Modding My Hot Rod..........

[Guitar Guy]

......might be what i am looking for. After considering several affordable amplifiers to replace my lackluster fender hot rod, the general consensus was that to get the quality of sound i was after that i should get something more expensive. (Although i' still going to keep my eyes open for a deal on a mesa or a carvin legacy) But, like most musicians, i don't have an exess of cash and therefore i need the most bang for the buck. Ayrton here on the forum suggested sending it to omega amps for them to mod it. So i checked out the website and read reviews on harmony central, and the more and more i read about it the more i think that this might be a good alternative to getting a new amp. First off, he has reasonable prices and the description of the mod sounds appealing. Second, the few reviews that are on harmony central all say that it sounds amazing and can compete with amps costing much more.


Does anyone have experience with this company? I'd like to get some more opinions since there weren't as many as i would have liked on harmony central.

Also, if there are some other companies that mod fender hot rods please let me know. I'm not neccessarily set on omega amps and i like to keep my options open.

 

[Hunter1974]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

You may want to check Torres Guitars.On the website they have kits just for Fender amps I believe.Supposely you can get a hot rodded sound or more gain.I just saw it today so you may want to check it out.I hope this will help you.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

Head over to the Fender Discussion Page (FDP) and search for "Omega". You will find plenty to read.

I exchanged many an email with Jim Price at Omega and he was always quick to answer questions.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

There are a number of different Internet amp techs that offer mods for a HRD.
I recomend... NONE OF THEM ! I just listened to the omega clips. The clean clip sounds great! But you can clearly hear some delay on the signal? IMO that's not accurately representing any mod he did. Torres.. Don't even get me started! Should be criminal for prices he charges and Junk you get. Brian of www.indyguitarist.com offer's DIY for around $25. But unless your real handy with a soldering iron? I don't recomend this. HRD have very flimsy PCB's which makes it very easy to burn off or lift a trace. Justin Holten has a very good site .
http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/
I recomend good tubes properly biased,Upgrade the speaker to one that will sound more like what you want the amp to do. Take the $250 you where going to drop on a mod and buy a SFX-03 Twin Tube Classic. and forget about the drive channel.
Trust me on this. If you don't like how the SFX-03 sounds? You can sell it.
If you don't like how your $250 mod sounds? Now what do ya do?:scratchch

 

[Guitar Guy]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

There are a number of different Internet amp techs that offer mods for a HRD.
I recomend... NONE OF THEM ! I just listened to the omega clips. The clean clip sounds great! But you can clearly hear some delay on the signal? IMO that's not accurately representing any mod he did. Torres.. Don't even get me started! Should be criminal for prices he charges and Junk you get. Brian of www.indyguitarist.com offer's DIY for around $25. But unless your real handy with a soldering iron? I don't recomend this. HRD have very flimsy PCB's which makes it very easy to burn off or lift a trace. Justin Holten has a very good site .
http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/
I recomend good tubes properly biased,Upgrade the speaker to one that will sound more like what you want the amp to do. Take the $250 you where going to drop on a mod and buy a SFX-03 Twin Tube Classic. and forget about the drive channel.
Trust me on this. If you don't like how the SFX-03 sounds? You can sell it.
If you don't like how your $250 mod sounds? Now what do ya do?:scratchch

Well that was my concern about modding.......I'd spend $250+ on a mod and still not like it:banghead: I was hoping that there was really a cheaper way to get a "new amp" without actually buying a new amp. ALthough i would upgrade the tubes and speaker if it will enhace the tone enough. What tubes and speakers do you think would work well with a hot rod?

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

Start with Justin's site and go from there.

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

 

[timorousme]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

Well that was my concern about modding.......I'd spend $250+ on a mod and still not like it:banghead: I was hoping that there was really a cheaper way to get a "new amp" without actually buying a new amp. ALthough i would upgrade the tubes and speaker if it will enhace the tone enough. What tubes and speakers do you think would work well with a hot rod?

I recently bought the White Lightening version. It has a Celestion G12 Vintage, which is definitely a step up from the Eminence Legend. Sounds great in comparison and is a lot lighter as well. It has a neodymium magnet instead of the ceramic disc in the Eminence.

Definitely worth taking a look at.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

what don't you like about it?

what exactly are you going for?

 

[marvar]

Re: Modding My Hot Rod..........

I've tried to like the HRD, I've owned 2 of them, I tried everything I could to make the drive channel usable (for my needs). Tubes, (pre and power), speakers, a volume control in the fx loop, and I just could never come to like the sound.
IMO you should take the money you would spend on mods, sell or trade the amp for what you want, w/o having to do any mods.
Personally, I don't think the HRD is ever gonna' reach grail status, so why keep it.