Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

features all nice just as expected

Excellent sound quality, can do jazz, blues, country, no metal.
The character, Barry Obamamau or whaever his F...... is, has no buisness giving ratings on Fender amps. His assasination on this Deluxe is pathetic. He gave no sound technical logic, just rants about how it was terrible. Get a life loser!

Never had a problem. Mine is the USA made, not Mexico, if that means anything

no problem. I've been playing professionally for 38 years and Fender has always come through for me.

As I said playing for 38 years, would buy this amp again if lost or stolen.

It was made in Mexico i think its a 08 or 07 I fell like its a great starting tube amp for the money. i play things U2, Coldplay Sigur Ros...ect

Im playing a USA telecaster with single coils. The distortion is not great with the stock speaker i would replace it if your looking for distortion.

Its never broke down yet and i play at my church 2 or 3 times a week. The only thing that happend was my springs in the reverb broke...?

Ive been playing this amp for about a year. Its really good, but try to find a used one it will save you alot of money! If it was stolen i would prob would not get it again, only because my style of playing has changed from the time i bought it. The pros of the amp are the clean channel and how warm the the tone is and it looks sweet. The Cons are the mids can really mud up the tone, the amps construction is deff not the best but it can take a beating. And the stock speaker should be replaced if you ask me after (i replaced the speaker I got much better distortion and overdriven tones). The amp is great for a first tube amp or somebody who only plays at home. But i play at my church 2 or 3 times a week so i have found myself wanting more tone.

All tube preamp and power amp supplied by 3 ECC83's and 2 6L6's =
Output 40 watts w/ a S/S rectifier/FX loop.
Combo = 12" Special Design Eminence? 8 ohm, 50 watt Speaker
Three Selectable Channels (Normal, Drive and More Drive)
Features Independent Gain and Master Controls in Drive Channel, Bright Switch, Effects Loop, Reverb, External Speaker Jack,
Controls: Presence, Reverb, Master, Middle, Bass, Treble, Drive Select Switch, Drive, Volume, Bright Switch.

I'm reviewing a 2008 HRD made in Mexico. I was well familiar with the model when I bought it, as three of my friends have owned one. I play in a reggae/funk band and wanted a decent clean tube sound. It has enough power for small to medium large venues.

Fifty tube watts are loud. The basic sound is typical Fender, as good as any and better than most. I wanted a loud clean "ching" for reggae and funk, and was at first a little disappointed. It was great at lower volumes, but was breaking up at around four on the dial, which I only noticed as a problem at an outdoor gig. I spent a c-note to replace the stock speaker with a Weber California speaker and was quite pleased with the result. It is as loud as most situations would demand, ballsy and tight. I mainly use the clean channel but get a good sound with the drive channel by turning the master volume way up and putting the drive volume at about two. This gives it a snarly but not too distorted hot sound. As others have noted, the overdrive/more drive is too fuzzy for most styles and not brutal enough for metal. If you want a metally sound use a pedal, or better yet buy a Marshall. For Classic Rock, Jazz, Blues or Country this is just fine.

Like all tube amps there is a risk of blowing a tube. Carry spares. I also have a Roland Cube 60 which I bring along as a backup. The Fender sounds much better to me, though.

No problems so far. If a tube blows, it blows, it's part of the package.

This amp has gone up in price almost $300 in the last ten years, so it may be overpriced. I previously had a Carvin Belair, which is a 212 and every bit as good, and somewhat cheaper, but more weight to lug around, and I'm old. I chose this one based on what I knew to be true---a good clean sound plus portability and plenty of power. This is a best-seller for a reason. Those who say it sounds bad will never be satisfied with any amp. Perhaps they ought to work on their technique. The Carvin tube amps are good and a viable alternative, but this has more resale value. The stock speaker is cheapish, but that is easy to upgrade. I give it a nine for this price range, not in comparison to an expensive boutique amp.

Well documented; no need to go into details; your standard HRD.

Very nice, well rounded tone; perfect for classic rock and blues; nothing much heavier than that - this is not a metal amp.

Many bars throughout Seoul use this amp. so all I do is carry 'round a LP with a Boss "Dual Overdrive" pedal then plug in - dials are all set midway on the clean channel; your good to go !

