All user reviews of 4/5 for the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Five good big lamps as capot..40w and basic rglages; do not search on these high-tech devices; but rather an excellent return of the beautiful vintage fender for a price abordable..le Mexican model is identical to the US model, same specifications and same components.

construction seems srieuse and robust.
Nothing to say but all the same weighs 22kg.
Sound with guitar at rest is a bit parasit ... not very quiet; it's roots ..

USE

The simplest configuration; frankly put the gold Satriani you can do everything on it.
It is very typ Fender me this is what I wanted. One could even say that lack of neutrality in that it colors the sound of many distortion pedals in faade .It was good to know ... because some will regret this can be appearance.

The knobs are effective one passes easily from some rich and fat sound a drier sound and grainy .. OV + is not great has its maximum; it has experienced more violent; Mtal lovers spend their chemin..mais dry oats ca for rock..pas of problem ..

SONORITS

it is appropriate at all and so it is a best seller; it's a bit of fender strat amp.
It is rather cute and looks like a kind of large mnager 50s device with clean lines.

Pure pleasure on the line, it's really a very good amp. Beautiful velvety for the Jazz. Wheat for rock..Reverb a little intrusive if pushed to del 4.




NOTICE GLOBAL

for 3 years with me, I do not think changing, and yet I had some good brands before; but for that price nothing to spit in the soup; it really is a fender a little "bell" in the clear, lovely .... what

In short ... His clear and mythical crunch ... but OV max a bit messy; no big deal we do not Lachte for it.

Excellent for a strat, a les paul; a guitar jazz ..
More than enough for repet group; funk for our group, we did not push the more than 4 by volume; even if the drummer beats more ..
Down regime; pageantry must play fine on the knob of very sensitive volume down a bit her lower trunk because it has seen its format.
The effects loop is very clean and dnature nothing.

Attention.Il no line out imitating the sound of a HP; it is better to prick it with a good shure sm57 facade for concerts and studio.

See other opinions. Needless to repeat.

UTILIZATION

Easy to use. Style plug and play.

SOUNDS

Beautiful clear and deep sound: that's why we like it first. In contrast, the reverb is unbalanced: go slowly. Same for the button so unbalanced volume this amp is not made to play at home.
Side distortion must go slowly, it's Fender. Beyond the crunch it is better pedals that will put on good clear sound.

OVERALL OPINION

Reliable and popular that has proven for decades in all the scenes of the world amp.

The +

The Fender clean sound
So simple practice on stage
Reliable

The -

Reverb volume and unbalanced

I 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

I bought it in a loca music store, in Norway, where I live, for about 8000 Kroner, which is the same as 900US$.

This amp really has a stunning amount of power! I've played at stages outside using only a third of it's capacity! The reverb is also remarkable, and the clean sound is unbelieveable.

The knobs on this thing is WAY too sensitive...At least at the lowest levels, which make me a bit of problems when I want it to whisper in my bedroom at nights. This is not a big problem though, more a little annoying thing that seem to bother me.

The other thing about this unit is that it doesn't sound good with many distortion units...This has caused problems for me when using e.g. the Big Muff Pi, or the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone. The built in drive-channel of course gives you warm overdrive-sound, but it doesn't give enough if you'll play hard-rock! I think the problem with dist-units is that it colours the sound too much in the preamp-tubes, and you end up with a bit unsatisfying distorted sound.

The Deluxe is made of good quality wood,and is really good put together. The DogBone handle is also nice and sturdy, but this is a heavy piece of equipment for a small guy like me...(25 kg) It has to be mentioned that this is a tube-amp, and therefore it will have to be cared for, and not be roughly treated.

A nice guitar amp of supreme quality,but if you want the metal-distortion, you MAY struggle a bit. (unless you're an effects-expert)

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I do not repeat these specificities.

Note: It is far too powerful, making it unusable in an apartment (except with a very soft, as it does not heat), and it easily covers a group spent the 4 / 12.

