Deliverance Sixty
By Chris Gill

Right up front I’ll admit that the Pittbull Ultra-Lead is a personal all-time favorite, but I’ve never added one to my arsenal because it was too friggin’ expensive. While Fryette’s new Deliverance series amps are not as heavily feature-laden as the Pittbull models, they offer a diverse palette of stellar tones that are sure to satisfy anyone who has ever fell under a Fryette amp’s heady spell at a price that is much more affordable for mere mortals like you and I. Fryette amps may have a reputation as being extremely heavy high-gain metal monsters, but with the Deliverance model Fryette proves that their amps are equally adept at producing killer clean, blues, and classic rock tones, plus various shades above and beyond.
 
FEATURES The Deliverance 60 head is a single-channel amp powered by two KT88 tubes to provide 60 watts of output. Unlike the Pittbull Ultra-Lead with its various toggle switches and push buttons, the Deliverance 60’s control panel is a stripped-down, straightforward, and streamlined affair consisting of a pair of gain controls, a “more/less” toggle, master volume, passive treble, middle, and bass EQ, presence, and depth controls. The rear panel offers nothing but the essentials—a pair of speaker outputs wired in parallel, an impedance switch for selecting 4, 8, or 16 ohms, and a ground lift switch (an welcome feature rarely found on amps these days). The Deliverance head’s styling is clearly influenced by that of a classic Hiwatt right down to the chicken head knobs, but the Deliverance manages to look modern at the same time.
 
SOUND The preamp gain/volume section of the Deliverance may not look much different from the standard gain, level, and master volume controls found on most amps, but it’s actually a unique circuit that significantly influences the amp’s tone, responsiveness, and personality. In addition to adjusting the amount of gain, the gain I control also shifts tonal emphasis from crisp treble to thick upper mids, allowing users to dial in tonal characteristics similar to a Fender, Hiwatt, or Marshall. We dialed in fat, soulful blues tones and crunchy overdrive that would make Joe Perry proud, but the biggest surprise was how vibrant and three-dimensional the Deliverance’s clean tones sounded.
         
Gain II increases preamp gain without affecting tone. This control also features a unique “more/less” switch that lets you toggle between three or four gain stages to summon classic sledgehammer overdrive slam or more the more modern crushed glass shotgun spray of massive, harmonically rich distortion. No matter how extreme the gain controls are set, the tone remains exceptionally clear and well defined—you can even feel the pick hit the strings. The demonic metal tones that made the Pittbull famous lurk within the Deliverance as well, helped significantly by the power amp’s depth control, which allows you to dial in huge, tight bass. Even high-gain settings clean up exceptionally well when you back down on the guitar’s volume control, so it’s conceivable to play an entire gig using your volume knob as a “channel switcher.”
 
IS IT FOR YOU? The Deliverance 60 may be a single-channel head, but it’s a surprisingly versatile amp that produces a diverse variety of tones and textures. It’s an excellent choice for recording guitarists who need to produce several different sounds but don’t want to haul several amps to the studio, but it’s equally great for players who want to jam all night with one absolutely killer tone that’s all their own.