Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4x10 Combo

Seems to be a pretty solidly built amp. Fender says 3 channel, I agree with a previous review that says one. The tone stack business just doesn't cut it. The effects loop has the tendancy to be a little noisy. Also for some reason my Wah Wah (Hammond Organ Crybaby Vintage 70's) won't work inline between my guitar and amp so I have to stick it in the effects loop (see above noisy) The noise isn't horrible but it's more than i've ever had to deal with before. Still a nice 2X12 60 watt tube amp thou. At 53lbs its not all that heavy. Way lighter than my 2X12 line 6

:D CLEAN!!!!!! Thats where this amp really shines! Tone doesn't come out of this amp it oozes out like warm butter. Seriously this amp has one of the best clean tones i've ever heard. The day after my line 6 died I laid out of work and mourned my loss by driving to ever music store in the area (5 or so) and playing tube amps within my price range. This one had the rest of them beat hands down, as well as some of the other fender models. the normal drive channel is more what i would call overdrive, good for bluesy stuff i suppose. If you want a fuzz sound i'd reccomend sticking something else with the amp my choice was a rocktron silver dragon.

I don't think i'd ever gig period without a back up. It hasn't broken down on me. Is easy to work on. Sounds good. So no complaints here.

N/a

I've been playing for 14 years or so. I have several other amps, this one is my favorite by far. I love the tones i can get out of it, coupled with the silver dragon its a match made in heaven. On the day I decided on this amp I played through the Kustom Coupe '72 and '36, Crate classic 50, Marshall TSL, and a bunch of solid state amps. This one was my favorite. I do wish my wah worked inline with my guitar, i do wish the effects loop was a little quieter. Perhaps i'll get a hush kit or something.

very sensitive knobs
reverb is useless above 2
clean breaks up too early
drive is hellacious
not really a useable amplifier

clean is okay at low volume, but my goodness, the drive has got to be kidding me, never heard worse
like a buzzy, grainy, gritty sound, terrible for chording
i found the presence to be very noisy
tried to play live with it, and it literally ruined the gig
people were asking me what was wrong with my sound

probably very good

again, i'm sure it's good

i'd pay someone to steal this piece of shit

Bought new in 2005. Features have been covered but I will add a few comments on some of them. Okay, the amp has shared EQ for the channels. Many do this, and it is kind of a shame but you know that going in.

Overall, this is a killer amp (more on that below) but there is one thing about it that just bugs me no end. The footswitch. I find ONE of the two overdrive channels useable. By that I mean I can either set the DRIVE or the MORE DRIVE to be usable, but not both. Problem is the difference in volume more than even the difference in gain. How does the footswitch come into this? Well, because they decided to use a two-button footswitch, they used it up letting you go from clean, to DRIVE to MORE DRIVE, but they have NO FOOTSWITCHABLE REVERB.

This may not be a big deal to some players. Some either have it on all the time or off all the time. But traditionally, they broke with convention...so it must have been discussed in the design phase, and someone made the terrible decision to just not have an on/off or footswitchable reverb. For me this is a very bad thing. I often like to go from 'verb to dry (it has the effect of making it seem like the guitar came from further away to suddenly right THERE) or vice versa. Often songs with abrupt stops sound SO much tighter without reverb.

To make it even worse, the reverb knob is WAY too sensitive (linear pot) which means it is very haard to get the exact level of reverb you want. To make this EVEN worse, there is no on/off switch on the AMP either for reverb. So if you want it off, then on again, it is impossible to set it back where it was exactly, and small increments make big changes.

I solved this by buying an EBS Dynaverb, after spending a LOT of time trying out 'verbs, and this one seemed to be able to get closest to the built-in 'verb sound. And of course, being a pedal it's foot-switchable.

Note also that it seems Fender did the sales trick of making the volume pot linear also (fools kids who turn it up to 2 or 3 in the store, have this LOUD volume, and think "wow...wait til I get it home and turn it up to 10!" not realizing they are only going to get a little more out of it.

