Fender '57 Custom Deluxe 1x12" 12-watt Tube Combo Amp Reviews

I have had soooo many amps! This amp is magic. There are lots of boutique amps going after this circut and they are fine. Until this recent iteration I was not ready to jump in. I had owned 1950's Fender amps - loved the tone but the age took its toll on them. Except for a 1957 Tweed Twin I owned that was like new! A friend (MUCH better player than I) demanded I sell it to him for his studio. I sold it for what I paid for it with the caveat that if he EVER sells it - it's to me for the same amount. Still in his Studio over 40 years later. I hope I'm in the Will...
This sounds as good and reacts just like the vintage ones I've played. Couldn't be happier.

If you like Fender tone, you will love this amp.

Fimally, Fender does the Tweed Deluxe properly! It sounds RIGHT!
I was taken back by how loud it is. Honestly, most times I use an attenuator to have the tone I want at home volumes.
It is a fire-breathing beast! So, so interactive. I am leaning electric guitar anew. An glad for it.

I bought one these in 2007 and sold it the next year and always regretted it. The Deluxe nails that tweed tone I love. I've retubed with NOS tubes and this amp is so sweet.

There isn't anything I can say about this amp that it hasn't said for itself over the last 65 years. It isn't just about how it sounds - but how it feels and handles as well. People often confuse tone and sound. Lots of amps sound good - but don't have feel. This handwired Deluxe has plenty of both. I've spent a long time working my way through Blackface Twin Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs, Supro Thunderbolts + Black Magicks, Mesa Cali Tweeds + Mark V, Marshall SC + JVM, Silverface Twins, Kemper Profilers... the only things to match the feel of this amp are other handwired amps like Morgan Custom Shops, Two Rocks, Dr Z or my 72 Traynor. PCB amps and modelers have their place and can be made to sound very very good - but they really aren't the same magic as having a hand build, hand wired amplifier. A lot of people argue this - some bc they personally can't hear the difference, others bc they can't afford a hand wired amp and they're just pissy about the topic bc it sucks to think that you're paying all you can pay for a piece of gear and its inferior in its construction. (I still have my Black Magick + 65 Twin RI and they're fun and nice specific sounds to use in studio - but to a/b them against the hand wired amps the feel especially is night and day.)

It is very loud for the low power rating. The cab really breathes and the speaker has a very nice bitey breakup. If you have never used one be sure to look into the schematic or how to use the volume knobs on the diff inputs to attenuate the other channel as you can get different tones and feel depending on how you adjust it. It takes pedals extremely well although there is just a certain magic going straight in to this amp. Some may say that the amp has a low amount of headroom and breaks up quick - in a band situation that is certainly true. Trying to get up over a drummer is going to take you into Fandango land quickly, especially if you are using buckers or playing on the bridge. But playing alone it does a great job of being loud enough to make smooth rounded frequencies while staying nice and sparkly. It really is the perfect amp if a person is lucky enough to get one. I pray I don't ever have to sell mine to pay the rent lol. Happy geeting!

I landed at the SXSW 2023 needing an amp so I asked Paul Leary if I could borrow an amp from him and he offered me this on loan with the expressed concern that I take the utmost care since it was brand new and spotless. I assured him that I would take good care of it and proceeded to rehearse the next day. I immediately knew that this was THE SOUND for this project (Texas Radio)! I have played many amps in my time from the best to the worst and I have never responded so immediately as I have to this amp! At a mere 12 watts it pushes sound so forcefully yet so smoothly with amazing response and attack. Trust me, it gets loud yet responds to your every whim from grace to force, from creamy to screamy but never brittle or harsh. After playing it for 3 hours, BTW the band was in awe of the sound, i put it on stand-by and came back after a drink and lo and behold nothing! No sound! Jeweled Red Light on...nobody home! Checked and tried everything but no dice. I was petrified! Paul Leary's baby died on my watch! No panic, I slept on it and called Andy Rice the next day and ordered a replacement for Paul and it was delivered the next day by noon, in time for the 1st show that night at SXSW. Paul Leary completely understood that I didn't kill his amp. Any hand made good from a Ferrari to a completely hand wired boutique amp is bound to suffer a possible human error in production but the resultant performance is astounding! Fender honors their warranty and Paul Leary trusts Sweetwater as well as I. All is forgiven and made right. I finish the scheduled performances and everybody is blown away by this little amp! Paul Leary even joins me on the stage and I get to go home with this little beast, which btw fits in any overhead compartment on a plane! Amps are like the best tools in a professional toolbox. From the transparent clarity of a JC120 or Twin to a screaming Plexi or Mark V they each have their reason both live and in studio. This little amp is the desert island sound for sure. The one I have waited for and didn't even know existed, yet heard of it's lore. Kids remember, less is more and this amp proves it! You'll never look back! Thanks Fender, Paul Leary, Andy Rice and Sweetwater!

