Noad

[8TrackJoe]

Last summer I posted about my dad passing away and how that I received his Ovation guitar. Well some seven months later the probate is finally over with and we are now going through all the stuff to see who wants what. I went down this past week to pick up the desk/chair that had been in my room when I lived there. Had planned to get my upright piano, but ran out of space and time.

While we were walking through the front room of the house where much of dad's stuff had been placed my middle brother says that since I had dad's Ovation then I should have his amp. I honestly wasn't expecting much so when I turned around he handed me a Fender Deluxe Reverb. At first I was stunned and then I started looking closer. Knowing my dad I was expecting a Peavey since he had played through so many of them over the years.

Well I tried turning it on when I got home and it wouldn't work. Thought for a moment and then checked for a fuse. Yep, no fuse. I go to WalMart and nope couldn't find one. So I check with my local Musician's FB Page and a repair tech down the road said he had one. So I drive twenty minutes down and meet him.

I asked him if he would at least take a look at the amp and at first he was a little standoffish which I understood with this being the first time we had met, but when I pulled it out he told me to bring it in. He checked it out with the fuse and it turned on and had volume. Pots and knobs were dirty. He went ahead and put it on his bench and proceeded to check it out. After he pulled the main part out he looked at me that from what he could tell no one had ever been in the amp. Everything was original and there were no signs that any tech had ever opened it up. After a quick cleaning he set the bias, reassembled it and tested it out. I had tried to track down information on the amp, but as with many of the companies the older serial numbers are hard to pin point at times. So I asked him what his guess was on it cause I figured it was a 80's or 90's Reissue. He looked at me and pointed the name "Fender Electric Inst. Co." under the amp name and then pointed out a few other things and said that the amp was made before 1965. Now from what I've read on the Fender Serial Numbers I looked for a code on the tube chart. I did find a NJ stamped on the paper, so it appears the amp is from October of 1964.

So not only did I get my dad's amp, but I feel like I own a tiny bit of history. So I just had to share this with you.

[DanR]

Very nice story... and a very cool amp. Enjoy.....

[pieterh]

Great story - now get a Telecaster to play through it in honour of your dad!

[clintj]

Thanks for sharing that with us. That amp already has quite a bit of value just by virtue of what it is, let alone the sentimental value. An all-original, pre-CBS, blackface Deluxe Reverb? Wow! Congratulations on your piece of history!

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[moon]

That's a classic old amp still very much in demand

I'd be a bit concerned about the electrolytic caps in an old amp like that. They don't have a good lifespan. On the other hand your tech guy has had a good look at it and he almost certainly knows more than me.

[muscmp]

wow, what a great amp and a great remembrance of your dad.

i agree with moon. the guy who checked it out for you may have checked the caps already so i'd give him a call to see if he did. you don't want a bad cap to take out a transformer(this is from experience).

i have a 66 and it is probably my favorite amp. enjoy it!

play music!

[aknow]

That's a fine example, apparently. i've had the same amp, same year since I acquired it in Los Angeles in 1968. As an electric guitarist, it's been my most prized possession and almost the perfect electric guitar amp.
You rarely see older Blackfaces with a silvery original looking grille-cloth like yours. Usually, they're yellowed from smoke, gigs, and air pollution.
There is a small text by Fender, which memorializes and explains the Blackface serial numbers. I hope you love that amplifier. I can't even calculate how many times I've played mine over the years, and to think it was played and used by your father for many years!!!

And the caps typically do need servicing/replacements.

[jseth]

What an AMAZING windfall! Deluxe Reverbs are one of, if not THE best all-around amplifier for electric guitar ever! I remember reading a stat somewhere that the Deluxe Reverb is THE MOST RECORDED AMPLIFIER IN THE HISTORY OF RECORDED MUSIC... so, you've got that going for you!