Okay, those are the negatives. I don't mind that the legends on the knobs are upside down, though it is a minor problem with the white-on-chrome to read the knobs without having to shade behind them with your hand to read them. After a while you know which is which, but it is a case of trying to make it seem vintage, but making it less easily used. Many do this though, so no big points off for that.

As others have gone into this, just thought to mention, the effects SEND/RETURN works very well, the extension speaker jack is pretty flexible as you can insert a dummy plug also in the main jack (going to the 4 10"s, 4 ohm if I remember right) and use it as a head, or use an 8 ohm speaker cab using all speakers, buil-in and extension.

I use my amp stand alone sometimes, and if space allows I like to use a Marshall 4 x 12" cab to mellow out the sound a little.

I'm giving them points off (bigtime) for the reverb decision (not footswitchable) and the other stuff I mentioned. The effects loop is fine, but I expect that.

I have several amps, and in my opinion, JUST thinking about features, Carvin does it way better than Fender on plain tube amps. Carvin (at a fairly low price) gives you seperate EQ on each channel, extra presence on the Lead channel (talking about the Carvin MTS series), siwtchable impedance, footswitchable channel/reverb, switchable between 50/100 watts, line out (voiced line), SND/RET. Those features on a Hot Rod (DeVille or DeLuxe) would be KILLER.

Okay, features-wise I was a little negative. Just to mention I have had the amp now for almost a year. Have played it in our band rehearsal, at home, and out on gigs. In the meantime I have aquired a handmade Fender BAssman 5F6A, which I am in LOVE with, and which gives me much clearer, shimmering, indescribably wonderful sounds, BUT...the Hot Rod is no pig in comparison. They actually compiment each other. I had thought about selling the HR when I was buying the Bassman, but in the end I decided to keep it. I'm very glad I did.

The cleans on the HR are VERY nice. They are a little "fat", but there is a wonderful feel and sound to this amp. I almost wanted to not like it so much, but I have to admit there is DEFINITELY something special about the sound of this amp, especially cranked a little. Alone, in a small room, practicing...it isn't nearly as good as cranked, in the mix. It cuts through nicely. When I play it right next to the Bassman, the Bassman is much "clearer" the HR sounds...I don't want to say muffled because it is the wrong idea, but slightly less defined, but in a good way. I can get Freddie King, BB King, SRV, Hendrix (both the harsh and the mellow, from Voodoo Chile to Wind Cries Mary), Clapton, just...the only way to say it is, some amps are just amps, some amps are like "partners", and this one feels like a friend I can depend on to help me make good music.


I also have read lots of folks HATE the drive channels. I don't know what they are using them for or expecting from them, but personally I like to set one or the other (DRIVE or MORE DRIVE) for a slight breakup and find I can use that just fine...though mostly I do stick to the clean, using a Zendrive for OD, and a Jekyll & Hyde for a second and third OD. But I also use the Drive. As mentioned above, for me the difference in volume makes it so I can only use one really.

I haven't done ANY mods, my amp is stock. I use a 4 x 12" extension cab sometimes, but gigging out with just the amp (not miced even) works fine and dandy, and this amp has killer sound.

I am seriously considering doing that mod where you tie one side of one of the EQ pots to the wiper, and get more control of the bass pot. The bass pot doesn't do as much as I'd like, and the EQ stack si very interactive. Also thinking of modding for the brighter sound (mods mentioned in previouse reviews). But really, just stock, this amp sounds wonderful. I highly reccomend it. If you are like me about the reverb, and really want it footswitchable, I would look into a Blues DeVille if I were you, but I've never played one so it is just from hearsay and features.

I play (as you may have guessed) lots of blues, als Hendrixy rock, and almost anything. This amp is a sure thing as far as I am concerned.

I love this section, where folk that have had NO problem with their gear, diss it because they read someone else has had, or even several. It ought to be YOUR experience with it. Also can we stop with the "built like a tank..."'s? Folk give reliability ratings because it's HEAVY, or has a metal case. Has nothing to do with it. I think you ought to not give a rating if you've only owned something for a few weeks, UNLESS you already had problems with it.

