Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Two channels, two inputs, reverb and presence controls. 40 watts into 2 6L6's. pre-amp has 3 12ax7's. Fender Special Design 12" Speaker.

I use a players deluxe strat w/ noiseless pickups. The clean channel is super glassy and works extremely well mid-volume with single coil pickups. I find the amp to be on the bassy side, could be the speaker or tonestack caps. Gets loud as hell really fast, I play bedroom volume at about 1.5.

The first overdrive channel has some utility, not much. Again very bass heavy and muddied, hard to get that touch sensitive, lots of attack definition. The more drive is completely useless. Just too much noise and mud, no note clarity whatsoever.

Reverb is a little thick, I play on 2, anything above that would have Dick Dale scratching his head in tonal frustration.

I'm thinking about switching out to some fresh power tubes. Maybe put fresh pre-amp's in with a 12at7 in the phase inverter portion. If I decide to keep it I will probably put in a brighter speaker as well, maybe a celestion or jensen. I will definitely change the tone capacitors (billm mods for deluxe!). Right now Im looking to trade this in for a NOS Blues Junior (anyone? :) ).

Overall the clean channel is what really shines for the HRD. I get my dirt on with a low gain rat and an HBE treble booster in the front, sounds miraculous. I foresee the drive channels getting very little, if any, use at all.

Also I use an extension cabinet with a 12" Eminence Patriot. If you can get one of these it really opens the sound up and throws it around the room. The speaker also has a much better treble response than the stock speaker and it kind of levels out the overall output.

Mine is an original 1996, made in the US. It even has that 50th anniversary sticker on the tag plate. Sounds good for being 12~13 years old, previous owner blew the original speaker, tubes have never been replaced (yikes!). Overall the insides look good, no blown caps or burnt resistors. The black amp covering always gets nicked and dinged, oh well. The metal face plate has little rust speckles, which is a cosmetic problem that could get much worse and eventually need to be replaced. Overall looks like it will see many more years of service rocking out hard.

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A little loud, Wanted a Blues Junior but couldn't pass up the inexpensive price on my particular amp. Drive channels are useless, Clean channel is very usable and versatile. I would recommend new pre-amp tubes, maybe new speaker and new tone caps to level out the bass response. Put a couple of decent to higher quality pedals in front of the clean HRD and your set to wail some sweet sounding blues licks. I would say a treble booster --> compressor --> good overdrive.

I purchased my hot rod deville amp from guitar center in 2004. The amp really spoke to me in the store. After readin some the reviews of this amp I was compelled to give my 2 cents worth. I have played well over 1000 plus gigs with this amp since I have owned it. I play a PRS and Gold top LP which everybody that has reviewed this amp seems to be playing fender products. Now we all know that a fender guitar sounds the special thru a fender amp however I have found that this amp works well with other guitars also. I choose the 4-10 60 watt combo because I felt it had a warmer tone overall. This amp is plenty loud enough for any situation I have encountered including outside gigs with no mic for the P.A.

Now to the distortion issue. I have been playing guitar over 25 years thru a vareity of amps,peavey,mesa boogie,soldano.. The distortion is really not that bad really. The more drive section of the amp is useless but the normal drive sounds good to me. Now I play in an original band that is cross between soundgarden and zeppelin so you will definatley not get a slipknot tone out it. I have also played in cover bands with the amp and have found it to quite versatile. I have been using a tube screamer and that helps with the sustain. I have listened to the 12 inch speaker versions of this amp extensively and I really think it takes on a whole new voice in the 4-10 arrangment. The clean channel is classic fender with the killer fender reverb.

As i stated before I have played well 1000 gigs and countless practice sessions with the amp and it has performed flawlessly. I would not hestitate to drive across the country with this amp.

