All user reviews for the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

These amps have been one of the most if not the most popular amp Fender has ever built. They have three channels or two with a boost on the second and a fantastic tone. These amps sound great and take great orders from its users. They obey when instructed to do so for gigs and practicing. They have a great tone and a take pedals extremely well. These amps will travel the distance with you night after night of gigging. You can rely on them except for the light indicator that tells you if the amp is o or not. These little bulbs are notorious for going out on these amps. This amp is special factory run that just changed the tolex of the amp and nothing on the inside.

UTILIZATION


Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III Combo Guitar Amplifier Features at a Glance:

* Amplifier type: Tube
* Output power: 40W
* Speaker: 1 x 12" Celestion G12P-80, 8-ohm speaker
* Output impedance: 4 ohms or 8 ohms
* Preamp tubes: 3 x 12AX7
* Power tubes: 2 x 6L6
* Rectifier: Solid state
* Inputs: 2
* Channels: 3 selectable channels (Normal, Drive, and More Drive)
* Controls: Presence, Reverb, Master Volume, Middle, Bass, Treble, Drive select switch, Drive Volume, Bright switch
* Effects: Spring reverb
* Effects loop: Preamp output/power amp input
* Speaker jack: Extension speaker jack
* Covering/grille cloth: Black textured-vinyl covering with Blackface-style black/silver grille cloth
* Height: 18.75"
* Width: 23.5"
* Depth: 10.5"
* Weight: 45 lbs.
* Footswitch: 2-button, 3-function footswitch included
* Cover: Amplifier cover included

SOUNDS

Now that they have a usable gain channel then this amp has much more flexibility that before. The old amps were just outright sloppy. The bad thing is that these amps are made in Mexico. Only if the Hot Rod lll were made in the USA would I buy this amp. So they are going to be cheaper made and will break down on you a lot quicker. I'm not sure if they fixed the jewel light from going out on this model. Everyone who owned this amp knows that the light always goes out on these things.

Anyway, use this amp with any nice guitar. I like this amp with a solid Gibson Les Paul. I used it with a Line 6 Dl4 and a Ibanez Ts9 and I had some great tones that cut through the band quite well. The distortion is a bit muddy on these and I generally would use a pedal.

OVERALL OPINION

If you are on the market for a good tube amp that has two moderate low gain but usable gain then this might be the amp for you. However I would never buy this amp since its made in Mexico. Too bad to because this is a great amp and the Hot Rod lll's are even better as far as distortion wise For the price of this amp I would buy a used Marshall JCM2000. At new these amps come in at around $759. You can even pick up a Peavey 5150 for the price of this thing.

The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a fairly standard amplifier featuring two channels, an onboard gain boost for the drive channel, reverb, an effects loop and 40 watts of power driven by a single Eminence speaker. It is powered by a pair of 6L6s in the power section and it is basically meant to offer a decent Fender clean coupled with a reasonable drive circuit for everything from crunch to higher octane tones. It's a very common backline amp and I've used them at numerous club and festival shows. It's a pretty loud amp like many Fenders and cuts through in a band mix quite well.

UTILIZATION

Dialing in this amp for good tones is reasonable. It does suffer from a pretty awful sudden volume jump that can be a disadvantage when dialing in sounds. It has a fairly reasonable EQ and reacts as it should to control adjustment. The tones themselves are decent. I find this amp sounds a bit anemic due to the single speaker configuration. I've had better luck with the 4x10 Hot Rod Deville which has a punchier attack to my ears. It has a pretty good range of tones from clean to high gain and despite sounding a bit thin it can be made to be a great workhorse amp.

SOUNDS

This amp sounds at home with a variety of different guitars and in a variety of musical contexts. It has a great classic Fender clean sound that gets great sparkle and clarity especially with a single coil loaded guitar like a Strat or Tele. The crunch tones have a great raw energy to them that is right at home with a Les Paul or ES335. The highest gain tones have a nice open airy quality but can be prone to buzziness at uber high gain. It's not an amp that was built with metal styles in mind but it does sound good for classic or hard rock, especially if boosted.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a decent workhorse amp for some looking for a versatile amp with good clear Fender cleans and a reasonable drive tone. They can be had for about $500 used which is a fair deal. I'm not the biggest fan of the single speaker layout but it works well enough for what it is.

We will go over the details, previous posts have already been around the issue.

But remember that this is an amp 40W lamps, with plenty of power available, so use a limited basis in an apartment.

The only point here is that models 1 and 2 were equipped with HP Eminence, not top to the amplifier must admit.
The problem is solved with the HP Mark.3 which features a Celestion!