Had the amp for a year, about, and have carried it to practice every week for most of that time (now I leave it at practice), and no problems at all. Still, a year isn't so long, and I expect that. It isn't a sign of excellent reliability. But, no problems whatsoever.

Never dealt with Fender. Hate their website. TOO miserly with info, not enough historical information. Still I can't have an opinion about their support without having used it.

I have a couple of strats, many pedals, other amps I currently have and use are (not in any order of esteem, just random); Carvin MTS 3212, Peavey Classic 30, Fender Prosonic head, hand-built Bassman 5F6A (the BEST Jerry, the BEST!!), Carvin Vintage 33, Crate Taxi, little Crate practice amp (solid state, but COOL!), Roland Cube 60 (one from the 80's, one from yesterday), and I used to own an Ampeg VT-22 410.

This amp is right at the top of the list for me. My Bassman gives me something this amp doesn't, but this HR is EXCELLENT and well worth the money. Wish it had the footswitchable reverb, since I have other backup amps, I may try and see if I can mod it. Mainly though, this amp, STOCK is one of the best amps I have played.

It's human nature to expect ALL features to be the BEST, but honestly, if they had marketed this amp with NO drive channels, just a clean people would be in love with it. But instead they're going "damn...the drive channel sounds like bees in a can" (well, not to me, I use mine and think it sounds great), but again...pricewise, if it only had the clean, it would still have effects-loop, reverb, and a different but equally complementary sound to the Bassman RI LTD, which has no verb, no "switchable channels", no extension speaker out, etc.

Also, I love the sound of 4 10" speakers, but also it works really well combined with some 12"'s in an extension cab.

I don't know how these amps are made these days, but mine is a '97 from when they were still made in the USA. It's got your basic three channels; clean, dirty, and more dirty. It's got the classic Fender reverb, and from the looks of the reverb tank, it seems to be standard Fender issue. I have the 4x10 model. It's all tube, American made glory, which is really hard to find in an amp these days for under $1000. Yes, it does have circuit board in it but so does my '79 Marshall JMP, and so do alot of other well made amps. It's as heavy as a brick sh*thouse.

I have never posted to this board before, but after reading the previous review, I felt I had to. The guy says this amp has the worst dirty channels he has ever heard. Now, I don't know where or when his was made or if there was anything wrong with it, but I am a pro player in an international touring band and I have played through many amps and, for me anyway, this is hands down one of the best sounding amps I have played through regardless of price. The only sound you won't get from it is a high gain metal sound (which you can get from it with the use of pedals). If you want classic rock bliss (think stones, beatles, eagles, yardbirds, even ac/dc bluesy stuff). The clean channel simply smokes esp. with the reverb. For country or rockabilly it's just insane. I can get the classic Johnny Cash boom-chika-boom-chika sound. I even had a guy like the sound so much, he traded me a Mesa Boogie Mk4 for it which I did because I was playing in a punk band. A few years later I got it back from him and fell in love with it all over again. The only flaw I can find is in the "More Dirty" channel which can get a little noisy. I see this amp all the time in the backline of major players (not so much the 2x12 version, which for some reason did not sound as good to me when I a/b'd them). I've used this amp with Les Pauls, Tele's, PRS, you name it. I will probably never sell or trade this amp again. I give it a 9 because of the dirty "More Dirty" cannels noise issue and because I haven't played a 10 yet.

Solid. Never had anything other than tubes needing to be changed.

Never needed it.

