Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

they are good amps for the money but i dont really like them. they arent bad but they arent as nice as a super reverb for example. the super sounds richer, warmer, wider, more detailed, has better reverb etc...

i know lots of people with them and most of them really like them. the gain channel is a little tricky to get a good sound out of but they are workable if you put the time in.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

^
^ Civic Rype R, perhaps? :naughty:

IMO, the overdrive channel of the Fender HRD lends itself better to classic Rock/Blues styles than outright, screamin' Metal. I own the HR DeVille 410 rather than the Deluxe. Although the designs are very similar, I detect a nasty edginess in the 40w 1x12 amp that is absent in the 60w 4x10.

Whichever brand of channel-switching amplifier you buy, there will be some element of compromise between the clean and dirty channels. I like Marshall EL34 overdrive but I cannot stand their clean sound. I like Fender 6L6 clean and crunch but could do with more drive for out and out lead playing. The only practical options are to play through an A/B box feeding several amps or to spend thousands on a mega-expensive "everything" amplifier.

The closest thing I ever tried to this fantasy "ideal" guitar amplifier was the MESA Boogie Mark 3 Simul-Class with a mix of EL34s and 6L6s in the power stage. The guy who owns this li'l beaut will not sell.
 
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Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

misterwhizzy said:
The funny thing here is that you used a Civic as an example of a high-end car.
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Didn't mean it as a high end car, more of an example that the extra 5 grand spend on decals could of purchased a better amp that would suit their tastes more.

It's like people who buy a Peavey Valveking. Then they upgrade the tubes, speaker swap, do a few mods, trick it out, etc. When they could of used that money and purchased a 5150.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

mwalluk said:
Didn't mean it as a high end car, more of an example that the extra 5 grand spend on decals could of purchased a better amp that would suit their tastes more.

It's like people who buy a Peavey Valveking. Then they upgrade the tubes, speaker swap, do a few mods, trick it out, etc. When they could of used that money and purchased a 5150.
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I got it.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

They are good amps but I find them to be pretty boring. They have the "must have" features for mainstream and everything is OK and usable but there's nothing exiting about them. Just like your average family car...
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

I never noticed anything like that. I have always heard wonderful things about them. I was going to buy one when the prices shot through the roof then I backed off. At $600 they were worth every penny. My only problem with them is the cleans didnt stay clean with humbuckers.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

I love Fendery overdrive, as Marshalls sound too harsh on their own to me. It's just that I prefer Fenders that don't squash as much.

I play music right up the middle of the market sector for the HRD, but they just compress too much. If I were to use it for just the clean tones with a pedal, I'd get a better single channel Fender. PRRI, DRRI, SRRI, vintage Pro Reverb, etc.
 
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Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

if you put a 5751 in v1 you can keep it cleaner longer. a new speaker goes along way to.

they arent bad amps at all but like some one said before they are like the average family sedan. utilitarian and not flashy, decent tone and options but nothing i get excited over
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

mwalluk said:
Didn't mean it as a high end car, more of an example that the extra 5 grand spend on decals could of purchased a better amp that would suit their tastes more.

It's like people who buy a Peavey Valveking. Then they upgrade the tubes, speaker swap, do a few mods, trick it out, etc. When they could of used that money and purchased a 5150.
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I don't know many people modding a VK to sound like a 5150. No matter what you do there is no way to get that much gain out of a VK. Simple mods will take out the harsh nature of the stock OT and that's only 90-100 bucks. Though i agree with you that people do buy them thinking they will sound like a 5150. No way, not happening. if youre gonna buy something buy it because you like the way it sounds not because of they way you want it to sound. I've never been a fender guy but thats just cause it doesn't fit my type of music.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

I find extremely.....utilitarian. Nothing exciting about the clean, crunch, or "high gain" channels to my ears. Not bad, but not all that good either (in stock form) As mentioned the speaker is subpar, they get wonky at high levels, the enclosure is iffy, the reverb is splatty, etc.

