Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

To the person named JEF who did a review just a few down from here.....your a total dork mate and OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO IDEA about pots.
A linear taper pot gives you heaps between 0 and 3 a tad more from 3 to 5 and NOTHING much after that.
An audio taper pot gives you GRADUALLY INCREASING VOLUME FROM O TO 10..........
Fender did it with linear pots to give idiots like you the false impression of "WOW THIS THING IS POWERFUL JUST LIKE A 100 WATT AMP" TRAIN OF THOUGHT.
Id suggest you kept YOUR ignorant opinions out of places like this so that other not so savvy people can NOT learn the same ignorance from you.

AS FOR THE FEATURES? Theres enough info in other listings.....but its got enough for everyday use excpet for the shitty linear volume pots. AND..............the pathetic idea of making the control panel chrome which goes all rusty and is so hard to see on stage that you need glasses and a torch.....some other idiots bright idea no doubt. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO A BLACK FACE WITH WHITE NUMBERS???

Sound is pretty poor overall.........though not bad down low and clean. Distortion is a mess with a capitol M. Just unusable slush likt a blowfly in a jam jar.
A great clean sound can be found which improves after you change the pots as above and run it through the second chanell. If you need to distort......use a TS9 or similar.

Well its got a PCB.......modern technology so its going to give you a hard time......if its not abused then you get a reasonable serive from it. JJ's run better and last well but if you want more grunt get the hotted up GT's........BUT I cant see why youd want to make it sound like its on steroids.
Avoid fluro lights and mobile phones.
Im lucky as this one is USA made in the early 90's

FORGET IT.......... dont know why they are still in business really with all the cheap and nasty OVERPRICED crap they make these days in ASIAN countries.

Ive been playing for over 30 years, Blues and classic rock mainly. I own Fenders from the early days, Gibsons from as far back as 68 and a host of Martins and Gibson acoustics. I have owned so many amps over the years that I forget them......If you want tone, class and volume......go for something older. If you want NOISE.....and a brand name on the front to pose with.......then I guess this is a good start. Blows the pants off many out there today that are US made or Pretending to be British made......(like the indian made marshall or the tunesian made Orange)......... For average sized gigs this amp is not too bad for the $$......if it was lost or stolen Id buy something else. If you MUST have one of these DO NOT BUY THE NEWER MEXICAN MADE ONES........they are crap like the tacocasters. Hunt down a made in usa one at least.

Amp was made in 2000

I bought this amp on the sounds, ease of transport and overall volume for its size. A very good sounding amp.

This amp went faulty in July this year. It wouldn't change channels at all and was stuck on the "more drive" position. I took it to my local musical instrument repair shop who informed me 2 diodes and an op-amp ic were faulty. The diodes were replaced immediatly but the ic could not be found "off the shelf" by any supplier. Some even said the part was obsolete! My repair man approached Fender who were reluctant to supply him directly and gave him the address of an authorised supplier. These were contacted and have failed to be of any assistance whatsoever. It is now November and I am still without the amp. As a professional musician I have of course other amps to use and will stick to Marshall or Vox amps in future and hope Fender get their act together soon.

Please read above

hame that a good sounding amp has such rubbish reliabily and factory support.

This is a straightforward tube amp with a little bit of xtra overdrive and reverb, which is perfect! Nothing else too fancy, therefore a good rate of 8.

It's my 1st tube amp, but it just sounds so much better. The tubes really give off a smooth vibe. It sounds better than a line 6 spider 1 12" or a Vox AD50VT. I had both those amps before and was not happy with the sound at all. The HRD is real. There's no recorded sounds or presets with this sucker. Just a few knobs to get some different flavors while working with a smooth od/tube sound. Plus, it is loud! 40 watts is more than enough. Also, I have an SG Standard with stock pup's.

It's new to me, but I can tell that if handled properly, it is tough and will last for many years.

Never talked to Fender.

Well, it's great because it is simple. A 40 watt tube amp with a little bit of overdrive that sounds great and it has a real reverb spring/coil. I like it better than the vox or line 6 because the sound is true! It is not a simulated/modeled sound that you get! What you hear is what it is! This amp ain't no pretender. Try one at the store and if you like it and think it has potential for you, go for it!

