Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

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dreric
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Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by dreric »

I friend of mine brought this over today. Serial # dates it to 1969. My friends mother used to work for the Grateful Dead in the early 70's. Apparently about 1972 he was starting to play guitar and the mom asked Jerry if he had and old amps and guitars that her son could have. He gave her this Deluxe reverb and a prototype Yamaha guitar similar to the one Santana played in the 70's. I haven't seen the guitar yet.

The amp's weird. The wire throughout the amp is the right gauge ? but the insulation is really thin. I've never seen wire like this in a Fender. The dreaded chocolate drops are present. There's a lot of 1 watt resistors

At one point he took it to Randall Smith for repairs. Randall asked him if he wanted it to be "beefier", he agreed. Other than the 1 watts, which I can't see as a mod, I can't find any mods. The amp was running 6l6's, which is mostly likely why it blew it's filter caps. The amps been storage for about 20 years.
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Eric
1949 Zenith, Zenith Toggle Recoil, Zenith 55 & 440
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dreric
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by dreric »

better pic
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Eric
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xtian
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by xtian »

Well that is freaking awesome.
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
Bombacaototal
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by Bombacaototal »

Amazing! Thanks for sharing
DenDanger
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by DenDanger »

Cool piece of history indeed. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by ChopSauce »

dreric wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2018 3:00 am I friend of mine brought this over today. Serial # dates it to 1969. My friends mother used to work for the Grateful Dead in the early 70's. Apparently about 1972 he was starting to play guitar and the mom asked Jerry if he had and old amps and guitars that her son could have. He gave her this Deluxe reverb and a prototype Yamaha guitar similar to the one Santana played in the 70's...
... happy few :shock:

That amp looks awesome :wink:
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pompeiisneaks
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by pompeiisneaks »

Oh man that's super cool!

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dreric
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by dreric »

Have any of you seen a fender with this skinny wire?
Eric
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didit
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by didit »

dreric wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:38 pm Have any of you seen a fender with this skinny wire?
Yes. Super Reverb of same era, but if I recall correctly ‘71. Belongs to a friend. Perhaps some more regulars that repair have more to add.
Drumslinger
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by Drumslinger »

dreric,

Yes, I have the same similar wiring in my 65 Deluxe Reverb that i picked up for $20 at a garage sale back in the 90s.

DS
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dreric
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by dreric »

Cool, thanks for the responses.

The filter caps are shot, last power up = smoke. The stock caps are all 16uf I was going to replace those with 20uf. Any value in going higher for the first two in series, like 40uf for a little more headroom?

After those I was going to change the board electrolytics are then power up.

The amp was running 6L6 is this just a bias adjustment? or is this a mod?
Eric
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Charlie Wilson
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by Charlie Wilson »

Hello, cool amp. I was just inside a 1969 Bassman and it had the same hookup wire. I don't think running 6L6 power tubes in a Deluxe should damage it. At least Neil Young doesn't think so. :D You wont get much more wattage out of the amp but it does thicken the sound. That probably was the mod. First two filter caps are not in series in a deluxe, they are in parallel. In my opinion, this is an historic amplifier owned by Jerry Garcia and worked on by the founder of Mesa Boogie. I wouldn't stray too far away from what is was originally.
CW
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dreric
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by dreric »

Charlie Wilson wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:49 am Hello, cool amp. I was just inside a 1969 Bassman and it had the same hookup wire. I don't think running 6L6 power tubes in a Deluxe should damage it. At least Neil Young doesn't think so. :D You wont get much more wattage out of the amp but it does thicken the sound. That probably was the mod. First two filter caps are not in series in a deluxe, they are in parallel. In my opinion, this is an historic amplifier owned by Jerry Garcia and worked on by the founder of Mesa Boogie. I wouldn't stray too far away from what is was originally.
CW
I agree!

Funny thing is that the guy who owns it is kind of ambivalent about the amp.

Would you increase the filter caps to 20uf or keep them at 16uf?
Eric
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by Charlie Wilson »

Deric, I think the 20uf might tighten things up slightly but I don't think it will make a big difference. I personally prefer to keep vintage amps as stock as possible, so I would lean towards the 16uf. I am curious, is the 47pf bright cap still on the vibrato channel volume and is there any changes to the 6.8k resistors on the back of the bass pots?
CW
BarryW
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Re: Jerry Garcia's 1969 Deluxe Reverb

Post by BarryW »

that's absolutely amazing - that amp is extremely valuable to us Heads! It's just a beautiful thing to see. Thanks for sharing!
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