A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

[Andrew Lamprecht]

1. Reliability?

2. Overdrive channel? Any good?

[FuseG4]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

Reliability: these things are at least average. If you look for problems on the internet, you'll find a bunch, but a lot of that must have something to do with the fact that they've been a very popular gigging amp for 10+ years. I haven't owned one so I won't say more than that.

Overdrive channel: depends. It's certainly useable, despite what some people may have you think. It's not a tweed or blackface sound, no. JCM800 saturation isn't its sound either. It's got a thick grinding character and a little bit of a boxy sounding low-mid thing, and sometimes flubby bass in the HRDx II (the common model). It's a little tighter and brighter in the HRDx III.
It's not the most complex sounding thing in the world and it could be smoother. The more drive thing sounds a bit blurry past around 3 or 4 on the gain knob. You could leave it on "more gain" and have a solo tone at full guitar volume and back it off for a rhythm tone that way though.

The best thing to do though is really just turn the normal channel up to about 8 or 9. Nice classic rock crunch.

[Scott_F]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

whaaaaaaaaaat?

[Khriss Bliss]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

dont get one. somewhere on the net i found a guy who said it was the number one product that came to him for fixin, and like 60% of the time, he couldnt. he said it was cuz of the crappy circuit board. i used mine in a blues band for four years- the chsnnels stopped switching, the reverb busted, i broke a button. i liked the sound, but the gain channel was not usable to my ears. tubes, yes but still very thin. finally something unfixable gave in that made burnt out the bass response. i had to get a whole new amp, after nine years- for $400 i cant complain, but my other amps lasted longer. if you get a fender get somethin w out the circuit crap, maybe the blues jr. i replaced it w a bugera 22w, which has more of the woody cabinet resonance. the highs arent as pristine, but it is nice and warm. i use a tubeking pedal with a jj 12ax7. again, the dist channel is unusable as on most combo amps except blaclstar, marshall, orange.,. good luck!

[FuseG4]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

whaaaaaaaaaat?

what...?

[drew_half_empty]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

dont get one. somewhere on the net i found a guy who said it was the number one product that came to him for fixin, and like 60% of the time, he couldnt. he said it was cuz of the crappy circuit board. i used mine in a blues band for four years- the chsnnels stopped switching, the reverb busted, i broke a button. i liked the sound, but the gain channel was not usable to my ears. tubes, yes but still very thin. finally something unfixable gave in that made burnt out the bass response. i had to get a whole new amp, after nine years- for $400 i cant complain, but my other amps lasted longer. if you get a fender get somethin w out the circuit crap, maybe the blues jr. i replaced it w a bugera 22w, which has more of the woody cabinet resonance. the highs arent as pristine, but it is nice and warm. i use a tubeking pedal with a jj 12ax7. again, the dist channel is unusable as on most combo amps except blaclstar, marshall, orange.,. good luck!

The blues jr is pcb too, same line of amps. I wouldn't say they're less reliable than anything comparable in their price range.

Andrew, trust me if you get one, you're MUCH better off gettin a volume box and using your clean channel for dirt. I owned a deluxe back in the day and a deville now--the stock gain channel is sort of... meh. I mean it's decent below noon, nothing to write home about, sort of... sterile maybe, works well for certain things and not at all for others, but it's a fender so there you go.


Anyways, crankin the amp gets you pretty awesome tones. On the deluxe you have to change the stock speaker to something that'll handle the wattage to take advantage of this, otherwise it's just a flubby farty mess, but really it has a good unique sound to it--sort of tweedy but thicker, a little closer to blackface but not at all like either, or like the browns/blondes which are supposed to be in between. I'm not saying these amps compare to original, or even reissue BF or tweed or anything pre-cbs fender, but as far as current production budget amps go, with a volume box and good tubes/speaker i like em a hell of a lot more than anything else i can get for the same price.


That being said, my deville is gonna be up for sale soon--not loud enough for the type of gigs I play (also I just wanna say being in an instrumental band is AWESOME, you don't have to worry about PA's at all) so if you want it or have any more questions let me know.