So I took a power attenuator VHM (200 € with shipping costs). And there's really a great amp, it draws the best anywhere.

So 8 / 10 for the need to reinvest back.

UTILIZATION

See previous.

Manual clear.

Once mounted on the VHM is most excellent, warm, clear, slightly crunchy (depending on how it sets the attenuator) ideal for almost any style, with a good distortion (blackstar distX) you can even get out of the sounds metal type, although this is not that he is more comfortable.

SOUNDS

Played with a stratovolcano majority, nickel for it.

Versatile enough we get all kinds of sounds, with some good pedals.

The sound is pure amazing.

OVERALL OPINION

I have for nearly three years.
I tried a lot of things before you buy.

Most: the sound, versatility, overall quality, power.

Cons: the overflow of power, unusable at low volume, price + reinvested

With the experience I remake that choice unless the Fender came in at € 500 20w, there'd be a perfect compromise.

All Tube
one EQ, spring reverb

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use, it still sounds.
A switch for the reverb was not too ...
I am obliged to use more when I want to live a lot.

SOUNDS

I play rock especially with noise, he followed me in many, many concerts and I owe much of my sound.
I use it with a jap fender jaguar and a gibson sg special
the clean sound is amazing, the distortion was excellent for my style of music and a big muff I'm in heaven
my settings are: flight clear 3 / 4, bright off, we drive more, gain dist 8, high 6 / 7, 6 mid, bass 3 / 4, dist vol 3, rev 1.5, 2 presence
I also used to trip hop, experimental with lots of feedback and reverb, it does everything.
he even pushed to try my hand at surf music ...

grinding sound is excellent, it's true, but the distortion of some amps like mesa boogie F30 home or some orange makes me doubt ... there are amps with more versatile and better distortion, but more expensive ... so I lowered my rating to 8 / 10

OVERALL OPINION

I've had 2 years I think
it is ultrapolyvalent, beautiful, easy to carry, solid (I sometimes mistreats a bit at the end of concert) is the strangest sounds without flinching, sends a nice distortion with or without hb, returns to a clear very clear just after .
avnat this one, I esssayé full full of amps (Marshall vs JMC, the mesa boogie mark 4 through almost all peavey combo and multibody and even orange) J have a 100 that I Attax n used at all.
it is laaargement powerful enough for all types of concerts and rehearsals for the course (I have never dared to grow more than 6 and it was unbearable ...)
I think you understood that I would not change the amp for anything.
the price is very reasonable ... and then the sound is priceless ...

correction I think there are better today, including the Prosonic, the F30 Mesa, the Orange AD30 so I put 8

40w All Tube loop effect 2 channels: clean, crunch Drive + more
1x 12 "Jensen
key for for bright gloss on the standard settings and clean BMT, presence and reverb, volume for the clean and crunch for the master / More Drive

UTILIZATION

Its easy to have a very short time to clean and tinkering on the knobs for a good crunch

SOUNDS

Ideal rock rock / blues but watch out for the watts, it really sends a 40 w
the clean is really terrible and crunch / more drive is as it must for blues severe
all knobs are active, but beware of the reverb that quickly becomes too large (matter of taste), ditto for the volume of clean.

8 / 10 because the crunch / more drive may have more fishing (for my taste) but with a pedal bone TS 9 oz mitigates this lack

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for some time, with a small variety of effects, it sounds superb and the price is correct for this and ample power at 40 W. Even if it is heavy to lug it remains a good compromise all-tube combo who wants to play in groups. for use at home or apartment I would not recommend anyway because it sends so that it can operate properly without declaring war with the neighborhood!