It's hard to believe that an amp circuit that's 65 years old is unrivaled in its ability to produce such wonderful tone.
I'd like to give a shout out to Ben Stokes and the Sweetwater team for making the purchase great as usual.

I was only able to turn this amp to quiet bedroom levels the first week that I owned it. It is only able to achieve clean tones at that level, which are nice. I was able to crank the amp the following week. Holy bergibbers, this amp sounds fantastic. It rumbles. It barks. It chimes. I get it now. I will add that it is difficult to keep this amp quiet. It has an impressive amount of bass, even at low volumes; it is not a dark amp though. I own some great guitar gear and this amp is my favorite.

You don't need to read reviews to determine if this amp is worth it or not, but I still did. With 5 stars I was honestly just reading them to live vicariously through the folks lucky enough to have purchased it already while I saved up the funds to get my own. Now that I own one, and a flawless example it is, I can attest to everything I've read. Being a black face enthusiast, I wasn't sure if I'd love the tweed sound. Especially not having heard one in person before. But the moment I fired it up and played it my worries were replaced with WOW,... this amp IS the real deal. This amp has the perfect overdriven sound. If you have a ton of overdrive pedals because you love experimenting with a nice rich crunch this amp will give you exactly what you love with no pedals at all. Except maybe a reverb because who doesn't love a little bit of reverb. And while this amp can get loud it can give you those warm, rich tones at a very comfortable practice volume. Just ask my wife! No seriously, I don't get yelled at when I play in the living room anymore. And talk about playability, when I play this little amp with the big sound time stands still. If you know anything about the 5E3 circuit, I doubt you are reading this because you are on the fence about buying it, but if you don't, and you are, rest assured you won't regret owning it. Finally, I want to to give a shout out to my sales engineer Jeremiah Smith. The guy knows his stuff. And he models the level of customer service that is indicative of the Sweetwater commitment. Thank you Jeremiah I really appreciate your dedication.

I finally bought this amp. My sales representative, Will Newbill said that the amp would improve my playing and make me more touch sensitive when picking and strumming. He said that the amp being hand wired, was easier to work on, repair, change parts, maintain, etc.
I say, it's hard to believe I never knew how good this amp sounds. It is so much more pronounced in producing tone when switching pick-ups and using guitar volume and tone controls. The way it moves air and when you strum a chord you can distinctly "feel every string". Clarity with barks and howls. Pure tone straight through the amp.
I don't know I lived without it. This amp Rocks!
God bless Leo Fender…

I have dreamed about having this amp for sometime, finally purchased about 2 months ago. I have got too say the most amazing amp I have ever played through, amazing range in tone,really dont need pedals with this amp, it does take them well, a bit of a learning curve, learning too use the 2 volumes and tone on the amp and tone and volume on your guitar as well, perfect match for my Strat and Tele, which both have custom wiring and pups. Thanks goes out too my sales rep. Jordan Clohessy and all the staff at Sweetwater

This amp will change the way you play. There is nothing like the sound of a tube amp. Don't rely on pedals, change your pick attack to produce the tone you want. Great blues sound. The amp is made in the U.S.A. (huge point for me). My sales engineer Rob Amaral recommended this amp to me based on the sound that I described I wanted. Everything that Rob has researched for me has been right on the money. Hats off to Rob Amaral for exceptional customer service!

over the years I bought almost every fender amps ,mostly in the 60's . but I never had the opportunity to try one of these tweed amps my oldest being a 62 vibrolux....im very impressed by the craftsmanship of this 57 custom deluxe....it sound very good ....with these quality pieces you can say they nailed it...I tried n.o.s tubes and the tone was the same quality as my old vintage amps...but the volume was not the same...so I decide to keep the stock tubes in it and I will order the same when they ll be gone...in the owners manual the parts number of the tubes are there...(theres no brand on the tubes)....anyways if you want to step on the next level don't hesitate this amp is something else and its very loud ...ill say it is near as loud as my deluxe reverb...to finish try one if you can.... I can't explain in words the feeling this amp brings to my soul

