Fender HotRod deluxe

[dingdongbell070]

im looking for a good clean sound i've heard fender is one of the best for cleans my price range is about 600-700 so a hotrod deluxe is a serious consideration. I went to guitar center and i played one through a les paul studio (thats what i have) and it seemed really twangy with the higher strings and boomy with the lower strings...i messed around with the eq and couldn't really get a sound where i could strum and it would actually sound good...is this what a real fender clean is??? I use a ts-9 for my overdrive and play mostly modern worship music so i need a very versitle clean sound. I think the hotrod sounded excellent if your doing like little lead lines but I also need a warm rythem sound. Is this what a hotrod deluxe sounds like or did i just play a crappy one. If this is the sound that they are supposed to give what other amps can you recommned in that price range for what i am doing?

thanks

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

Well, it's hard to say what might be good because you're not giving me any physical examples of what you're looking for. Too twangy helps, but isn't enough really.

Most of my recommendations tend to come from actual known recorded examples of what folks are looking for. If you give us some sort of well known recorded example it might assist us greatly in being able to match you up with an amp that might better suit your needs.

But what you did describe tends to sound like a HotRod at a lower volume. I also wouldn't calssify the HotRod as the "classic" Fender sound. Something like a Twin or a Deluxe would fall more into that category than anything off of the HotRod line.

 

[Kac]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

I also wouldn't calssify the HotRod as the "classic" Fender sound. Something like a Twin or a Deluxe would fall more into that category than anything off of the HotRod line.

That's what I was thinking. The HRD has a great clean tone, but might not be the best bet for your application.

Rock On ~ Kac

 

[ES350]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

lots of bottom, lots of highs, no mids, biased cold, overfiltered, lousy stock speaker and tubes, unreliable construction and components, etc. You can either mod that thing to make it sound like a reasonable amp to play music out of or look around for a SF Twin or Pro Reverb; they can be had for 600-700 bucks.

 

[aaron]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

I played through a Hod Rod Deluxe for a while, till it was stolen. It was decent, but it's probably not the best for the buck. I'd get something used. You could even check out a new Fender Blues Junior with new speaker and new tubes, and you'd be way under budget with a killer amp. But the Fenders already suggested are a good place to look. Later!

Aaron

 

[Farkus]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

Like these guys are saying, I'd like to know what sound you're going for.

I own a HRDlx and I use it as the 'clean' channel of my rig. If you're looking for the 'Fender' clean tone, I would suggest the Deluxe, not the Hot Rod. A Twin is also an excellent (and loud) choice.

 

[dingdongbell070]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

ok so I play mostly in my church. I put my amp behind the stage and mic it up w/ a 57 so there isn't too much stage volume. We play mostly modern worship stuff like Michael Gungor, Hillsongs United, Lincoln Brewster, Mercy Me, and others. We have an acoustic guitarist but hes not very good so alot of the time i have to play rythem stuff that he just cant play yet, but when he can play a song then i do lead lines. Hope this helps if you need more details then just say so... im also considering the Fender Blues Deluxe. I would like a 2 input amp because i run an a/b box w/ one signal wet and the other dry

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

Haha a Twin should be absolute overkill for your situation... Actually wouldn't know a "real" Fender for your needs. But others may have a lot more experience with that...

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

Well, a Twin is going to be overkill....way overkill. Size-wise you could probably get by with a Blues Junior; with the mods the reverb is much more usable, but certainly not competing with the very classic Fender reverb sounds, though it is certainly respectable.

None of the artists you mentioned I've ever heard of so I still have no idea of what exactly you're going for.

The Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue may be what you're looking at; it has that classic reverb and with an overdrive pedal it will break up nice. The 22 watts is louder than you think and the natural overdrive is wonderful, but probably a little louder than you're going to want.

 

[gordon_39422]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

I have been playing through my HRDx for the last year and every time I fire it up, I fall in love with it all over again! I got it used for $350 and mod it personally when time and money permit! Here is an EXCELLENT reference site for tube amps in general, but a Goldmine for HRDx owners. Schematics mods and even some elementary DC circuitry for the first timers! I agree about the stock speaker and tubes, but I got some JJ's from the Tube Depot and a new Speaker. These 2 purchases here will give you plenty of room for coloring your tone, and there are several more mods on the page that can give you some AWESOME tones as well.... I went with colder pre-amp tubes and a Weber Ceramic California 12" Speaker. This gave me Beaucoup clean headroom and an extrememly clear tone worthy of comparison to the Twin at lower volumes than attainable with the Holy Grail! Before I raised the hearoom, the amp had decent overdriven tones. However, since it is not a true 2-channel amp, the overdrive is affected by tube selection. This didnt bother at all, though, because I rely on pedals to kick my amp in the balls for the dirtier tones. The clarity of the amp is only accentuated with the TS-5(808 mods) and The MXR Doubleshot I have in my chain. I have really enjoyed the practicallity of the HRDx... the price, weight, volume, tones, and mod-friendly construction offer a friendly amp!

Rarely am I sold on a product so completely, but I have had nothing but reliable fun and performance with this one!

Enjoy,

Allen Gordon

Oh Yeah, here is the link to that page....

http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/

 

[ES350]

Re: Fender HotRod deluxe

One improvement that definitely works in those is a 5751/12AY7 in V1...lowering the B+ with a big 20W resistor or two to emulate some rectifier sag would probably be a good idea too; you might even be able to get the output tubes into a decent bias range.