Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

This is a clasical fender amp with two chanels (clean, drive) with reverbe and ,presence. This amp is not to versatile, but it s yust perfect for me. I play rock. I was suprised how can 40 watts amp scream .The only thing that i miss is foot switch for reverb.

This is the best amp i ever trayed. I play fender stratocaster Roadhouse with tex-mex pickups, fender telecaster custom with fender humbucker on bridge, les poul black beauty(76) . All three guitars sounds yust perfect on clean chanel, problem is just drive chanel with les poul (noise)

No problem

I play guitar for about 5 years. If a lost this amp i ll buy it agin, but i wont, maybe try VOX ac 30. Great value for money.

Yoy know them. Too many for my small mind.

I play an Epiphone Les Paul special double cut away/ 2 P90's. Also a '62 Melody Maker. This is my first tube amp in 20 years. Well not really (more latter). The Clean channel does sound great as others have said. The drive and more drive channels though could be better. I prefer them to my Arion over drive though. The reverb is fine to my ears but I would much like to have a foot switch for it. The master volume should also be available to both channels,which brings me to my other tube amp, the Pignose G40V. I bought that first and it sounded great. And I mean GREAT!.One channel with a master and drive control, bass, middle, treble, all I need! The UPS guy dropped it and it had to go back.They were out of stock and offered to subsitute the Fender at a much reduced price. I could not refuse. I was dissapointed with the Fender at first but could not see returning it as it is of much higher quality. After playing it more I have settled on the following settings, Clean- brite off, tone all they way save for bass-3, presence-6. Drive-3 master to needs. Even at 3 it is still bassy. Plenty loud for clubs.

no problem to date

no need yet

If it were stolen I would go for another Pignose, or maybe try a Sovtek. But I( won't sell this any time soon.

This is a very simple amp, but there are just enough features to make it versatile. 40 watts of all-tube (6L6) power; three channels with shared EQ, presence, and reverb; series effects loop; footswitch jack; Eminence 12 inch speaker.
Don't be fooled by the 40 watts -- this amp is seriously loud! It has plenty of power for gigs, but unlike most tube amps it sounds great with the volume way down too. Some would prefer a different EQ for the gain channels, but from what I can tell such a feature would be unneccesary and would also detract from the brilliant simplicity of this amp. Fender also throws in a really solid footswitch (with the option of using a longer cable should you so choose) and a vinyl cover which is perfect for rainy days. The amp itself has a cool '50's retro look with the silver speaker covering, the chrome panel, and the "chicken head" knobs. Very nice indeed. I can't think of a feature I'd want to add to this amp.

Played with a Fender Strat with Texas Specials and a stock Epiphone Les Paul.
The theory behind the tone of the Deluxe is this: start with a great clean sound and build your overdrive on that. This is what players have been doing for years by running distortion pedals into their Bassmans and Twin Reverbs. As a result, the clean channel on the Deluxe is outstanding. The sound is rich and lively and very dynamic. Add some of that reverb and you're in vintage Fender heaven. The Strat sounds perfectly plucky and the big 'buckers on the LP compress sweetly and naturally. This channel alone is worth the price of the amp.
So that's it, right? Wrong. The two overdrive sounds are equally impressive. Drive gives the Strat a bluesy crunch perfect for ... well, blues, and a nice mild rock sound. The gain is very warm, smooth, and full of low end. You may have to turn the bass down at high volumes. More Drive is thick, rich, fat rock gain with loads of compression and harmonics. Try this setting with a Les Paul and a chorus pedal -- it is the biggest, fattest sound in the universe! Despite this huge overdrive, each note is still distinctive and solos are lively and can be dynamically controlled very handily.
The sound of this amp is beautiful. No matter where I set the tone controls I still get a sweet tone. This isn't to say the EQ is useless, but you'll struggle to find a harsh, nasal tone or a scooped-mid metal sound. For the majority of us who don't want to sound like that, the Deluxe is killer.

The Deluxe looks and feels very solid. All the parts are first rate; even the Tolex covering is tough. I never do a gig without some sort of backup (usually a friend's amp), but I have supreme confidence in the Deluxe. It has never broken down, and I don't expect it ever will. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because it's not indestructible. I wouldn't want to rough it up at all.

I have never dealt with Fender, but they get high marks just for the five year transferrable warranty. They included a wiring schematic with the manual, but there's no way I'd crack this baby open myself. I can't speak for everyone, but my local Fender dealer / service center is excellent.

