New Fender '62 Deluxe Amp

[charliechitlins]

I had what was supposedly a good one and had the same deal. I sounded bad thru it.
Got a Pro and with the 15 sounded fine/ adequate.
I find these two circuits very similar.

My Pro put out the best sound I ever heard...but I had to be 30' away to hear it because of the beam of the 15.
Once, in a large room, I walked 10' to one side of the stage and couldn't hear it anymore.
I changed the baffle, and now it's a 2x10 and I love it.

 

[corpse]

If I walk 10' to either side I fall off or bump into the bass player

 

[LeonC]

I'm taking out my original for a gig on Sunday. Can't wait!

Interestingly, I prefer playing my Gibson guitars more than my Fenders through all of my Fender amps except the 6G3. Not only do my Gibsons sound exceptionally good through this amp, but even my Fenders do as well!

The amp has more ooomph than other brown or BF amps.

 

[poor man's burst]

I find these two circuits very similar.

There can be similarities in their sound, as Fender may have looked for some consistency throughout their amplifier line at a given time, but the two circuits are very different.

 

[LeonC]

Those two circuits (brown Pro & Deluxe) are radically different.

The Pro is very much a precuror to black face era curcuits. The Deluxe mos definitely isn't.

 

[LeonC]

Just blasted through mine...with my Les Pauls, it's breaking up with some fire at 4. By 7 or so, it's freakin Godzilla!

 

[corpse]

It is amazing how 20 watts can scream.
Even at 2-3.

 

[LeonC]

Kinda OT but...gig was going great...4 songs in...power tube fried!!! Couldn't diagnose issue at the gig--I was concerned it may have taken out the OT . But fortunately, I had my Princeton Reverb as a backup and we got it switched out in a minute or two. Today I put the Deluxe on the bench and started by testing the tubes...one was toast. Amp seems to be okay, I'll run it for an hour or two to make sure. Scared the crap out of me though...

Of course, we were playing in Sierra Madre, CA where it started out at about 98 deg F!! Amp was probably on for 45 minutes from sound check through first set when it started crackling.

 

[goldtop0]

Kinda OT but...gig was going great...4 songs in...power tube fried!!! Couldn't diagnose issue at the gig--I was concerned it may have taken out the OT . But fortunately, I had my Princeton Reverb as a backup and we got it switched out in a minute or two. Today I put the Deluxe on the bench and started by testing the tubes...one was toast. Amp seems to be okay, I'll run it for an hour or two to make sure. Scared the crap out of me though...

Of course, we were playing in Sierra Madre, CA where it started out at about 98 deg F!! Amp was probably on for 45 minutes from sound check through first set when it started crackling.

Geez a power tube failure, not great at all matey !!
Last time that happened to me was in '11 when I was testing an old '50s tweed Deluxe at a store in Austin, that was a while ago !!

 

[LeonC]

Yeah, first time for me in ... hell... gotta be more than 30 years!!

This amp has been super-dependable for me...but the tubes are probably 65+ years old! I put them in there probably 15/16 years ago and I've only play the amp for fun two of three times a year for a while now. Haven't gigged it in at least 10 years...so in my mind, he was always "Mr Dependable"...but that's what happens when you get into a pattern of thinking sometimes---you get the Gomer Pyle SURPRISE!!!

 

[goldtop0]

Yeah, first time for me in ... hell... gotta be more than 30 years!!

This amp has been super-dependable for me...but the tubes are probably 65+ years old! I put them in there probably 15/16 years ago and I've only play the amp for fun two of three times a year for a while now. Haven't gigged it in at least 10 years...so in my mind, he was always "Mr Dependable"...but that's what happens when you get into a pattern of thinking sometimes---you get the Gomer Pyle SURPRISE!!!

Yep, like you I always have a backup combo with me at gigs, just in case !!

 

[gary buff]

Yep, like you I always have a backup combo with me at gigs, just in case !!

Always. My bandmate years ago had a late 80s/early 90s Fender Concert which was a really nice amp when it worked, it used to blow the mains fuse or otherwise make ominous sounds when it was feeling cranky. I rotated two '70s Marshall 1987s which were as solid as a rock so I brought one as a spare for both of us just in case.

 

[buckaroo]

I just purchased the "new reissue" Fender 62 Deluxe Amp. I am in my late 60's and I have owned a few brown Fender amps over the years. Visually, the new Deluxe is a very close replica to the originals. From a sonic perspective, it certainly sounds very good with both the clean and the overdrive tones and reminds me of the early 60's Fender brown amp sound.

