Cleaning up a Fender HotRod Deluxe

I swapped the number one 12AX7 for a 12AY7 which helped to mellow out the HRDlx that I own. Definitely more manageable now.
There is a thread here in Amp Central regarding the tube swap, good reading.

 

tween 12AX7 and 12AT7

Try the AT7, thats a good idea.
The AT7 is the next lowest gain tube of that type
so if it cleans up too much, an AY7 or AU7 will be more so.
I've just ordered some 5751's. This is a tube with a gain number between the AX7 and the AT7.
Gonna try one of these in V1 of my HRDx (and my M. Lightning too)
Mojotone has'em, TAD too (but they sent me to Mojotone...I'm buying TAD's NOS GE-JAN 5751's thru Mojotone)

 

i had a lot of luck with the 5751 in my HRD. you can also try swapping out phase inverters, sometimes that helps.

also, you can find distinctive variations within the 12AX7 range. maybe try a GE?

 

I have started to use my Blues Deville 410 with my HRD on my holiday tour of nursing homes. I needed to bring the xtra amp for other players. When I am alone, it's the HRD. I love the bigger amp, but the venues I am playing are on the smallish side, so I don't want to over power the rooms. When I have to bring the Blues Deville for the other guitarists, I am finding the HDR to be a tad more noisy and not as warm as its big brother. I realize they are two different sounding amps, but am wondering if I can mellow and warm up the HDR? Any suggestions?

 

I heard somewhere that the second input is a bit milder gain, maybe that'll help.

 

Wow. You're playing with some volume if you're playing the HRD at 4. At a very loud 40-watts, that amp puts out more volume than most vintage Fender amps. About the only thing that would stay clean at that type of volume was a Twin. Even the Super Reverbs, Bassmen, and Pro Reverbs would distort to some extent at a volume equivalent to a HRD at 4. You may want to try a different speaker, but that stock Eminence is 75 watts, I believe. You'd have to get a 100-watter or more. If that doesn't do the trick, you may want to look into a Twin.

 

Is that nursing home thing a joke? Do they hurl fruitcake and dentures at you while yelling, "Turn it down, Sonny?"

I've owned many Blues models and many HR models. I believe the differences go much further than the tolex. The 3rd channel on the HR series did something to the tone that I don't like. You're right, it's not as warm, and the breakup is more sterile. Get a volume box/attenuator. I have a 212 Blues Deville, which serves as my big amp, and I use a cheap volume box patched between the preamp out and power amp in. I dime everything on the amp and control the overall volume with the box. It saturates the preamp tubes for a nice hairy tone, but keeps the volume at reasonable levels. Or you can just tell the audience to turn down their hearing aides.

 

I see this thread is now 4 years old, but did you ever find out how to clean up the HRD sound? I regularly play with mine at 4-5 volume and the lack of clean headroom for crisp chords is frustrating. Before I start doing a bunch of things, does anything work or should I just get a Twin? As an example of what I need, think of the opening chords of "Start Me Up" played at volume 5. It has to be clean.

 

You can make '5' cleaner and quieter but you cant really make more clean headroom out of nowhere. A more efficient speaker is the closest you can get but thats if you are only getting speaker breakup. My blues deluxe breaks up at about 4.