Deluxe reverb, tubes and drive pedals?

Greenholes · Newbie Alert Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

I really like my Deluxe reverb. The clean sound is amazing, but when I use it with a drive pedal (OCD, Fulldrive, Mudhoney etc.) the amp and drive sounds very flat. It sounds like Im playing through a cheap multi fx board. When I plug the same effects into my Blues Junior, I get a much more rich and dynamic drive. Even my brothers Hot Rod Deluxe sounds better with the drive pedals

My Deluxe reverb amp is a Reissue and the tubes must be at least 4 years old. So my questions is:

Will new tubes (pre and power) of a higher quality make my amp sound better with drive pedals or am I looking for a new amplifier?

I play blues and jazz - think John Mayer, Eric Johnson etc.

MikeM · Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:47 pm Post subject:

New tubes will help. I've always liked the Deluxe Reverb. Fairly light and portable and sounds great when its cranked.
It is not a high gain amp though. It needs power tube saturation for it to really "sing".

Talk to Eurotubes and see what they say? They might have a lower output power tube that would reach the "sweet spot" at a lower volume.

I play blues through a Twin Amp. I have a couple of pedals I alternate between. The Boss Blues Driver and the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9 DX. Try these out sometime!