I've been playing for 25 years. Main guitar is a Les Paul or Tele. I've played all kinds of music. If this amp were stolen, I would buy another one but I would look for one from the same era. The bad reviews make me think the workmanship of the new ones has gone down hill. The people I've heard talk sh*t about these amps have usually been gear snobs (The same type who claim to hear the difference in what color cables they use)

decent features, seperate eq would be nice
i hate bright switches

the clean is very good, not fenders best, but very nice
the drive is honestly the worst drive i have ever heard
worse than solid state, and totally unuseable
you have to run pedals through the clean channel
which sounds great, this amp loves pedals

who knows, honestly, i have my doubts about mexican made gear
although, i love the mexi strats

no problem

i miss my peavey delta bhlues 210
should have never sold it!!
how can you own an amp that you hate the drive channel?
all i needed was a cable and my axe oh well

Bought it in used in "like new" condition so I'm guessing it's not more than a few years old. Won't bother listing all the features. If your interested in this amp you probably already know what they are. 60 watts at 8 ohms. Accepts an 8 ohm extension speaker cab. I have an 8 ohm 2x12 cab (w/ vintage 30's) that will be interesting to try at some point. My only reservation is the reliability of the solid-state reverb driver and recovery circuitry. Would have been happier with separate EQ for drive channel but I hasn't been a real big problem with the kind of music I use it for (blues, jazz, classic rock).

Primary guitar is an American Strat with stock pickups. With a smidgeon of reverb, chord comping is heavenly. I stick primarily with the clean channel so solos can be a little thin sounding. I remedy this with a Way Huge Green Rhino (think Tube Screamer with better bass response) and a ED-1 compressor to kick the preamp a bit harder. The amp is dead quiet on the clean channel but can be noisy on the drive and more drive settings. Clean channel will break up at higher volumes with the stock (SOVTEK) preamp tubes. I replaced the Sovteks with NOS and put a lower gain tube in the phase inverter position with fantastic results. Replacing the stock preamp tubes significantly increased the clean channel headroom and even tightened up the drive channel a bit. Highly recommended. When I started looking for a new amp, I was nearly convinced that I would be going with a Blackface reissue. After a half-dozen trips to Guitar Center and a few other music stores, I could no longer resist the gravitational pull of the Hot Rod Deville. Though it doesn't get you all the way to Backface territory, it can come pretty damn close and leave you the option of opening up the mids for a fatter sound. All I can say is that my Hot Rod Deville and my American Strat is a match made in heaven. The drive and more drive "channels" can get a bit loose in the low end at higher settings, especially with the neck pickup. Flip over to the bridge pickup and yer rockin' out without the flub. Right now I'm fine with the clean channel and my stomp boxes.

I've owned several Fender amps and have never been let down. Treat it right and keep spare tubes handy and life is good.

I only had to contact Fender once to get schematics for a discontinued solid-state (M80). They were friendly and helpful. This was 5 or six years ago though so who knows what the current state of affairs is.

Been playing for over 30 years. I have a boatload of amps and effects collecting dust in my closet. I guess my taste is more towards simplicity these days. Like many, I've been lured to the "dark side" by slick marketing hype and technobabble. Now that's all flushed out of my system and I content to stick with what works. Besides my '65 Bandmaster, this amp is a keeper.

Built in 2005 i suppose since i bought it last saturday and it was still packed. Hot rod Deville 410.

It sounds great, i play rock 'n' roll/blues (jon spencer style) and the Deville is the one i was lookin' for. It's fat and delicious, actually a gift from the sky for my sound. I'm still experimenting with the eq, the drive and the reverb, but everything comes out of that Thing is gorgeus. Pure deep and crystalline clean channel and saucy 60's overdrive, got it: drive "take it easy and rock" and more drive"Start kickin' the jam"...It's got the blues in fellows, DA BLUES is in it!

It's brand new, but it's the only i've got (i spent a lot of cash for it here in italy) and so it's my amp for giggin' and i'm proud of this. but it looks strong, it fuckin' Heavy in fact. i go for a 10 'cos i trust in it

don't know

I'm 25 and i play since i was 12, never got money enough to get a tube one but i wanted it, i play in a band called Pussy for President and i needed a sound to shake girl's souls all around and this amp is now my new good friend together with the other band members, the more i play it the more i discover is great sound. I am happy with my Hot rod Deville next to me.

