, but both are just the best I have heard. I still cant decide on which I prefer.

 

[MikeyG]

Tag, you probably played the Rocker 30. it's like a lower volume Rockerverb 50 with no verb. I listened to a guy play clean through that amp, and it sounded really nice.

 

[wordsonyou]

The Custom Shop DP is one of my favorite fender amps of any era for big, clean, complex tones. I can't believe more people haven't fallen for them.

 

[aquadog]

Tag, what about the victoria?

 

[CocoTone]

How does the DP compare with a Vibroking, or the tonemaster?

CT.

 

[Tag]

Originally posted by aquadog
Tag, what about the victoria?

The Victoria was a tweed 2\10 combo. I thought it was nice, but the Fenders were really a step up. I would say it was on par with the Carrs and Tonekings I have played.

 

[Tag]

Originally posted by CocoTone
How does the DP compare with a Vibroking, or the tonemaster?

CT.

I like the DP more. I A\Bd two VKs with the SRRI and 3 vintage SRs when I bought mine (66 SR). I thought the Vibro was the weakest of the bunch. Still nice, but the others were better.

 

[VaughnC]

I played a Vibro King for a few years as my #1. I liked the tone of the amp but it always felt a little stiff to me and it broke up a little too early for what I was trying to do with it.

While I never had the opportunity to try a Dual Pro, I still think that the Super Reverb Reissue is one of the best bang for the buck amps out there. Someday maybe I'll bump into Bruno so I can see what all the fuss is about .

 

[LSchefman]

Vintage amps?

In my day, we didn't HAVE amplifiers. We built guitars out of piles of wood we got off the floor of the desert, and we strung them with rusty barbed wire. We didn't even bother to take of the barbs.

The barbed wire was so far from the fingerboards that we used to have to wear rings topped with anvils just to press the strings down.

Those guitars were plenty loud, brother.

And we didn't have electricity or hot water. In fact, we didn't even have water. We had to go out and run naked and drink the sweat off our own disgusting bodies if we got thirsty.

We didn't take baths, either. If we got dirty, the only thing we could wash ourselves with was buffalo urine, and anything smells better than buffalo urine, so we never used it for washing.

But it did make a great toothpaste.

 

[CocoTone]

Originally posted by VaughnC
I played a Vibro King for a few years as my #1. I liked the tone of the amp but it always felt a little stiff to me and it broke up a little too early for what I was trying to do with it.

While I never had the opportunity to try a Dual Pro, I still think that the Super Reverb Reissue is one of the best bang for the buck amps out there. Someday maybe I'll bump into Bruno so I can see what all the fuss is about .

I`m with you there on the SRRI. I use one as my main gig rig, and its a workhorse. A bit on the loud side in smaller rooms, but a Weber Mass tames it nicely. Versatile, tonefull, and sharp-looking to boot.

CT.

 

[Tag]

Originally posted by VaughnC
I played a Vibro King for a few years as my #1. I liked the tone of the amp but it always felt a little stiff to me and it broke up a little too early for what I was trying to do with it.

While I never had the opportunity to try a Dual Pro, I still think that the Super Reverb Reissue is one of the best bang for the buck amps out there. Someday maybe I'll bump into Bruno so I can see what all the fuss is about .

Hey Vaughn,
I hear the vibro the same way. It is a bit stiff, and just sterile when played next to a nice SR. (Maybe it has a SS rectifier??)

You would have liked my 66 SR. It was darker than most, but SOOOO punchy. I think you would dig the Dual Pro as well. Much louder with way more headroom than the SRRI, but not quite as organic sounding. What I mean by that is that the SR always has a bit of distortion on the note, even when totally clean, while the DP is just cleaner. (Still not as clean as the Twin Reverb though, which I dislike)

I know you would fall in love with a Bruno. Any of them. Its just that the Cow22, 45, and UG 30 all have something different to offer, and each is just as good. I could easily settle for just one, but I want them all. The UG 30 is the most rubbery feeling amp you can imagine, but NEVER too loose or farty. A paradox Bruno seems to have total control over. Brunos have to be the most easy to play clean amps ever. You can just burn even when totally clean. It makes you feel like you never need any overdrive at all. When you do use a box, you can keep the gain way lower than with other amps, and still get the same feel. VERY,VERY good!.

 

[GAT]

I've had the DP, currently have a CT45 and UG30 reverb, 1965 Deluxe Reverb, Pro Reverb and Twin Reverb.