[FuseG4]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

The blues deluxe is cool. It's not as glassy sounding, has less gain on the drive channel, and it doesn't have the "more drive" setting.

The drive channel isn't too bad. For bluesy stuff I just throw the master up to about half and then nudge the gain up until I can get a decent volume. It's smoother than the HRDx.

I like the HRDx's clean channel better though.

[Chickenwings]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

yes they are reliable. yes they sound good. The only reason so many ppl complain about them is because so many people have them.
They do benefit from a couple of things tho:
1. the screen grid resistors are less prone to burn out if you use 5w resistors.
2. The clean volume knob is very touchy - an audio pot is a cheap upgrade to make it less touchy.
3. The reverb can be a little full on, but easy to smooth the tops off.
4. A small mod to the tone stack makes it work like a twin tone stack- which is kimda cool too.
4. The speaker is total rubbish, but there are heaps of options out there to colour the amp to taste. That will address most anything you either like or dislike about the amp.
This site has everything you need to know:

http://www.justinholton.com/hotrod/

Its got a good clean tone and the dirty tone is fine too. It also works great with all manner of pedals. Versatile, cheap and good sounding. The thing is an industry standard. If you cant sound killer with one of these, no boutique amp in the world will help you.

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

The thing is an industry standard. If you cant sound killer with one of these, no boutique amp in the world will help you.

Well, that's what I'm looking for. A reliable amp that can get the job done for a long time. I take care of my amps but I know some amps like to spontaneously blow up.

I've heard really great tones come out of HRDLXs. My guitar teacher from the college plugs a Strat straight into one and gets great tones all over. Blues Jazz Rock etc...

[FuseG4]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

Well, that's what I'm looking for. A reliable amp that can get the job done for a long time. I take care of my amps but I know some amps like to spontaneously blow up.

I've heard really great tones come out of HRDLXs. My guitar teacher from the college plugs a Strat straight into one and gets great tones all over. Blues Jazz Rock etc...

pick a good speaker and you're golden, then. I wanted a hot rod for a long time. I came close to buying one several times. Mostly the volume/headroom stopped me, nothing about the tone turned me off.

Personally I've found that the DRRI (and a dirt pedal or two) has everything I liked about the HRDx, and the DRRI has a sweeter clean tone and better reverb.
If DRRI's didn't exist, though, I'd be getting a HRDx III.

[richard parker]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

I think that Peavey Classics are better sounding amps for probably the same kind of money.

[Chickenwings]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

ppl say the hrd is too loud for two main reasons:
1. the eq of the speaker is all spiky treb and cant handle bass
2. the curve on the clean volume pot.

A darker speaker with more headroom in the bass will do wonders. Stay away from bright speakers like the jensen c12n or the webers. Something warm is the go.

I do agree with Fuse about deluxe reverbs - but obviously they are more expensive...thats why it has a better speaker cab etc. Bang for buck tho an HRD is a cracker. Obviously it has pcb mounted input jacks etc. but how many amps are actually built to throw down the stairs? Treat your amp with respect and it will respect you. That justin holton website has heaps of cool info on it for mods or upgrades. Last thing ill tell ya - ive had ptp wired amps crap out as easily as pcb amps - that includes american built fenders and english marshalls!

[ImmortalSix]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

1. Reliability?

2. Overdrive channel? Any good?

1. The best.

2) The worst.

[donnievaz]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

I think that Peavey Classics are better sounding amps for probably the same kind of money.

I would agree except for the fact that the Peaveys just don't have any balls. That and the HRD clean is better than the Peavey clean IMO.

If you could have the HRD's balls and clean with the Peavey's dirty side, that would be a sweet little combo.

[drew_half_empty]

Re: A couple questions about the hot rod deluxe....

meh, the classics just sound like a marshall with less balls.

IMO what they SHOULD have done is just make the second channel exactly like the first one but with a master volume, and had the "more drive" be basically a foot switchable boost.

but again that's just my opinion