The Twin Reverb has been the icon of Fender amplification for decades. It’s the one we all relate to when someone talks about the pristine and powerful tone of the golden era of Fender amps.
The Deluxe Reverb has been making history the same amount of time its bigger brother has but spent those decades more as a hidden gem than as a spearhead. It’s the kind of Fender amp guitar players worship but non-guitarists ignore completely.
What happens if you put these legends back to back? Moreover, what is it about the Twin or the Deluxe that really makes you spend that kind of money on a tube amp in the 21st century?
Well, you’re about to dive into a face-to-face test of two Fender icons.
Read on until the end. I’ll tell you which is my amp of choice and give you a plethora of tips to get your favorite tones out of them. By the end of this piece, you’ll very likely have a very precise idea about which suits your needs the best.
These two amps ARE the Fender sound. But just how do these two icons compare? Well, let’s dive in and take a (very close) look.
Fender '65 Twin Reverb
Vs.
Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb
Design
The ‘65 reissues of the Twin and the Deluxe Reverb belong to Fender’s hugely acclaimed American Vintage amp series. They’re what you know as Black Face amps; for many the golden era of Fender Amplification in the ‘60s.
In case you didn’t know, Clarence Leonidas Fender was an accounting major, an amateur pianist and saxophonist. But above it all, he loved electronics. Furthermore, he began fixing and building old radios at age 14.
The Black Face series, released in 1963 is the last one that Leo designed for his company before selling it to CBS in 1965. For many of us, that makes them the holy grail of Fender amps.
Well, both amps have that black-tolex-with-silver-grill look that’s just iconic.
The first difference you’ll notice right away is that the Twin comes equipped with the silver side legs to tilt the amp back and have it looking at you while you play. The Deluxe doesn’t feature them.
Both amps are made of birch plywood like the entire line. The Twin Reverb is a tad bigger because it needs to accommodate not one but two 12” speakers and some extra controls and valves.
Fender '65 Twin Reverb
Their control layouts are the same and both channels are named the same (Normal and Vibrato). Both amps are also available in the same black or wine red finish (check out the amps in the wine red finish here: Twin / Deluxe).
Both amps feel sturdy and well-built. The Twin is also much heavier than the Deluxe. It is sometimes even called “The Backbreaker”.
Speaking of which, let me tell you that, while working for the Fender dealer some ten years ago, we had more than one vintage Twin Reverb from the ‘60s and the ‘70s. The owners always said the same; “it’s too big”, “it’s too heavy”.
We even had one with aftermarket wheels put directly into the wood.
They eventually gathered dust next to the 4x12 Marshall cabs which came along with owners saying the exact same thing.
Eventually, we sold them to a recording studio for an amazing deal. But do you know what the owners of those Twin Reverbs took home to replace them?
Yes, that’s right! Deluxe Reverbs.
Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb
So, in today’s world, the weight of the Deluxe vs. the weight of the Twin Reverb gives us a clear winner; the Deluxe Reverb.
I’ve taken mine with one arm to a first-floor gig more than once.
Controls
The control layout of both amplifiers is identical. Each control does exactly the same on both amps.
Fender '65 Twin Reverb - Controls
Both amps feature two inputs on both channels. They both have an external speaker output and footswitch input at the back. Also, both channels have a Volume, and the Vibrato channel has a Speed and Intensity control on both amps. The first big difference is with the EQ controls.
There are very few differences.
The Deluxe Reverb has a 2-band EQ with controls for Bass and Treble on both channels. The Twin Reverb features a 3-band EQ on both channels. I prefer 3-band EQs because they offer much greater control over your tone than a 2-band EQ.
There's a Bright switch on both channels of the Twin Reverb. This means that the Twin has two voicing on both channels, which I feel gives it a lot more versatility.
Sound
The sound of these two amps is what made them famous. And if you think of the Fender amp sound, chances are you are thinking of one of these.
Both have that classic Fender sparkle and chime. They both have wonderfully bright highs, with buttery smooth lows, and those distinctly Fender scooped mids.
At 85 watts, with two speakers, the Twin Reverb is much louder than the Deluxe’s 22 watts, single speaker. But that’s not all, because the Twin Reverb pushes the power amp section with big, 25-watt valves, a quartet of 6l6s.
If you plug a Stratocaster into the vibrato channel and play your amp at 2 or less, with the bass above 6, the mids around noon, and treble beyond 7, what you get is a pristine clean, percussive, and full sound that would make Dick Dale proud.