I suspect the amp even has vintage tubes in it, which, you will discover, are worth nearly $1,000 on their own! Just try pricing out a set of NOS (new ood stock) 6V6 power tubes and you'll see what I mean. By comparison, the tubes made nowadays don't even come close... so, DO NOT let anyone take those tubes from you, even if one goes "bad", keep the old one whether it's in the amp or not!

Good information about the capacitors, as they really don't have a log life-span, not compared to the amplifier itself. It's a common problem and replacing them is just part of owning an amp... won't have to happen again for 20 years or so, so don't worry about it.

I agree with the reply that said "Now you have to get a Telecaster to play through it"! Whatever electric guitar you choose, that little sweetheart certainly warrants being played, don't you think?

I have no idea of your musical skill or tastes, but here's a trick with old Fender amps; "Dime" the volume (all the way up), set the treble on ZERO and "dime" the bass... something very cool happens to old Fenders when you do this (I don't know if it works with the re-issued amps); first off, you don't lose all the treble, nor is the bass overly pronounced... there's just this lovely distorted tone that is reminiscent of many recordings; as soon as you hear it, you'll go "Oh... so THAT'S how ____ (insert player) got that tone!". When I use this with my '72 Deluxe Reverb, I just use the volume control on my guitar to adjust loudness; the signal will "clean up" when you dial back the volume on the guitar, and get dirtier as you turn it up to max...

That is an incredibly clean Deluxe Reverb... probably worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500-$5000, depending on how much someone wanted it... Enjoy!

[The Growler]

Very cool. Dad's amp and a nice one at that. Enjoy in good health.

[ahorsewithnonam]

Pulls my heart. Wonderful story. I'd like to plug in it and just play one chord and his honor.

[8TrackJoe]

Appreciate all the kinds words. The tech did check the caps and told me that they needed to be replaced as they were noisy. I only brought back home so that I could actually try it out, but I'm planning to take it back and let him to a complete job on it and then I'm going to sit down and clean up the outside. When he pulled the chassis out he looked it over and then said that from what he could determine the amp had never been opened up. Everything inside was the original parts. I actually thought it might have been a reissued model, but when he started pointing out the name and some of the parts I went back and checked the tube chart inside the amp and found the letters NJ. I actually thought that stood for New Jersey until I did a little more searching and then discovered it stood for 1964, October.

Now that the probate is over with we are starting to go through all the stuff and it's been some happy and sad moments all rolled into one. I didn't consider the value of the amp until after some more research. The only two thoughts that I had was 1) it was my dads amp and 2) it was a part of history. When I brought it back home I only had it on a volume of 3 and my wife yelled down the hall "It's Loud!". LOL. I'm quite sure that once I get it up and going I'll probably hear my dad's playing just I do with his Ovation at times.

[clintj]

I bet it'll sound even better with a full service performed. Old caps can give you flabby bass and added hum.

Go gentle with the cleaning. One pro I know via Facebook has had a couple of cases of just warm water removing writing (knob numbers, silk screening, etc). Age and skin oils can attack the inks, making them less than permanent. Tolex is easily cleaned with a gentle cleanser like mild soap. Rub a very thin coat of vaseline in, then remove as much as possible, and it'll look new again.

Just know that some buyers look for that aged patina on vintage gear. I know you'll probably keep it, but you never know what the future may hold 20 or 30 years down the road. If you're missing the original slip cover, Mojotone makes pretty nice black vinyl replacements. It won't say Fender, but it will protect your amp.

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[rmp]

Sorry about your dad's passing

but seriously,, that is an awesome score.

there's one down the road at our local store, the store owner owns it, he's been thinking about selling it. It's tagged @ $2,900. I know him well, if I had some disposal cash, I'd probably talk to him about to see what I could drag it out of there for.

[redir]

Oh God how much I would love an amp like that. What a treasure and even better it's a part of your father that will be with you forever. Simply wonderful in all kinds of ways.

[Dru Edwards]

Sweet! Congrats on the Fender ... sorry to hear about your father though. Music is something wonderful to pass on to family members.