Hot Rod Deluxe.. Give me the low down!

[photoweborama]

If all goes well, I'll have a Hot Rod Deluxe by tomorrow evening.

A bit more power than I wanted, but it was such a deal!

$380.00!!

Tell me what I'm getting into!

[zeeman]

Somehow this amp seems to generate a lot of controversy but I love mine. There are many complaints about reliability and I don't dismiss them but mine has been going strong for 5 years and I just recently did my first tube swap. My 5E3 has recently knocked it to second place. Many will disagree but I've compared the hrdlx and 5E3 side by side for a few weeks now and though the hrd doesn't match the 5E3 it seems to be very tweed like to me. I even like the distortion channel if you keep distortion levels mild and are just looking for a little grit. Higher distortion levels quickly degrade in quality. The clean channel is great.

I played a boogie mk3 for 20 years and ditched it for the hrd. Best thing I ever did. No offense to boogie owners, many people make them sing. I was just after a different sound. The hrd was very much in the direction I wanted to go. The 5E3 is totally there. Everything I liked about the hrd the 5E3 just has more of. Still, the hrd is a great amp as far as I'm concerned. I did find that I relied on effects (compression and overdrive) much more with the hrd where as the 5E3 has such a great natural compression that an external pedal detracts from the sound. I say good for you. YMMV and all.

[hugo]

Dude, what's a 5E3?

[marshman]

Everyone that's ever played a Fender amp should have this link--

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

Enjoy

[zeeman]

Originally Posted by hugo

Dude, what's a 5E3?

Circuit design for a 57 tweed deluxe. Not sure what the exact date range is. Very popular in clone or kit form. One of the more talked about amps on this forum. Search is your friend...I'm sure you'll find more than one topic just on the first page.

[PeteMac]

Hey, I think the HRD is a good amp too, for the price.
I had one and liked it. Got some good sounds out of it and had no problems. I liked the clean channel (it was my first Fender amp) and even made pretty good use of the drive channels. However ...
once I played through a Deluxe Reverb R/I , I was hooked. That was the exact sound I was after. Sold the HRD because I couldn't justify keeping 2 amps of that size.
I think the HRD is a really good sounding rock'n'roll amp; it sounded good cranked up with my Tele, and to my ears, even better with my friends 335 dot w/humbuckers.

Enjoy; If it sounds good to you - then it is good.

(BTW: replacing the tubes makes a big difference to the sound: experiment!)

[studio1087]

It became trendy at some point to gripe about the Hot Rod Deluxe. Some guys like to pick on the Hot Rod. I had mine for three years; never a problem; I had no worries at all.

I've read that the Hot Rod Deluxe has sold more units than any other amp in Fender's history. I suppose that by the law of averages, you'll hear more complaining about the amp design that has sold the most units.

I liked the clean sound and and I liked the crunchy sound. My Hot Rod loved pedals.

I had one complaint. My Hot Rod was so loud that I couldn't do much with it at home. They use the linear volume pot where the volume goes 1-2-4-8-16-32-64 etc. If I wanted to play at home, I would put the base of my thumb against the master volume and try to turn the pot ever so slightly by nudging it. The amp would go from no volume to "hurting me" volume with a touch to the master knob.

I did some ebay selling of amps (including the Hot Rod) and bought a VOX AD50VT and a new Ludwig drum set.

Other than the volume issue, I really liked the Hot Rod Deluxe.

[tweeddeluxe]

Originally Posted by studio1087

It became trendy at some point to gripe about the Hot Rod Deluxe.

I had one complaint. My Hot Rod was so loud that I couldn't do much with it at home. They use the linear volume pot where the volume goes 1-2-4-8-16-32-64 etc.

The volume issue was the main reason why I sold mine. Useful adjustable range, for me, was more like between 0-2. Anything above that was just too freakin loud. Did not like the buzzsaw sounding overdrive either.

This opinion was formed without consulting others or researching trends.

[photoweborama]

How does it sound with stomp boxes? I have a Ds1, a Tubescreamer and a bad monkey.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by photoweborama

How does it sound with stomp boxes? I have a Ds1, a Tubescreamer and a bad monkey.

I have not tried my MXR CSP-021 with the amp, but it responds well (like all) with my Sonic Stomp and it also sounds good with my Small Clone chorus.

