So i have a serviced 78 Deluxe Reverb running into a 1x12 sometimes 2x12 JBL D-120F cab, and Ive read that a pre amp is key to the "Jerry Tone". But, the Macintosh 2300s seem to cost a fortune and so do the SMS ones, any reasonably priced ones? Currently I am just running a soul food to give a clean jerry boost sound.
Which era of Jerry tone are you shooting for? How close do you need to get? Chasing Jerry tone can be a rabbit hole that eats time and money. My advice would be to first figure out what your goal is and second how much it's worth to you (in time and money).
A strat with a buffer into a DR/JBL is a pretty good sound. Toss in a low-gain drive pedal like an Earth Drive or a Tumnus and you can go a long way with that set up.
I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm a year into the chase myself and I'm currently building a Super Reverb kit so I can experiment with preamp mods. Which is fun in and of itself, but it's soldering, not playing guitar.