I have been playing for at least six years and tried countless amps, and this is by far the best I have ever played on, let alone owned. If it were lost or stolen I would go out and buy a new one as soon as I stopped crying. It's perfect for blues, rock, funk, reggae, and all the other stuff I play. There isn't a single amp out there that can compete with the Deluxe, with the possible exception of Boogies that cost three to four times as much. If you need more power, go with the DeVille (60 watt equivalent) but I don't know anyone who would want an amp louder than this. A big venue will happily (sometimes they will force you to) mike it up and use the PA for volume.
In any case, if you are looking for a versatile, medium-sized amp, you should definitely give the Hot Rod Deluxe a test drive. (God damn that's cornball, but I just had to put it in!)

You know the features I paid 540 for this down at the store every time I plug it in it seems to sound different sometimes good sometimes bad so I put a Weber 12 in it and it brought out the ear piercing highs of it . there have been about 50 50 pro and con on this amp. for the money I think it is worth it with all its faults.the drive channel does seem to smell a bit but with the third channel kicked in it screams okay with enough volume used.

two strats and a tele usually through a boogie 2 12 cabinet. through this Deluxe it seems to really work well with the volume on just under 3 , a daddy o pedal set at low distortion and med. volume, treble on low. the amp setings on the first channel without the daddy o sounds okay but a bit thin, with this set up I get amazing loud and clean tones . this amp is very very loud.I set the eqs on about 3 treble a little higher and use the clean channel usually I could imagine this amp at a gig without some kind of effect. the reverb I set sometimes on 5 and it gets a real loud country kind of sound very deep and tolerable if you dont have any others around. Its not very noisy with this setup either because I can set the voulme knob on the guitar about 5-8 and can really have avariety of sounds to work with.

dont know probably needs looked at a lot seems sturdy but with fender you never know one music store sales guy commented after I told him fender was kinda slow getting out their products to the midwest said yeah they are the only fender on the block though and that is true

5 year warranty is fair for this amount of money

I should have taken my time before I bought this it was an impulse because I would hhave gotten something different for a little more money so now I have to settle for a 25 watt mesa boogie, 16 watt Soldano, and this fender hot rod, its not so bad I am waiting on a hand built fender deluxe copy and then I hope I am through with this madness. anyway there are so many different styles of amps out there new and used this is a very valuable forum and I wish I had discovered it sooner.

40 watt combo. All tube except reverb. Nice controls. Perfect! No headphones but who cares! Nice vintage setup!

Best Combo today. Blues to Rock. Use a MT-2, Zoom 5 and it does wonders. Clean is the best feature. Overdrive is good too. No problems. Sounds even better with a good dist. pedal. Play a strat and it's a perfect match.

Perfect so far!

Never had problems. 5 year warranty. Awesome! There are lists and lists of shops that service fenders. WOW!

playing 14 years. Strat diehard. Buy it again in a split second. Love everything. A classic reissue. GO BUY ONE FOLKS

Bought new July 1998 for $519 plus 6% sales tax. Has factory issued Groove tubes. It's an EXTREMELY LOUD 40 watt 2 channel amp. Much has already been said on it's features. It has one 12" eminence speaker. It would be nice if Fender sold a matching extension speaker cabinet to disperse the sound. The more drive kicks in to loud, a level control for this feature would also make it more useful in a live situation.

I use it with a Fender American Standard strat and a Fender Tele with texas special pickups. As has been said it's a great blues, Stevie Ray Vaughan type amp. The clean channel is very bell like and chimey. the gain channel sounds best with the drive not more than 4 or 5. just adding a little distortion. For the money its a great sounding amp. and plenty powerful. The reverb is fine set low as with most amps.

to new, still working with no problem

5 year warranty seems good to me.

Been playing drums 20 years, guitar 4 years. I have a Peavey classic 30 and for the extra $100+ the Fender sounds far superior. The Peavey rattles to much. the Fender is very quiet when not playing. Again for the money, the Hot Rod is great. If any one knows of a better tube amp for under $600 I'd like to hear what it is? Again I wish fender sold a matching cabinet with maybe 2- 12" Celestions.

40 watt tube amp with drive, more drive, reverb, 1 12" speaker.

Makes great rock, blues or jazzy tones with single coils or humbucks. Clean sound will get you grinnin from ear to ear, increadable, must be heard to be appreciated. Very easy to get a SRV Lenny sound, but not a super squeeky solid state clean. IHMO the reverb is the best I've ever heard in an amp that I can afford. I set it between 2 and 4, higher settings can be too much, but low sounds beautiful, much better than my RP-1's reverb. Some have said that the drive channels are blurred or muddy, they can be if not EQ'd right. To get good overdrive sounds I set the drive 2 to 5, higher is too noisy for me, treble way up 9 to 12, bass must be 4 to 7, mids to suit, presence must be very high 8 to 12. The EQ is strange on this amp, while impossable to not get killer clean sounds, very easy to get a muddy overdrive sound if you use too much bass and too little treble and presence. On the negative side since there's only one set of tone controls you must compromise your clean or drive sound if you want to switch between them. My Tube Screamer sounds pretty good through it and is a good compromise to get both sounds. This amp will not produce any and all amp sounds, but if you want a clasic Fender tube sound this amp has it.