In the first all-tube amp price worthy of the name.
Power 40W, quite suitable for playing at home, repeating with the potos, or a lil beef in the garage granny. The 40W are very present, with a volume a little too sensitive (when the volume is about 2.5, my upstairs neighbor at her tapestry that go).
Fender makes us happy by making available a good "All Tube" simple and effective. [/ B]

UTILIZATION

All the settings are very simple, intuitive, can be found fairly quickly, "his" own sound, that makes for a fender bizare but I'm not complaining.
Indeed, it is not bored, they rule the "treble", his "middle" and lower, a little reverb PARCI spoke and voila.
It was still hard to adjust the volume, since we do not try to cover a battery is sometimes painful.
Otherwise, true to the fender, clear sound is always clear and any bôôôté. By contrast saturation dirty enough, or no, let's see what you intend for.

SOUNDS

A clear lamp very nice, excellent job of fender clinging fiercely to their traditions. They excel in their always clear sound quality. Have fun plugging a small Fender Stratocaster Deluxe on the hot rod and that you will draw tears.
Obviously, the association fender-fender remains enormous but personally I play it with a gibson les paul and the warm sound and well rounded out of my double easel extremely well, a Regalade!
Cependent, I stay on my end conserne saturation of the hot rod, I find it rather poor, I just feel like pushing the max gain a clear sound bad. But, you say, it is not used in fender for a big "saturation" (you will see elsewhere in marshall for that!), And everything depends on what you want to play. Lover of blues, jazz, funk and rock will be delighted very dirty. For those looking for big sound, and although I find very interesting, considering the quality of the clean channel, to associate a small multi-purpose or correct any distortion or other. Indeed, it retains a beautiful clear tone for our romantic serenades and you can let go to play slayer when the miss was blocked with another ...

OVERALL OPINION

The Fender Hot Rod is in my opinion a good reference, with a value price for any light that defies concurence.
It remains, on the other hand, not very polivalent if taken while naked, but dressed with other effects, we can explore many interesting backgrounds (distortion, flange, wah, chorus, delay ...), it will then contact all styles though its retro look is a little "daddy" but remains attractive.
I advise to all those born in the transistors and looking new.
Of course, try it in all directions (ask to try it with a strat U.S.) and those that made clear his royally c ****, and searching for good solid sound to the old, going to test the equivalent of Hot Rod at Marshall DSL 401 which is also a gem.

Amplification All Tube 40W. A simple equalizer (Bass, Middle, Treble), a treble booster, a spring reverb, a crunch channel and a channel full, a small footswitch. Here, simple and effective ...

40W lamp, it is enough or too ... At home, hard to push it above 2 without making the walls shake. In rehearsal, and concert, at 4-5 on ... 12 max.

UTILIZATION

Configuration very easy given the small number of knobs. It turns a little and go!

The manual is useless. Besides, there's a manual? Remember ...

SOUNDS

Clearly very good for clean sounds. A real pleasure. A stratum, a TV and it is the foot. My lap steel going in as well. Like crunches and less saturated channels I never use them, I prefer to put a pedal clear to distos ... But a small lamp replacement, even HP, and he quickly found the punch ...

I play mostly blues and rock. It should be fine. Metallurgists, go your way ...

OVERALL OPINION

I use it so good for 6 years, never had a glitch, and I plug every day, whatever happens ...

A 800-900 €, it is hardly better in combos, in my opinion. With experience, I would take maybe an amp a bit less powerful lamps or a good marshall for grain blues-rock sound, but clear fender surely fail me.

I advise you with your eyes closed ...

That, as everyone knows, an amp, all-tube, 40W of power.
I say all good lamp but it's not quite true, that said areas are those without lamps where the lamp does not bring too much interest (I know a little bit of electronics, so I can you say we can easily do this lamp is the buffer input impedance and the effects loop).

Connection level, we find the standard inputs and an output for an HP (or rather a baffle) extra, and inputs / outputs for the effects loop (in series). Note that plugging into a preamp input "power amp in" (loop return) is used because the amp as a power amp, and it works pretty good.

The settings are well known, with a volume for clean, gain and master to the crunch, a button 'more drive', a 3-band EQ plus presence, a knob reverb, etc., the site is complete to Fender subject.

