Wampler Bravado 40w Amp

The Wampler sounds great. Don't need it. I have this '66 Super Reverb chassis sitting around to tweak sometime in the future.

I assume the Fat switch is just a tone stack lift switch from its position right bedside the Mid knob. And the Bright knob is just a pot in place of the transitional Bright switch because it's position beside the Volume (would be a poor place for a Presence control). I wonder how much of the rest of the circuit is tweaked Fender, although to me, it's a little more middy and aggressive.





The problem with either as a pedal platform is that the Deluxe Reverb has low preamp plate voltages, the preamp clips too soon. It only takes swapping out one or two resistors to fix, but then we are getting into modding amps.
Which resistors? Asking for a friend.


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Which resistors? Asking for a friend.

Dropping resistors in the power string (between the filter caps). BF and early SF Deluxe and Vibrolux used 10K to PI then 10K to preamp.

Bigger Fenders used 1K/4K7. That's what I swapped into my Allen Accomplice when I had it.

Later SF Deluxe and Vibrolux used 4K7/10K and then 2K2/10K to get more preamp headroom.
 
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slap0

I guess I'll just keep my TS15H...
 
Dropping resistors in the power string (between the filter caps). BF and early SF Deluxe and Vibrolux used 10K to PI then 10K to preamp.

Bigger Fenders used 1K/4K7. That's what I swapped into my Allen Accomplice when I had it.

Later SF Deluxe and Vibrolux used 4K7/10K and then 2K2/10K to get more preamp headroom.

I wonder what's in my Encore.
slap0

I guess I'll just keep my TS15H...

:tongue:
 
I wonder what's in my Encore.
:tongue:

IIRC, Allen eventually adopted the Deluxe Reverb values for all of his amps, even the larger Old Flame. Using the Deluxe Reverb preamp voltages makes the amps a little more touch responsive, less stiff, and easier to overdrive...it emphasizes the characteristics people loved about the Blackface Fenders vs Silverface, creating kind of a "neo-Blackface" circuit.
 
I got to hear it at NAMM. It's a great neutral tube platform for pedals. When Brian would switch between the Pinnacle, Tumnus, and some of his other great pedals, the amp would really transform.

Ouch... the price? I though he was shooting for $1400-1500. Hmm... that's pretty pricey. :(
For a hand-wired, made in america amp with a tube buffered effects loop that's pretty much the going rate. Compare to the Port city Pearl, just for one example.
 
The Wampler sounds great. Don't need it. I have this '66 Super Reverb chassis sitting around to tweak sometime in the future.

I assume the Fat switch is just a tone stack lift switch from its position right bedside the Mid knob. And the Bright knob is just a pot in place of the transitional Bright switch because it's position beside the Volume (would be a poor place for a Presence control). I wonder how much of the rest of the circuit is tweaked Fender, although to me, it's a little more middy and aggressive.

The problem with either as a pedal platform is that the Deluxe Reverb has low preamp plate voltages, the preamp clips too soon. It only takes swapping out one or two resistors to fix, but then we are getting into modding amps.

Nope, that's not what the fat switch does. Also, the Bright control isn't a pot either. It's a 6 position rotary dial, with 6 different options of brightness.
You're correct in that the DR breaks up easy. However, that can be corrected and changed in various ways to allow the amp to stay clean all the way up.
 
Nope, that's not what the fat switch does. Also, the Bright control isn't a pot either. It's a 6 position rotary dial, with 6 different options of brightness.
You're correct in that the DR breaks up easy. However, that can be corrected and changed in various ways to allow the amp to stay clean all the way up.

Well, I did say "assume."
 
If all you want is a killer clean amp as a pedal platform, buy a Roland JC and be done.

You can buy a brand new 120 for a grand. Or you can get a great condition used one with a flight case for around $700.

It will never die, never get weird for no discernable reason, never need new tubes, and aside from having the greatest clean tone out there, it is completely transparent when taking pedals.

I don't know why anyone uses anything else, other than the fact that the 120 is CRAZY loud, heavy as a house, and a bitch to transport.

That's why God invented the JC 77 and JC 55. They both sound exactly like big brother but are infinitely more manageable. The only drawback to those amps is their age and rarity. They aren't cheap (often selling for more than a 120 of the same era) and with old age comes potential for frequent minor failures. I've had to baby my 55 along a little bit with some new pots and a speaker replacement.

