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MGR/Rodrigo Pereira « Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Blonde »
Published on 09/18/03 at 15:00I bought this Fender Hot Rod Deluxe from Musicians Friend about 2 months ago for $429 (in the dent & scratch section). I already had a 4x10 Blues Deville in Tweed. Since the Deville weights a ton, and in most of the gigs that I play with my band I don't need the amount of power packed in the Deville, I decided to go for something smaller, but that would keep the same punch and tone of the Deville.
The Hot Rod Deluxe has essentially the same sound characteristics of its bigger brother, the Deville. Exceptional clean tones, and a bluesy fat sound in the drive channels that hooks you in the very first time you plug your guitar. The amp is smaller, lighter and easier to handle that the Deville. Also, because of the lower power (40W against 60W of the Deville), you can extract the most beaultiful tone of the tubes (with the volume around 5) at a decent bandwise volume, without becoming deaf (if you like your eardrums, don't do that with the Deville - I never set the volume higher than 3). And the cream colored blonde tolex is one of the coolest things you'll see in guitar amps.
I had a negative surprise when I saw the "Made in Mexico" label in the back of the amp. Apparently Fender moved all the production of the Hot Rod Amps to Mexico. Putting aside any sort of prejudice, I figured that the crafting quality of the amp hasn't been reduced. I coudn't see any production flaws, as we typically see in "Made in Mexico" Fender guitars. The dust cover would be much nicer if it would be brown (as in the old Blues Devilles and Deluxes from the early nineties) instead of the black that comes with the amp. That is because all the details are brown (the handler, the grill cloth).
Good construcion. It is made of plywood, but the tolex hides completely the low grade of the wood. Anyway, nowadays solid wood amps cost a fortune.
Good purchase. Worth the bucks.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
The Hot Rod Deluxe has essentially the same sound characteristics of its bigger brother, the Deville. Exceptional clean tones, and a bluesy fat sound in the drive channels that hooks you in the very first time you plug your guitar. The amp is smaller, lighter and easier to handle that the Deville. Also, because of the lower power (40W against 60W of the Deville), you can extract the most beaultiful tone of the tubes (with the volume around 5) at a decent bandwise volume, without becoming deaf (if you like your eardrums, don't do that with the Deville - I never set the volume higher than 3). And the cream colored blonde tolex is one of the coolest things you'll see in guitar amps.
I had a negative surprise when I saw the "Made in Mexico" label in the back of the amp. Apparently Fender moved all the production of the Hot Rod Amps to Mexico. Putting aside any sort of prejudice, I figured that the crafting quality of the amp hasn't been reduced. I coudn't see any production flaws, as we typically see in "Made in Mexico" Fender guitars. The dust cover would be much nicer if it would be brown (as in the old Blues Devilles and Deluxes from the early nineties) instead of the black that comes with the amp. That is because all the details are brown (the handler, the grill cloth).
Good construcion. It is made of plywood, but the tolex hides completely the low grade of the wood. Anyway, nowadays solid wood amps cost a fortune.
Good purchase. Worth the bucks.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com