Furthermore, I moved from the bridge pickup to the bridge-and-middle position, and all the way to the neck, and it sounded perfect for strumming, arpeggiating, or playing clean leads with a little compression.
With humbuckers, the sound got so big Noel Gallagher called me up to see if I could join the Oasis reunion tour and play just open chords! Lol, jokes apart, the sound is arena-big but remains clean until you push it to unbearable volume levels and it starts to break up magically.
Yes, the tone of the Twin Reverb when it’s below 3 is so clean and powerful it’s hard to stop playing. And it loves overdrive and distortion pedals. The midrange of the Tube Screamer became razor-sharp and just glorious. A Tech21 Double Drive on top of that and the thick, creamy distortion was almost too buttery and beautiful to be real.
The Deluxe Reverb, on the other hand, has a pair of smaller, 7.5-watt 6v6 valves. This gives the Deluxe a much more manageable volume in most scenarios but also allows you to play with your picking hand’s intensity to generate different textures.
Don’t get me wrong, both amps are super responsive to the picking hand, but with the Deluxe Reverb in 4 or 5, you can get sweet and smooth overdrive by just changing the attack of the picking hand. If you go full-on, the amp gets angry, but if you’re gentle, the amp cleans up nicely.
The same happens with the volume knob of your guitar.
With the Strat, and playing at the same volume level as the Twin Reverb (the Twin’s 2 is the Deluxe’s 5 approximately), I could get a mild, nice overdrive by just hitting harder. The tone cleaned up a lot when playing gentler.
My Strat plugged into the Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb.
The different valves used in the power section is not a detail. You have to drive 6l6s much harder to get them to overdrive. This makes the Twin Reverb seem like it has infinite headroom. The edge-of-breakup volume of the Twin is sincerely deafening. I can’t think of any modern scenario in which you could push those valves to that volume.
Plus, the open-back cabinet with dual 12” speakers moves way more air, and the feeling of loudness coming from the Twin is huge. It makes a pushed Deluxe Reverb sound tiny next to its humongous tone.
I tried the same humbucker-equipped guitar and the open chords but Noel didn’t ring me for that Oasis spot unless I played the Twin. Jokes apart (again) the humbuckers were only pristine when rolling off the volume but gave me a round, punchy overdriven sound great for rhythm playing.
Another big difference here is that, while the Deluxe Reverb comes with a 5u4g rectifier valve, the Twin Reverb features solid state rectification. At low volume, this difference is not something you’ll notice.
Nevertheless, as you push the amp, the authentic and amazing “sag” effect of the inefficient rectification makes a stellar appearance in the Deluxe. Yes, it’s a trademark of the Deluxe and the Princeton Reverb, but not for this version of the Twin Reverb.
But all that I said above doesn’t at all mean the Deluxe is soft.
You can still take this amp to any venue and it will be loud. In fact, plenty of guitarists like Eric Johnson use a Deluxe for live performances.
Turning up the volume, these amps start to break up quite nicely. Both amps just have this wonderful vintage crunch when you crank them.
I think the Deluxe is much more prone to that edge-of-breakup sound because of its controlled loudness The Twin, on the other hand, is the best clean and powerful pedal platform I can think of because of its seemingly infinite headroom.
The Twin Reverb’s Bright control helps to give it an extra boost when you need it. On high volume, the Bright control gives the amp a bit more bite.
But where I feel the Bright control really helps is on lower volumes. It just pushes the amp’s tone a bit forward, making it stand out more. It’s like cranking the “Presence” knob on an old Marshall head. It gives the amp an edge to cut through the mix and reach the forefront easier.
With the Bright off, you still have a lot of brightness, the tone is just a bit more mellow and rounded. This is great if you don’t need to give the amp a push, like with jazz or blues.
The Vibrato channel on both amps is equally impressive. You can have a slow, pulsing or quickfire, tremolo-like vibrato, and everything in between.
The Vibrato channel also has some more dirt to it because of the extra gain stage the reverb requires. This means that you can get a meaner drive sound through the Vibrato channel.
As for pedals, both amps have no problem with a pedalboard running through them.
If you want a totally clean platform at band volume with a loud drummer, then the Twin is just perfect, heavy and big, but perfect. The Deluxe will always add a little grit in that scenario, when you push it beyond 5.
Which Amp Should You Choose?
The easy answer is both. Both of these amps are simply fantastic, and choosing one over the other is impossible. If you have the chance and the budget, well, “both” is the right answer.
The long answer is it depends. The Twin Reverb is slightly more versatile than the Deluxe and its sound is a bit more rounded.
