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Fender Deluxe VM-initial review


Patuney

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Some of you asked for this review, so here goes..... I've had it nearly a week now, and I think I have a pretty good idea of it's capabilities. This review is primarily for those who have grown up with and love the Fender sound as I do.
First off, this is the real deal. They have not messed with the power section, or the pre, nothing but Fender sound in spades! The extra magic is in the four button footswitch, and the adjustable section for those effects. Delay, reverb, chorus and a drive(overdrive) channel. Ten minutes of tweaking and I had each just where I like it. This is from a guy who had a Flextone Plus and sold it out of pure frustration. Simply put, anyone can get any Fender tone they want out of this. Last Tues. at our band's practice, at 2 1/2 I still had to turn my guitar down to half. 40 real tube watts, kids, and on the drive channel,(remember, no extra pedals), I get the best 'Born to be Wild' tone I've ever had! My honest appraisal of the effects:
Overdrive-sustain for days without hiss, hum or digital buzziness
Delay- great for what I use, just a little slapback
Reverb- again, I only use a bit, but it seems the same as my DRRI
Chorus- the detuning seemed a little excessive, but fine for 'Broken Hearted Savior'
But what really sold me,(old bad backed musician) was the weight, or lack of it. A little over 40 pounds, the same as the DRRI! Enough blather- here it is:

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I used "Wild" as an example of the drive channel pretty much full up. At lesser levels, that blues/rock crunch with a touch of dirt is perfect. Super Champs are great practice/jam amps, this thing is a stage/band amp.

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Mega, or Mesa distortion is not what anyone will be buying a VM for. The drive channel does have treble mid, and bass, so I suppose you could get that scooped metal tone somewhat, but nobody is going to confuse this with a Marshall. Think traditional Fender tone with the versatility to allow you to leave your pedals at home- at least most of them.

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Quote Originally Posted by Patuney View Post
Mega, or Mesa distortion is not what anyone will be buying a VM for. The drive channel does have treble mid, and bass, so I suppose you could get that scooped metal tone somewhat, but nobody is going to confuse this with a Marshall. Think traditional Fender tone with the versatility to allow you to leave your pedals at home- at least most of them.

YUP thumb.gif


There are a few clips of these amps on Utoob allready !
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Quote Originally Posted by SirJackdeFuzz

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Does anyone want to try and predict if this new VM range will out-sell the current 40W Hot Rod series ?

 

I would be surprised if it doesn't after living with the SCXD for a year.the only thing I could want is more power for stage use.after many years of going through amps I have to say this little 299.00 wonder has it.I had a 66 deluxe reverb that I foolishly let go of and this is the first amp I have truly loved since that one. from what I have seen on youtube the 40 watt deluxe is just what I have been waiting for.smile.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by koti123 View Post
I would be surprised if it doesn't after living with the SCXD for a year.the only thing I could want is more power for stage use.after many years of going through amps I have to say this little 299.00 wonder has it.I had a 66 deluxe reverb that I foolishly let go of and this is the first amp I have truly loved since that one. from what I have seen on youtube the 40 watt deluxe is just what I have been waiting for.smile.gif

MMmmmm, even more though choices then !
As i am one of the few that actually like the drive and more drive tones from the Hot Rod series, but the VM's does sound good on the net !
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does it take to distorion pedals well i know progiuitarshop use the reissue now to demo most of their pedals. I got a 5150 im looking for something lighter and i have a ton of distorion pedals so one should suit im about 400 bucks away from buying one of these i think.

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Quote Originally Posted by matt rhoades View Post
does it take to distorion pedals well i know progiuitarshop use the reissue now to demo most of their pedals. I got a 5150 im looking for something lighter and i have a ton of distorion pedals so one should suit im about 400 bucks away from buying one of these i think.

Being a Fender, i would assume that it is VERY pedal-friendly !

