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I have been selling off gear to eventually buy a new guitar amp. I currently have my 1979 Fender Vibrochamp, but I am looking for something a little bigger to possibly gig with and practice at home. I might have some opportunities to play at church but nothing is certain yet.

In general, I want a clean amp with decent headroom that I can use pedals with and transport with me without too much trouble.

I have been looking at the 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb and the Tone Master Deluxe Reverb and Twin Reverb. I am weighing the features of the
Tone Masters vs the sound of the tube amp. Tube amps sound the best to me but the Tone Masters get really close and have some great features that make me want them in a live setting. Either way, I will most likely be buying used amp.

What advice do you have for looking at used amps?

I know the Tone Masters are kinda of a different beast compared to the tube amps, but any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

My advice would be to keep it simple, and bear in mind that anything point to point will be simpler to fix than an equivalent PCB based amp, although it may cost more in the short term.

Unless you are playing massive venues you don't need a Twin, or anything close to that size, and you don't want to have to lift one night after night - I've had two and they were incredibly heavy and incredibly loud. If you are going to be playing places that have a good PA, or you have one, then the ability to DI as well as have the amp running in the room will help.

Personally I'd buy from a shop rather than a private sale just so you have some guarantee if it isn't working right.

Can’t really offer much advice about buying used as I’ve not done it, but if I were starting over again I’d almost certainly go down the Tonemaster route. DR or SR.

The Orange Crush Pros look fucking great.

Turns out my church uses a silent stage setup, so I wouldn't need a new amp for that venue.

I played a 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb and several Tonemasters again (DR, Twin, Twin Blonde)

The regular TM Deluxe Reverb didn't sound great. I liked both of the Twin Reverbs better, especially the Blonde.(turned down to 22W)

Right now, the used market is easier to get tube amps vs Tonemaster right now.

I will just see what my budget will get me. I saw a 68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb but it was a little out of my price range.

I need to just buy the best amp I can and if it doesn't work out sell it and get something else.

I have a 68 Custom DRRI and highly recommend it - it's "just right" on so many levels, weight, size, tone, volume, breakup point....YMMV depending on what you need an amp to do, but if I could only keep one of my amps from a utilitarian standpoint, it would be the one. I will say that I was not a fan of the original speaker, I replaced it with a Jensen C12N and made it sound more like I expect a DR to sound (more vintage/less modern I guess whatever that means)

Nick wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 3:16 pm I have a 68 Custom DRRI and highly recommend it - it's "just right" on so many levels, weight, size, tone, volume, breakup point....YMMV depending on what you need an amp to do, but if I could only keep one of my amps from a utilitarian standpoint, it would be the one. I will say that I was not a fan of the original speaker, I replaced it with a Jensen C12N and made it sound more like I expect a DR to sound (more vintage/less modern I guess whatever that means)

I like Custom channel being voiced different and the shared tremolo/reverb. If I buy a used one, I just need to inspect the amp and make sure its not making extra noise. I played one at Guitar Center that was making a horrible racket. The salesman said it was the "floor" model it was clearly not well.

Have you ever tried the 68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb?

Haven’t tried the vibrolux, if I didn’t already have the DRRI I’d want to try both if I could. I ended up buying a 65 Pro Reverb last year but I imagine a vibrolux would probably be a good middle ground between the two.

I think the only problem I’ve had with mine was with the reverb tank which IIRC did lead to noise and weak signal until it was replaced.

I am off this week so I went and played some guitars and amps today.

I played the 68 custom DRRI again and really like the amp.

I was also very surprised by a Fender Super-Sonic 112 amp. Unfortunately, its a 60 watt amp and weighs over 50 pounds. I liked the Vintage channel with its Vibrolux/Bassman tone circuits and the Reverb was killer. No Tremolo on the amp.

I found a used 68 Custom DRRI at Guitar Center with a non functioning Tremolo and I tried to see if I could get it cheap and then have it fixed.

Unfortunately, they would barely drop the price so I decided to move on.

I contacted someone on Craigslist about one near me but I am waiting for a reply.

I also got to try playing some Gretsch guitars for the first time.