UTILIZATION

The configuration of the amplifier is very simple:

- A power switch and a Stand-By

- A switch button to switch from clean to overdrive, and another to switch to "More Drive" after the OD active.

- A clear volume, a setting of "Drive, a 3-band EQ common light / OD, OD for a Master, a setting Reverb, and Presence control.

For the third point, the knobs are easy to read and display an adjustment of up to 12.

The sound setting on the other hand is more difficult because the bass is much too pronounced for my taste on this amp. However, each player must find "his" sound, so it is difficult to answer the question. It is best to try the beast yourself and form your own opinion.

The manual is not necessary.

SOUNDS

This amp can suit different styles of music, provided you use good pedals and have an HP Embedded Celestion. In the case of an eminence, the use will be restricted to the blues, or rock.

I tested the beast with a Strato on which I play a lot, and it's pure bliss, at least if you're looking for a Fender. It's simply the best combo available to reproduce the sound of your legendary Fender axes.
I also have a Les Paul, but it does not sound like it should be over, but hey it tastes like history says.
I do not use the reverb, and I is the presence to a minimum. Both options distort the sound too much for my taste.

As for clean sounds, the amp stays true to the legend of the brand, ie the sound is perfect, regardless of the scratches.
The overdrive is excellent too, but be careful not to push too much gain, it gets disgusting after a while (that's why he is avoiding the "More Drive" as much as possible).
And again I repeat, some say that the Drive is great, but it's not my opinion, I would say that does not correspond to the amp, because it is not in my opinion to produce big sound distortion.

So in summary, the sounds are perfect if you make use of this amp it is intended.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 2 years now and I must say it is perfect in its field.

I tried some amps before choosing the one, but my final choice was the Fender. What better way to have the perfect sound and clear your Start and Tele?

It is not flexible, however, I advise you if you need to play sound distortion or otherwise, to make a good booster pedal, or if you have money to take another amp ...

So if you play guitars Fender Squier or even, this amp is for you. It will highlight the deep sound of your instrument and you will see that it is the foot!
In addition, the price / quality ratio is excellent, and it is a sturdy and portable amp. The 40 W in the bag he did not flinch, even when faced with a drummer excited.

To conclude, if I had to redo this choice, I will do well heh!

Tube amp - 3 12AX7s, 2 6L6s

40 watts

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

3 channels - clean, drive, and more drive

Master volume and gain controls in drive channel

Bright switch

Spring reverb

External speaker output

Effects loop

2-button footswitch for channel selection/drive to more drive selection

UTILIZATION

This seemed to be a great gigging amp - small and compact, didn't weigh too much, and looked great. The sounds were killer, and very easy to dial in. I could get great country, blues, jazz, and old time rock sounds out of it with no problem. Metal would be a bit harder to achieve - it took me getting out my dirt boxes to find a usable metal tone. But the drive and more drive channels were still great for inspiring solo flights!

SOUNDS

This amp sounds incredible. It has great, glassy, shimmery cleans with plenty of chime. And the dirty channels are pretty smooth - a bit hairy, but can be tamed by swapping preamp tubes for other manufacturer's products. The reverb is as good as you'd find on any amp, and the EQ section is sensitive, yet highly usable.

I played these amps with all kinds of guitars - Strats, Teles, Les Pauls, 335s, shredder guitars, and they all sounded great, but like themselves - the amp is transparent. And it takes pedals very well also. The sound of this amp is nothing to sneeze at.

OVERALL OPINION

The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a marvelous idea in theory, but in practice, the amp is bound to make you rip your hair out of your head. In using PCB construction methods, Fender is able to have a well-designed circuit be manufactured and sold for a very low price.

The problem is in the design - the tube sockets are mounted directly ON the PC board. What happens with tubes when you turn a tube amp on? They heat up. And heat is the enemy of solder traces, resistors, and capacitors - the heat from the tubes caused short circuits in my two HRD amps a total of four times, with the last two ending in literal smoke.

If you want a great sounding amp that you're ok with throwing away in a few short years, by all means, get this amp. It is the opposite of durable due to its fatal design flaw.

There are a couple new features in the Hot Rod Deluxe that are very important to me. The first one being that speaker that is standard is actually usable. They used to have some cheap speaker in there that wasn't very musical and a lot of guys would switch out the speaker for something much more sweeter in tone. The next feature is a usable gain channel two and three. Before the gain channels were so bad that I never even used them. They sounded terrible and nothing like a tube amp distortion.


Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III Combo Guitar Amplifier Features at a Glance:

* Amplifier type: Tube
* Output power: 40W
* Speaker: 1 x 12" Celestion G12P-80, 8-ohm speaker
* Output impedance: 4 ohms or 8 ohms
* Preamp tubes: 3 x 12AX7
* Power tubes: 2 x 6L6
* Rectifier: Solid state
* Inputs: 2
* Channels: 3 selectable channels (Normal, Drive, and More Drive)
* Controls: Presence, Reverb, Master Volume, Middle, Bass, Treble, Drive select switch, Drive Volume, Bright switch
* Effects: Spring reverb
* Effects loop: Preamp output/power amp input
* Speaker jack: Extension speaker jack
* Covering/grille cloth: Black textured-vinyl covering with Blackface-style black/silver grille cloth
* Footswitch: 2-button, 3-function footswitch included
* Cover: Amplifier cover included

UTILIZATION

Details
Type Tube
Number of Channels Three
Power 40W
Speakers 1 x Celestion G12P-80
No Effects
Reverb
EQ Treble, Bass, Middle
No Modeling
Number of Tubes 5
Preamp Tubes 3 x 12AX7
Power Tubes 2 x 6L6
Inputs 2 x Instrument
Outputs 1 x Speaker
Footswitch I/O
Effects Loop
Height 18.75"
Width 23.5"
Depth 10.5"
Weight 45 lbs.

SOUNDS

Now that they have a usable gain channel then this amp has much more flexibility that before. The old amps were just outright sloppy. The bad thing is that these amps are made in Mexico. So they are going to be cheaper made and will break down on you a lot quicker. I'm not sure if they fixed the jewel light from going out on this model. Everyone who owned this amp knows that the light always goes out on these things.

Anyway, use this amp with any nice guitar. I like this amp with a solid Gibson Les Paul. I used it with a Line 6 Dl4 and a Ibanez Ts9 and I had some great tones that cut through the band quite well.

OVERALL OPINION

If you are on the market for a good tube amp that has two moderate low gain but usable gain then this might be the amp for you. That is if it is the newest model. The older models had an unusable dirty channel.

I would recommend getting this amp is you need a decent clean amp that has a good tone for pedals. I gigged a lot with my amp but always ran pedals in front of it. The other two channels were pointless. If you need distortion then don't get this amp. However I would never buy this amp since its made in Mexico. For the price of this amp I would buy a used Marshall JCM2000. At new these amps come in at around $700. You can even pick up a Peavey 5150 for the price of this thing.

All Tube amp (preamp and amp)
Channel clear and saturated with a boost channel which acts on the preamp DRIVE.

40 watts ATTENTION: I see that laugh but it is 40 watts, which frankly fart. For example, in a room of 350 people, the sound engineer bawl me out and asks me down while I'm barely at 2.5 on the clean channel, I would hardly need me to take over the PA system!

I had a 100-watt 2 X 12 "Marshall and I sold it because I was too big, too powerful and I no longer loved the sound. As a result, the HOT ROD fart even more.

The effects loop is practical and pretty well set in terms of volumes. Be careful not to stick a digital multi-effects vulguaire it. Lorsque'on played on an amp of this musical, the grain will not stick with digital sound and lights. I used a muti-effects in my loop and I heard almost the sound of the rack the sound of the amp. result: I have my heavy rack to return to the good old pedals and I do not regret it.

UTILIZATION

A tube amp requires precautions when lighting and when were at risk of the lights burned out. A requirement to respect some rules, the amp runs smoothly. But beware! A change in lighting on such a receiver is expensive!

The big plus of this amp is very musical! After playing for years on JCM 900 100 Watt 2 HP 12 ", I literally rediscovered the joy of playing the guitar on an amp.

Like all books amp, one of the hot rod does not have much information. Listen to your seller about the firing order of POWER and STANDBY switches and basta!

SOUNDS

My style is more pop-oriented rock of the 80s, to the U2, Cure, The Smiths and even the Rockab ', etc.. Crunch sounds, not very saturated. A lot of clean sounds too. For me it's the perfect amp.

I connect over a fender stratocaster american standard 1989 with microphones vand Zandt Vintage. This is class! Pure clean sounds, very hot, the reverb is beautiful and really usable. from time to time, I plug it a Danelectro baritone and there it is back to rock 50 years guarantee. You remember the sounds of scratching "twang" in the soundtrack of the Tontons Flingueurs or the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction as "surf guitar"? That's exactly right!

Note that this amp delivers a lot of bass.

Many scratch estimate the distortion of the channel B low as messy. Do not listen to because it is not the vocation of this amp that give you big distos. For that, add a pedal. This is an amp and not a character thing versatile of all trades like a Marshall. the metal and other Nirvana fans can spend their way, the hot rod is a fairly unique in that amp. For the record, the aptly named "Hot Rod" is the 50's, Custom T Ford, the rockab ', the way his recent discs Brian Setzer, is the universe here or the blues. With the HOT ROD is a homecoming of scratching electric, it's vintage and take it or leave it.

