1980 FENDER DELUXE REVERB SILVERFACE

A great example of Fender’s legendary amplifier, this 1980 Deluxe Reverb Silverface is superbly preserved and in perfect working order.

The Deluxe Reverb, introduced by Fender in late 1963, rightfully became the definitive touchstone for all subsequent amplifiers: its modest size compared to models combining a separate head and cabinet, its power (approximately 18 watts into a 12-inch speaker), and its spring reverb and tremolo circuits made it the tool of choice for both studio and stage. The version presented here comes from the end of what can be called the first Fender-CBS era – that is, the period following the acquisition of the company by CBS during which the concepts and circuits developed during the time of Leo Fender remained largely unchanged: with the exception of a few cosmetic elements and the addition of the Volume Boost function as well as the Line Out jack, the Silverface of 1980 is analogous to its first version presented in 1968, denoted AB868, itself derived almost identically from the original blackface circuit. On the other hand, a radically different circuit appeared in 1982 in the form of the Deluxe Reverb II. Gone were the traditional tremolo and tube rectifier, deemed obsolete by the dawn of the new decade. The Deluxe Reverb II instead featured distortion (gain), a channel selector, preamp output and power amp input jacks, a diode rectifier… in short, a major step forward in the direction of modern hybrid tube amplifiers. The 1980 Deluxe Reverb Silverface is therefore the ultimate representative of the original lineage, the one that defined the sonic hallmarks of the 1960s and remains respected today as one of the most important advances in musical instrument amplification.

As mentioned earlier, the structure of this model has been essentially the same since the mid-1960s: 9 tubes distributed between the pre-amplification (2x 7025/12AX7), reverb (1x 12AT7, 1x 7025/12AX7), tremolo (1x 7025/12AX7), power (1x 12AT7, 2x 6V6GT) and rectifier (1x 5U4GB) circuits. We find the two channels, including a Normal channel with simply Volume, Treble (treble) and Bass (bass) controls; and a Vibrato channel, with Volume, Treble, Bass plus Reverb (controlling the level of the spring reverb), Speed ​​and Intensity (controlling respectively the frequency and amplitude of the tremolo effect). The Volume knob on the Vibrato channel is a push-pull switch that activates the Volume Boost circuit: the signal is derived from the reverb transformer after being amplified by the 12AT7 driver tube, then recombined with the dry signal, producing a significant volume boost. The Line Out jack provides an attenuated version of the signal at the output transformer, ideal for recovering the amplified guitar sound and connecting it to a DI/console. These two features underscore Fender’s desire to make the Deluxe Reverb even more versatile: for use on stage in situations where increased volume is required, as well as for the studio, where the ability to record without necessarily using a microphone in front of the amp is very practical.

The amplifier presented here was assembled over the course of 1980 and remains perfectly preserved to this day, with all its main original parts: its original Fender speaker, the complete set of Woodward-Schumacher transformers, the majority of the passive electronic components, and all the original tubes (produced by General Electric and bearing the Fender branding). The amplifier underwent a complete overhaul in our workshop, with the replacement of all outdated chemical capacitors; all passive components, i.e., resistors and signal capacitors, were checked to certify their proper functioning. All tubes were checked on the meter and tested for noise; all still exhibit good emission characteristics, and run silently. We cleaned all connectors, tube sockets, switches, and potentiometers, and adjusted the bias of the power tubes to the optimal point; this Deluxe Reverb is ready to go for another spin!

As this is an export model, the transformer is designed for use with a 220V socket – no external voltage transformer is required. To complete this nice set, we provide the reverb / tremolo and boost switching pedals, as well as the leaflet including the original instructions, warranty and schematic.