I got this recently and was pleased to see Fender seems to be using more linear pots...meaning the volume is more evenly spread over the range. I use an LP into channel two for more headroom. I use a nice overdrive pedal in front for the distortion and touch of boost for solos. You can bias this amp easily if you're super careful not to put both hands in the PCB. PCB wiring/soldering appears pretty robust to me - looks like it could withstand some severe shocks. Oh yeah but folks still whine that the tube sockets are mounted on the PCB instead of the chassis...but take a look at how they did it: Reinforcement screws around all tube sockets mounted to the chassis - you'll NOT break the PCB by inserting a new tube. Believe me - they aren't all built this way. Other amps don't have this and when you insert a new tube, you're flexing the PCB alot - smart move on part of Fender. The input jacks are plastic and will break if you are rough on them - so you need to show reasonable care - not anal, but reasonable. The baffle board is ply (where it counts) with the cab being MDF. I had an old Fender silverface with an MDF baffle board - very frumpy sounding - this really makes a difference - more crisp tone. Very light to carry, Very loud, full and lively. I think the internal speaker is just fine for vintage ripping tones and clean. If you need more darkness, or pristine clean - yes swap out the speaker. But I wouldn't say the internal speaker by default needs to go - depends on what you need. Right - get pedals for your dirt - the onboard boosts off of the single channel are not very defined - too fuzzy for my tastes. I play cover band stuff and when I mic this amp, I set it, then forget it and really enjoy the tone. I haven't modded it and it works just dandy. For EQ, I noticed if you scoop the mids, the trebles become more strident. For me, the Mid at 12 o' clock, treble at 9:30-10:00, and Bass at 10:00-12:00 works great - nice broad and rich tone. I would say the only downside to sound quality is the onboard overdrive but this doesn't concern me.

If you like a versatile combo tube amp and have pedals already, this amp is worth it for its clean alone. I think this amp is a very good deal and stands up to most similar boutique amps for its clean alone, maybe not its overdrive. I like how Fender has done smart design to make it affordable, yet high quality at the same time. I've had a boutique 50 watt 1X12" combo that couldn't compare to the tones generated by this amp.

My deluxe was made in 2004, but I just bought it three months ago. I play blues/rock, usually using only the regular gain channel, and never passing 4 on gain. However, tonight I was invited to join a hardcore/metal band, which i despise, but i gave it a shot. I hooked my amp up to a peavey 4x12 tweed cab and it sounded outstanding. I guess this is where I move on to the sound quality section.

Outstanding. I can't even begin to describe how good my amp sounds. Until tonight I never used the high gain channel, or did i ever really get any gain out of the amp, being that i play clean/mildly overdrive blues. But when I hooked my deluxe up to the peavey cab, switched to the high gain channel and set the gain at 8, it sounded better than any marshall, mesa or vox i've ever played though. My solos were on fire, and it was such a perfect distortion. I don't even use any pedals (I was thinking about getting an Ibanez Tube Screamer, but I don't even need it). Anyone who tells you that you can't get high gain out of a hot rod deluxe is wrong.

Sometimes I get some strange sounds, but only at very low volumes. I think it might be time for some new tubes, but it sounds so good I'm not even gonna bother with that until I have to. In three months it hasn't failed me, and it's about two years old with the original tubes. I can't afford a backup amp so I have no choice but to use this without backup, but I'm also comfortable doing so.

Never dealt with fender for my guitars or amp.

I've been playing for four years, mostly blues. As lead guitarist in the hardcore band I joined tonight, my solos are almost all basic pentatonic, nothing too difficult. If my amp were stolen or lost I would replace it with a deville instead of a deluxe, just for the extra 20 watts and extra speaker. I wouldn't even consider a marshall or mesa after truly pushing my hot rod.