The one i own is a 2002. I've replaced the tubes 3 times in it with the fender groove tubes, each time the amp comes back to life. It has 3 channels, but the overdrive is very thin. Clean,drive, moredrive. The moredrive is pretty heavy (can you head the outro to give it away by RHCP playing?). The footswitch is pretty handy though. I wish there was seperate EQ for the drives and stuff. I use this amp in my band.

Lacks the low bottom.... Nice clean, but buy some distortion pedals or overdrive pedals. The built in stuff really doesn't cut it. I play some SRV, the red hot chili peppers, sublime, and some audioslave in my band. I use an american strat with texas special pickups and it really sounds cool on this amp. without a noise gate you will receive very bad feedback from the distortion.

Its never broken down on me without any problems..we practice every week and play a show about every 2 months.

i got is used...my local guitar shop www.carpentersworldofmusic.com is really helpful

I've had it for 5 years now and it's played a lot of shows with me. I'm trading it in though, because the low end isn't cutting it. Get a Marshall half stack if you plan to play in places bigger than clubs. Your sound will fill up the room more and people will be able to feel you play, not have to turn their ear toward you.

this amp is your stepping stone between a 2x12 combo and a half stack.

I got the amp in 2001. My style of music is Blues Rock/ Classic Rock. The three channels suit me fine and the drive channels have eliminated the need for a distortion box! The amp is REALLY loud!! I kill my drummer on 4!! Sometimes it can get a bit 'bitey', shrill even. But then again, I play Strats....so a little knob tweaking will cure that! The tube warmness is fantastic. The clean channel is Fender pristine....enough to do a convincing cover of SRV's "Lenny". The dirty channels can conjur up Hendrix, Trower and the like easily!!

I'm using several Strats with it: a 1979 Antigua Strat with DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pups, a 2003 American Deluxe Fat Strat with a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, a 2005 Deluxe Players Strat with Fender Noiseless pups, a 1991 fender Heartfield Talon with 2 Seymour Duncan Alnico II's and a Fender Noiseless in the middle. My effects are as follows: A SKB PS-45 board..Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah, Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Classic Fuzz and Octave Fuzz, Fulltone DejaVibe,Danelectro Tuna Melt Tremolo, Line 6 Roto-Machine, Boss DD-3 delay, Fulltone Fat Boost, Boss Tuner. The amp cover my set list nicely.

Hasn't let me down in 4 years!!

Never used them!

I would HAVE to replace it if it were stolen....It's MY sound!!! i wish it were LIGHTER though....it's a backbreaker!

I purchased this amp in 1997, the serial number seems to indicate that it was made in 1997. It has three channels, clean, and two overdrive channels. 4x10 cabinet, 60 watts all tube. Sadly, no separate EQ for each channel. Effects Loop, Reverb, Presence, and a Bright switch. In other words, all of the tube amp must haves except for the separate EQs.

I play all kinds of music and what I play has changed over the years. When I first got the amp nine years ago, I played hard rock and metal. Now, I play blues, classic rock, R&B, and some jazz.

This amp has sufficient power. Really, too much power. That's my number two complaint about the amp, number one is the crappy input jacks. More on that later. I have changed the volume pots to audio tapers and its still just way too loud even at "low" volumes (I rarely turn it up past 2.5). Mostly, I use it for practice in the basement, but when I play out (once every month or two) I always use it for that too. I get to turn it up a bit more (but rarely past 4) on these occasions. I of course have cranked it up to 12 on many occasions, but I think 4-6 on the volume knob is the sweet spot on this amp.

I use an Ibanez S-Classic with the Infinity pickups (bright, throaty, lots of midrange), a strat with standard pickups and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge (which is a very hot pickup), and my personal fave, an Epiphone Dot 335 with Gibson Burstbucker Pros (which are made to replicate the Gibson PAF pickups, which are arguably the best ever made).