Never had an issue with it

Well heres the pros for the amp. Versatile for almost all types of playing IMHO, I have also played acoustics thru it that sound great,Plenty loud enough for any situation,cost in comparsion to other amps in its class,sturdy easy to use controls and yes I would replace if lost or stolen. Cons: well it does not have the most over the top distortion but you are buying a fender right? if you want over the top gain then look eleswhere. The 4-10 cab can be alittle heavy at times. As with any amp... it should speak to you creatively and make explore your guitar playing. And from the very first time i plugged into this amp I have not been able to put it out of the arsenel.

2005 Hotrod Mexican make. Needs a good OD channel, Reverb footswitch. I use this amp in pubs and clubs and some outdoors events with great affect. Love the clean sound with just a touch of the reverb added. I run mine on about 5 which is were it starts to breakup, but this is good, because at this volume it sits nicely with the overall volume produced by the drummer and the other guitar players. Playing the strings easy at this volume produces a nice clean sound and playing the strings with a bit more gusto produces a nice early distortion.

I use a 91 American Standard Strat, 2008 Gibson Les Paul Studio, 2007 Gretcsh 5250. I play in a pub rock covers band, so the range of music and sounds required is very varied. This amp does a good job of providing a nice baseline clean sound to build on, which is exactly what is required in a covers band. As stated by many before me, you won't find a better clean sound for this money. I have not heard as good a clean sound out of amps twice the price. The overdrive channel is rubbish and I would have thought by now (15 years on), that Fender would have rectified this weak point and released a Hotrod 2, but I guess they won't be forced into this until the sales drop off. There isn't one person that owns this amp that has anything good to say about the OD channel. This is s true 40watt valve amp and provides sufficient power for most venues without the need of a mic. I agree with one of the other reviewers, that it would have been useful to make the reverb switchable on the pedal.

This has been a great amp other than having the valve sockets re-soldered once because the valves kept cutting out as if they had blown. Apparently a common problem that I believe Fender have now rectified by hand soldering the joints. While you can depend on this amp at a gig, any serious guitarist would always carry a spare amp. Never put your total trust in any amp.

In Australia, Fender don't tend to respond well to email. Given that they are steeped in old fashion tradition when it comes to making amps and guitars, I don't think they have discovered computers yet. The amp comes with the standard 12 month warranty, which is a joke. If you have faith in your product and you really believe your own marketing hype, you should be able to offer at least a 5 year warranty. That said, these are pretty reliable. Even more reason for Fender to take the gamble and offer a better warranty.

I have been playing for 35 years and like most have a ton of gear lying around. If this amp were stolen or lost, I would buy another, although there are always new amps coming out and I would test drive plenty before jumping straight back into a Hotrod. I have a Hotrod extension cabinet with mine to add more bottom end and it sounds good. Surprisingly, the Les Paul sounds good through this as well although it definately suits the 91 Strat. Get a good effects unit and a good strat and this amp sounds awesome if you like playing blues, Floyd, Dire Straits etc.
Be aware that if you are considering doing what some suggest and modifying the amp by changing the valve arrangement so that the amp doesn't breakup until it gets to 7, this does not mean that you will get more volume. It simply means that you will get more control over the increments of volume in the lower region. Remember, this amp was designed to work in a specific way and if you feel the need to mod it, then you probably bought the wrong amp for your needs. If you are considering buying this amp, turn the bloody thing up and really test run it loud, don't be bullied in the store to keep the volume down.

This amp has all the standard features, two channels. It also has a builtin reverb. The channels and reverb can be controoled by means of a footswitch.

I played a Telecaster through it. The clean channel gets loud very quickly, and if you want that that's great. But there's not much room for subtlety. The sound of the 2nd distortion channel is a farce, I hardly used. Instead I used a Tube Screamer with the clean channel.

Never had a technical problem with the amp.

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At first, it seems like a great deal, a real Fender tube amp for around $500 (second hand). But after playing it for a while, I found it impossible to find the right tone. The overdrive channel is useless, and the clean channel is way too loud - due to a wrong component used by Fender. It's also very heavy to carry around all the time. I am not surprised you see this amp pop up so often for sale - which I did. But for a beginner or someone with a limited budget who just wants to play loud, I think it's still agreat deal.

