The Deluxe Reverb is the blackface spin-off that eclipsed the amp it grew from. When the Deluxe went blackface in 1963, Fender added an outboard-style spring reverb and a tube-driven vibrato to the 6V6 platform, producing a 22 W combo that became one of the most recorded amps ever made. This short family file covers the blackface reverb circuits (AA763 then the definitive AB763) and notes the later AB868 revision; the AB763 circuit entry belongs to this line, while the plain non-reverb Deluxe and the moment of the split are documented with the Deluxe line.
| Designation | Years | Watts | Output stage | Key change | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA763 | 1963–1964 | 22 W | push-pull 2x6V6 | The first Deluxe Reverb: the blackface Deluxe platform with an added Vibrato channel carrying its own spring-reverb circuit and a tube tremolo, alongside the unchanged Normal channel. Fixed bias, a long-tailed-pair inverter, and the GZ34 rectifier are shared with the non-reverb blackface Deluxe; the reverb tank and its driver/recovery tubes are what set the model apart. Early blackface examples carry the AA763 designation before the AB763 revision. Sources for AA763 (1)
| history entry Open requests for AA763 ↗ Suggest research for AA763 ↗ |
| AB763 | 1964–1967 | 22 W | push-pull 2x6V6 | The definitive blackface Deluxe Reverb and the reference circuit for the model. A GZ34 rectifier and fixed bias (with an adjustable trim) feed a 6V6GT pair rated at 22 W; the preamp runs Normal and Vibrato channels, each with volume, treble, and bass, plus reverb and speed/intensity controls. A 12AT7 drives the reverb tank and a second 12AT7 forms the long-tailed-pair phase inverter. This is the AB763 circuit this corpus documents in full, and where the printed AB763 voltage chart is DC-verified. Sources for AB763 (2)
| AB763 circuit ↗ |
The circuit column says how far this model has been documented, in three states. A circuit ↗ badge links a verified circuit: redrawn schematic, parts list, and a simulated operating point held against the published voltage chart under a maintainer's sign-off. A draft ↗ badge links a circuit that is drawn, sourced and published, but has not completed that chain — its own page states what is unresolved. A history entry is placed, dated and sourced here, but its circuit isn't drawn at all yet.
This family is deliberately short: it documents only the blackface AA763/AB763 reverb circuits, with the AB868 revision noted on the AB763 entry rather than split out. The reverb line continued into the silverface era (out of scope here). The moment the Deluxe forked into reverb and non-reverb branches, and the plain blackface Deluxe, are told on the Deluxe line's page; the AB763 circuit entry itself belongs here, so that only one line claims it.
Each model's own citations are listed in its row above, under “Sources for …”. The complete data behind this line — every model's fields as stored, including those the page doesn't print — is in history/families/deluxe-reverb.yaml.