05,this amp broke down on me at a gig..twice

well this amp seems to have a mind of its own. ice pick sound oneday gone the next and comes back. jj tubes help the drive channel a little. pretty good amp if you keep it fixed. 5 yr warranty. youll need it. good clean tone if you like ice picks. i had enough of fender amps really and sold it with my blues jr and supersonic cab and got a Marshall dsl 401. I COULDNT BE HAPPIER. NO ICE PICK PERIOD. ALL TONE HEAVEN I SWEAR AND OVERDRIVE TO DIE FOR I PROMISE. i tried to defend the hot rod deluxe amp before for the price vs. features. now i know why the Marshall costs $1079.00 . i bought a 6$ fan at wal mart too..

UNRELIABLE PERIOD

IVE ALWAYS HAD GOOD FENDER SUPPORT THOUGH. THE WARRANTY DOES WORK.

HAVE YOUR TECH RESOLDER EVERYTHING AND CHECK EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU GIG WITH IT EVEN IF YOU PAY HIM. DONT WAIT FOR A BREAK DOWN FOR WARRANTY REPAIR. after all soldering is done, eventually a resistor will blow out too as well as the light bulb. some sooner than others but it will happen to you. you'll see. if you can make it through the first year than keep it. you'll be one of the few trust me. the tone of this amp isnt good enough to live with the problems and annoyances . it does look good but an all tube Marshall looks better and sounds much better.

features have already been stated
this amp has plenty of power easily be gigged with doesnt need to be mic'd
the only thing it needs is a master volume so that you can control overdrive at lower levels, otherwise it gets pretty damn loud

I purchased this amp primarily for its clean channel genuine fender tone, sounds crisp and warm, clear, bright and has plenty of low end everything you would expect from a fender. you can play funk, blues, classic rock, alternative, even metal with a pedal. their is plenty of headroom on the clean channel so you have to crank to get tube overdrive but that is to loud for in home use. the drive channel is lacking distortion, and despite what others have said about the drive and more drive be useless i find the more drive great. be putting the drive between 3-4 and selecting more drive while using my Boss Ds-1 i adjust the volume and tone controls and can get santana like tone and sustain and creamy distortion best described as eric claptons early solos with cream.

i actually purchased one which sounded great but as i played can across two problems first their was a rattling as if something was loose in the amp and then volume loss while playing. then later while i was practicing with my band the hotrod lost all volume and would not function. i returned it and had it replaced the new hotrod i recieved works fine and also sounds amazing. but that did piss me off, especially since this seems to be a common occurence with these line of fender amps.

Never dealt with

i have been playing for two years i own a fender mustang which is my current main guitar and had strat copys. i have played many guitars and know good tone and how to create it this amp is versatile and efficient, i compared it to the blues jr. the hotrod deville and blues deluxe this was the best for the price and sound, because the deville is similiar and only has more watts their was no point in it and the other two where limited in sound. this amp looks great plays great, and allows you to bias the power tubes which allows for you to shape the sound to what you would like.

No sunshine to blow here, here's the straight scoop. "2nd Channel" is a waste, throwaway, yuck. Tried all the tube swapping, etc., it's hopelessly nasty and nasally. Fender has known this for years, why not fix it? Oh...I know why, it's still selling in droves. I would rather they lose the overdrive channel on this and put more money into the reverb which is also lacking. Yes, it's BIG reverb, but lacks warmth and character. Fender could use those wasted tubes on channel 2 to warm up the reverb and give depth, mix controls. 99 percent of users of this amp use pedals because the OVERDRIVE CHANNEL BLOWS!!! ARE YOU LISTENING FENDER?!?!?!?!?!

Read above. Clean channel is...per usual for Fender....very good. O/D channel useless and amateur. I give it halfway rating here for the fact that the amp is only half useable. ANOTHER MAJOR GRIPE....just as countless others below have mentioned, volume from 0-1-2 jumps dramatically! I found this lessens with the use of a 12AT7 (versus 12AX7) in slot V1 (first preamp tube, furthest away from the large power tubes). But then you lose sparkle and shimmer due to weaker preamp tube. Fender could EASILY fix this PROBLEM by fixing that pot with a better quality one. COME ONE FENDER. At average street price of $600 on this item, it should work right without having to mod it right away. Ridiculous.

Don't know about this yet. Haven't heard of any major problems with these amps except those problems that are fresh with the amp right out the box from the factory. Again, ridiculous. "Here, buy this brand new Fender amp, and get it fixed immediately. We are Fender, so screw you." People, voice your concerns to Fender, this is criminal behavior in my opinion to knowingly put out a defective product.

