What came in

A 2016 Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb. Customer's complaint: reverb not working. It rarely stays that simple.

Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb chassis out on the bench
Chassis out and on the bench

What we found

The reverb fault traced straight to the rear panel RCA sockets — both damaged, one snapped clean in half. Both replaced, reverb fully restored.

With the chassis out we tested the filter capacitors. Three of the four were significantly out of tolerance — the kind of degradation that causes hum, loss of headroom and a top end that gradually stops sitting right. All four replaced with quality F+T German electrolytics. Both transformers found loose and secured. Wiring dressed.

Fender Deluxe Reverb rear panel with reverb tank removed
Rear panel with reverb tank out — RCA socket damage visible
Fender Deluxe Reverb main PCB and wiring
Main PCB and wiring
HT filter cap board with original capacitors
Filter cap board — original caps, three of four out of tolerance
Four new F+T German electrolytic capacitors
F+T German electrolytics going in
Filter cap board with new F+T capacitors fitted
Cap board with new F+T electrolytics fitted

Tremolo

Working, but with a hiss when engaged. Investigated thoroughly, traced to a likely PCB issue. Options discussed with the customer — decision made to leave as-is for now and revisit next service.

How it left

Thirty-minute soak test, all safety checks passed, bias confirmed on both output valves. Amp performing as it should.

What was replaced

What started as a reverb job became a full service. That's fairly typical — once you're inside an amp that hasn't been looked at in a while, you find what you find. Better to know than not to.