Two weeks old and works fine!

Too new to know.

Been playing 9 years, have 9 guitars and finally bought my first tube amp. Have played through many amps and none have sounded as wonderful. Almost bought a Peavy clasic 50 untill I heard this one. The reverb is the reason it sounds great to me, turn it off and it sounds average. Turn it on and you've great Fender tube tone.

channel switching with shared eq , bright boost , series effects loop, reverb. This is not a feature laden amp. The clean channel is what this amp is all about

Clean ch. typical fender, reverb not too good compared to tube type verb's. The shared eq. is not so great when switching between the gain and clean ch. A fairly good slightly dist. sound ala Mellencamp can be had by not using too much gain . A nice blues sound can be had in the more gain setting when set 8 to 10 in the more gain. Long legato type solos can't be had with this amp. I use a floor pedal for that. I play a 62 Vintage Re-issue with Fralin pickups. In small club settings this amp sounds quite good. In larger rooms I use my twin. Also, I replaced the speaker with the Vintage 30. This improved the sound noticably, particulaly the gain settings. For the price this is a good amp. Best for blues,R & B, country. As others have said, this is not a loud metal type amp. I set the eq at about 8 for treb & bass and 7 for mid. The preamp seems to sound best when the eq controls are between 5 to 8. This works for me but I'm not a hard agressive player. The band I play in is not overly loud on stage,but I suspect that loud playing bands might test the power of this amp.

I've had this amp for a year and use it live about once a month,but every day at home. I've never had any problems with any of the fender amps I've owned

This is Fenders down fall. Anytime I've needed/wanted something from Fender in regard to my guitars, they have been very slow to respond

I've been playing for 25yrs and usually use a Twin. For small clubs this amp works just fine for the style of musuc I play (R & B, Funk,R & R,) Its no Bogner,VHT or Matchless, but does the job with no fuss ,no muss,and well within most peoples budgets. Overall very good clean ch. and ok gain when used sparingly. An overdrive pedal is a must with this amp.

2 channels the second with 2 gain settings yellow and red, reverb, presence, bass, treble & mid. Foot switch to go between channel 1 & 2 and for channel 2 stage 1 & 2. Also drive can be added to channel 2. But the you cannot Separate the eq between channel. However its really light for a tube amp and quiet portable.

The amp is a tube amp that sounds like a solid state it seems to miss the warmth of say a twin or a Marshall blues breaker. I must say it is very clean but with a strat sounds really thin no crunch at all just really thin sounding however a Les Paul does do it favors and does not sound to bad perhaps a bit to much bass. But still no crunch a thin bass sound go figure? Very sterile sound to sum it up. Channel 2 can be clean and if set precisely you can find some crunch but nothing to write home about and forget it for a balls to the wall sound. Also it is really loud between 1 and 4 but then it does not seem to change in volume after that much. I think fender designed this amp to sound great in the shop but thats all its good for + it looks heaps cool. As an indication i just purchased a dc-5 boogie its a little warmer As an initial observation but still not Marshall blues breaker territory but it is the sweetest amp I have ever played so far I will post once I have played it longer, however I am know selling the fender and very happy to see the back of it.

no problem

Designed the service manuals that come with it are ok and they some good advise but they don't seem as helpful as boogies manuals and as inviting?

alright begineers amp its kinda Comparable to a squire vs a American standard where the hot rod is the squire!!!

40 watts 1 12" speaker. Tee only problem with the amps features is that the eq is shared by all 3 channels which i think i can live with.

I play an epiphone SG (read the review) and this amp has the great ton i've been looking for. I play mostly alt-rock and the amp suits me very well. Although i do think the distortions are a little weak. They seem kind of muddy and blurry for my tastes. But i have a solution for this problem its called STOMPBOXES and yes all of my distortion boxes sound awesome through this amp. By the way this amp is rated at 40 watts but i dont believe that i play with it at home on 1 1/2 and 2 when i really want to rock. IT can get loud as hell.

Its built by fender nuff said.

I have no idea and I dont want to know.

I think this is the best amp for the money around. When I went to the music store i was set out to buy a new Vibrolux ($800) i tested it against the hot rod deluxe and there was not $300 worth of difference between them.