I only bought an OD/Distortion pedal because my Deluxe doesn't have the channel to do that at a moderate volume.

My HRD is the "Ltd. Edition Emerald" where the Celestion speaker is what you get outside of the color. Some observations: I think it's shielded better than my black face because there's a little less hiss sitting neutral. I think it's hard to beat for the money and I traded my Blues Jr. for it because I like the 6x sound more than the EL84.

I can't really complain about it, but it is for sale on craigslist now where the Deluxe will stay. I would not have bought it if I know I'd be finding the mint '65 Deluxe two weeks later.

Enjoy it in good health!

[EMan]

I had one. MPO was that it had a great clean tone, and the 'drive' ( not 'more drive') switch had a great tone to it. I was actually amazed at the amount of sound that came out of a 1X12" amp.

It did 'act up' on me, but I found a number of loose connections inside...mainly, the push-on spade lug connectors. Some were VERY loose.

After I tightened all that up, it was rock solid. It was really, really loud too! I'd give the HRDlx high marks in sound quality, and medium marks in construction.

[marshman]

It was engineered as an entry-level tube amp. So, to hit it's price point, some corners were cut. I don't know if anyone has tracked any specific tendencies relating to age/place of manu/date of manu, but there are a few parts that have been known to fail on occasion. Hence, some reliability discussions have been undertaken. Mine did fritz a few parts, but it had seen TONS of work by then, so I didn't have a cow, I grabbed a different amp and then learned to dismantle PCB amps for fun and amusement.

Yeah, that volume pot is lame--Fender shoulda replaced that ages ago. The distortion could be better to MY ears, but not everyone would think so.

And, oh, yeah--they are freekin' LOUD! I've read that even installing some of those el84 adaptors didn't help too much.

Good Luck!

[Blewbyou]

I have one and really like it.I like the clean channel as well as the drive channels. I bought mine second hand and believe there are no mods done to it other than the tubes being replaced. I think mine is a 1999-2000 model made in the USA not sure what or if there are any differences between it and the new made in Mexico models. The volume thing is a big issue though, so I use a volume box(mod from the site above) in the effects loop to control the volume better. You can have the pot changed to fix the problem but for now it's all good.

[GoldieLocks]

I got a Boss EQ pedal to use with my Hotrod Deluxe. It helped tighten up the low-end and control the Honk in the midrange. But when this amp is working properly its not too bad.
I got a reverb pedal too. I don't like the reverb tank in the Hotrod.

[Al Watsky]

The HRD is a nice little utility amp. I don't own one but use them on tour. I have the sound company deliver 2 HRD 1-12's and run them both. They sound fine. I don't think I would record with them but for a show. Perfect. Not too loud , unlike 2 Twin Reverbs. They take effects just fine. Sounds dandy.
No problems.

[eryque]

I have an HRD and love it. With a set of good tubes and a good speaker, the tone on the clean channel is very similar to the bigger BF amps, like a Twin, Pro, or Vibrolux Reverb. It's complex, a little sparkle, plenty of bass, and pur Fender tone. I don't hear anything tweed-like about it.

It has an effects loop, though I've never used it. I use a Fulltone OCD overdrive pedal in the regular input, and every time I kick that on for a lead someone tells me how great the tone is.

I've also never had any reliability issues with mine, though mostly it stays in the living room. Earlier in my life I had it's big brother, the 2x12 HR Deville, and I never had any problems with that one either. Both of these amps were bought used.

[loudguitars]

I have been using one as a loaner for the past 4 weeks while I have my main amp serviced. I play a 500 seat club 3 nights a week. My pedals are Barber Tonepress-Zendrive-Carl Martin Delayla.

I set the amp on only clean channel (volume 2.5 to 3) and use the Zendrive for gain. I play Country/Rock/Funk.

The amp is suprisingly decent sounding! I Hate all of the Fender (fizzy) distortion channels, but the cleans are Fender Country Twang!!! I don't use the footswitch. Just the cleanest channel settings.

If you use heavyish compression it sounds like an old rockman. I was really suprised how good it sounded. For around $400 used, a really decent amp.

[photoweborama]

I decided to pass on it. Just too much power for my needs. a 16 watt tube amp would better suit me..