Fender Deville 4x10

[mcwhit]

I bought this amp after playing it in a large store with lots of room. Know at home I find that this is one very loud amp. I love the tone but for overdrive I use a pedal because of how loud it is if you push the tubes into overdrive. Been using a Marshall jackhammer, and a boutique pedal a friends of mine invented. Any suggestions on keeping the tone without blowing the windows out of my living room? Also any sugestions on some good basic settings to start with. This is my first tube amp.

[Zephyr]

One of the favorite maneuvers here is to use the pedal to "juice" the amp just enough to strike a balance between pedal and amp OD.

 

Generally, you'll want to leave the master volume as loud as it can go while keeping the volume and drive controls pretty low. Keep the treble and mids up there, usually about 7 or 8 on the dial, but use your ears to what sounds good to you. Then set the pedal's volume at around 12 o'clock, Drive/Gain to taste, and if it has a tone knob, adjust it to taste as well.

 

Also, one important thing to recognize is to not overplay the room you are in: make sure the total volume is respective of the room, otherwise there will be phase cancellation and the result is hearing loss and stifled tone.

[Gifthorse]

Get a THD hotplate. That way you can drive the power section at lower volumes.

 

For myself pedals always sound like a compromise. They never sound as good as amp OD.

[Larryz]

The amp will blast you out of a small room and you must watch your ears if you run it loud...I used pedals for a while and then started going straight to the amp without pedals...you can get some great overdriven and clean sounds even at lower volumes by running the gain up high and the master volume down low and use your 3-way foot switch to go from clean to overdrive...you can leave the left on red instead of green and still get clean sound until you kick in the right...

 

In a small room volume 3-4, drive 8-9, treble bass & middle at high noon between 6 and 7, master 2 or less (increase only as needed), reverb 3, presence 8...IMHO

 

ps. forgot to mention since this is your first tube amp, let it warm up on standby for a few minutes before you kick it in gear...

[desertbluesman]

I have a Hot Rod Deluxe which I juiced up with JJ tubes, and a Eminence Tonespotter speaker. I also set the BIAS a bit higher than Fender recommends. I also use tube distortion stomps for my overdrive sounds, I do not like the extra brightness on the standard OD channel on the HRD, so I have pedals with a lot of tone control.

 

I set my volume on 3 and have an external volume control I put into the efx loop. I set my tone controls as follows; Presence all the way off, Trebles on 5, Bass on 3, and Mids on 8. The drive channels are never used at home. I put my stomps in between the guitar and amp, I do not use the efx loop for anything but that volume box.

[desertbluesman]

For myself pedals always sound like a compromise. They never sound as good as amp OD.

 

Yep, but a good tube overdrive stomp gets as close as possible.

[Gifthorse]

I just for myself can never get passed the transistory/compressed feeling I get from the OD pedals I have tried. Its like you are using this expensive tube amp, and then you negate it by adding solid state transistors.

 

Not saying that it doesn't sound good. Plenty of masters craft thier tones with pedals and sound great doing it.

 

For myself I feel the sterility

 

Not saying there isn't a rig with a pedal out there that I wouldn't like. I guess I haven't experimented THAT much. So many pedals/amps on the market.

 

Not totally closing my mind to it, but I recognize what I have liked and not liked over the years. I usually can't get over how much the amp gain sounds when I A/B them.

 

I used to use a pedal with my old Peavey VTM 60. I was in a metal band. A Boss Super Overdrive. It sounded huge, and totally chunky and distorted for metal. But then one night I wanted to see what the amp sounded like, and when I did, I couldn't go back to the pedal. It sounded thin and compressed compared to the VTM distortion that sounded thick and sizzly.

[desertbluesman]

I just for myself can never get passed the transistory/compressed feeling I get from the OD pedals I have tried. Its like you are using this expensive tube amp, and then you negate it by adding solid state transistors.

 

Precisely why I use a tube distortion stomp, I use a Nady TD1 and a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic. I set them differently as far as EQ'ing is concerned one bright one darker. They don't get the same feel as an overdriven power amp, but they do approximate an overdriven preamp. In fact I like the tube stomps better than the drive channel on my HRD, because of the separate EQ'ing and more oomph in the drive.

 

I even bought a second Nady TD1 because I like it so much, so I wanted a backup to the one I have.

[Larryz]

On my 410 DeVille I like going straight to the amp and quit using distortion, overdrive, compressor(s), reverb, chorus, etc., as I got better sound when I unplugged the effects loop out of the amp...one thing I forgot to mention was the overdriven tube amp really came alive when I went to active EMG's on my Strats...so the guitar set up changes the settings used on the amp as well, but the ones I listed were a starting point for mcwhit...

[p90jr]

You bought a very loud amp.

 

I used mine for over 10 years, had legions of soundguys in mid-sized clubs wanting to murder me... and I never got the volume up past 3 or 4. The 4 10" speakers throw and converge at just the right distance where every club has set up the sound booth!

 

Spend $250 or whatever and get the 4 watt (and adjustable even lower) Vox AC4 to play at home and use the DeVille for playing with others... with an attenuator like a THD hotplate, Marshall power brake, WEBER... I have something called the Little Sucker that was pretty cheap, which is just an "l curve" resistor you put between the amp and speakers.