I have one of the last ones made in the US, Date's June of 2002, and I think I bought it new right about that time. I play a little bit of everything, Country, Blues with a heavy Jazz influence, to borderline Head Banger, and it fits them all. I hear every one calling this a two or three channel amp, (including Fender) where in my opinion it only has one channel that you can add some gain to, and then some more gain to with a foot switch. FX loop yes, Reverb yes, Headphone jack no. Fender should get rid of the drive end of this amp, pretty much useless anyway, and put a reverb switch in its place. I've played mine at a number of smaller bars to large outside venues and I've never had this above 5, this amp is LOUD. 40 watts tube with a solid state rectifier.

I play a US 62 reissue Strat from the mid 80's I think, a late 80's Guild Starfire, and a 77 Music Man StingRay 1, yes one of the real ones. My pedal board setup for right now is a DOD milkbox compressor >> Boss BD-2 >> Boss PW-2 >> CryBaby GCB-95 an old one >> Dunlop GCB-80 Volume Pedal >> Hot Rod Deluxe. And I have an ADA 2FX >> ADA 2.56i >> Sabine RT-1601 Rack Tuner, running threw the FX loop of the amp. And like I said above I play a little bit of everything, I do lean towards the Blues though, and this amp sounds great. It has that classic Fender clean tone that a lot of us love. The stock the amp is good, I will say that it does break up early though. But that is what the amp is supposed to do, it was designed that way, after all it's called a HOT ROD isn't it. So I did make some changes. Power tubes are now Sovtek 5881WXT and in the V3 side of the preamp (that is the Phase Inverter) I put a 12AT7 and wow what a difference I now have clean headroom to about 6 or 7 before it starts to break up. I also plan on adding a different speaker soon which should help even more. The drive side of this amp as most of the reviews state SUCKS. It is probably the worst sound I have ever heard. OK not the worst but close. Come on Fender what were you thinking.

Has never let me down yet. I did have some loose solder joints taken care of way back when, but that was it.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing a long time (44 years I think) I've played through to much gear to remember, and right now I probably have more stuff then I need. But don't we all. I do not ever see me not using this amp in some way. It's that good of an amp, if something ever happened to it I would get another one. What else I can say, this is an extremely good amp, notice I did not say great.
I played a gig about a year ago there were three bands with seven guitar players in all, and five Hot Rod Deluxe Amps. You do the math.

I bought my Hot Rod new in 2006, and have found it to be as versatile as I have ever needed it to be, with the help of effects pedals. Since it has such a rich, clean tubed tone, you can throw anything on top of it and it will sing! I have been playing worship music for four years and find everything but the bluesy distortion completely useable (this is easily fixed with my Keeley Compressor). I am glad that the amp doesn't have many effects, because I am more interested in quality tone than digital Line-6 type of effects.

I play an American Standard Strat, and recommend this amp to any fender player. You really need to find a way to damper the deep bass tendency of this amp though (a Keeley Compressor will do). I would not recommend the distortion to metal players, it is very bluesy.

You can depend on this amp as much as you can any tube amp, which requires you to keep track of the life of your tubes. Besides that, the amp is completely reliable.

I have never dealt with the company. I am sure Fender does a good job though!

This amp can crank some BEAUTIFUL clean sounds! Like a typical tube amp, the dynamics are pretty touch-sensitive, but with my Keeley Compressor it sounds flawless. I would have rated this amp a solid 10, but it is pretty difficult to tweak the amp to get its perfect tone (it took a LONG time to finally find my tone). But this is a perfect tube amp for all who are looking for a crisp Fender clean tone for a little less than the other options. I would recommend this amp to anybody from Jazz artists to rock artists (stopping short of Metal guitarists).

