Fender Blues Deluxe/Deville Reissue Combo Master Volume Mod
I was recently approached by a client complaining that his BDDR needed to be truned up to get a good "bite" to the tone. The problem with this is that it was way too loud for the clubs he was playing in as well as the rest of the band always complaining that the guitar was too loud. As a guitarist, you hate hearing this because in order to get a good tone out of most amps you need to "turn it up".
The reason this problem occurs is becasue the preamp stage is not being driven hard enough before hitting the power stage. More tone needs to be generated in the preamp stage to get a good touch response and bite. In order to achieve this I attempted a Master Volume addition to the amp. One of the first problems I see with this amp is that the Master Volume is actually BYPASSED when the channels are switched. So really you dont actually have a Master volume, you have two channels, each with thier own volume. This started my search through the signal chain to find a good place to stick a Master Volume that actually worked correctly.
After some searching and testing, I found the sweet spot. If you place a 1M audio taper pot right before R40 (220k), we get some stunning results. You need to pull the main board out and then the main tube socket board in order to access the wiring and make the change. Its a bit of work, but worth it.
Take an xacto blade and score the ribbon cable PW3A-2 wire. Score the ribbon between the wires making sure not to cut into the wire. Un-solder the wire from the board and free it up. Then un-solder the RIBBON SIDE of R40 leaving the other side soldered to the board. connect some three conductor wire (shielded is preferred for noise control but not necessary - at this stage in the circuit, noise isnt as big of an issue). On the other end of the wire connect one wire to the center pole (#2 post) or wiper of the pot and the other wire to one of the other pot terminals (#1 terminal). Now connect the third terminal to the third wire and run it to a ground lug on the chassis.
You can now drill a hole between the preamp tubes and mount the pot. It fits right in between the two tubes.
I would replace the circuit boards with a couple screws and test before reassembling. Once everything is good, reassemble the amp.
With this new mod in place, you will find much more string sensitivity and preamp compression. However, PLEASE BE AWARE...as you reduce the Master Volume you will NOT be reducing the blend of the reverb since the MV is placed in parallel to the reverb signal path. You will notice that the reverb will be minimal. I have thought about moving the master volume AFTER R40 AND R38 to see if it fixes this, but my client loved the tone so much he didnt want to change anything. So I left it alone.
If you have any question shoot me an email at jon@awesometone.com
Good luck in achiveing your desired tone!
Jon
The reason this problem occurs is becasue the preamp stage is not being driven hard enough before hitting the power stage. More tone needs to be generated in the preamp stage to get a good touch response and bite. In order to achieve this I attempted a Master Volume addition to the amp. One of the first problems I see with this amp is that the Master Volume is actually BYPASSED when the channels are switched. So really you dont actually have a Master volume, you have two channels, each with thier own volume. This started my search through the signal chain to find a good place to stick a Master Volume that actually worked correctly.
After some searching and testing, I found the sweet spot. If you place a 1M audio taper pot right before R40 (220k), we get some stunning results. You need to pull the main board out and then the main tube socket board in order to access the wiring and make the change. Its a bit of work, but worth it.
Take an xacto blade and score the ribbon cable PW3A-2 wire. Score the ribbon between the wires making sure not to cut into the wire. Un-solder the wire from the board and free it up. Then un-solder the RIBBON SIDE of R40 leaving the other side soldered to the board. connect some three conductor wire (shielded is preferred for noise control but not necessary - at this stage in the circuit, noise isnt as big of an issue). On the other end of the wire connect one wire to the center pole (#2 post) or wiper of the pot and the other wire to one of the other pot terminals (#1 terminal). Now connect the third terminal to the third wire and run it to a ground lug on the chassis.
You can now drill a hole between the preamp tubes and mount the pot. It fits right in between the two tubes.
I would replace the circuit boards with a couple screws and test before reassembling. Once everything is good, reassemble the amp.
With this new mod in place, you will find much more string sensitivity and preamp compression. However, PLEASE BE AWARE...as you reduce the Master Volume you will NOT be reducing the blend of the reverb since the MV is placed in parallel to the reverb signal path. You will notice that the reverb will be minimal. I have thought about moving the master volume AFTER R40 AND R38 to see if it fixes this, but my client loved the tone so much he didnt want to change anything. So I left it alone.
If you have any question shoot me an email at jon@awesometone.com
Good luck in achiveing your desired tone!
Jon