I don't use the gain channel; too muddy for my taste and the "more drive" channel is useless unless you use it as a lead boost.

I'm not a pedal user; one is too many for me !

So far so good !

Is Fender in Korea ?

She's a beauty; just what the doctor ordered. Sold my Blues Jr. for this one. A much better amp. for med - large sized venues.

The BJ is just a bit underpowered for playing live straight off the stage and I never liked playing through a PA. Too much dickin' 'round w/ sound levels!

We never have time for a sound check in these places and there's never a sound guy around to moniter the board; so the HRD is the way to go if ya wanna play straight off the stage.

Fender really hit the nail on the head with this entire line, cosmetically anyways. "Gain" and "More Gain" are stupid ideas. What ever happened to a simple circuit, with tremolo in the second channel, that reproduces (see amplifies) the guitars inherent sweet tones and clips softly into a smooth breakup when overdriven? As someone stated earlier, one of the greatest features of this amp is that no-one wants it shortly after they buy it, so they can be readily found for cheap in the classifieds, sometimes cheap enough to get me thinking about using the rather cool looking box to house a classic circuit kit (which are often cheaper than the current Fender crap) and some good Weber speakers. If I can improve on the golden era Fender designs for $700, why can't Fender, with all their resources and cheap labour, do it for over a grand? I am well aware that this model belongs to the "Hot Rod" line and not the "Vintage Reissue" line, yet a gem is a gem and a turd is a turd.

Flat, uninteresting, spikey. The reverb sounds like your usual pawnshop brand solid state junk... perfect for tone-deaf youtube wankers, for wanking away on youtube whilst imagining they look & sound something like Stevie ray Vaughan (these people should not have access to amplifiers, think about it). If you've never plugged into a proper running tweed, blackface, or silverface model, then please disregard my opinion completely.

I would not depend on electronics built by this company.

Where I disagree with the previous poster is that the tweed-covered 1990's "Blues Deville" I owned really sucked too. Spiky as hell. This company is selling nothing more than the logo and some decent cosmetics.

(Sorry about my english - I??m from Germany)
My amp was build in July 1996. I bought it used in superb condition in 2007.
I use it for Jazz, Soul and Funk. It is a perfect amp for those styles.
It has two and a half channels: one clean channel, and one overdrive channel with a more gain option. I only use the clean channel, and for overdrive I prefere to use a tubescreamer-like box.
It sounds best for me with the bass, middle and treble allmost cranked up fully to 10 (works well because of it??s a passiv tone-circuit, which does not change so much), presence up to 7, reverb to 1 or 2 (very effectiv spring).
I play the amp for practicing with the band (volume max. up to 2) and on stage (volume max. up to 3 or 4).
It is realy loud, don??t use it at home in a flat! Even for practicing with the band in a small room it??s nearly to loud.
The stock speaker is an Eminence build for Fender. I changed it once to a Jensen Alnico speaker, but 10 minutes later the Eminence was back to its place: you can??t improuve what is allmost perfect!

I am playing a Hertitage H-575 archtop jazz-guitar for Jazz (treble switch on the amp on bright) and a Fender Stratocaster American Standard for funky sounds (treble switch off).
Very warm classic jazz-sounds with the archtop with the treble on the guitar only to 1-2. Very punchy funky sounds with the strat. And with a overdrive-box it realy rocks, but no heavy metal, only classic rock and Santana-sounds, but that??s what I like.
Sure, at a volume setting of 5 the clean channel starts to distore. But open air with 200 people listening and no P.A. for the guitar the volume on 4 was enough.

Until now no problems.

No customer support needed.

I??m playing since 29 years as an amateur.
Other amps I had before: VOX AC 30 (from the 70ies!), Lab L5 (B.B.Kings choice), Yamaha G100-210, Yamaha G100-212 (like Mike Stern), Fender Pro Junior, Roland Cube 60 (my amp for practicing and small gigs).
If the Hot Rod were stolen or lost, I would surely buy it again.
I compared the amp with a lot of different tube-amps: Fender Blues Deluxe, Blues Junior, Pro Junior ..., Vox, Hughes + Kettner, Koch, Laney, Peavy, ... Sure, the Fender Hot Rod Deville has a fuller sound with more bass, but: if you need a small light-weight tube-amp for a reasonable price with a good clean-sound and a lot of headroom: forget the rest.
The Fender Blues Deluxe, Blues Junior, Pro Junior: they never produce a really clean sound, only that crunchy sound, too distorted for me for a good funk and jazz rhythm sound.
Compared with the Roland Jazz Chorus: the Fender has a sound not so extrem clean but with more live, more sparkeling highs, is cheaper and easier to carry.