Me, anyway, I love the distortion, it is cradoc, slobbery, imprecise, to limit controllable but it gives the character. With a sound like that in concert, we can stand out from the guys who stick to a distal boss 600 balls between their guitar and amp and they all sound the same!

For the price, I achteté 4900 Franks Ocassion and even guarantee for 2 or 3 years, good price, it's worth. I do not know the price of nine current and can not even imagine. But buying a Fender amp lamps like buying a Neumann mic, it's expensive but we know what we have in return!

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for a year group and frankly I really enjoy. The sound is magical. Its only flaw is that the volume knobs are not very linear and with one or two millimeters more or less above it is either too high or too low. IN apartment is boring but anyway, it is not expected to play an amp in the apartment. Even on stage, making the balance between the two channels requires some skill. For less, this is the downside of this amp but once it is set ... is happiness.

I recommend this amp for guitarists already somewhat seasoned. The small sounds of recent young fan will not find his account

40 watt all-tube.
There's the usual buttons on a lamp Lampl, ie, middle, treble, bass, reverb (very good indeed and it is spring) and presence (which adds high frequency treble).

There are 3 channels:
* Clean
* Drive
* Over Drive

The amp comes with footswitch and nylon cover

The 50's look to me much pplait (buttons, plugs ...)

UTILIZATION

Simple manual and unnecessary, given the ease of use of the beast ...

The settings are nothing special.

I do not have much to say because the short answer is simple to use. Esquimeau even with mittens will get there!

The weakness of the amp would be just as volume knobs are too sensitive (classic Fender)

SOUNDS

It is the ideal amp for blues / rock. That's basically what I play, and I'm really overwhelmed.
It is the lamp! The clean sounds are good, but my favorite is the overdrive. There will never be the sound of a marshall, but they're crazy, it's not what we're looking with an amplifier of this type. The distos are imprecise, which makes the device a grain exeptionnel that only fender (and mesa) can do.
Clearly, that happiness spreads!

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 5 months and no problems so far. The black dot is the animal that weighs over 20 kg, which does not facilitate the frequent travel.

Anyway, I am satisfied with my purchase emplement, well worth the price for which I had: 820 euros ...

See below, too bad there is only one worse with an equalizer ... pitit tremolo and more it would be the ultimate amp is good but not too much to ask either!

UTILIZATION

Super simple to use, it sounds fun ... Live!
(I put that 9 for 2nd équalo absent)

SOUNDS

I play it with a mustang, the sound is warm in the bass and treble in crystal, I use the drive a lot but with a slight adjustment that gives a sublime crunch. The drive may be more useful to more noisy things, the reverb is very nice and gives a lot of depth.
The sound is beautiful to cry, I cry there besides just thinking about it!

OVERALL OPINION

It's been 2 weeks since I bought it secondhand 650 euros with a homemade fly and I do not regret at all, it's a significant investment but once it is made is the seventh heaven.
If you look real nice and deep sounds british you found!

This 40 watt amp (March 12 AX7 6L6 + 2) has 2 channels: 1 clean channel with a single volume knob (like this can not be wrong), and a crunch channel with volume controls for drive, and the bass middle treble settings are common to the reverb 2 channels.

UTILIZATION

The configuration is too simple the clean channel with its single volume knob and if you want to saturate the channel you buy some earplugs.

SOUNDS

The clean sound is good, actually found the grain Fender but especially do not put too much reverb, beyond 1.5 it looks like a drum sound is embedded: it sucks.
On channel 2 crunch sounds are not evil on the other hand distorted sounds are "shit", the sound is crushed scrap unusable if they put more drive to Donf.J 've tried everything SansAmp plug 1 1 V Twin Mesa nothing to make the popping sound is zero. I even ended up connecting a Marshall cabinet 1936: the sound is always zero. I even replace the HP original (Eminence) by a good Celestion Vintage 30 in attack on his wins in roundness in precision but the popping sound it is still as NIL.

OVERALL OPINION

This amp is for those who want to play the blues crunch and whose saturation is not necessary. For my part I sold quickly, preferring his little brother JUNIOR BLUES which despite its 15 watts and a single channel, deposits and saturates + natural way. I have sold and I found the amp RIVERA on my dreams Chubster 40 you can read my mind.