I have never played an amp that more accurately amplifies:

1.) my playing and
2.) the sound of whatever instruments I use

than this amp. The sound is pure. The sound is organic. The sound is true. It puts out whatever I put into it in a very honest way. By simply reacting to the sounds that I hear coming out of this amp as I play, I have grown (and am still growing) so much as a musician. It puts every nuance of my playing (both good and bad) and gear choices (both good and bad) into perspective. It has shown me flaws in my playing that I didn't even know I had and then been the tool I used to correct them. It has taught me what my true tone sounds like and how to find it within my mind, body, and soul.

If you're like me, you may have never used an amp of this caliber before. For me at least, there was quite a steep learning curve. If you buy this amp and find yourself there as well: I encourage you to embrace the journey. You will not regret it. Best of luck on your journey!

Put away all of your effects pedals (except for maybe a little reverb) and learn how guitar was meant to be played with this amp. It has an endless array of clean and overdriven tones and you can truly play "by touch" to get practically any tone you want.

The three knobs (Volume/Instrument/Bright, Volume/Mic/Normal, Tone) interact with each other in mysterious and delightful ways. For example, when you are plugged into the Instrument/Bright 1 channel, you can use the volume knob of the unused channel (Volume/Mic/Normal) to thicken, attenuate, and increase clean headroom (there are great YouTube videos that describe how to do this). You can jump the channels (e.g. connect Instr/Bright 2 and Mic/Normal 1 channels with cable) to thicken the tone and get a beautiful, resonant bottom end.

Importantly, this amp lets you discover how to use your guitar volume knob to go from beautiful cleans at guitar Volume 2-4, to rich and complex cleans on the edge of breakup where you can get distortion simply by picking harder ("touch sensitivity") at guitar Volume 5-8, to raucous, AC/DC-type distortion at guitar Volume 9-10. Get lost for hours in finding different tone sweet spots by adjusting the three amp knobs and then the volume, tone, and pickup selector controls on your guitar.

Additional thoughts:
- This amp gets loud starting at Volume 2, gets a bit louder from Volume 3-6, and then just saturates thereafter. This is evidently how the original vintage amps worked.
- 12-watts is ideal because you can really push the amp in home basements and at small gigs. The sound is unreal when cranked up!
- Run this amp at full volume (2+) and then adjust volume on your guitar. I initially used an expensive active load attenuator to reduce the volume of the amp and this works okay. But you will find that much of the magic of this amp happens when the tubes are pushed, when the speaker is pushing lots of air, and when the cabinet is resonating at higher volumes.
- Resist changing tubes/speaker and just immerse yourself in this amp. It is epic right out of the box.
- This amp is worth every penny. You can get a 5e3 clone for less money, but why not get the real thing and keep it for the rest of your life? In addition to epic tone, it is aesthetically beautiful and like a piece of art.
- Run this amp in parallel with clean amps like Vox AC15/AC30 and/or Fender Super Reverb and get massive sound.

Get this amp and learn how guitar was meant to be played!

I love this amp. Playing a Nash Strat with Fralin p/ups, Nash Tele with lollars, new Fender professional strat, a 73' SG with tarbacks...it doesn't matter what you play through this amp it has magic in the tone. That's no exaggeration. Maybe it's the tube rectifier... maybe it's hand wiring... maybe it's the 12" special designed speaker..whatever it is, it has at. The sound is full, deep, clear and dynamic. This amp will make you sound better and the tone will inspire you to play your guitar. Been playing 37 years and I can't stop playing through this every chance I get. It makes mundane chords and progressions shine. I also have a 62' gretch Chet Atkins and a supro comet. This makes the supro sound harsh and sterile. The Gretch sounds awesome but is temperamental and old and big. This thing sounds marginally better and it's small light and new! What more can a say? Well worth 2k Fender is charging for this magical amp. Thanks to Ray who convinced me to get this over the champ!

