Krev wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:13 am My V6B sounds very much like a V4 without the tube breakup. An overdrive pedal can resolve that.

My Fender Deluxe 90 is really resistant to overdrive pedals, in that it makes pedals that sound great, and are really versatile, through my two tube amps, sound brittle, thin and nasty. For low gain sounds, it does this weird thing where it "moves" the break-up "into the speaker", so that it sounds like a clean amp being played through a broken speaker. Obviously, this sound has its uses, but it's hard to use as a core guitar sound.

Any suggestions for O/D pedals that might sound a bit warmer and a bit less "speakery". So far I've tried a Catalinbread RAH, Caline Pure Sky (Timmy clone, supposedly), Fredric Zombie Clone (Klon clone) and a Joyo American.

Some people swear by switching out the speaker in Fender SS combos of this era, but I'm kinda dubious that it will make enough difference. The clean sound is fantastic, it just doesn't like gain pedals.

Dudley wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:43 am Any suggestions for O/D pedals that might sound a bit warmer and a bit less "speakery". So far I've tried a Catalinbread RAH, Caline Pure Sky (Timmy clone, supposedly), Fredric Zombie Clone (Klon clone) and a Joyo American.

I don't know that Fender amp, and I've more experienced the opposite where ODs sound extra piercing and microphonic thru tube amps, but I'd suggest a RAT or clone with a drastic high end roll off. I have the Mooer Black Secret.

Dudley wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:43 am My Fender Deluxe 90 is really resistant to overdrive pedals...

Some people swear by switching out the speaker in Fender SS combos of this era, but I'm kinda dubious that it will make enough difference. The clean sound is fantastic, it just doesn't like gain pedals.

My first thought as I read this was change the speaker. Speakers can make a HUGE tonal difference. More so than even pickups. It's unfortunate that amp doesn't have a speaker out/ext speaker jack so you could easily try it with something you've probably already got without taking the amp apart or having to create an extension cable for the speaker clips. Do you have another speaker you can swap in just to try it?

1) Also, I assume you are using the clean channel. How far up is the volume?
2) Does it have the same shrill brittleness without pedals when using the Drive or More Drive?
3) Rat is a great suggestion. Sounds good/the same on every amp. Don't be afraid to use a low distortion setting (totally capable as overdrive) or to turn the filter knob way clockwise. For instance my setting on most amps for 2 decades was: 9 o'clock distortion, 3 o'clock filter (works backwards from a tone knob), 2 o'clock volume. But I'm a single coil guy.

Dudley wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:43 am

Krev wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:13 am My V6B sounds very much like a V4 without the tube breakup. An overdrive pedal can resolve that.

My Fender Deluxe 90 is really resistant to overdrive pedals, in that it makes pedals that sound great, and are really versatile, through my two tube amps, sound brittle, thin and nasty. For low gain sounds, it does this weird thing where it "moves" the break-up "into the speaker", so that it sounds like a clean amp being played through a broken speaker. Obviously, this sound has its uses, but it's hard to use as a core guitar sound.

Any suggestions for O/D pedals that might sound a bit warmer and a bit less "speakery". So far I've tried a Catalinbread RAH, Caline Pure Sky (Timmy clone, supposedly), Fredric Zombie Clone (Klon clone) and a Joyo American.

Some people swear by switching out the speaker in Fender SS combos of this era, but I'm kinda dubious that it will make enough difference. The clean sound is fantastic, it just doesn't like gain pedals.

I should have clarified that I use this setup for bass. Your best bet would probably be dialing back the gain on a distortion pedal

I just picked up a 1984 Peavey Backstage Plus for $60. Cleaned all the scratchy pots but one (I really should have tested it before putting it back together) and now it sounds like I remembered my Bandit 65. Stoked to relive my childhood.

tommy wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:27 am I just picked up a 1984 Peavey Backstage Plus for $60. Cleaned all the scratchy pots but one (I really should have tested it before putting it back together) and now it sounds like I remembered my Bandit 65. Stoked to relive my childhood.

have you and your dad patched it up? Maybe time to let him know that Peavey is back

I've got a Fender Deluxe 85 red knob that I've coaxed back into service. Using the dual channel feature I can get a decent "just about to break up" kinda tone out of it. Wonderful pedal platform.

PunchySunshine wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:07 pm I've got a Fender Deluxe 85 red knob that I've coaxed back into service. Using the dual channel feature I can get a decent "just about to break up" kinda tone out of it. Wonderful pedal platform.

That was my first real guitar amp. I loved it back in the early 90s. If I found a cheap one I might pick it up for nostalgia, but Radiohead kind of ruined the prices on those.

I briefly tried a few of the later, black knob Fender SS amps; Princeton 112, Deluxe 112, Ultimate Chorus, etc. They never sound as good as I remember the Deluxe 85 sounding. I don't know if that is the case, or if my warm memory of my early rock band days is coloring my critical abilities.

benadrian wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:14 pm

PunchySunshine wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:07 pm I've got a Fender Deluxe 85 red knob that I've coaxed back into service. Using the dual channel feature I can get a decent "just about to break up" kinda tone out of it. Wonderful pedal platform.

That was my first real guitar amp. I loved it back in the early 90s. If I found a cheap one I might pick it up for nostalgia, but Radiohead kind of ruined the prices on those.

I briefly tried a few of the later, black knob Fender SS amps; Princeton 112, Deluxe 112, Ultimate Chorus, etc. They never sound as good as I remember the Deluxe 85 sounding. I don't know if that is the case, or if my warm memory of my early rock band days is coloring my critical abilities.

Noice!
I totally overpaid the radiohead tax @$250 and I've put at least $50 in parts with a new reverb tank, a few resistors, a few diodes and a new footswitch. I've even started to socket the opamps just for the hell of it. It's almost too loud for a practice amp but I won't EVER need a single tube! It takes a little knob tweaking like any good amp.
I had a Princeton 112, a chorus black knob and a few other SS Fenders trying to chase this tone but the ole red knob Deluxe 85 FTW.

penningtron wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 7:44 am

Dudley wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:43 am Any suggestions for O/D pedals that might sound a bit warmer and a bit less "speakery". So far I've tried a Catalinbread RAH, Caline Pure Sky (Timmy clone, supposedly), Fredric Zombie Clone (Klon clone) and a Joyo American.

I don't know that Fender amp, and I've more experienced the opposite where ODs sound extra piercing and microphonic thru tube amps, but I'd suggest a RAT or clone with a drastic high end roll off. I have the Mooer Black Secret.

THIS! Thank you! Dug out my Little Bear rat clone, and WOAH - totally usable, non-brittle, non-filtered-sounding gain! Didn't have much time to work through all the possibilities (the Little Bear lets you switch between different three Rat circuits), but the difference to all the other gain pedals I've tried so far is like night and day.

The only difficulty is finding a low enough pedal VOL setting that is loud enough to be fully on without muffling, without making the amp's already pretty loud minimum volume become unworkable at home.

Penningtron, you have made me happy. I can now almost forgive the Deluxe for making my office smell of the elderly.