This is a Mexican made amp made in the last 2 years. Bought for $1300 Australian. Its a reasonable cheap valve amp. And it floored all the other amps in its price range that i tried. Didn't try a Vox AC15 though.
It is a very basic tube amp, ideal for a first valve amp. Not many features, this is a two channel amp with the more drive feature on the od channel. Only has one eq which basically means you are stuck with one sound but get to add more gain by switching to the od channel.
For the price the clean tones are really good, but don't waste your time with the od channel, its all muddy mash.

Lets get it strait out there. This is a blues amp, plain and simple. If you play metal or hard rock, look elsewhere.

This amp has a big volume for its size, but low clean headroom. Mine begins to break up round 4-5 on the volume, i have seen others as low as 3. This isn't bad, its a blues amp, its meant to do this.

I use a US Strat and an Epiphone (Korean) Les Paul standard. I play a range of styles. This amps is in my rig for its clean tones. It is not your usual Fender clean, is has a heap of bass. That said, the clean is very usuable especially considering the price.

Don't even bother with the od channel, or the more drive switch. If you want lots of muddy, useless fuzz go for it but for tone, leave the foot switch at home and use a pedal. To use this for anything other than blues you need a pedal. It has a huge volume for its size, so with a decent pedal you can really work with it.
Don't bother with a cheap pedal. I tried my Taiwan made DS1 (unmodded) with it, and it was that horrible 'angry swarm of hornets in a tin can' thing. What you need with this baby (As stated in other reviews) is a high end overdrive pedal. My choice is the Crowther Hot cake for the heavy and a TS808 reissue for the mellow breakup. (Both in front of the Hot Rod) Both turn this amp into the perfect rig for my needs, especially with the Strat. For the Les Paul, the Hot Cake can be a bit muddy, but with the Boss GE7 also in my rig, i can clean it up with a flick of my foot.

My volume currently sits on 2 but i have a decent PA set up when i use it, so i don't need to go any higher. Without the Pa you could comfortably gig this amp in small venues.

this amp does not have much variety. Its a one trick pony really. It has a beautiful clean tone for the price, not much else. The eq doesn't have much effect on the tone. It provided the perfect pallet for building on with pedals, but a seasoned pro would probably not go for this. It was the perfect beginners valve amp.

Never had any trouble with it in the 1 year i have relied upon it. Have heared bad things about the Mexican build quality, but have not had any issues yet.
Never gig without a back up, I always have a little Marshall 100w Vavle state combo on hand for emergencies. Never needed it.

Never had to use it. Generally have a low opinion about customer service from big companies though. Hope Fender are different, but not holding my breath.

This is a perfect beginners vavle amp. Provides a very usuable clean tone to build upon. For boutique clean tones, look elsewhere, this amp works best when you use it for a base clean tone, and run a pedal or two. For the price, this is a great way to get into vavle amps. Also if you just want a decent clean sound for your effects, this is a good buy. For the purests (guitar, amp and nothin else) you will hate this thing.
For an experienced player, this is no good, there is much better out there if you have the coin. This is a beginners vavle amp period.

I love this amp because it was my first valve amp, and my US Strat get a beautiful tone through the clean channel. That said, i've been playing for a while now and after 1 year of running this as my gigging amp i am already eyeing of a Vox AC30 to replace it. This is not very versatile.

My amplifier is one of the FAT series models from the first couple of years - I think it's from late '95 or 1996. It is a fairly simple 40 watt all-tube amplifier with a single 12" speaker. It has two channels and includes a boost channel on the second of them. It offers an effects loop and comes with a footswitch that allows you to choose between the channels and engage the "more drive" option on the distortion side. The two channels share their tone controls, which are your standard bass, middle and treble.

The clean channel has a "bright" switch which I never touch, the "drive" channel has a "more drive" option which I also never touch.

It also has reverb, but I find it fairly useless when turned up beyond a minimum, and I don't have much use for it at all.