Maybe the new JC 40 is right in your sweet spot.
 
If all you want is a killer clean amp as a pedal platform, buy a Roland JC and be done.

You can buy a brand new 120 for a grand. Or you can get a great condition used one with a flight case for around $700.

It will never die, never get weird for no discernable reason, never need new tubes, and aside from having the greatest clean tone out there, it is completely transparent when taking pedals.

I don't know why anyone uses anything else, other than the fact that the 120 is CRAZY loud, heavy as a house, and a bitch to transport.

That's why God invented the JC 77 and JC 55. They both sound exactly like big brother but are infinitely more manageable. The only drawback to those amps is their age and rarity. They aren't cheap (often selling for more than a 120 of the same era) and with old age comes potential for frequent minor failures. I've had to baby my 55 along a little bit with some new pots and a speaker replacement.

Maybe the new JC 40 is right in your sweet spot.

If I didn't need a dirty sound, I would go this route. Best clean and chorus for sure hands down but finding the right dirt pedal for them is a challenge. My brother in law had a great dirt pedal for his JC120 but I never was able to find the right one for my JC55 and we all know it wasn't from a lack of trying :grin:

I guess some kind of modeler would work but those aren't for me.
 
For a hand-wired, made in america amp with a tube buffered effects loop that's pretty much the going rate. Compare to the Port city Pearl, just for one example.

I didn't realize until I looked into it further that it's a hand wired point to point amp. Dead sexy!!

Welcome to our little corner of the internet @BrianWampler , I'll be contacting you soon to buy a new Pinnacle Deluxe to replace the one already in my gigging rig. I'm so glad you took my (and others) suggestion and made the boost independent. That will clear one more spot on my board... maybe for a mini Ego. :wink:
 
For a hand-wired, made in america amp with a tube buffered effects loop that's pretty much the going rate. Compare to the Port city Pearl, just for one example.

Yeah and the EQD 25 watt amp is $1850 so it is right in line with others. At least yours has more power and more features.
 
If all you want is a killer clean amp as a pedal platform, buy a Roland JC and be done.

While I love JC cleans and chorus (especially on the older models), they don't do it for me as a pedal platform, no SS amp does. There is just something about hi-fi cleans to is unforgiving with some fuzz and OD pedals.

recommend me an amp in the moderate wattage range that is a good pedal platform I can get for no more than 1000.00...

Moderate is hard. Big, high-wattage, heavy tube combos are a dime a dozen, mostly because people buy too big an amp to start out and they are hard to move (both literally and sales-wise).

Great affordable pedal platform for under $1000 is the Mesa F50, often around $600-750 for a used combo, get Twin Reverb-esque cleans. But relatively heavy and can get loud fast. Heck, the Peavey 6505+ combo is $700 NEW and has a lot of clean headroom, but once again...50-60 watts.

For that reason I don't' want to dissuade the Deluxe Reverb RI, but what made them legendary as a country, blues and rock amp is that sweet spot of breakup, around 4 on the Volume knob. What people disliked about the SFDRs for generations was they were cleaner and stiffer...I actually prefer them, but the prices people want for them are getting ridiculous considering many need TLC.
 
While I love JC cleans and chorus (especially on the older models), they don't do it for me as a pedal platform, no SS amp does. There is just something about hi-fi cleans to is unforgiving with some fuzz and OD pedals.



Moderate is hard. Big, high-wattage, heavy tube combos are a dime a dozen, mostly because people buy too big an amp to start out and they are hard to move (both literally and sales-wise).

Great affordable pedal platform for under $1000 is the Mesa F50, often around $600-750 for a used combo, get Twin Reverb-esque cleans. But relatively heavy and can get loud fast. Heck, the Peavey 6505+ combo is $700 NEW and has a lot of clean headroom, but once again...50-60 watts.

For that reason I don't' want to dissuade the Deluxe Reverb RI, but what made them legendary as a country, blues and rock amp is that sweet spot of breakup, around 4 on the Volume knob. What people disliked about the SFDRs for generations was they were cleaner and stiffer...I actually prefer them, but the prices people want for them are getting ridiculous considering many need TLC.
So would the newer 68 SFDR reissue be better than the 65 BFDR reissue?
 
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