Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

[Mukobi]

Hello all,

I just bought a used Hot Rod Deluxe amp, and while the clean channel is pretty spot on Fendery clean, lots of people say that the drive sounds suck and are too harsh to use. I have a 2000's Boss DS-1, but it doesn't really cut it. Do you guys have any recommendations for a better OD or distortion pedal that works with the Hot Rod Deluxe pretty well? I'm looking to spend less than $100 USD on the used market. My favorite artists are Robben Ford, Eric Clapton, Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Van Halen. From this, I'm kinda thinking that I would be best off with a Marshall in a box pedal, like the MI Audio Crunch Box, but do you guys have any other suggestions? It's important that the pedal works well with a Hot Rod Deluxe and isn't just a drive pedal that complements a Marshall because it is a lot harder to achieve the Marshall eq curve from a Fender amp (as far as I know).

Also, people recommend that when you use a drive pedal, especially with an overdrive, your base tone of your amp should already be breaking up a bit so that the pedal boosts the amp into overdriving. However, I find the Hot Rod Deluxe clean channel has too much headroom to get into the edge of breakup sounds without being earsplitting, and the general opinion of people with experience of more amps than me is that the drive channel is not usable. When using a drive pedal on my HRDx, do you think I should crank the pedal's drive knob more and use it on the clean channel, or should I use a bit less gain on the pedal with more on the level in order to boost the amp's drive channel and just deal with the amp's drive tone?

Thanks!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

QUESTION: Why are you allowing your opinions of an amplifier that you have just bought to be influenced by what other people (supposedly) say about it?

 

[Mukobi]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

QUESTION: Why are you allowing your opinions of an amplifier that you have just bought to be influenced by what other people (supposedly) say about it?

This is my first real tube amp, and I have nothing to compare it to. I don't know from personal experience what a usable drive channel sounds like or what a crummy drive channel sounds like, however many people on the Internet who have owned many different amps say that the HRDx has a bad distortion circuit.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

This is my first real tube amp, and I have nothing to compare it to. I don't know from personal experience what a usable drive channel sounds like or what a crummy drive channel sounds like, however many people on the Internet who have owned many different amps say that the HRDx has a bad distortion circuit.

Play it yourself and see what you think. You may like it. If it's lacking, then you can start looking at pedals.

 

[Mukobi]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

Play it yourself and see what you think. You may like it. If it's lacking, then you can start looking at pedals.

From my experience with it, I find that the low gain setting on the drive channel have too much hair on them and alter the tone of the clean channel too much, and the higher gain settings flub out, lack smoothness, don't have any punchiness or aggression, and overall don't have much gain on tap.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

Man i used to own a hot rod. I also once plugged into a bone stock HRD backline amp and had the Australian tour manager for people like Peter Green and Lulo Reinhardt come up to me after the gig and rave about the tone i was getting. "that is the best guitar tone i have heard in ages" and "So much colour" were some things i remember him saying.
I know it sounds like bragging but the point i'm trying to make is this: HRD's are really good sounding amps. Gain channel and more drive setting included.

Having said all that, they are not perfect. Same as any piece of gear. Their weakest point is the fender/emi special design gold label speaker. The other one is the rebadged tubes they have in there. So before you go out looking for a pedal which is really just a set of diodes clipping, which will never sound as rich as a good tube amp hitting its sweet spot, get your amp doing what it does best first. Even the most expensive pedals are a pale imitation of a tube amp doing its thing.
Have a look at an eminence Texas Heat speaker, It never flubs out and sounds fat, warm and detailed over the entire range of what the amp can produce. It is also not as trebly, nor as piercing as the stocker. This allows you to turn your amp up a little higher than normal and get a fatter sound.
The other thing i would do is make sure all the tubes are fresh and strong. For that amp, I would recommend a full set of JJ tubes because they smooth the tops a little, fatten the low end and are a general improvement over the stock rebadged sovtek tubes (particularly the the fairly buzzy preamp tubes). Make sure that the amp is biased a little warm when you install the new power tubes. Biasing is an easy job on an HRD due to its "bias test point" and can be done with simply a multimeter.