40 watt tube amp
2 6L6 and 3 12AX7
3 channels (Clean, Drive and More Drive), in fact in practice 2 channels Clean and Drive (More Drive is just a boost, notament saturation settings are the same as the drive channel).
A handy footswitch pedal.
Effects loop in Series

UTILIZATION

We get the sound right away. Super easy to use.
Note that I see very often in forums of people complaining about the excessive power of the Hot Rod for domestic use. It is true that the base is not made for that, but putting a good volume pedal (ernie ball for example) in the loop (which is standard) can have its very hot and not too much pressure acoustics.

SOUNDS

I fear I may be biased, but when you love the clean and crunch sounds, it represents the reference (relative to its price of course). Blues, Rock, Jazz ... Hot Rod What!
He also tolerates the addition of distortion pedals, but do not depart from the base register (a metal box has nothing to do there !!!).
The reverb is usable up to 1.5!?!? then he must love!

OVERALL OPINION

Amp fairly exclusive use. I use it for two years and without any ulterior thought I would buy the same.
Very satisfactory value for money. I never get tired of that sound.
Use in dangerous apartment (saved with a volume pedal).
Note that my on my model that dates back at least two years it says Made in Japan, while the new models it says Made in Mexico!, But I think it's an unimportant detail .

All tube with a nice reverb. This amp is extremely powerful for its size.

UTILIZATION

Using simple, clear sound is magnificent, for those who do not like saturated vintage, a good pedal will give excellent results (tested)

SOUNDS

The sound is warm and clear now, and will accommodate all types of music including blues, funk and jazz, and blues rock distos are very, saturate it well and still have may also consider playing modern. The rhythmic type English pop and rock and all that kind pass beautifully. To provide a foot rest

OVERALL OPINION

3 years but just been to an orchestra. comes with a cover, the quality is incredible for this price. After it depends on taste.

All tube amp 40 w
Spring reverb
Nothing to say about the look! Both class and retro! A fender what ....!!
I would have liked a tremolo but ...
See other review for the rest! I will not notice!

UTILIZATION

This amp is very simple to use! Even a beginner who will turn the knobs in every sense qd even get a nice sound!
No need for manual
The configuration could not be simpler

SOUNDS

One branch is allowed to heat for 5 min and c party! One is immediately struck by his incredible power (believe me it mind-blowing!).
And its clear ... ouahhhhh! No doubt .. ca fender and lights!
The reverb is beautiful and brings more depth, but should not exceed 2 on the volume pot if it is like playing in a barrel!
Unlike some, I find the distortion quite well! With humbuckers, it has a vintage overdrive sound that allows a lot of possibilities and can be obtained sustain that lasts for hours!
on the other hand, if you plug a strato eg, the only sound that gets saturated crunch is rather disgusting. A distortion pedal will be more than necessary in this case.
Also note that the machine delivers a lot of low / almost too playing with some guitars!
That's why I will not 10

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 1 year
Since this purchase, I do not want to hear about transistor amps! I really found the amp I needed! If I get bored one day so I'll have to find a Twin Reverb or Vox AC30.
But I do not think you can find better for this price!
His only weakness is probably his cow weight!

All-tube combo 40 W (no it is not a joke, it only 40w but that slap!)

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use
very few adjustments to the scope of any idiot

SOUNDS

There are two channels:
- A clear channel which provides a sound typical Fender (crystalline and most of all very slamming) with only a treble EQ, midlle, bass, it smacks the lamp as soon as full nose branch without breaking the head for trimmings
- Overdrive channel that can be separated into 2: drive (crunch) and more drive (overdrive) channel crunch is really great, there is not need much gain to make it sound, there too, is the Fender ... on the other hand for channel Overd I have a bit mixed, it's still very rock, if you want to do with the metal this amp, go your way, unless you add a good distortion pedal ...

Me I play with a standard strato usa, I use another one between Overd lamp hugger and Kettner tube factor (the portion that is a marvel), and a bigg muff '(we say more), and there is the slap in your face, this amp cash pedals beautifully, thereby bridging the lack of distortion of the amp (I think)
I also used to connect an electro-acoustic and that is happiness ...
I do not put 10 because of Overd, and then just like that it leaves room for improvement for the next combo fender lamps that we will lay

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 3 years and I can not get enough! I hesitated a long time with a marshall dsl but I would do without any doubts this choice because the sound is really clear and the typical crunch is a treat
In fact it is a 40 W but do not be fooled, it's light, it sounds very (aïeu), repeating I never exceeded 2.5 on the volume and the volume pot goes up to 12 !
The only downside of this amp, is that EQUALIZERS used for all three channels, to find a good compromise, but it's still very easy to adjust
Value for money unbeatable versatility ensured if you add a good distortion or fuzz, on the other hand is a heavy amp!

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