2005 model with clean channel, overdrive and "more drive" channeling.I use the amp onstage and in club situations.Plenty of swat for the watt here!Prescence is a nice addition.

Straight forward cleans with Rock and Roll or Blues in mind. Could get by doing Jazz. But, not really known as a Jazzer's amp.I lucked out and have owned 4 of them in the past (this one has a fairly decent overdrive channel). 2 of my former Hot Rod Deluxes had lousy overdrive channels. As for the review from the guy just below me:He really doesn't sound like the typed of guy that has had quite the experience with a variety of amp (as I have over the last 45 years as a Pro).The amp is great at what it does and is intended to do. It puts out a decent Fender tone in a moderate price range and is used by many many Pros in everything from T.V. performances to indoor/outdoor concerts to small clubs.Is it a Dumble, a Bogner, a Victoria? No! Thank God. I've owned them all and there is good and bad about every amp.

Fender runs hot and cold when it comes to customer support. You either Love em or Hate em. There's no middle ground in my opinion.

I own a Blues Junior, a Bogner Shiva, a Deluxe Reverb Reissue, a 69 Vibrolux, a Mark 4 Mesa and a Jazz Chorus 120. I would and have bought this amp again and again (4 times).It's just a great utilitarian amp with decent wattage and can be modded very easily.It has it's own sound that I enjoy.I believe in this case, you get more than what you pay for.

In my opinion the best features are: 1. Inexpensive to purchase, used. 2. Widely available. 3. Easy to sell to another sucker.
So there you have it. Unless you actually LIKE good tone, you'll write glowing reviews. If you DO like good tone, the moment you hear this amp at any/all setting, you will run from it. It's that bad. No, it's worse.

I'd rate the sound of this amp right up there with fingernails on the chalkboard, a roomful of shrieking toddlers, or an Obama speech. Ironically, it's cousin the Blues Deluxe is a wonderful sounding amp. I wouldn't walk across the street to urinate on the Hot Rod Deluxe-unless it was being used...then I would piss on the electricals to cause a short and blow it up. Am I being too subtle? IT SUCKS!

Hopefully it will die a quick death.

Fender guarantees it until you pay for it.

Overhyped, oversold PieceOf****. The happiest experience I had with this amp was receiving payment equal to what I paid for it-two weeks after purchasing it. Suitable for tossing from the nearest cliff perhaps, but as an actual musical instrument amplifier, please run away from this godawful PO*!

Mine is a 1998 proud USA made! You're all suckers if you got the crappy Mexy ones!

Man, this thing sounds incredible! It fits everything that I play, and it's just the perfect amp! I usually use it in venues where they try to limit stage sound as much as possible, so sometimes it's a bit loud, but other than that, I have no complaints. The only downfall may be that the tonal quality peaks at about 3, but that's also wayyyy too loud for some venues, so many times the full tone the amp may have never gets to come out.

I'm using an alder body Mexcan Strat with Tex Mex pickups. They sound gorgeous through the Deluxe. I've never heard the clean channel distort at all, which is really nice. The best part is, the tone is the same throughout the clean and OD channels! I've always hated going from one channel to the next, having my tone change suddenly without my knowing.

I also replaced the original speaker with a Hellatone 60, which is a Celestion Vintage 30 that has been played through for 15 hours to aged it slightly. It brings out the tonal quality very nicely!

I've always been able to depend on it. Never had a problem with it.

Never dealt with them.

I love every part of this amp. The warmness it gets is just sexual. It especially brings out the qualities of Fender guitars, making them sound like they really should! The spring reverb is also pristine. I couldn't ask for better.

You really only want the Clean channel

The distortion is lame.

But the clean seems to take pedals okay.

These are about 450 - 500 used. I do think this is a very simple, effective, no bs way to handle your tube-amp needs.

But, for me, the real-deal Super Reverbs are the way to go.