Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb

Used a 1996 USA Lonestar Strat & a series of guitar effect pedals going into the front of the amps custom channel with bass on 10, treble on 6.5 & volume between 4-6 in a smokey hotel bar residency 5 nights per week in Dubai - United Arab Emirates.

Played in 4 piece band (bass, drums, guitar, female vocals & backing tracks) Rock, Jazz, Reggae, Blues, Dance, Top 40 Chart hits music for 6 months. Set up the amp and kept it in the same place. Everything worked perfectly even when the hotels fire alarm shut all the power off on the stage randomly every 2 months without warning - The amp would always start back up again.

More than a year later with the same tubes and still sounds great. Only once has the amps fuse blown because it was plugged into a intermittent power supply.

This is a good 'workhorse' general purpose amplifier.

Pros:
1. Super clean tone
2. High quality reverb & vibrato can be used on both channels
3. Relatively lightweight & compact
4. Breaks up nicely at around 50% volume
5. Loud enough to keep up with a mature drummer(who doesn't bash the kit)
6. Looks beautiful

Cons:
1. No effect loop for external delays, reverbs etc
2. When micing the amp to a live mixing desk or for recording, it has a small hissing sound even with all volume & tone controls turned down and without any cables plugged in.

I love this amp..Perfect for pub and club gigs playing anything from classic rock, country and blues. i find it has just the right amount of power to get that classic fender breakup sound at small gig volumes.. back the volume off on your guitar and get great twin type tones.. if you have not used amps without pre-amp gain controls before you need to learn to use your guitar volume to control the gain or simply put an overdrive or distortion in front of it... they sound great with pedals.i use an ABY pedal to switch between the 2 channels or run both at the same time. both channels have different characteristics. custom channel is bassman sounding, vintage is more twin. having had twins and devilles in the past..its a joy to carry this amp. very small in weight but big in sound..

As a professional guitarist who plays a Gibson R9, I have mixed feelings about the Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb. The sound is undeniably impressive—warm, rich, and full of that signature "tube" character. It captures even the subtlest nuances of my playing beautifully, making every note come alive with expression.

However, the build quality could use some refinement. Certain details feel slightly underwhelming for an amplifier at this level. Another drawback is the volume potentiometer. Its sensitivity doesn’t allow for easy adjustments at low volumes, which is frustrating for home practice or smaller gigs.

While the amp shines in live performances, delivering stellar tones and dynamics, I’d love to see Fender address the flexibility in volume control to make it more versatile. All in all, it’s an impressive amplifier with room for improvement. 🎸 Let me know if there’s more you’d like to add! 😊

When I got the amp and plugged it in the first time there was a lot of noise, hissing and humming. If you turn up the reverb there was even more noise.
The tremolo is completely unusable, sounds nothing like tremolo but more like a helicopter.

I swapped out the reverb tube and after that the noise reduced from the reverb but the amp itself is still very noisy. And there is not a whole lot of reverb on tap even when it's set high.

Otherwise it sounds alright but it's really puzzling that a company like fender would sell an amp in this condition for 1000 euros+

Not quite sure where it's all coming from but there are a lot of noises (crackling sounds when turned on, pop sounds when the standby is turned off) and hiss when nothing is plugged in that are a common complaint with this amp on reviews. Now, if so many users are saying it's there, does that mean it's normal for this amp?

Is that a quality control issue? I put three stars for verarbeitung but with a question mark. just not sure what to think of the noises. As far as cosmetics, no complaint, it's stunning.

That being said.... wow, once you actually start playing and the littles noises are thus burried, it sounds fabulous! The concept is great, the channels are really different in character and if they could build it flawlessly, it's a winner. I do recommend it.

Lots of people seem to prefer this one to the DRRI.

I was deciding between this, and the Blonde Tonemaster Deluxe. as well as Bassman Tonemaster. To me, this one is absolutely worth the higher price. When you turn it up, the low-end is beautiful, there's a glassiness and a little natural compression to the sound but also a ton of dynamics.

Even though, I've never been a purist, I love how it's a fully mechanical amp, with zero digital processing. It just inspires you to play more.

You can jump channels for more tones, or get an A/B/Y switcher to switch between channels or use both at the same time.

There were a few screws that had to be tightened to stop the rattling.

I had a lot of amplifiers. I often trade them, looking for the right sound ... and finally, I found it. 68 deluxe is custom guitar amplifier that can do everything. With this amplifier can cover all styles of known and unknown music. Custom channel phenomenal cooperate with guitar pedal effects and vintage channel has the right fender clean with reverb and vibbratom-controlled lamps. The right of all tube amplifier in the real sense of the word. Ingenious Celestion built into this amplifier G1270. TOP peaks. And what is very important to me, it's nothing that can more easily take amplifier on the one hand and on the other hand guitar. Everything in one go and brilliant tone, Thanks Thomann