new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

drew_half_empty

drew_half_empty

Looking for Real Life
k, got the hot rod deluxe, great amp, overall very happy. However, its sounding kinda muddy, and i remember about a month or so ago peopel telling me that the speaker & tubes were what was holding the hotrods back. So someone care to reccomend me either? its 40 watts, 8 ohms, 1x12, i need something pretty cross genre, like i've said before, everything from hardcore punk to pretty-as-can-be indie rock

please leave explanations with your reccomendations
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

I don't have any personal experiance with the Hot Rod but talk to Bob at Eurotubes.com and he'll give you some great options.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

If the power tubes are older than a year with regular play on them, change them.

It's no secret that the distortion on the Hotrods is pretty ratty. I think that amp would be better used on the clean channel, along with a good OD/Distortion like
a Fulltone FDII, Banzai Fireball, or other highend pedal.

I'd do that before changing any speakers. You may also consider that your amp isn't the right one for the tones you're looking for. That amp was made for blues/pop.
Maybe you need one with better OD tones like Marshall, Mesa, Peavey.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

I find the speaker in the HR deluxe a bit woofy in the bottom end. I think fender may have changed the speaker for a better model. I was in a local shop and they had a new model in tweed. The shop guy (who knows his stuff) said it had a new speaker, and that it was a major improvement. Make some enquiries and check it out.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

The first thing I would do with the Hot Rod (I owned one) is to replace the pre-amp tubes. Probably some JJ's to smooth out the sound. Talk to bob at eurotubes. He will suggest some JJ power tubes as well, and they might be ok. IMO, Svetlana is making the best production power tubes right now, followed by EH. Check out the Svet 6L6's.

Next I'd change the speaker.....yup, you need to change all 3 items to really get the most out of that amp. Lots of people like Weber speakers in the HRDlx's, either the Silver Bell or the Blue Dog if memory serves. Send an e-mail to Ted Webber with what type of sounds you are looking for, and he'll make a no nosesense recomendation. I personally like the Eminence speaker line.....you can get a bunch of good ones for around $50.

With all the above changes, you will get some great clean tones, decent low to medium grit blues and possibly classic rock tones....but that is about it. Anything else from that amp in the overdrive department will require a nice pedal run thru the clean channel. That 's one thing the HRDlx's are good for....a platform for pedals and effects.

The reason I ultimately sold mine was the overdrive. I wanted an amp that could do blues and classic rock up to 80's rock with just a turn of the gain knob....for that you need something like a Marshall. How much is all of this going to cost me you ask?:

Pre-amp tubes (4 I believe) $45 shipped approx.
Power Tubes - Around $40-50 shipped
Speaker - $50 min to around $100 (depending if you go eminence, weber or celestion)

$200 would do it right....you might be able to get away for $150 if you shop hard and go eminence on the speaker.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

It depends on how long the tubes have been in use...

Replacement Time =

Power Tubes: 1-1.5 years
Preamp Tubes: 2-3 years

This is with regular use at moderate levels of volume. Once you get it retubed, if it still sounds like mud - then you can look into your settings, speakers, guitars, connections, and whatnot.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

First drop a Jensen C12N inplace of the Eminence OEM speaker. Then get rid of those OEM Groove Tubes. I use Svetlana for the 12AX7 preamp tubes and the 6L6GC power tubes. You will kick yourself for not doing these upgrades sooner once you hear the difference. Be sure to rebias after you replace the power tubes.

I also recommend getting a THD Hot Plate attenuator to control the monstrous volume.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

texasguitarslinger said:
First drop a Jensen C12N inplace of the Eminence OEM speaker. Then get rid of those OEM Groove Tubes. I use Svetlana for the 12AX7 preamp tubes and the 6L6GC power tubes. You will kick yourself for not doing these upgrades sooner once you hear the difference. Be sure to rebias after you replace the power tubes.

I also recommend getting a THD Hot Plate attenuator to control the monstrous volume.
Click to expand...


can you tell me the sound differences each one of these will give me?

also, what about the link i gave to the electronics mod? no one has mentioned it
 
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Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

drew_half_empty said:
can you tell me the sound differences each one of these will give me?

also, what about the link i gave to the electronics mod? no one has mentioned it
Click to expand...
The Jensen will balance the tone and warm it up alot better than the stock speaker. I think of the sound as being more classic 60s Fender amp tone. The Svetlana tubes will make the tone alot more rich sounding not as sterile as the OEM tubes. I also chose these tubes because I don't have to bias as hot to get the early break I like (i.e. less headroom). As for the Torres mod I havn't tried it because I don't need what it offers.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

I would add an Eminence Swamp thing speaker for more lows and better tone in general. Their new series of speaker is awesome. If you want a more Brit vibe, the Private Jack is great. Good quality tubes, and a nice pedal (AC Booster?) would be a great all around rig. Blues, rock, punk, whatever.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

texas, could you give me a reccomendation for some tubes that WON'T break up as easily as the stock?

also for the tone, i was looking for a mix of early 60's fender, and like a vox ac30 or something similar, in which case i might have to do the electronics mod, right? or if you could give me a list of parts to get or something to do a more specific mod for this that'd help even more, but try to keep all the stuff (put together) under like $300, i gotta start paying car insurance next week :mad:
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

i guess i should add this part, a good clean is important, but a good platform for some good punk distortion is more important, like i'd settle for less than the clean i'm wanting if it got in the way of a good distortion base
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

I've always found that if you spend money 'modding' things (be it guitars, amps, cars, etc), you rarely get your money back.

How about testing as many amps as you can find and you might find something stock that really 'spins your wheel'. Once you decide what you want, buy it privately so there's no 'middle man' fees.

The hot rod deluxe amps always sell for good money. The whole exchange/deal may see you end up with a new amp that you'll like, is stock for resale purposes and with your extra money well invested.
 
Re: new speaker, or new tubes, come tell me what to do

not an option, sorry, i love this amp, it just needs some mods like almost every other fender product
 
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