Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

[darnright]

I have a chance to buy one, just wondered what the thoughts are. It's a single 12", 40 watts (very loud), has cover and footswitch (clean, gain and more gain) iIt is in near mint condition, don't think it left the house after bought. Probably get it for $400. Any thoughts?
thanks
dave

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I've been using a HRD for my main gigger for about 2 years now. The amp has many Pro's & Con's , But for me the Pro's out weight the con's.Your getting world class cleans,the amp is plenty loud for club gigs and at 44 Lbs. it's pretty mobile. The Con's are reliability issue's and everyone pisses & moans about the more drive channel . It takes pedals well, So you really don't need that channel.
Good tubes make a world of difference . I just put a pair of TAD short bottles in mine,And they sound great! I use a RI Tung-Sol 12AX7 in the VI slot and some find using a low gain tube in V2 or V3 helps tame the drive channel and make it usable . So Try a 12AT7 or 5751 in those slots until you hear what you like. Also Google the unofficial HOT ROD DELUXE site.

 

[darnright]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I've been using a HRD for my main gigger for about 2 years now. The amp has many Pro's & Con's , But for me the Pro's out weight the con's.Your getting world class cleans,the amp is plenty loud for club gigs and at 44 Lbs. it's pretty mobile. The Con's are reliability issue's and everyone pisses & moans about the more drive channel . It takes pedals well, So you really don't need that channel.
Good tubes make a world of difference . I just put a pair of TAD short bottles in mine,And they sound great! I use a RI Tung-Sol 12AX7 in the VI slot and some find using a low gain tube in V2 or V3 helps tame the drive channel and make it usable . So Try a 12AT7 or 5751 in those slots until you hear what you like. Also Google the unofficial HOT ROD DELUXE site.

Thanks, I think I'll get it...it IS loud!
dave

 

[JordanM82]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

It is very loud from 1-5 volume settings, but not much change from 6-10. I am not expert on amps but I am told that is because it uses a linear taper pot instead of an audio taper which would make the volume knob more usable in my opinion. I just bought a Hot Rod Deluxe 2 weeks ago and I love it so far (not that two weeks is alot of time to determine how good it is). So far is sounds great, the drive and more drive channels are not fantastic by any means, however, it does take pedals well so you can compensate for that....

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I owned one for a while. I sold it to a friend and bought a Mesa DC-3.

This is what I always say when someone asks about them:

If you're expecting a high gain amp, you will be disappointed. The More Gain channel really farts out past a certain point. However, if you set the gain to a reasonable level on all channels and use pedals to get more distortion, you'll be pretty happy. The best way to dial in this amp is sparkling clean on the clean channel, a teeny bit dirty (think bluesy overdrive) on the gain channel, and a light crunch on the more gain channel. When set that way, all three channels are very useful. Combine with a dist/OD pedal or two and you'll have a lot of nice, useful tones at your disposal.

Also, this amp benefits a great deal from a speaker replacement and a power tube replacement. Neither one is necessary to enjoy the amp, but once you save up the money to do so it's well worth it. The HRD is a well-designed small amp, but its true potential is not really achieved until you replace the speaker at the very least.

Overall, I think it's a good buy at that price, unless you're expecting a high gain amp.

 

[hanumanlangur]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

My roommate gigged heavily with a Hot Rod Deluxe for years, and I always thought it sounded excellent. It has immaculate cleans and a lot of power in a small, affordable package.

Edit: Most people with these amps tend to use pedals for overdrive and distortion. A nice Tube Screamer or similarly smooth overdrive will really sound great through one of these amps.

 

[edsmith]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I have played Hot Rods many times but I owned a Deville for years. They are very good amps. I can't say this with any authority, but I think they are not the same quality they used to be. My Deville was made in USA and it was trouble free for about 8 years. Great sounding amp. Some think the Deluxe has a better clean channel than the Deville, but I think the Deville is slightly better.

You can get a Deluxe for about $350 in excellent condition if you look around. Another amp that might contend with those though is the Laney LC model. Those are pretty cheap too but might sound a bit better, plus it's a Laney.

 

[Tor]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I purchased a used Hot Rod (the speaker was swapped out) for the choir I play for. I pair it up with a BB Preamp, and sounds wonderful.

 

[Frankly]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Nice amps.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I just got one this week end. I love it! Very dynamic and warm in the clean channel. The driven channel doesnt have enough gain for most people, but if you have a good distortion or overdrive, you are set because of how well it takes pedals.

Also, tweed is the hotness!

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Good workigman's amp. They benefit from a retube, and I recommend dropping in a Celestion G12H30 speaker to reduce the bass wooliness of the stock cheapo eminence.

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I've played one in a store and on a stage after a blues show (my cousin was using it on stage) and it was pretty nice. Good cleans, distortion is alright when it's dialed in moderate amounts and tons of people claim it takes pedals very well, and I wouldn't doubt it, many Fenders do.

 

[marvar]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I owned one on two separate occasions, tried to like it, but just couldn't get on with it. Didn't work for me. Tried tubes, speakers, cabs.
I just couldn't get along with it.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

recently i've heard about mods that back off the gain on the gain channel, make the clean channel less muddy, and add more lows/low mids to the gain channel, which is it's main problem (it's too effin bright!)

i can google around a bit if you'd like

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

http://myspace.com/mostlykings

My friends band. My friend on bass but the guitarist uses a HRD and an EJ Strat and sometimes an LP. Good tones IMO.

 

[Bender]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

traded mine for a Boogie DC-5 WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED !
Still use the HR Deville 4x10 am very pleased with the clean ( very loud also ) but like everyone else is saying about the deluxe , takes pedals well and will dirty up nicely in moderation on it's on,,

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

i owned various amps in the past, mainly fenders/marshalls/boogies and i stopped the whole buying selling thing and settled with a boogie DC5 and a HRD. It's a very good amp....you should consider some quality tubes, maybe a speaker swap (not necessarily) , use it on the (excellent) clean channel getting your od/dst sounds from pedals, and forget the drive and more drive channels.....

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I owned one and know a good number of folks that have or still do.

I've never known anyone to find them to be the perfect amp. Most folks use them just as a tube PA to warm up pedal sounds.

The rare folks that actually use it for the overdrive tend to sound less than desirable in my opinion.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I owned one and know a good number of folks that have or still do.

I've never known anyone to find them to be the perfect amp. Most folks use them just as a tube PA to warm up pedal sounds.

The rare folks that actually use it for the overdrive tend to sound less than desirable in my opinion.

there are real simple mods you can do

like taking off the enormous bright cap that's on the master volume

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Opinions on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Money well spent I reckon. With what you have saved invest in a Jensen c12R and you have a really nice amp. HRDLX's have almos become the default industry standard amp in recent years.