UTILIZATION

Configuration is very simple, very intuitive, the very classic amp.
We obtain easily the desired sounds, at least in the clear.

Small flat, the effects loop is not at constant volume, for example if you are on the clean channel, effects loop plugged into effect will receive a signal proportional to your volume control knob. Not very best, but hey we can do with it anyway.

I wish I had a master general rather than dedicated to the crunch channel, but in the end I am using almost no one, it does not bother me too much.

SOUNDS

I use it for all styles, but it is true that I only use the clean channel, possibly with distortion pedals for the front (I push up hard-rock '90s, distortion level, to give you a idea), just so in the spirit Gilmour (do not make me say what I did not say, we are very far from his gear).

However, let's be clear (!), The crunch channel is a disgrace, it sounds awful, messy, and you enable the 'more drive' you actually get more gain, but believe me, the game is not worth Candlelight.

For information I Retube mine with ADP (both preamp that power) and I substituted the second lamp for a ECC83 ECC81. The sound is clear it found magnified, and the crunch is back listenable, as long as you did not go over unless its crunchy / bluesy.

I get all the palettes that I sound research, both with my strat jap with my custom guitar (MSM and Floyd Rose).

OVERALL OPINION

I use this amp along with a multi-purpose Zoom GFX-8. This is my basic setup losque I do a concert or a rehearsal without headaches. (I want to say that the GFX-8 is very very underrated, it's a shame).

FYI, I have it next to a rack with ADA MP-1, Mesa / Boogie 50/50 and a few more Replifex Rocktron pedals. So I think to recognize a good sound

In the end, the HRD is a really good little amp, which justifies its sales figures. Do not expect to learn much about the distortion channel, but it is very compatible with the effects pedals, you can use without fear of distortion pedals and others to get the crunch and distortion going well.
The clean sound is really nice, very Fender, especially after changing lamps as I said above.

I thought I got separated when I got my rack, but in the end I kept it. It probably means something, right?

tube amp and 3-12AX7 2-6L6
very adequate power for repeated group, but far too powerful for the work in his living room when the kids are asleep ... it's not made for that ...

UTILIZATION

configuration is extremely simple:
there are 2 channels
the first is a clear, highly polished fender.
the second channel is a little drive on which range from mild overdrive to heavy crunch. saturation level ends there, for more distortion, you need a good pedal. It is possible to further increase the saturation level of the drive channel permanently active in the button "more drive" but do not expect a Marshall type distortion.
The settings are simple and common 2-channel equalizer bass / mmiddle / treble effective.
good reverb, 1 to 3 is sufficient, after be like ...

SOUNDS

this amp is very good for blues, rock, reggae, anything that is played in "clean" or "overdrive". very good for playing Floyd, SRV, Hendrix, ... but not for hardcore or metal.
I play with a volume pedal in the effects loop, it allows for the overdrive without killing your ears.
my config is as follows
Mexican stratovolcano with a set of silver lace sensor blue handle and dual medium blue / red in easel.
plugged into a vox wah and compressor excellent leadership Celmo sardine can, vox Satchurator for distortion, maxon OD9 for overdrive and boost.
I also use the drive channel that can duplicate the maxon ...

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 3 or 4 years.
I tried a 212 spider before. it really was not bad but I wanted a tube amp for this dynamic that can be heard on the intro to Shine On Your Crazy Diamond from the album of pink floyd pulse

- 40W tube power

- 3 X 12AX, 2 X 6L6

- Solid state rectifier

- 1-12" special design Eminence® 8 ohm, 50W speaker

- Three selectable channels (Normal, Drive and More Drive)

- Independent gain and master controls in Drive channel

- Bright switch

- Effects loop

- Reverb

- External speaker jack

- 2-button 3-function footswitch for channel select, Drive select and "More Drive" select

- Chrome panel

- Vintage pointer knobs

- Internal Variable Bias Control

- 45lb

UTILIZATION

I think, nay... I believe we are all guilty of shopping for guitar equipment with our eyes, rather than our ears. And I am particularly bad when it comes to this.