That should get you three really great sounds from your amp. let the clean channel be a real clean channel. Use the dirt channel as your edge of breakup tone and dont forget that you can manipulate your guitar volume and tone pots to get a wide range of sounds. It always helps to use a little less gain than you think is necessary..try setting your "edge of breakup" sound with the volume on your guitar rolled back a little. The more drive setting will give you the extra dirty option. It will also work better as a lead boost of you have the gain lower because the preamp tubes will still have a little headroom left for a boost in volume as well as gain. At that point in time, you can start looking for a drive pedal, but think of it as purely icing on what should already be a delicious cake. After that, something simple along the lines of a tube screamer or SD-1 for a little extra push for single note leads up high on the neck and you should be golden.

 

[Spudman]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

^^^This

I also use a Bad Monkey to give a little goose to the amp when I need it. Versatile and cheap.

But for the most part, it took a while to get used to turning the amp up and letting it do it's thing. It really came alive then. I also got the highest (and probably only) compliments on my tone while using the HRDX. Never got that with any of my other amps. The drive channel is really good when the amp is biased correctly and has good tubes, but you really need to turn the power section up for it to be so. It's not a great bedroom amp. Great for gigging.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

Agree with Gibson175, the speakers in them are a weak point, probably the cheapest ones they could get away with, and limit how good you're going to sound.

 

[Matt42]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

I agree with the sentiments everyone is giving here, tube and speaker swaps can do wonders for that amp.

If, however, you are looking to get a good OD tone at low volumes, I had really great luck (using an HRD) with the Joyo Sweet Baby and Mooer Hustle Drive (Joyo Ultimate Drive is basically the same thing) in the budge range, and an MXR Custom Badass Modified OD in the not as budget range.

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

From my experience with it, I find that the low gain setting on the drive channel have too much hair on them and alter the tone of the clean channel too much, and the higher gain settings flub out, lack smoothness, don't have any punchiness or aggression, and overall don't have much gain on tap.

Altering the drive knob has no effect on the clean channel...none.
OP...let your ears decide, not internet blogging. If you think the drive channel is too harsh, something inexpensive to try is a 5751 preamp tube in place of the V1 12AX7; simply plug and play..no rebias needed. $30 or less, depending on the brand.

 

[Mukobi]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

Altering the drive knob has no effect on the clean channel...none.
OP...let your ears decide, not internet blogging. If you think the drive channel is too harsh, something inexpensive to try is a 5751 preamp tube in place of the V1 12AX7; simply plug and play..no rebias needed. $30 or less, depending on the brand.

What I meant by that was that i wanted the low gain settings on the distortion channel to sound like the clean channel, just with a little breakup occurring, but the tonal difference between the two channels was just too much.

Some people have said that if you replace the V2 tube, it only affects the drive channel because the drive channel has V2 first in the signal chain and the clean channel only uses V1. Is that true?

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

V1 will give you the best results.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

Have a look at this:
http://hotroddiy.com/

 

[Mukobi]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

Have a look at this:
http://hotroddiy.com/

Woah, there's so much information, thanks!

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

What guitar(s) are you using?

I have a Hot Rod Deluxe with an Eminence Legend speaker in it and absolutely love it, also have a spare Cannabis Rex that I may try out just to hear how it sounds...but agree that a new speaker and tubes can do wonders for the amp.

I had the drive section modded to sound more like a Mesa Boogie Rectifier--had it done by a local amp tech, Acorn Amps. It sounds night and day better. I still use pedals though.

I am a huge Mad Professor fan, love how their pedals respond, so majority of my suggestions are biased towards their stuff. But here is what I've found works best for me with my Hot Rod:

Mad Professor Sky Blue Overdrive: Works best with single coils, incredible organic overdrive that goes from almost clean to completely overdriven based off of how hard to are picking

Mad Professor Golden Cello: Works best with humbuckers, very warm and singing overdrive pedal...very unique pedal and different from any I've ever tried

Mad Professor Stone Grey: Think of 80's rock and metal in a pedal, more compressed tone so no flabby notes/chords

Mad Professor Ruby Red: More of a booster pedal that can do drive BUT this really enhances the clean channel if you are in need of a clean lead tone

Suhr Shiba Drive: My opinion of how a Tube Screamer should work...organic overdrive sound

Suhr Riot: High gain territory, superb for leads but can be dialed down as well for power chords......if money is tight then get a Joyo US Dream, you will thank me later jk

Last and not least, a ProCo Rat or ProCo Solo (Rat on steroids!): Classic drive tone than can do slight overdrive/boost to crunch to all out gain


Best of luck man and enjoy the amp!