I thought the DP sounded great if I was to play REALLY clean, which I rarely do. It was heavy as hell to boot. It does sound like a high powered Pro when clean but the Pro gets that cool "clean with hair" tone that I like. The DP has zero compression and poor resale value, which makes it a great buy for someone who wants a big, clean tone. I had problems with pedals, too clean of a base tone.

The Deluxe Reverb does have the flubby bass, until you plug it into a good Celestion G12H30 speaker. Then it sounds much better, more round mids, stronger bass, and keeps the chime. My Twin sounds great, maybe I got a good one.

The Brunos just sound spectacular. Maybe not as "earthly" as an old Fender, but what a great 3-D tone. The reverb is amazing and if you crank them they sound very rich and punchy. They are my favorite "cleaner" amps, but I love to crank the UG30.

 

[slider313]

All those amps are great amps. When A/B ing so many different voiced amps, it tough to compare. Wattage, speaker configuration, type of power tubes,type of speakers, etc. etc. Even A/B ing a Fender Super reverb with a Pro reverb, same year/ power tubes/pre-amp tubes,it won't even be close. Different Animals !!! As for the Deluxe reverb breaking up and not holding the bass, the G12H30 is a great speaker but celestions only have four mounting holes. In my vintage ' 65 I bought a Weber silver bell 50 watt ( 8 mounting holes ) didn't have to remove the baffle bolts and it sounds amazing. Also put in a pair of JJ 6V6S power tubes and the amp holds it together and never sounded better. I use this for any small to medium ( even some larger rooms) size gigs and never have a problem.

 

[Tag]

Originally posted by slider313
All those amps are great amps. When A/B ing so many different voiced amps, it tough to compare. Wattage, speaker configuration, type of power tubes,type of speakers, etc. etc. Even A/B ing a Fender Super reverb with a Pro reverb, same year/ power tubes/pre-amp tubes,it won't even be close. Different Animals !!! As for the Deluxe reverb breaking up and not holding the bass, the G12H30 is a great speaker but celestions only have four mounting holes. In my vintage ' 65 I bought a Weber silver bell 50 watt ( 8 mounting holes ) didn't have to remove the baffle bolts and it sounds amazing. Also put in a pair of JJ 6V6S power tubes and the amp holds it together and never sounded better. I use this for any small to medium ( even some larger rooms) size gigs and never have a problem.

I always judge an amp STOCK. Why would I bother changing tubes, speakers etc. to get them to sound more alike? I find different tubes to have very little effect on over all tone. They can fine tune an amp, but they never change its natural voice. I have boxes of different NOS tubes right here.

Once you have an amp you liike, you can mod anyway you want from there. These were all stock amps with original speakers, transformers etc. Thats the way I ALWAYS judge and compare amps. Once you start modding\changing things, its no longer the same amp IMO.

 

[slider313]

With the newer Fender stuff, the weak link is the cheap tubes and speakers they use. It's not modding at all but upgrading. The new jensen reissue speaker are bright and raspy. As for the groove tubes, well, lets just say they fall a bit short in the tone dept. Anyway, what I was saying, to compare an Orange amp to a Dual Professional, to a Super reverb reissue is a good way to see which "you" like personally, but all are going to sound completly different.

 

[Swarty]

To me the DP is indeed one of the finest Fenders ever... Much richer/lusher/thicker sounding than any BF/SF amp. It is the Twin Reverb that should have been.

 

[Tag]

Originally posted by slider313
With the newer Fender stuff, the weak link is the cheap tubes and speakers they use. It's not modding at all but upgrading. The new jensen reissue speaker are bright and raspy. As for the groove tubes, well, lets just say they fall a bit short in the tone dept. Anyway, what I was saying, to compare an Orange amp to a Dual Professional, to a Super reverb reissue is a good way to see which "you" like personally, but all are going to sound completly different.

I have a 66 Pro reverb, just sold a 66 Super reverb, and I still have a Vibrolux reverb as well. My HR DeVille sounds as good as any of them totally stock. No need to retube or change speakers.
Plugging it into my different cabs changes the tone a bit, but they do not sound "better". The stock speakers sound great IMO.
Putting in everything from Telefunkens to RCAs to Mullards seem to make the amp sound worse. I actually like the stock groove tubes the most.

 

[trisonic]

Tag,
When is your CT22 due? What are TB's lead times like right now?

Best, Pete.