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The entire last Strand of Oaks album was recorded on a JC120 and it has some of my favorite dirty indie type guitar tones of all time. I felt weird typing indie type guitar tones, but in my mind that's a good description.

The tech might be the problem. I purchased a peavey head a few months ago, took it to a tech. He looked at it and said he did something to fix the problem. It made the problem a little better, but not fixed. Took it to a different guy who fixed it for cheaper and quicker than the first guy.

Hmmm... I'm not really a tube kinda guy. All my amps are SS, and my Ampeg G-212 can really shine with dirt. It's not crystalline like a JC, but pretty close. And, it's FRIGGIN' LOUD. Loudest 2x12 I've ever played. Anything above 4 on the volume is shaking the rafters. It's heavy too, so a bit of a bastard to move around, but pretty well bulletproof.

If ever you come across one at a decent price, do yourself a favor, and jump on it. You won't be disappointed.

I also picked up an old Kustom Lead III SC head at an estate sale about a year ago. Now, they don't have the greatest reputation, and for good reason. The soldering work in these amps wasn't exactly the best, which meant for the most part, there were a lot of failures. But, I put it on the bench, and did some simple mods and upgrades work, and this amp is quite respectable. Does everything from squeaky clean, to very gritty dirt, very well indeed. Another really loud amp too, with a quality pair of 12's.

Anyway, just my two bit. Lots of great amps out there. I just don't need the hassle of tubes, and I ALWAYS play dirty as well.

Fix and/or sell it, get a BF or SF early 70s version. Just make sure you have it recapped, and it has grounded power cord etc before you take it on the road. They're so much better built than the RIs IMO.

Also, food for thought....combo amps in general are more prone to problems than head+cab combinations, due to the inverted amp chassis. The heat from the tubes and transformers rises up into the chassis and everything runs hotter than an amp with bottom-mounted chassis and upright-socketed tubes. A lot of Fender heads are top-mounted as well...but you can easily flip it upside down and still access the controls.

In fact, I'd recommend looking into aa Bassman or Bandmaster plus a cab of your choosing. They take pedals well and are remarkably robust...obviously requiring typical PM but they are known for having the potential to outlast their users! Or maybe just mount a DR chassis into a headshell?

Even better. Look for a used Peavey Classic 50 4x10, it's around $350 out there. Sell your Deluxe like I did :-)

Price range? Not to turn this into a cork sniffing TGP thread, but I've heard nothing but good things about the Tone King Imperial. It's basically the best bf Deluxe you've ever had. Pricey as hell but built like a tank and a amp that lasts forever. Saw a recent coffee and riffs and the dude was playing one and raved about its sound a durability.

Personally, I wouldn't write off Fender completely. My Deluxe has been solid but you can always get a lemon. How much headroom do you need?

This may seem like a dumb question but have you had a tech look at it yet? I ask only because there's lots of DiY people out there which is awesome but sometimes you need that extra experience. Any tech worth his or her salt should provide a guarantee to their work. Depending on how old your amp is it could still be under warranty, but that could be more trouble than it's worth.

scienceman wrote: It has to be tube.

scienceman wrote:Idk I think my tech is pretty good.

it's like you sometimes don't even read the thread, people

Not to spit on Fender btw, but I've heard about newer Fenders breaking quite a lot. Hot Rods go bad like socks apparently
All sourness aside - if you're not in a hurry, I'd try the JC-120 for sure if I were you. It's a great little amp and stays CLEAN, I also quite enjoy the Vibrato on it

The Ampeg might work for you as well, especially if you're really sold on getting a tube amp. But I'd probably try it before buying if I were you, even more so than the Roland. Clean headroom is one thing, the sound is another, the character might not be your thing, you know how it goes... at least with the Roland I feel like that's sort of a ... reference amp in a lot of ways. Pretty "blank canvas", you know? Not too much "tone colouration" and whatnot as the Ampeg might have? Makes sense?

scienceman wrote:

sonidero wrote:If it doesn't Have to be tube I'd suggest a JC-120 cause they clean as hell and loud and reliable and has indie mojos...

I've never tried a jc-120 but I'm worried about getting a super huge fuzz sound out of a non-tube amp.