 

[Mukobi]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

I have a Dean EVO Special Select, which is pretty much a Les Paul style humbucker guitar.

 

[devastone]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

I agree that a speaker may make the biggest difference, too often overlooked...

That said, if you want a clean Fender to sound like a Marshall, your best bet is something like a Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret - http://www.catalinbread.com/product/dirty-little-secret/
No clipping diodes, overdriven FETs like most of the new "amp in a box" pedals. Other good choices would be Wampler Plexi-(whatever it is called), AMT M2, JHS Angry Charlie, GGG BSIAB II (if you are up to building it yourself), CmatMods Brownie (which is pretty much a BSAIB), JHS Angry Charlie, and there are more I'm sure I'm forgetting. All of these are more amp-like than a standard distortion pedal, and work well being boosted by other pedals (like an amp).

 

[Mukobi]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

I agree that a speaker may make the biggest difference, too often overlooked...

That said, if you want a clean Fender to sound like a Marshall, your best bet is something like a Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret - http://www.catalinbread.com/product/dirty-little-secret/
No clipping diodes, overdriven FETs like most of the new "amp in a box" pedals. Other good choices would be Wampler Plexi-(whatever it is called), AMT M2, JHS Angry Charlie, GGG BSIAB II (if you are up to building it yourself), CmatMods Brownie (which is pretty much a BSAIB), JHS Angry Charlie, and there are more I'm sure I'm forgetting. All of these are more amp-like than a standard distortion pedal, and work well being boosted by other pedals (like an amp).

Of those that you mentioned, I can only really afford the BSIAB2. The full kit costs $60, but someone is selling an already built one for $36.50 on Reverb, does that seem legit?

https://reverb.com/item/1728617-gen...ukOLzO_u4GmzoIC9kNUHavdzz1FR2XI2_IBoCvDrw_wcB

 

[devastone]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

Yep, that looks like the real deal, great price too.

Sent from my C6740 using Tapatalk

 

[Matt42]

Re: Hot Rod Deluxe Drive Pedal Recommendations

What guitar(s) are you using?

I have a Hot Rod Deluxe with an Eminence Legend speaker in it and absolutely love it, also have a spare Cannabis Rex that I may try out just to hear how it sounds...but agree that a new speaker and tubes can do wonders for the amp.

I had the drive section modded to sound more like a Mesa Boogie Rectifier--had it done by a local amp tech, Acorn Amps. It sounds night and day better. I still use pedals though.

I am a huge Mad Professor fan, love how their pedals respond, so majority of my suggestions are biased towards their stuff. But here is what I've found works best for me with my Hot Rod:

Mad Professor Sky Blue Overdrive: Works best with single coils, incredible organic overdrive that goes from almost clean to completely overdriven based off of how hard to are picking

Mad Professor Golden Cello: Works best with humbuckers, very warm and singing overdrive pedal...very unique pedal and different from any I've ever tried

Mad Professor Stone Grey: Think of 80's rock and metal in a pedal, more compressed tone so no flabby notes/chords

Mad Professor Ruby Red: More of a booster pedal that can do drive BUT this really enhances the clean channel if you are in need of a clean lead tone

Suhr Shiba Drive: My opinion of how a Tube Screamer should work...organic overdrive sound

Suhr Riot: High gain territory, superb for leads but can be dialed down as well for power chords......if money is tight then get a Joyo US Dream, you will thank me later jk

Last and not least, a ProCo Rat or ProCo Solo (Rat on steroids!): Classic drive tone than can do slight overdrive/boost to crunch to all out gain


Best of luck man and enjoy the amp!

Speak of MP... the Sweet Honey or Sweet Honey Deluxe (new) would be really good choices. My #1 pedal is a cheap clone of the Sweet Honey and it's a great tone through a Hot Rod.