That said, because of its volume, size and weight, it might be too much of a hassle to carry around to gigs and practice. And unless you play at huge venues, it will probably be too loud for most.
I would say that the Twin Reverb is the perfect studio amp, and the Deluxe Reverb is the perfect live amp. The Twin can be kept in a studio where it doesn’t need to be moved too often, while the Deluxe can easily be carried around.
Moreover, both amps sound very similar. Thus, you’d be taking the same kind of audio you use in your studio to any live gigs in a much more comfortable package. That’s why, in an ideal scenario, “both” is the perfect answer.
If I had to choose between the two, I would probably choose the Deluxe. It just makes more practical sense for an average guitarist. It sounds stellar, it's portable, and can give you different tones and flavors to play with besides taking pedals very well.
The Deluxe Reverb is, definitely, my desert-island amp. This hidden gem of Fender Amplification is the new Holy Grail in present times in which lower volume and small size are two big pros for any amp.
Why Choose a Fender Amp?
Fender’s legendary tube amps have been mainstays of live stages and recording studios for the better part of a century.
Most guitar players are familiar with the Fender logo thanks to its appearance on some of the most famous guitars ever played. The image of Jimi Hendrix wielding his Fender Stratocaster like a deadly weapon is indelibly etched into rock history.
Fender knew that his revolutionary electric guitar would need an amp appropriate for the instrument. Some early guitar players plugged straight into PAs or home stereos, but Leo Fender designed amplifiers for his instruments.
The Twin Reverb and Deluxe Reverb both owe their popularity to the period of heightened post-war innovation at Fender Musical Instruments.
This was their “Tweed phase,” when the company draped their amps in a tweed-like cloth covering, giving them a distinctive look and a superior sound to just about every other amp on the market.
For example, Keith Richards, producer Andy Watt, and many other elite players still get their sounds from tweed-era Twin Amps live and in the studio.
Fender amplifiers were, for the first wave of guitar players, the original sound of electric guitar.
This tone, chiming, clean, and with plenty of volume, changed music as we know it. If you’ve heard early American rock and roll, jazz, surf music, or electric blues, the sound you’re thinking of is likely a Fender tweed amp.
Furthermore, the Marshall Plexi, the amp that the iconic Hendrix Strat was plugged into, comes from a Fender design. Indeed, Jim Marshall received a Fender Bassman and based his classic design on it. Afterward, the inability to find 6l6 valves in the UK forced him to use el34s, which gave birth to the “brown” sound and the huge tones of ‘70s arena rock.
But that’s a whole different story, maybe for another time.
Back to Fender legends, this is why the Deluxe Reverb and Twin Reverb are so popular. They capture the volume, power, looks, and sound of the old-school Fender amps that defined an era and add to it all the pristine-clean tones, drippy reverb, and otherworldly tremolo of the ‘60s Black Face Fender amps.
If you want stellar, celestial cleans, play it clean and enjoy, and if you want rock just push the volume.
The other thing guitar players, particularly younger players in the modern era, love about Fender amps is how well they respond to pedals. Some amplifiers only work well with some pedals. Some (like some Marshall amps) don’t take pedals well at all.
All the classic Fender amplifiers react very well to just about any tone-shaping pedal. Overdrive? No problem. Modulation? Easy! Echo? Fender virtually invented spring reverb, no trouble at all.
The classic tone and the possibility to play with just about any pedal you can think of keeps Fender’s amplifiers at the forefront of the market to this day.
In my experience as a player touring in bars and small venues, it’s odd to walk onto any stage and NOT spot an amp with a Fender logo waiting for you. Furthermore, finding it there is a nice feeling. You just know about their reliability and sound forecast for a great night of playing.
Moreover, the Hot Rod Series by Fender is, for some, the most rented backline tube amp today.
Well, the American Vintage line is the best you can hope for. Believe me, you know you made it past the underground scene when you outdo Hot Rods; when you walk on that stage and there’s a Deluxe Reverb waiting for you, or a Twin Reverb in a larger venue.
Although some modern players might prefer their DAWs and plugins, for many of us - myself included - you just can’t beat the sound of a genuine tube amp and thick, dense tone.
It’s all about getting your dream tone out of your head and into your ears. Fender amps help do that.
Verdict
The Fender Twin Reverb and Deluxe Reverb have been the choice of countless guitarists for six decades.
On one hand, the times in which bigger was better and loud amps were the most common thing to play in venues, the Twin Reverb was the Fender amp to judge them all by.
Nowadays, in times of volume restriction and smaller places, the Deluxe Reverb rises as the perfect replacement, the heir to the throne the Twin is too big and loud to occupy.
