I bought this one year ago, after having used a vintge 70s one in the studio for recording my album. Tube amp iso a must for me, as i only use analogue effects.
Sound: like most Fender tube amps, this sounds PERFECT. Clean all the way through volume level 4, slightly crunchy at 5-6, distorted after 7. This amp does NOT have a distorted/crunchy/overdrive channel, this gets done the old fashioned way, adjusting the volume level. I use it at 4, which is still clean, but very bright, but my sound is enhanced permanently using an Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS9) at 20% gain. I use the Vibrato channel, as i just love the reverb ( real spring reverb!) and i keep it at level 3. I don't really use the tremolo effect on the amp, i find it a bit too soft (using a Marshall tremolo pedal instead).
I use a Fender Jaguar and a Gibson LP, the amp sounds really perfect with both single coils and with humbuckers. When i switch from the Jaguar to the Gibson, i just turn Treble up from 5 to 6, and Bass down from 6 to 5.
I use it at home now, i don't play in a band these days. I use it through a Koch Dummybox Home (and a Vox mini-amp at rhe end) to play through headphones most of the times. I imagine that using this for small gigs, for me at leadt, would surely need amplification, as you cannot crank it up too much if you want to keep it sounding clean (as it does not have a Clean channel); so i would keep it at volume 4, which gives the sound i need, and amplify it (maybe with the dummyload!).
I'm not rating this 5 for features and handling as it is not really for everyone, anyone. No loop circuit for effects rig, no overdrive channel, the Power and Stand-by switches are in the back (but you get the hang of that in a coupke of weeks), and it is pretty heavy for only 22W. BUT that is all in the name of keeping it identical to the original Deluxe, and rhe result is pretty good, my guitars sound the same as through the vintage one that got me into Deluxe Reverb in the firrst place.