Takes a few days. International corporate entity of this nature, what do you expect. When I have been in touch with Fender lately, cool people who know what they are talking about. Let's hope they listen to feedback on this amp (like they did with the new 2006 Highway One series instruments) and fix the Hot Rod Deluxe!

Wish I could give it higher marks. Concept is there, it sells more on looks than playability. People buy it because it says "Fender" on the tag, which should mean something. I love my old Fender amps, which were made with pride and quality. The company seems to have made some strides as of late with new innovations, and some customer support based response in their product lines. Wish they would take it to the next level and truly reclaim the throne they truly held. This is EXACTLY why all of these boutique amp makers are doing what they do. They are all simply mimicing the Fender of days gone by, and people are willing to pay for the quality. Come one Fender, get back in the game. People already love your stuff, don't kick them in the back simply because they are too ignorant to know the difference. Alot of us see it, and we are bowing out of a majority of your product line. Leo deserves a better heritage than what this amp represents in quality.

2 Channels: Clean, Drive (w/?More Drive? feature). Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence, Reverb, Bright Switch, Effects Loop, Footswitch (included) for switching between channels, 2 input jacks (input 1 is higher gain than input 2). Knobs all go to 12 for some silly reason. Three 12AX7 preamp tubes, two 6L6 power amp tubes.

As previous reviewers have commented, there is only one set of tone controls for both channels, which is the main reason I only give the amp a 7 in the features category. Some have called this a three channel amp, but it?s really only two channels, with the ?more drive? feature as part of the drive channel.

2006 model. 3 channels: clean, drive and more drive. One set on tone controls for all channels, but offers a bright switch for the clean channel. Has reverb, bu lacks a master volume... this would be very useful as the channel volumes go from silent (on "0") to very loud (on "1") and super loud (on "2"). They should really do a better job with the volume controls, but I'll give it an 8 for features because it is an all tube amp with 3 channels and reverb for $599!

I play a Fender American Deluxe HSS strat and a Fender Custom Shop Showmaster Elite with two Seymour Duncan humbuckers. This amp is made for the strat. While the Showmaster sounds good in the clean channel, the drive channels are too flabby/loose sounding. I guess the pick ups are just too hot in the Showmaster. However, the strat sounds great in all channels. I have heard people complain about the drive channels. I had the same problem, but give this a try... set the drive channel gain to 1.5, treble at 3 o'clock, presence at 3 o'clock, bass all the way, and mid between 12 - 3 o'clock. Using your strat's middle pick up (and make sure your guitar volume and tone controls are all the way up) you will get is a nice crunch tone. Not heavy distortion, but good crunch. Then when you hit the "more drive" button, switch to your bridge pick up and you'll have a pretty smooth overdrive that sounds great for a lot of rock songs. I have used this at two gigs now and it sounds great... full, cuts through the mix, and sounds great mic'ed (I use the Sennheiser guitar cabinet microphone).

Don't know how realiable it is. I've only had it for two weeks.

Fender is hard to get in touch with. They really want you to talk to their dealers. Plus, I can not find a toll-free customer support telephone number.

I have a Line 6 Flextone III XL 2x12 with the FBV Shortboard. I has all the modelling features, is loud, in stereo, every built-in effect I could need, plus great control of patches, effects, stage volume, etc. via the foot controller. All these features are great. However, the tone of the Line 6 is under-whelming. It is lifeless. I even let my wife listen as I compared the Line 6 to the Hot Rod. She immediately commented that the Hot Rod seems so much more alive. The Line 6 just doesn't cut it. It sounds good playing by yourself, but not compared to the Hot Rod, and it definitely doesn't cut through the mix when playing in a band. I really like the Hot Rod, however if I were a Fender marketing guy I would make the following product changes to increase my customer base:

1. Improve the volume controls... way too sensitive
2. Create a "smoother" drive channel. Not like a Marshall, just a little more smoother than what it currently is.
3. Add a volume boost button on the footswitch

I would have gladly paid an additional $150 more for the amp if it had these improvments!