Both will give you that amazing Fender tone that can be compressed, scooped, and at the verge of breakup or pristine clean with enough headroom to remain stellarly clear and compete with a loud drummer at the same time.
Compact and Manageable
I think the Deluxe Reverb makes more sense for most people. Aside from the lower price, it offers a more manageable size, higher portability, and the ability to achieve desirable tube-driven tones at lower volumes. So, if you live in an apartment, have a home studio, want to practice at home, and you gig often taking the amp with you, the Deluxe Reverb is the best option of the two.
If You Don't Mind the Size
On the other hand, if you want a big amp that can give you enough headroom to remain clean at drummer volumes without losing the chime and richness of valve tone (have a roadie to take it for you or a lot of friends to help you carry it) or want an amp to leave at your studio to use it as a tool, then the Twin Reverb might suit the bill better.
Finally, I think the Deluxe Reverb is a great choice in the 21st Century. I am yet to try an IR that not only sounds, but feels like playing a tube amp with the quality of these two.
I have a feeling that we won’t be seeing these two legendary amps going out of style any time soon, and honestly, that thought makes me happy.
Happy (Fender tube amp) playing!
How would a Super Reverb compare with the Twin and Deluxe? I have mid-sixties versions of all three. I think for me, the Super comes out on top, though weight wise, the Deluxe does have its appeal. I play clean, mostly country and with pedal.
Great review. Just a heads up though. Blackface Deluxe has two 6V6 in the power section, not four as you mentioned.
Thanks for the heads up, Steve. It was a slip up, and it’s fixed now!
All the 60’s & 70’s twin and deluxe reverb amps sound great , be it black or silver face . There is really only one choice when it comes to buying a guitar and amp and that choice is Fender !
Adore my Deluxe Reverb (think it’s reissue ~1972?). Sweet spot is around setting 4. Blues Tubes & Celestion Vintage. Having useful life of 20 years, gotta have capacitors replaced – ALL of them – even the pea-sized ones. My had master volume put on Twin Reverb. That amp long gone. IMO, the ” Twin” only appropriate for the big stage.
How do they work on a fender bass ?
Neither are suitable for bass guitar
How do you get the true ac/dc tone on the twin reverb… which pedals ???
You can check this out: https://guitarstrive.com/angus-young-amp-settings/
I have a 61 Twin (no reverb) and a 68 transition model, still sporting a black face.
The 61 was quite modified when I got it. That gave me the go ahead to experiment. It now has a pair of Yellow Jackets in it lowering the power to 15 watts. I then doubled the resistance of the speakers by loading two late 60’s Celestion alnicos. Virtually this is a Vox AC15 Twin without a tube rectifier. Great sounding amp.
The 68 is stock as far as I know. Both have their place and tone. I am so fortunate to have these amps but as I get older, they get heavier!
I have the Silver Face reissued “68 Custom Fender Twin Reverb” and an original vintage drip edge Silver Face 1970 Fender Twin Reverb. Both having their own character and sound. Both powerful, and loud amps. But I prefer the 1970 vintage. I would put that amp up against any of the new amps out there on the market today.
Mike I bought a new Twin in 76 and immediately sold the Jensens and loaded 2 JBL’S. That was one screaming beautiful rig. Traded it in 78 for a Marshall 1/2 stack which I still have. Love the Marshall but really regret letting that Twin go. I get my Fender fix with Princeton now. Wonder if you have my old twin?
I have both , Twin and Deluxe plus their Princeton… Each has their place… Each has their own distinctive sound and totally rock… The three greats in my opinion and I’ve played since 1965…
I’ve had my ’77 Twin for 20 yrs now, and weight be damned I’ll keep lugging it!! Interesting enough, the undercarriage is marked “Experimental #1” which even has my amp tech stumped. It was missing the Master Control so I had him throw one in. I also got a more midrange preamp tube as well as an extra bass one. This amp purrs at low volume and when it is let loose look the duck out!! Great article, thanks!
Would be into a review of mid power amps (50/60W)
Very interesting observation. I currently have a mid 70s Fender Twin with JBL speakers in it. It can get mean and then it can get MEAN, if you know what I mean! I have played through a Fender Deluxe before and it will be my next purchase. I play a ‘74 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, a ‘73 Fender Telecaster Custom, and a ‘95 Fender Stratocaster with Lace pickups. Going to swap the lace pickups out for ‘62s soon. Thanks for your input.
I have a original drip edge fender twin stock. I love it best amp ever made my opinion.