Old dogs, new tricks and tone....NAD content.

[bungalowbill]

Well, I finally got an amp that is going to work for gigging in the bigger clubs I play. :friday: First a little background.....

I have been gigging my 1995 modded and beat all to hell Blues Jr. for years and I am starting to worry a little about it "giving up the ghost" at a gig, so a couple of weeks ago I bought a Mesa Rectoverb series 2 combo in good condition for a very reasonable price. I have played Boogies for years..Blue Angel (wonderful amp), Tremoverb (super versatile) and an F-30 (nice small grab n go amp) so I think...I got another Boogie, no problem...well.........


















The Rectoverb sucked!

Thanks to Glassman, I put new power tubes in it which cured a few ills the amp had and I believe it was fixed....but the tone sucked! Can you say FIZZY? The fizz drove me crazy...couldn't get a nice warm tone at all. If you want Metallica Chugga chugga it has it in spades, but I couldn't coax a nice warm clean tone out of that amp at gunpoint...cold, sterile lifeless....a Roland JC 120 has that kind of warmth. :earl:

So.....yesterday, I went to the music store I used to work at and played through some amps....

Vox ac 15...Nice little amp...2X12...warm clean tones...liked my pedal board just fine....not the amp I took home though....




You ask....."What did you get Joe?"



I brought home a Hot Rod Deluxe III. Wonderful cleans...just beautiful..lots of headroom and lots of control over the EQ....the mids remind me of a Tweed Fender a bit..kind of chewy. The amp eats up my overdrives and turns into a rock and roll monster! Oh....yeah Fender reverb...nice.... and the tone is FAT!


I am a happy camper...I will post some pics of the rig later....yeah....old dog, new trick.

 

[guitarkid]

Re: Old dogs, new tricks and tone....NAD content.

Congrats man!!! Yeah the new HRD III's are a big upgrade over the older models.

 

[kjrocks]

Very cool, I'm glad for you.

 

[ErikH]

I've been curious about those HRD III's myself. Full report after you gig with it a few times.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Old dogs, new tricks and tone....NAD content.

Great stuff Joe, glad you've found an amp that's going to work for you. I'm really surprised about the Mesa not working out because I thought they were some of the best sounding and most versatile amps they make? No mateer, you're happy and sorted so that's great... enjoy.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Old dogs, new tricks and tone....NAD content.

The HRDx III is something I always love. It's such a different fender tone, but it just goes so well with so many guitars. it's easy to use, plenty of power, and that normal channel... ahhhhhh that normal channel. I could use that normal channel all day if I had to.

Congratulations!

 

[Inkstained]

Re: Old dogs, new tricks and tone....NAD content.

I'd love to see photos of your beat-to-hell Blues Jr. I have a first-generation US-made Blues Jr in my basement, one that I've recently started playing again after playing other amps for years. I decided I missed that EL84 bite, and it was probably my loudest amp, thanks to the speaker. Totally stock and unmodded.

Congrats on your new amp.