Zero issue there with a JC-120 or any midgrade or higher SS amp generally - keep in mind that most people's impressions of SS amps are that they're all the same because of 10 watt Crate and Gorilla POS junkers.

If I went by that for tube stuff, I'd judge them all by vintage godawfulterrible Valcos and Harmony amps and use nothing but SS!

DarkAxel wrote:

scienceman wrote: It has to be tube.

scienceman wrote:Idk I think my tech is pretty good.

Not to spit on Fender btw, but I've heard about newer Fenders breaking quite a lot. Hot Rods go bad like socks apparently

Nah, there's just more of them out there than *any* modern combo.

They're touring staples for people because they don't die.

I'd also be looking at the Fender warranty if there's an issue, should be five years and they should be fixing it on their dime.

All sourness aside - if you're not in a hurry, I'd try the JC-120 for sure if I were you. It's a great little amp and stays CLEAN, I also quite enjoy the Vibrato on it

The Ampeg might work for you as well, especially if you're really sold on getting a tube amp. But I'd probably try it before buying if I were you, even more so than the Roland. Clean headroom is one thing, the sound is another, the character might not be your thing, you know how it goes... at least with the Roland I feel like that's sort of a ... reference amp in a lot of ways. Pretty "blank canvas", you know? Not too much "tone colouration" and whatnot as the Ampeg might have? Makes sense?

Yea, also (and it may be simply because of the age of them), the Ampegs were death in bad straights paperweights when I looked at them in the 80s and early 90s. Couldn't give 'em away because of that. Maybe all the bad ones lit themselves on fire.

Also a case of I wouldn't expect the same pedals to sound good out of an Ampeg vs. Deluxe - the JC will at least take stuff in the same ballpark as the preamp on the JC is relatively close soundwise to a basic Fender BF/SF type amp.

my two cents...if you really like the sound of the DRRI then I would stick with that. I don't know what problems you are having but a DRRI is a pretty simple amp that should be easily repaired. I have had a DRRI for about ten years and have never had any problems. I don't move it around a lot though. I also have a JC-120. I much prefer to carry the DRRI.

Depending where you live and what kind of used amp options you have....
maybe try to find a Lab Series solid state amp?

I have a Lab Series L7, which has four 10" speakers. The L5 has two 12" and
the tone stack and feel is in the "Fender" ballpark, but... solid state. The
thing I love about my amp is the semi-parametric Mid sweep. This can help
fine-tune a fuzz or OD pedal for optimal carnage, or if you plug an acoustic
guitar into the amp this Mid-shift EQ can dial out feedback.

The reverb is not as intense as Fender amps. No tremolo. So I bought pedals
for both those functions.

Just an idea.

The Roland JC-120 is a beast of an amp. Clean for days, the chorus/vibrato
is awesome. But they are unwieldy and heavy. Moving them is sort of like
moving a futon. It's not only the weight, but the awkwardness of the weight
that has to be dealt with. But for a clean machine.... JC-120 is awesome.

JC-120 you go casters, all day.

Any 2x12 combo, really. JC-120 is just built to genuinely survive the rigors of the road back in the days when bands were bands and hairspray was hairspray!

The Labs are alright, but finding one for a reasonable price is difficult.

I live basically in the middle of nowhere so unless I want a ac15 or hot rod fender I won't be able to try before I buy. Price range is around $600-$700. I've looked into the Jazz chorus and I don't think its for me. I don't know what it is, and It could just be me being a tube snob. I get why people say it is a blank canvas but it feels too empty to me. I'm still liking the idea of a v-series ampeg. I just worry about buying a 40 year old amp without trying it first.

Let me throw out another option: SF Bassman 50 or 100 head and 2x12 cab of your choice. The SF Bassman guitar circuit sounds really quite good and has a lot of headroom; makes a great pedal platform. I've had 3 of them over the years, they are great amps. It is worthwhile to take it to a tech and have him convert it to variable bias instead of fixed.

What about the Fender PA135 up in BST?

JC120 cleans are boring to me. But I like the way the distortion and fuzz boxes sound, better than through my Twin Reverb.