I have been buying from Kevin Scott since 2007. Kevin has been a solid and outstanding support person in helping me with a new PA system, guitars, basses, and all of the accessories to boot. I am saying this up front as I have never written a review and felt I had better start. Kevin deserves that and I apologize for waiting so long. I just took ownership of my new Tweed 57 Deluxe. It is amazing without any pedals and what do ya know it works great with pedals too. My 2 strats sound really good thru it but my Butterscotch Tele really shines with this amp. I can get any sound with this combo.I am beyond happy!!!! Thanks Kevin for all your help and my Bandmates sure Love the PA you assisted me with. Looking forward to continuing our business with you and Sweetwater!!!!

'50s Fender amps are legendary. This reissue is no exception. Vintage amps are great but, they come with a baggage. Old transformers, capacitors. Transformers are prone to fry after so many warm-up cool down cycles. Capacitors get old, dry out, short and blow up. I prefer a good sounding new amp, how ever most new amps fail to capture the vintage quality of sound and the vibe. This amp is an exception. I got the limited edition knotty alder. It came with a Celestion Greenback 25w Made in China speaker. I bought this amp without truly testing it. It sounded good at the shop with a tele at a really high volume. At my house it sounded realy bad at low volumes. Shame on Fender! Almost took the amp back. An expensive amp like this with a China made speaker! I took a chance and replaced the speaker with a Celestion Heritage 20watt Greenback hand made in England. What a difference. This amp is the tone holly grail. Most magnificent clean tone and variety of them. I also own a vintage blackface Twin. Till now I thought nothing could beat my Twin. If you can afford this amp just buy it. The only amp you need. ( I have a GT 12AT7 at V2. 12AX7 at V1)

This is a great amp. I had swapped out the stock speaker for an Alnico Blue but to me it took away an important part of what this amp does - break up early. There"s plenty of videos on YouTube demonstrating how to use the volume and tone controls. They are very interactive and can achieve a variety of tones. I play a Fender Professional Stratocaster with stock pickups in the neck and middle position and a Billy Gibbons Red Devil single coil sized Humbucker in the bridge. This is a very useful combination with great cleans and also able to push the amp into overdrive.

The Fender Custom Shop has really raised their game. This amp is no exception. Pure clean tones, and then natural overdrive. Originally purchased the Champ, though it was impressive it just wasn"t loud enough (perfect for recording). The deluxe however provides the volume I was looking for. And as always, awesome customer service—Thanks Brad!

I own 5 quality tube amplifiers...Fender to Rivera. This amp is probably the best all around. Big fat, warm tone. Really special build from electronics to cabinet. It"s expensive but if you can afford it I highly recommend! Sales engineer Randy @ext 1780 told me about this one. I recommend you call him and get a deal on this amp.

This amp is short of amazing! It's a match made in heaven with a Telecaster. Right out of the box after a few minutes i was like Wow! The perfect drive I was looking for. Gives up the goods at the right time. I did a few of my own mods to tighten the compression and bottom end. And calmed the highs slightly. Just with another speaker and pre amp tube selection. Absolutely a tone monster and can definitely keep up with a heavy handed drummer. Your proper speaker choice will fix that. Not that the Alnico speaker sounds bad at all. I just use a particular speaker for all my low wattage amps to give me more headroom and efficiency. It tightened the bottom, smoothed the highs and thickened my notes. This amp is a beast! I've been playing other boutique amps for years because Fender kinda dropped the ball on their quality parts. But this amp is worth every dime and then some! It fits my needs as a country, blues, rock player. And the touch sensitivity and feel is perfect for me. By replacing the pre amp tubes it give it a little more mids and a tighter break up. Perfect fit for old and new country. I've read threads on the internet where guys have claimed it won't keep up with a loud drummer. That may be so with the stock speaker. But you change the speaker out to 100db clean and high wattage. Look out! This thing is LOUD! I have A/B this beside my 65 Deluxe reverb hand wired. And it sounds amazing! Couldn't be more happy.