 

Personally I couldn't stand the overdrive channel on the amp for most things (with the exception of blues... which is probably what it was designed for, right?) and used the great clean channel (pretty close to a tweed bassman) with pedals. Lots of clean headroom, sounds good...

[Werewolf by Night]

I used to have a Hot Rod DeVille 2x12, and a friend of mine had either the same, or the 4x10 (it's been a while).

 

You bought a very loud amp.

 

I used mine for over 10 years, had legions of soundguys in mid-sized clubs wanting to murder me... and I never got the volume up past 3 or 4. The 4 10" speakers throw and converge at just the right distance where every club has set up the sound booth!

 

Personally I couldn't stand the overdrive channel on the amp for most things (with the exception of blues... which is probably what it was designed for, right?) and used the great clean channel (pretty close to a tweed bassman) with pedals. Lots of clean headroom, sounds good...

 

Yhup, loud, bright, and cutting, with a lot of presence! And my favorite overdrive sounds from mine came from diming it with the "clean" channel on; lotsa bite and grind, but waaay loud!

 

mcwhit-

 

You might try a duet of EL84s with a pair of THD Yellow Jacket Converters- these plug into the output-tube sockets in place of the duet of 6L6s, and the smaller EL84 tubes plug into them- no additional re-biasing or anything required. This automatically converts the amp to Push-Pull Class-A operation (similar to a Vox AC15) and cathode-bias (automatic self-biasing) with lower output-wattage.

 

You could also disconnect some of the four internal/onboard speakers, running (as outlined on page 7 of your manual):

 

- just one speaker connected to the Main Speaker Output jack ("V") for an impedance-load of 8 ohms

 

- two speakers, wired separately to two 1/4" plugs with speaker-cable, one each connected to the Main Speaker Output jack ("V") and the External Speaker Output jack ("W") for a combined total impedance-load of 4 ohms.

 

- two speakers, wired together in parallel connected to the External Speaker Output jack ("W") with an open plug (a 1/4" mono TS plug with no connections between T and S) inserted in the Main Speaker Output jack ("V") for an impedance-load of 4 ohms.

 

Other than that, a good attenuator might help you here, but note that the further you reduce the output-signal with an attenuator, the more likely it is to sound overly compressed and dulled- this perception of "tone sucking" varies quite a bit between amps and users, so "YMMV"!

[p90jr]

Also, there's what I used to do as a kid... put it in the closet with sofa cushions and blankets covering the speakers (but NOT the amp section and whatever holes let heat escape from the tubes), close the door and crank it...

[super combinator]

Mcwhit,

 

I did kinda the same thing a while back, I had bought an old gibson tube amp(BR4) which is supposed to be around 12-14watts, it isnt loud & cranking past say 7 it didnt sound good. So looking for something new & cud get a cleaner sound I bought a Blues Deluxe Re-issue, 40watts, I figured that wud be about right with what I was getting outta my gibson, well as you have found out I had a REAL LOUD amp, nice but too loud for home use.

 

I ended up selling her & have stuck to amps in the 5-15watt range & even then use an attenuator sometimes.

 

Hope you can figure a way to use the Deville at home, worst case trade/sell for something with less power & you can crank.

 

Dont worry this has probably happened to most of us here at some time

[Gabriel E.]

Just get another amp. You can never have too many.

[Larryz]

or...you can just turn the volume down...took my 410 to a private party gig and after 11pm we moved inside...the acoustics were louder than my strat so I fired up the 410 and had still had fun and kept the strat under the acoustics...in my bedroom studio I used the 410 on the clean side and never had any problems...

[Werewolf by Night]

Still wrestling with the wind from those 4 10's, mcwhit?

[Mojo Bone]

Sell it, and buy something more appropriate. Every tube amp has a sweet spot where it will sound and perform best, usually it's between 12 and 2 O'clock on the master volume knob. There are exceptions, like Soldano, that sound great over a wider volume range, but it's the nature of the beast and part of what we love so much about a real tube rig. All of these band-aid approaches can be useful in a pinch/fun to play around with, given unlimited funds, but ultimately you want to plug in, crank up and rock out, not spend precious axe time, fiddling about with extra wires, knobs and tubes.

 

If you need the oomph and grunt of the 4X10" Deville for gigs, by all means, keep it around; for the price of a good tube stompbox you could buy a VHT Special Six to drive the Deville's cab for home practice, and lose nothing but the reverb. You get the articulation and air movement of four 10"s at a level you can live with, and in the bargain, an extremely portable head for low-volume practice and jam sessions.

 

Also, a slight correction to Caevan's otherwise-excellent post; THD Yellowjackets do not change the class of an amplifier. They'll lower the wattage and the EL84s may emphasize the midrange character of your amp, both of which are good things. They're a little spendy, but worth a try.They may not perform optimally with a fixed-bias amp, however, and if you have to re-bias for the alternate tubes, they're probably more trouble than they're worth.

