The brown face era Fender Deluxe amp was a short-lived but the more so legendary amp in the Fender line-up. It spanned the transition from the Tweed Deluxe to the Deluxe Reverb, all of which are mainstays in studios and live to this day.
The Brown Deluxe 6G3 circuit excells equally well in the clean and edge of breakup department, as well as in the crunch and drive gain ranges. It is incredibly well balanced and makes the transition from clean to dirt a lot of fun, as it has nice amount of compression and touch sensitivity that allows the user to play with it’s dynamics easily.
It has a unique bite and chewy quality that results in a very complex and musical tone which brings out the best in humbuckers and single coils alike. Lots of harmonics, even when clean(ish) and when you crank it up, it delivers a very good foundation for rhythm style crunchy chords or a great basis for rock style riffing.
ZZ-Top’s Donw Brownie would be one of the most accurate recorded references with the 6G3 and humbuckers – it delivers that driven, detailed yet smooth tone easily.
A deceptively simple amp that is extremely versatile. This model has been used to great extent by many legends in very different roles, but it is most known for its use by ZZ-Top. It will equally feel at home with Mark Knopfler style strat runs on the cleanish department or fork out some of the best classic rock rhythm tones you can find in any amp.