To start with, Sweetwater did a great job with customer follow up on the purchase, and the 0% interest deal helps.
Now on to the amp. The exterior finish is great. It's a really nice looking amp. It's very light weight. A true grab and go amp, and at 70 years old, that is pretty important to me.
Without doubt, it's the real deal. The really full, rich classic Fender tone with great head room. It's very responsive to the touch. If you dig into it, it will bark! At 12 watts I was concerned about it keeping up with a drummer and being able to cut through the mix, but for small bar - resturant type work it's hard to beat! Of course it has it's limitations, and for large stage work, you need a higher wattage amp. It will take pedals very well. All in all, I'm really sayisified! Oh, one very minor detail....the very nice canvas slip cover that came with the amp is made so tight fitting, you have to really tug on it to get it on the amp. Maybe it will stretch a little with use :D

I'm sure there are electrical engineering reasons for it, but to me the tones available from these simple controls are an enjoyable mystery. It took some fiddling for it to sound right to me with humbuckers because of lots of bass response and a general darker character, but everything sounds amazing with single coils. I don't have experience with anything vintage, but the interaction between volume controls and the flexibility from jumpering both seem to provide all of the variety of sounds that the 5e3 circuit is known for. Very high quality build and looks as well as being lightweight with plenty of volume for 12 watts. From "tween clean" to that gorgeous grind, this thing sweet!!

Hands down the best sounding amp I ever owned. It is perfect for the blues style music I love to play. Has the tone even at 2 on the dial. At 26 lbs. it's a breeze to take out to gig or jam with friends. I love it. Thanks Sweetwater. You guys are the best.

I just received this amp and am absolutely blown away by the sound! Do not let the 12-watt rating fool you, this amp can certainly hold it's own for small to medium venue gigging. Frankly, I was originally considering some lower priced alternatives including a 65 Deluxe Reverb (stock or LTD). One very nice feature of this amplifier is it's relatively light weight combined with amazing tone! I used to think that the "hand-wired" thing was perhaps overblown or even a bit elitist. After playing this, I think that it really makes a huge difference in tone!

I wanted an amplifier that would compliment my Fender '55 Custom Shop Stratocaster and this baby really sings with it! To be honest, when I played my guitar through my old Blues Jr., it didn't really pick up the differences in the pickup positions. With this amplifier, the contrast is amazing! My guitar now feels as if it met it's perfect match! Yes, this is more expensive than "stock" Fender amps, but at least for me, the extra money spent was well worth it. Definitely a keeper!!

This amp is A BEAST!

I found my sound easily. The greatest tone and drive of all. Just turn the volume and tone knobs to your taste and all the magic already happened!

Just be careful: don't be fool with it's 12-watt. This amp is very loud for any gig.

This is the Tone I have been searching for the last 40 years.With only 3 knobs there are an infinite amount of different tones.The two volume knobs and the tone control all interact to go from clean to mean.Adjust the amp to the amount of break up that you desire with the volume control on your guitar all the way up and just turn your guitar volume down to clean up the tone. I've never owned an amp that does this as well as this amp.I also have not missed a reverb, this amp really doesn't need it IMO. This amp costs a lot of money but it is well worth it. This is the only amp I have ever owned that sounds fantastic without pedals.When I play this amp I never use pedals,and I own a lot of pedals.

I've had the '57 Deluxe now for several months, and it's a monster of an amp. It has sounds that growl and roar and by playing with the interactive tone volume and tone controls, you can actually tame it a bit to get a cleanish tone out of it and also by rolling off the guitar volume, of course. Unfortunately, that's kind of hit or miss as some guitars get darker as the volume is turned down. One recommendation, however: this amp is best played through some sort of attenuator to get the volume to manageable levels. The volume literally goes from 0 to 80 in one minute touch of the volume control. I'm using mine with a Bugera Power Soak, and it helps tremendously. You still get all the growl this baby produces. It sounds great by itself, but with a OD in front of the pre-amp, it roars. I don't know why Fender didn't use an audio taper pot instead of what's in there now, other than to be true to the original circuit. Final verdict--it's a keeper and it's true of what the pros say about hand-wired amps. A keeper!

I can't believe I'm leaving a 1 star review for an amplifier that is universally regarded as being one of the best amps ever made. But if I could leave a zero star review, I would.

I ordered this amp five weeks ago. I received it and it was defective. Tons of scratches and pops.

I then had to wait a month to receive a replacement.

Aaaaaannnndddd the replacement doesn't work AT ALL.

No sound at all.

Maybe it's just a bad tube.

Or maybe it's another $ paperweight.

Now, I'm waiting for a third to be sent to me.

Maybe that one will work.

I'm not hopeful.

Until Fender starts getting it act together, I'd recommend not dropping $ on anything from them.

Unless you like expensive paperweights.