[picker]

I dearly hated the overdrive channel on every Blues Deluxe or Deville I ever tried, and that goes double for the extra boost built into the Hot Rod series amps. yuuuuuuuuuuk. But the clean channel now, that sucker sparkled & chimed like bells in Heaven. I don't have much trouble these days with using a crunch pedal , but I sure did till I found the right ones. I'm using a Blues Pearl Tweed Overdrive pedal, set less as a distortion than a tone modifier, making it sound a little darker but with a nasal edge to it. Then, I run Z Vex Super Hard on clone built by none other than our own Purveyor Of Pinkitude, Jimi Photon. I just used it last night, and my ohy, the creamy smooth liquid fire that came out of my Budda amp would make you wanna weep and laugh at the same time!

[Werewolf by Night]

Also, there's what I used to do as a kid... put it in the closet with sofa cushions and blankets covering the speakers (but NOT the amp section and whatever holes let heat escape from the tubes), close the door and crank it...

 

 

I've been building a veritable "blanket fort" (OK, just a vertical gig-bag/tool-case with a coat or blanket draped over it) in front of the speaker for my Fuchs Lucky 7 so that I can get away with cranking its Volume knob up to 3 O'clock to get the sound and feel I want without being too loud on the stage or blasting audience members in the face. (I roll back my guitar's volume-knobs for cleaner sounds.)

 

...for the price of a good tube stompbox you could buy a VHT Special Six to drive the Deville's cab for home practice, and lose nothing but the reverb. You get the articulation and air movement of four 10"s at a level you can live with, and in the bargain, an extremely portable head for low-volume practice and jam sessions.

 

Wow, those VHT Special Six heads are CHEAP!

 

I'd think that used 1st-version Fuchs Lucky 7 heads and combos would be turning up for good deals now and then, since Fuchs came out with the Lucky 7 2 and also the 4-Aces...

[Larryz]

1/3/10 to 5/10/12 is a long time between posts Caevan?...but I still love my 4x10 DeVille and will keep it around for bigger gigs should one come up...it can be used in the bedroom or in a closet as long as you turn it down...don't recommend it for playing loud in a small rooms as it will blow your eardrums out if and when you get carried away...it's a very good clean playing amp that only weighs 55lbs and puts out a solid 60watts...if you use the overdrive and more drive channels you can get some great overdriven sounds as long as you play with the volume and master volume drive and pedal settings (even these can be brought down to bedroom/studio level)...the guitar that you use will also have an affect on how you rate the amp, all of my electrics and even my acoustics sound great through this amp when running clean...when running the drive channels you will have better results with better pups, it's not an amp for trying to make cheap guitars sound better...on the clean side it will make a cheaper guitar sound better IMHO.

 

a good starting point is to run the mid treble bass presence at high noon, reverb at 3, volume and master at 3, drive at 1... the effects loop is not to my liking and I run all of my effects in front of the amp...but it's an all around work-horse that will keep up with a Twin Reverb and it's easier to move around...you get more bang for your buck if you need the extra wattage and compare other tube amps by weight and sound...a 40watt Hot Rod Deluxe with 1x12 is a great comparrison amp and you can cut 5lbs off of the DeVille...both amps have great sound and hold up well...although they are not for everyone... :idk

[p90jr]

They've become the standard ubiquitous backline amp according to a coworker who also does sound for a lot of festivals and tours with some bands. He bought a 1x12 Blues Deluxe to get a feel for how to get the best out of it for when he encounters them on the job. They've kind of replaced Twins according to him as the standard thing that is on a stage at a festival for fly in acts. His guys bring pedal boards with preamps like the Mesa V-Twin or a Klon or Siegmund or something to get an overdrive sound on top of the clean sound if they want it.

 

I did encounter two problems with mine (but after many hundreds of hours of use):

 

1) eventually something in the footswitch mechanism (which I never used) in the amp goes bad and it starts switching channels back and forth randomly every second. This happened right in the middle of a gig for me. The guy who fixes my stuff now says he's had to fix that a thousand times on them. I think it was a problem with an FET going bad?

 

2) the amps is currently in mothballs because there's a problem with it. I think it involves the input jacks and how they're soldered onto the PCB. I have a bunch of other amps that are more portable and fit the gigs I have these days a little better. I have used it by plugging a Tech 21 Liverpool, Seymour Duncan Twin Tube or Siegmund Twin Tube pedals into the power amp input and by passing the amp's preamp section, which sounded good. I'd previously had an issue with the input jacks when someone I shared a practice room with plugged into the amp with a very short cable and then did jerked the jack with a movement of their guitar and broke it in some way.

 

My tech grimaces when I mention the amp... he doesn't like dealing with PCBs anymore, and I have a bunch of other amps so he puts me off about bringing it in.

 

He also makes cracks about my Chinese-made Custom Classic Vox amps but I point out that in 4 years I haven't have to bring them in to him for anything so far. Won't even need a tube biasing. When he complains about them I tell him he sounds like the Maytag repairman.

[Werewolf by Night]

1/3/10 to 5/10/12 is a long time between posts Caevan?

 

The OP'er- mcwhit- very recently posted some of the same questions on another thread here, so I went back to this one.

[Larryz]

Good job Caevan and good memory too!!