I use this amp to practice in my punk band. Believe it or not, despite the fact that it's a small Fender combo, it provides all the gain and tone I need. It's perfect for the basement and would probably be plenty for the small bars where we play - except that the other guitarist in the band is playing a 100 watt Marshall half stack.

I occasionally wish that it had separate EQ controls for the two channels, but in the last 12 years or so, I've managed to work around it.

My main guitar is a Fender Jagstang. It has a Seymour Duncan Invader pickup in the bridge, and these two items (guitar and amp) match my needs almost perfectly.

As I mentioned earlier, I play in a punk band. While most people wouldn't think of this amp as a punk amp, I find that it works for our band quite well.

One problem this amp has (and which has been discussed in great detail in the other reviews) is that it's incredibly bass-heavy. In fact, I turn the bass all the way down on it, and can still manage to get some pretty heavy "jud" sounds when I palm mute.

At least the way I use it, this amplifier essentially has two sounds. Perfectly clean, and a vintage-style distorted one. "More Drive" essentially makes the distortion louder and a bit more fuzzy... I find that it actually takes some of the bite out of chords, but works well for a solo boost.

My biggest issue with the tones out of this amp center around the reverb. As stated earlier, it's effectively useless and harsh turned up past about two. Fortunately, I don't use reverb to get my sound, so it's not an issue, but if you do this could be a real deal breaker.

As far as "brutality" is concerned, I personally have no use for it... And if you do, you should probably buy a different amplifier.

I have been using this amplifier since I purchased it new in 1996.

It's been kicked around basements, dragged to shows in the back of moving vans, had beer spilled on it and yes, my cat even peed on it a couple of times. Nothing in it has ever failed or given me a moment of trouble. It has been in to my local tech twice in that time for a checkup and passed both of them with flying colors. Yes, it even has the original tubes in it.

While I would never suggest that a band play a gig without backup equipment, this amp has never let me down in a live situation - or any situation for that matter.

I have never dealt with Fender on warranty issues, so I can't speak to this category at all.

I've been playing since 1995. This was my second "serious" amplifier. Next week I will be purchasing its big brother, the Hot Rod Deville, and this baby will be relegated to practice in my home. If something ever happens to it, once I'm done crying I will not hesitate to purchase another one just like it.

Generally speaking, the clean channel sparkles, the drive channel has plenty of dirt, and it simply works perfectly for my needs. Plus, it doesn't weigh a million pounds but still gets plenty loud enough for my needs. I've played plenty of bands since I purchased this one, and I never found one that sounded or worked better.

I bought my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe in Jan. 2008. 2 inputs (hi-gain, lo-gain) 2 channels (clean, overdrive), more drive switch, bright switch, 40 watt's, fully tupe,effect loop, long spring reverb, ( what's a Fender amp without it reverb) external speaker output ( great for the new hot rod deluxe enclosure speakerbox).

The amp is versatile enough for any music style except metal or hard rock. Which isn't realy my thing anyway, I use it for jazz, blues and funk. The amp is definitely powerfull enough for at home player, gigs and recording. The only disadvantige is that is hasn't got a different EQ for the other channel. But hey, for the price you pay you will probably have some extra cash for an EQ pedal.

I use a Fender Strat and a ES-335 and it sounds perfect. Like I said before it's great for a lot of different style's. There is a lot of headroom in this amp which is great because it make's your guitar sound come out very nice. And what suprises me the most is that is very quiet especially for a tupe amp. The overdrive is only at 4 out of 12 being the max. plus a good splash of reverb. And my boss ds-1 for heavier sounds.

I haven't had a problem problem so far.

I have owned and still owne a lot of gear and tried out a hell of a lot and I really love my amp. I looks great ( someone actually thought it was a vintage amp from the 60's ) sounds great and just is great. I'am getting the enclosure speakerbox next week which will make it sound even more amazing. The only thing I can think of being NOT good is that is just one EQ and the reverb isn't footwitchable. Great value for money ratio. Is is one of Fender's most longest runnings product for a reason.