The clean channel is heavenly. With all of these guitars, I can hear the guitar's personality. Setting the EQ properly really makes a big difference, though. I tend to like Mids on 12, bass on 4, and treble on 8 with presence on 12, bright switch on, and reverb on about 4 and I get a just plain delightful sound, esp when I crank it up to about 3 or 4. To die for, if you set it right. Some people turn everything up, or scoop out the mids. It won't sound so nice if you do that, but I don't think any amp would.

The drive channels sound the same to me tone-wise, exceot one is drive and the other is more drive. One is saturated. The other is REALLY saturated. I happen to like the tone, though I have seen that many reviewers do not. I have to admit, I do with that I had separate EQ settings for each channel, but honestly, the amp has served me for nearly ten years so I guess I don't need that. With the Epi, I get the creamiest tone esp with the neck pickup. It is a great sound! The strat with the SD hot rails pickup is VERY saturated, I used to play lots of Metallica, Danzig, etc with it and it sounded great, Pinch harmonics squeal for days. I think the trick to the drive channel is to roll the drive down to about 6 for really heavy stuff, rather than crank it to 12. 12 sounds a bit too fizzy for my tastes, even with the metal stuff. Now, I keep the drive on about 4.5 and use the drive for leads when I play blues and the more drive for classic rock leads and I love the sound. It doesn't sound like, say, a Marshall in terms of crunch, and it doesn't sound like a Blackface Twin either. But who expects one amp to sound like another? It has its own character. If I had it my way, I would probably have this and a Blackface twin so I could have more variety. Even if I had the blackface twin, though, I would still use this amp. The one group this amp will not work for are those who want a harsh distortion. But those folks don't want a tube amp anyhow so that is irrelevant.

Generally, this is a reliable amp. I have had one very annoying problem with it: the plastic sleeve on the imput jacks. The jacks are soldered directly onto the PC board. The jacks also have a metal nut threaded on a plastic sleeve (I am no engineer and I know this is a Bad Thing). Well, as you may have guessed, after about 7 years the plastic stripped and the jack was loose. Later the loose jack, due to normal use, managed to break the solder connection to the PC board. When I would play Bb, I would get a HORRIBLE buzz. This totally killed a live performance, much to my annoyance and embarassment. Fortunately, it was not a paying gig. At least it was easy to fix. I put a new ALL METAL jack in the amp, soldered some leads to the PC board, and problem solved. However, I would have gladly paid $100 more for the amp to cover the cost of decent input jacks.

Otherwise, this amp has served me well for nearly ten years with just one tube change / biasing. Maybe having all that extra power is a good thing, because it does not seem to wear tubes out quickly.

Otherwise, the only things that concern me are the fact that this thing does have a PC board, but point to point wiring would maybe triple the price tag, so who is complaining? Also, it would have thrilled me to see porcelain tube sockets instead of bakelite or plastic or whatever, but again...you'd have to shell out twice as much for a Mesa to get those things. Or put em in yourself. Don't think it'll pose a problem in the forseeable future, but I would have been giddy to see better parts like porcelain tube sockets or all metal input jacks, etc. But I digress. I can't complain. Nine years, one problem. I wish Fender made cars.

Never dealt with 'em. Probably crap, though, like everyone else.

If this amp came up missing, I would *maybe* play a deluxe reverb cause it's smaller or find a Mesa Boogie Lonestar for the same price (not gonna happen). Either one of those amps would have to floor me, though, to make me switch from the Hot Rod DeVille.

I have found some sites which outline some neat modifications for this amp. I have changed out the pots with audio taper pots, but I have been considering a few other things. All in all, this is a great amp. Yes, I have a few minor complaints but for the money, and even for twice the price, this is a great amp. I will give this a ten, because it is a fantastic value. It's not perfect, but if you want a "perfect" amp, you have to shell out a LOT more cash. If you find a better amp for this price, I'd love to know how I can get one. I played small Mesas, an Ampeg Reverborocket reissue, Marshall heads, a Fender Twin, not to mention all of the crappy Crate and Peavey amps that music stores try to push on you. I bought the DeVille.

Bottom line:
Cons: too heavy, too powerful, and some cheap parts.
Pros: plenty of power, superb tone, great value.