Fender Hot Rod Deville, why so cheap used?

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Blues Twanger

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I see these come up regularly in my area used, usually the 2x12 but plenty of 4x10s have come and gone as well. Probably not a week goes by I don't see one listed and the prices are near $400 or below.

What gives? Are they considered that bad? Twenty years ago I owned a 2x12, it was my first tube amp, and my only complaint was the linear volume control that wen from nothing to too much between 0 and 1.
 

marshman

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They’re not bad, just not super desirable. Pretty heavy, if my 1x12 HRDx is anything to go by. Reeeally loud, too, and as you noted, difficult to get a Goldilocks volume setting. Most have ‘shaky’ Electrolytic Caps that will probably need a recap sooner rather than later, and it lacks all the cool mojo other vintage-styled amps are known for. Someone playing really big rooms/outdoor gigs and has a preference for pedalboard dirt can use them to great effect, but i’d have to have access to one for the $200 range before I’d seriously consider one. Or I’d have to hit the lottery.
 

NEED4TWEED

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The market is flooded with these and there’s a portion of the market just uninterested in what they offer, so there's supply and demand impacts. These are likely too much for most players these days in terms of size and power. Savvy buyers of used ones wouldn't want to pay much upfront because there's a higher probability with these of spending money on repairs and a greater risk of a major part failure due to design and component choices. I suspect those that would be most interested in this model are the type of buyer that would prefer to buy new and have the safety of warranty repairs (this was me two years ago - briefly a Hot Rod Deluxe owner).
 
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SapoAmpRepair

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My first real tube amp was a 4x10 hot rod deville.
My thoughts ...

- Great fender cleans
- The built in distortion/channel left a lot to be desired
- Heavy as F
- Way too loud for the gigs I was playing (could never get it to the golden break-up tone level without killing folks watching the band)
- Linear taper volume pots made the amp almost unusable at normal volumes.
- It was so hard and finicky to adjust the volume without huge changes, that I used to gig using a volume pedal instead as touching the amp on stage was a catastrophe. (older series, I think they switched to audio taper pots after years and years of complaints)

Now ... if you like cleans, don't mind heavy sh*t, and want a lot of clean headroom ... it's a steal.
 

Blues Twanger

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Indeed it is still the heaviest amp I ever gigged and I agree the dirt tone was not good at all. In fact my first pedal, and DOD FX55, was purchased because, as my bandmates put, the Fender Farted.
 

Les H

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I don't know...

I had a Hot Rod Deluxe years ago. I really liked the amp playing at home alone but I ended up not liking it at all at gigs and not even as a pedal platform. I preferred a PV Bandit over the HRDlx for gigs.

Nowadays it seems to have become a "tiny amp world" and anything 212 over 30 watts is considered too loud and too heavy so those amps are going pretty cheap. Even used Twin Reverb Reissues in good condition can be found below $600 from private sellers.
 

Rick330man

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Throw a 12AU7 into V1 and you solve a lot of the crazy volume issues

A different twist on the same idea:

I had two Hot Rod Deluxes. I sold one to a good friend. We did some experimenting to get the crazy volume sweep under control. V1 got a 12AY7. V3 got a 12AT7. With those tweaks, he loved it.
 

DADGAD

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A Vox AC 30 with Warfdales weighs 80 pounds. A 1970 Twin Reverb weighs 65 pounds. Compare those to a DeVille. The #1 repair that comes into my shop is replacing the input jacks on them. I rather work on a Fender Hot Rod or DeVille than a Peavey classic 30. Those are the nightmare amp to work on.
 

Censport

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My first real tube amp was a 4x10 hot rod deville.
My thoughts ...

- Great fender cleans
- The built in distortion/channel left a lot to be desired
- Heavy as F
- Way too loud for the gigs I was playing (could never get it to the golden break-up tone level without killing folks watching the band)
- Linear taper volume pots made the amp almost unusable at normal volumes.
- It was so hard and finicky to adjust the volume without huge changes, that I used to gig using a volume pedal instead as touching the amp on stage was a catastrophe. (older series, I think they switched to audio taper pots after years and years of complaints)

Now ... if you like cleans, don't mind heavy sh*t, and want a lot of clean headroom ... it's a steal.
I gigged in two bands with a first-gen HRDlx for years. One of the regular joints with one band was on the second floor. Good thing I was 20 years younger than I am now! The other guitarist used a 4x10 tweed Blues Deluxe. Also, I used a volume pedal and an overdrive. Left the amp's footswitch at home because whenever I switched channels, the amp would pop loudly (and the amp's dirty tone left a lot to be desired). But it never broke, it sounded great, and there was never a gig too big for it, including amphitheaters.

Still have it, but it's in the basement with my broken first-gen Blues Jr. Not for sale, as I'm eternally hopeful that one day/night, I'll have a gig that calls for it again. After reading this thread, I may pull it out and play around with different tubes.
 

Musekatcher

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They made too many of them for one, and they are heavy like a Twin, and overkill loud for 100% of the time, lol. You can overkill on loud for half the weight. But, at $400, great amp. And just in case you do finally land an arena gig, you're set! PS - I think the 410 is lighter than the 212? Seemed like it, the times I toted/loaned them.

A 1970 Twin Reverb weighs 65 pounds.

I think my 1970 weighs 77 lb with the D120s, in both advertised weight, and on my scale.
 

mistermikev

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i think they are fair priced for what they are: if you want an amp that does one thing well(and loud) - clean. I have one and I love it. the clean channel IMO is one of the best ever. little less grit than a deluxe... not quite as much clean headroom as a twin.

I almost never use the drive channel cause it just doesn't sound good to me (at least not the way I have the amp setup which is trying to optimize the clean). If I ever turn to chnl2... i have the gain almost off. boost is even worse.

vol is a little touchy - not a prob if you are able to get relatively loud.

takes pedals very well.

for my money... they are sleepers... but if you went in looking for any sort of drive channel i could see why you'd be dissapointed.
 

SonicMustang

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I had a 2x12 Deville. TBH, with the pedals I used, I got the best sound I've ever gotten out of an amp I've owned, WHEN I could turn it up a bit. The downside was that I needed a dolly to get it from my car to the stage (I'm not a large person) and it was much too loud for some of the places we were playing. I remember putting a 12AU7 into V1 and that really helped the volume taper, but it was still too loud for small gigs. I can only afford one amp at a time, so regretfully I had to sell it for something smaller. If I could afford two amps, I'd probably buy another one in case I needed an outdoor gig amp.

Ditto the gain channel is not very good, but it's one of the best cleans I've heard. I just threw an SD1 in the mix and it was awesome.

I don't believe there is a place for 50w+ amps in a world where most of the gigs I play the amps have a mic in front of them. The sound guy is just going to tell you to turn it to a level that sucks the life out of your tone.
 

wulfenganck

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I guess it's just not the time for heavy and high-powered 2x12 - or even worse 4x10 - combos.
I was tempted to buy one, but it was simply to heavy for my taste. Great cleansound, 'though.
 
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