Comparatively, I have the 62 Princeton (Stapleton model) as well, and while the two amps are very different when they overdrive, their clean sounds are "more similar than different" in tone. The Deluxe is "a bit louder overall" than the Princeton when their volume knobs are turned up; the Princeton breaks up later on the volume knob while the Deluxe breaks up earlier on the volume knob. This brown Deluxe has more clean headroom on the volume knob than a narrow panel tweed Deluxe, but it breaks up earlier than a blackface Deluxe Reverb.

The 62 Deluxe does use PC board (PCB) construction for the main board. However, all of the tubes have tube sockets mounted directly to the chassis, and there are no tube sockets soldered directly to PCB's. Rather, the wires fly from the tube sockets and then connect to the main PCB.

Further, while the pots and jacks are mounted to the chassis directly, they do have "dedicated" PCB's to which they are directly soldered. The good news here is that by having dedicated PCB's, if a repair is needed then there is less labor to get to the part needing the repair. Since jacks and pots are not all sharing the same PCB, you only have to access the part needing the repair.

The "Made in China" Celestion ceramic magnet speaker sounds great IMO. To my ears, the 12 inch Celestion retains some of the original Oxford speaker sonic vibe, but also adds a "Celestion sound element" that is not unlike the blue Jensen alnico magnet speakers of the tweed era. I like this Celestion speaker! (I also like the ceramic Eminance speaker in the Stapleton Princeton too).

Overall, my main complaint about this Deluxe is all the "metal cage work" attached to prevent hands from touching the hot tubes and chassis. However, these items are easily removed with a screwdriver. The speaker cable then has to be detached from the speaker, removed from the metal caging, and then reattached to the speaker. Lastly, it would be a nice touch if Fender used more "premium" caps and resistors on the PCB. I don't think the premium components improve the sonics but they might add improved lifespan. An open debate topic for sure.

Hope this info helps with anyone interested in this new amp from Fender. Personally, I like the new 62 Deluxe amp, especially since Fender has made the PCB construction a "bit" more tolerable from a repair point of view.

Hey Fender, how about a new '63 hand wired brown Deluxe Amp with premium components and a brown handle...kind of like you did with the '64 Deluxe Reverb? That would complement the brown Deluxe offerings along side the black face Deluxe Reverb offerings.

 

[MBSC]

I just purchased the "new reissue" Fender 62 Deluxe Amp. I am in my late 60's and I have owned a few brown Fender amps over the years. Visually, the new Deluxe is a very close replica to the originals. From a sonic perspective, it certainly sounds very good with both the clean and the overdrive tones and reminds me of the early 60's sound.

Comparatively, I have the 62 Princeton (Stapleton model) as well, and while the two amps are very different when they overdrive, their clean sounds are "more similar than different" in tone. The Deluxe is "a bit louder overall" than the Princeton when their volume knobs are turned up; the Princeton breaks up later on the volume knob while the Deluxe breaks up earlier on the volume knob. This brown Deluxe has more clean headroom on the volume knob than a narrow panel tweed Deluxe, but it breaks up earlier than a blackface Deluxe Reverb.

The 62 Deluxe does use PC board construction for the main board. However, all of the tubes have tube sockets mounted directly to the chassis, and there are no tube sockets soldered directly to PCB's. Rather, the wires fly from the tube sockets and then connect to main PCB board. The screen grid resistors are on the main PCB and have been "elevated above the board" to reduce heat transfer to the PCB traces.

Further, while the pots and jacks are mounted to the chassis directly, they do have "dedicated" PCB's to which they are directly soldered. The good news here is that by having dedicated PCB's, if a repair is needed then there is less labor to get to the part needing the repair. Since jacks and pots are not all sharing the same PCB, you only have to access the part needing the repair.

The Chinese made Celestion ceramic magnet speaker sounds great IMO. The 12 inch Celestion retains some of the original Oxford speaker vibe but adds a "Celestion sound element" that is not unlike the blue Jensen alnico magnet speakers of the tweed era. I like this Celestion speaker! (I also like the ceramic Eminance speaker in the Stapleton Princeton too).

Overall, my main complaint about this Deluxe is all the "metal work" attached to prevent hands from touching the hot tubes and chassis. But these items are easily removed with a screwdriver. The speaker cable then has to be removed from the metal caging and then reattached to the speaker. Lastly, it would be a nice touch if Fender used more "premium" caps and resistors on the PCB. I don't think the premium components improve the sonics but they might add improved lifespan. An open debate topic for sure.

Hope this info helps with anyone interested in this new amp from Fender. Personally, I like the new 62 Deluxe amp, especially since Fender has made the PCB construction a "bit" more tolerable from a repair point of view.

Good job! My original 62 does not break up as early as you described with the new model. I'll keep gigging mine but good job on he review and comparisons.