Much more than say, a Tiny Terror thumb.gif
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  • 1 year later...
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This is yet another update on the Deluxe VM.
It REALLY has the ability to play SEVERAL types of music!!!!
An all tube amp with your basic digital eff prcsg. I dreamed of this in the late eighties when I played thru a mesa boogie quad pre-amp in to a marshall tube stereo power amp with a rockman octoplus controlling my digital effects, talk about a set-up footprint. I still have a wall full of pedals, but with this as my gig amp all I need from stomp box stuff is my Boss tuner and my Wah!!!! Don't get me wrong I'll never get rid of my t-rex,t.c,fulltone,bigmuff pedals etc.. This does a Very good job of all that I need, programmable chorus, delay and verb. It's bitchin', the verb is really believable, it has the tube spring echo, but, my Twin's verb is better...saying that:
This amp is 99% in my book, only cause the verb is not tube analog, but I play surf , 50's retro and I'll be rockin the stage with this lil pup!!!! You could lug the fender tank, but I think this may do it for most gigs!!!
I think you should go and demo this deluxe, it's old ,....and...nu school!

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this is yet another update on the Deluxe VM.
It REALLY has the ability to play SEVERAL types of music!!!!
An all tube amp with your basic digital eff prcsg. I dreamed of this in the late eighties when I played thru a mesa boogie quad pre-amp in to a marshall tube stereo power amp with a rockman octoplus controlling my digital effects, talk about a set-up footprint. I still have a wall full of pedals, but with this as my gig amp all I need from stomp box stuff is my Boss tuner and my Wah!!!! Don't get me wrong I'll never get rid of my t-rex,t.c,fulltone,bigmuff pedals etc.. This does a Very good job of all that I need, programmable chorus, delay and verb. It's bitchin', the verb is really believable, it has the tube spring echo, but, my Twin's verb is better...saying that:
This amp is 99% in my book, only cause the verb is not tube analog, but I play surf , 50's retro and I'll be rockin the stage with this lil pup!!!! You could lug the fender tank, but I think this may do it for most gigs!!!
I think you should go and demo this deluxe, it's old ,....and...nu school!

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  • 3 months later...
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I just bought a Fender Deluxe VM used from ebay. I love the size and weight for a "grab 'n go" amp. Plenty loud enough. The reverb, although digital, is excellent. The delay is good. The chorus is ok , but, I still prefer my Boss chorus pedal. The clean channel sounds very nice. The Overdrive is fair to midland and took some tweaking to get the sound anywhere near where I like it. I'll continue to use my Keeley modded Tube Screamer although the onboard od on the amp has some nice soloing tones. My only beef with this amp is that the stock Celestion speaker when pushed, sounds a bit thin to suit me and the way the amp is built, makes it impossible to replace the speaker with say, a Vintage 30 or similar as the clearance inside doesn't allow for a change. The stock 12p80 has a depth of 4.7" and is almost touching the transformer and power tube cage. A Vintage 30 (5.3" Depth) or similar, higher quality speaker has a depth at least 5.0" or more. So, unless you plan on ripping out the baffle and replacing it with 2 10" speakers, you're stuck with the stock 12". I will however, live with the stock speaker and utilize an extension cab.
Overall, for the price, this is a decent amp

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  • 1 year later...
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Quote Originally Posted by Patuney

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I used "Wild" as an example of the drive channel pretty much full up. At lesser levels, that blues/rock crunch with a touch of dirt is perfect. Super Champs are great practice/jam amps, this thing is a stage/band amp.

 

I know, old thread. These look pretty interesting. Still happy with it? A word about the Super Champ XD: I used one for over a year with a 30 watt Rola/Celestion 12" and found it to be loud enough for most clubs with full band. Later I installed a Rola/Celestion 60 watt 10" for grab and go (BIG magnet) and it was nearly as effective as with the 12". Amazing little amp. The vintage Marshall setting with a stock Strat was very satisfying.
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