I'd much rather have a Blues Deluxe for $50 more (or a Blues Junior for $200 less), and a couple of good gain pedals. The BD does the "classic fender sounds" much better than the HRD.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

JeffB said:
I find extremely.....utilitarian. Nothing exciting about the clean, crunch, or "high gain" channels to my ears. Not bad, but not all that good either (in stock form) As mentioned the speaker is subpar, they get wonky at high levels, the enclosure is iffy, the reverb is splatty, etc.

I'd much rather have a Blues Deluxe for $50 more (or a Blues Junior for $200 less), and a couple of good gain pedals. The BD does the "classic fender sounds" much better than the HRD.
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You know, I keep hearing that, but I can't find any good demos online and nowhere around here has one for me to try out. Is it really that much better? I hear the drive on it is still very weak, and the cleans are pretty bright. But Idk I haven't tried one, and we live in an era where bashing Fender and Gibson products is the new trend. It's so hard to get a valid opinion anymore.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

I tried to like the HRD, I even tried to like it twice- but, I just never bonded with it-
speaker change, tube change, just never got on with it. I have other Fender amps, a Princeton reverb and an old Bandmaster, the HRD just never had the mojo.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

The BD definitely does not have a strong "drive" channel- it does a slight breakup well, but thats why I would reccomend some good pedals (TS, BOR, etc etc) for that, as it will sound better than the HRD or BD or BJ drive channels on their own.

I did not find the cleans overly bright - I'd say it rides somewhere between blackface, and a "true" tweed.

and FWIW- I think Fender makes some nice amps for the $ these days-They are not something *I* would use as a main amp, but given a being able to have a few different amps, I'd be all over a Bassman RI, Tweed-cha-ching-Twin reissue, or Tweed Champ reissue. I'm just not a fan of the HRDs.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

if the product was of good quality, everyone would recognise that and like them...........................*
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

Clean channel is good. The OD channel leaves much to be desired. I'm not gonna hate since I owned some in my earlier years, but I am convinced that nothing can touch a vintage Fender amp.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

caucajun said:
if the product was of good quality, everyone would recognise that and like them...........................*
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If we're talking about questions of tone, that's a pretty subjective thing. Many people love the sound of a Strat, but that doesn't mean they don't sound like squeaky little mouse farts. Conversely, people around here are always ragging on the JB, but for certain combinations of the right instrument with the right musical style, it's the only game in town. None of this reflects on the quality of a Strat or a JB; both of them are good products that do their job.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

B Bent said:
Clean channel is good. The OD channel leaves much to be desired. I'm not gonna hate since I owned some in my earlier years, but I am convinced that nothing can touch a vintage Fender amp.
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well, you get what you pay for, i suppose?

That clean channel is nice and as far as getting a basic fender 6l6 tone that's in between blackface and tweed, I just don't know many other amp makers in that price point that offer a sound like that.
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

People dislike em cause the clean volume is a linear pot, the jacks are crap, the shared EQ makes it harder to dial in nice clean & dirty tones and they're not much fun to work on.

On the plus side, the cleans are nice, it makes a good platform for pedals, and it doesn't cost a lot. It still has a place in my music room even after I joined the Axe-FX cult. ;)
 
Re: Why do people on other forums dislike the HRDx

The build qaulity of the HRDx is marginal. Thats why people do not liek them. They sound excellent, however the hands down no doubt whatsoever amp to get is the Hot Rod 4x10 deville of you are going top go that route. It may have a less powerfull amp, but those 4x10's sound glorious, and I'll even say this, it sounds better clean than many or even possibly most several thousand dollar boutique amps for cleans.Nothing has or wuill ever be able to rival a Fender clean..I mean, to the best of my knowledge.
To be honeast, Ive never been one like guys here to say Fenders sound great overdriven with pedals. IMO, they do NOT!.They sound prety good maybe, but nothing like a Marshall or an amp famous for griity distortion from the preamp.
There are several mods you can do on the Hot Rod Fenders , and there is a website detailing them. One of the primaray ones is to remobve the plastic input jacks and install quality metal jacks with flying leads to the circuitboard.

I actually love to death the sound of a Hot Rod Devilles cleans. The absolute best of all amps in production, bsuides the Super reverb riesh and maybe the deluxe reish.
You can get better cabinets though, but IMO many of the clones sound as good at twice the price, nor do many apparent detailed builds made to the specs of the old amps.
 
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