Whatever manufacturer has placed most blue LED lights on their products, receives a framed letter with my credit card details for use at their discretion.

Having said that, something caught my eye with the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Having gone through numerous amounts of slightly embarrassing set-ups, I decided to try something more plain. And I am so glad I did.

I simply can not make this 40W combo sound bad (in terms of a template for me to noodle over... My playing is another issue).

Anything I plug in sounds lush...

SOUNDS

The HRD (or "Simpleton" as I like to call it) has quickly become MY amp.

I need to cover a variety of different styles from Beyonce and Lady Gaga to Blind Faith and Muddy Waters (and everything in between), and utilising a bunch of different amps and set-ups just isn't viable.

So instead, I have what I would describe as "The Working Musicians Rig" :

Fender HRD
Guitar (whichever suits the band the best)
Pedal board consisting of a TC Electronics Nova System, TC PolyTune, Cry Baby, Volume...

I am so happy!

Now with this I can get great tones for whatever the night may require, and I can get them fast.

The HRD really just lets you mould your sound into the amp, rather than forcing you in another direction.

The clean channel is to die for, and the overdrive channel is usable (although you will get much better results using pedals into the clean).

OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about it is the versatility the clean channel offers. I have plugged numerous amounts of pedals into the front end, and it has yet to respond badly to any of them.

I can go from an Eric Johnson style smooth lead, using i.e.:

Any glassy OD pedal
MXR Carbon Copy (plus some reverb from the amp)

to full on death using i.e.:

Blackstar Blackfire.

This is worth the price of admission alone (and lets be honest... It's a cheap amp).

The dirty channel is not overly impressive, but I have yet to meet someone who buys a Fender amp for it's distortion. Still... This could be improved.
I will hold my hand up now, and plead guilty to mistreating my HRD. Constantly being thrown in and out of trunks, clubs, home, rehearsal rooms, etc... It has worked up a few cosmetic "flaws", but has never once failed me (knock on wood).

I would definitely recommend this combo to anyone who needs something that delivers night after night, and lets YOU decide how YOU want to sound.

PS: You won't find a better clean channel out there.

All Tube Combo (3x 12AX7 2x6L6) 40W
HP 12 "+ jack External speaker
Spring Reverb Fender
3 channels clean, drive and more drive with footswitch
Bright switch
loop power amp in preamp out (to cut)
3-band EQ + Presence

UTILIZATION

Not read the manual ...
You plug the guitar and it rocks live.


SOUNDS

Very nice sound and versatile, the clean is beautiful as well as easily snapping the scratches.
Crunch a bit messy in the bass, perfect for blues / rock 70s but a bit tricky to adjust. Depending on the style OD pedal allow more sounds, such as not enough for the family of the metal sounds.

Beautiful dynamic sound, well-tuned it responds very well to the attack, as well as setting volume / tone of the guitar.

The drive is actually more a +12 dB boost on the drive channel, so still a bit more rough but very convenient for out of the mass on a solo etc..

Used on a variety of styles blues rock reggae pop funk jazz bossa and even country, with an Epiphone Les Paul and Fender Telecaster.

One or two pedals or a multi-purpose, and effectively expands the palette. changing preamp tubes may be worth, they are not original fabulous.

Very beautiful with an organ or Rhodes


OVERALL OPINION

5 years of use.
tested quite a few amps of all makes, often going into my favorites types fender twin sounds, it's still a good compromise, a bit expensive but reliable for its manufacture

the -:
crunch a bit messy, see above
connections rather fragile
one EQ for all channels
very long reverb, can be aggressive even though she is very beautiful
Heavy ... but if one seeks the good combo lamps will be always larger transformers
some parasitic vibrations, but maybe just mine

The pros:
beautiful object
nice sound, good power output, it suffices to repeat or even in small room
suitable for what I need ... try it, it's very distinctive and will not suit everyone.