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MGR/Matthew « Fender Hot Rod Deluxe »
Published on 12/14/02 at 15:00I purchased a used Fender Hot Rod Deluxe at the Big Noise in WI for $400. It was highly recommended to me for jazz and blues.
The look of the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is classic. Tolex covering and a beautiful grey grille cloth gave the amp a classic vintage Fender look. The knobs are mounted on the top of the amp with chrome plating. The amp has your standard fare for controls. Some unique features included the bright setting for the clean channel, and the presence knob to adjust the overall harshness of the amp. The Fender reverb is wonderful, even though it's not tube reverb. The drive channel is good for a bluesy overdrive and has a great 20dB boost in the more drive setting, but wouldn't do well in a modern rock situation. The amp sounds really smooth for blues or jazz in the clean channel, which is the amp's selling point. It produces a decent amount of headroom for gigs at the local coffee shops and bars, but will break up at any volumes higher than that. This is good for blues, but not so good for jazz. The amp produces quality tube tone that you hear on many blues recordings. It is more versatile than other Fender amps because of its great drive channels.
Not enough headroom for jazz players. The weight is not as bad as some, but still heavy at around 40lb.
I always heard that Fender amps are built really well. I had also heard that tube amps are very unreliable. I've been gigging with mine for the past year, 2-3 times a week occasionally, and it hasn't had ANY problems. One night it fell out of the back of our drummer's van. I thought the chasis would be smashed, and tubes broken. I found only a small scuff in the corner. Amazing durability.
This amp is Fender's best value for the money. Perfect for jazz and blues out of the box. Although jazzers may want to look to the larger version Hot Rod Devilles, for most this will do the trick. I'd buy this amp again in a heartbeat.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
The look of the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is classic. Tolex covering and a beautiful grey grille cloth gave the amp a classic vintage Fender look. The knobs are mounted on the top of the amp with chrome plating. The amp has your standard fare for controls. Some unique features included the bright setting for the clean channel, and the presence knob to adjust the overall harshness of the amp. The Fender reverb is wonderful, even though it's not tube reverb. The drive channel is good for a bluesy overdrive and has a great 20dB boost in the more drive setting, but wouldn't do well in a modern rock situation. The amp sounds really smooth for blues or jazz in the clean channel, which is the amp's selling point. It produces a decent amount of headroom for gigs at the local coffee shops and bars, but will break up at any volumes higher than that. This is good for blues, but not so good for jazz. The amp produces quality tube tone that you hear on many blues recordings. It is more versatile than other Fender amps because of its great drive channels.
Not enough headroom for jazz players. The weight is not as bad as some, but still heavy at around 40lb.
I always heard that Fender amps are built really well. I had also heard that tube amps are very unreliable. I've been gigging with mine for the past year, 2-3 times a week occasionally, and it hasn't had ANY problems. One night it fell out of the back of our drummer's van. I thought the chasis would be smashed, and tubes broken. I found only a small scuff in the corner. Amazing durability.
This amp is Fender's best value for the money. Perfect for jazz and blues out of the box. Although jazzers may want to look to the larger version Hot Rod Devilles, for most this will do the trick. I'd buy this amp again in a heartbeat.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com