It's a 2003 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I have to play everything- in my spare time I like to thrash out metal, hard rock, rock, soft rock, glam rock, space rock, funk... yaddiyah. You get the idea. Handles everything I need it to and, if it doesn't, then I have 2 or 3 pedals that 'make it so'. I also run a function band (lots of cheesy funk/rockabilly) and use the amp for gigs/recording sessions most days.

Everyone knows the features... but still, Clean channel (+ bright switch) and a Gain channel (with a pointless 'More Gain' button).

The amp is stupidly powerful for its rating, I play mostly small venues and rarely need to use it above 3.

It has enough features to make it worthwhile. My pedal rig includes a delay pedal, a tuner, and an overdrive pedal. In that respect, I don't need anything more from the amp. It's got everything the average musician would need- footswitch, reverb, gain channel, volume switch.

I use two guitars with the amp. 1st- a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster with a DiMarzio Chopper, Mel's Lo-Noise Humbucker and a Tonerider Generator (neck to bridge). 2nd- a PRS Singlecut Trem.

I have been told my style is very smooth and refined, and that the amp suits it very well. Whenever I use the Strat & DiMarzio on the clean channel I feel very warm and fuzzy inside- beautiful sound, it just shimmers and chimes in only the way a Fender can. I just love the clean sound from this amp- with my two guitars there's no sound I can't get.

The amp is used every Thursday at a local gig, and it's the amp that all the guitarists there will choose (proud owner!). It flatters every guitar's sound in a way that most amps wouldn't.

The amp itself isn't very linear in its control of the volume, but what I normally do is just pump up the volume on the amp and use the guitar to moderate as necessary. It's stupidly loud though- if you have earplugs (necessary!!!) then it breaks up beautifully once you take it up to around 6.

The distortion on the amp is the only thing I don't like. On its own, it stinks. It's very thin, very reedy and quite muddy. What is very strange is how well the amp's distortion channel slots in with a band- once there's a bass, it cuts very well through the mix. The more gain control is, in my opinion pointless. I just use the guitar's volume control for that. So- two minds for the distortion.

The reverb is excellent, just right. The presence control I find a little contrived- even on zero, the amp still cuts like a knife!

If this amp were a person, it would be your mother (in the stereotypical sense). It's never ever let me down, it's only ever blown one set of tubes in 5 years, it always sounds absolutely fantastic. The only thing wrong- and this is seriously nitpicking- is a slight loose connection in the amp's jewel bulb. I've always used the amp at gigs with no backup because I sincerely trust it.

Never head to deal with Fender, so no comment. I don't expect to.

I have been playing live for around 5 years, and the amp has always accompanied me since then. In my time gigging I have owned a 1965 Fender Twin, a Marshall MG100DFX (shudder), a Marshall AVT100, a Mesa Engineering F50 and this amp. The Hot Rod Deluxe has outlasted them all. It's the best blend of clean and distortion, and is definitely the most reliable. As I write this, my Fender Twin (kept only as an investment- it honestly doesn't sound as rich and warm as the Deluxe) has broken down. ??3,000-worth of amp can't hold a candle to the ??529 Deluxe. The Mesa Engineering had a very thin, reedy clean channel and the distortion was of a similar level. Not very good when you compare the prices. As for the Marshalls... no contest.

If this amp were stolen or (God knows how) lost, I would not hesitate in replacing it. Not any of the stupid limited editions or the Blues Deluxe- just a straight, black Tolex Hot Rod.

This amp has made me extremely proud. In every live situation, people have commented on it. It always gets an admiring look from me across the practise room when I go in. There's nothing I specifically hate about the amp- the distortion is lacking, but that's nothing a Marshall Guv'nor 2 can't fix.

If you want a mid-level gigging amp that's all valve, buy this amp. If you want one that's solid state, buy a second-hand one- same price as a new Marshall AVT100 and miles better. Just buy one!!