Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Mine is now 18 months old.
I bought it because the solid state 90watt fender amp I was using
sounded too brittle for me.
At first I used the 2 overdrive features, but found them a bit shrill
instead of increasing the volume of the already sweet sound,they just
distort and thin out the signal.
The reverb I like.
The chicken head knob layout I like,simple & straightforward, you
shouldn't need a degree in electronic engineering to operate an amp.
In hind sight I should have gone for it's bigger brother the deville
for the twin 10 inch speakers.

I use a clapton strat and play in a big 21-30 piece jazz/funk band.
Yeah I know,wrong type of guitar, but the blackie really has the best
neck I have used.
Sound? well if I was jeff beck,I could get sound I liked from this set up, trouble is I'm not and I find the head room a bit limiting,hence the need maybe for 60 watts.

The speaker blew one month out of warranty,and I never play loud.
no wonder fender only give 12 months on the speakers.
Tubes? had those replaced 3 weeks ago in an effort to get more headroom.
And last week the on/off light blew on me.
Remember this amp is used once a week and carefully looked after.

Customer support?....is this a contradiction in terms?

Sometimes the sound in a small venue can be so sweet.
Other times the amp struggles.
Next time,funds permitting,it will be at least 60watts with twin speakers.
Fender? hhmm maybe

2003 model (made in Mexico).
Blonde Tolex with Oxblood grill.

All of the same features as listed on the other reviews, but has a few slightly different things such as a pre-amp tube stabilizer and I noticed the guitar inputs are a little different than my Dad's Hot Rod Deluxe (made in the USA, Black Tolex) amp.

First off this amp has a great clean sound. My Dad has had his HRD for about a year now and I liked the way his amp sounded so I decided to get this amp after I saw Fender offered it in Blonde tolex (to me the Black is just to "normal" looking, I wanted something that looked a little different).

I wanted a clean sounding amp with plenty of "head room" and this amp has it all (I have an Ampeg Superjet that just broke up too fast, it didn't stay clean at high volumes). The main thing I like about this amp is the reverb (which is solid state) but still this has a really nice reverb (can be a bit over kill sometimes but still sounds pretty good).

I've played a Stratocaster, Telecaster, Les Paul and an Epiphone all through the amp and they all sound great in it with them all using the same EQ settings on the amp (except for the Fender guitars I usually turn the bright switch off and the other guitars I'll turn the bright switch on).

The "drive" channel is OK, the only thing I don't like about it is it seems to add a little higher EQ to the sound. The "more drive" just adds more gain to the signal. I very sledom use the "drive / more drive" channels, if I want to use overdrive I'll use a pedal.

This amp does have a little bit of a hum to it (more than my Dad's USA HRD amp ... I'm thinking it could have something to do with the plugs .... but I could be wrong), the hum doesn't get any louder when you turn the amp up it stays the same level and you don't notice the hum while you're playing and you only notice the hum when you stop playing and if you pay close attention to it.

I should be able to depend on it. My Dad has had his HRD for about a year now and has giged with his regularly since getting it and his amp has never broke down.
Plus the amp comes with a 5 year warranty so if anything does come up I won't have to worry too much.

They have a great website and I've talked to them on the phone and have been friendly and helpful.

I've been playing the guitar for over 10 years and own lots of gear (10+ guitars, 20+ pedals, 4+ amps, etc.) and I play Gospel, blues, country and classic rock.
I've had this amp for 19 days and it still sounds great, but I've had some experience with these amps before (playing around with my Dad's amp) and I think it's a good amp (really good value for the money). This amp will suit country, blues and classic rock type of music very easily.
The main thing I like about this amp is the Blonde tolex ... I think it just makes this amp look really cool (and very vintage looking).

I believe it was made in 2002. It has a Jensen (model # eludes me @ present). IT IS THE MOST POWERFUL 40-watt amp I've ever blown thru!!! Reminds me a bit of a 4-10" Bassman I love it almost as much as my Mark 1 Mesa Boogie reissue. I also have 3 other "boutique" amps, that I love (a Juke Warbler, a Holland, and a Sonny Jr 2 (custom 1-12" and 1-8").

I'm a blues harmonicist. However, I use "wand"-type mikes (my favorite is the AKG D125 {next is the Shure SM-57 and, believe it or not, next is the Sennheiser 504} which I would put up against any Astatic or Green Bullet, anytime. I love the lightness and portability of the amp. I also like to use an extension speaker to spread out the sound. I get THICK bottom and GREAT rip (distortion).

I never go to gigs without SOME kind of backup. NO amp is foolproof! I'll reserve jdgment for some time until I can guage its durability.

I got good warranty repair from Daddy's where I bought it. However, it was strange to have a broken input wire (the only problem to date), THAT soon in the game (<1 mo).

If I bought a black tolex, I'd change the preamp tubes (at least the 1st stage) to a 12 AT7, since I play harp). This amp is like the proverbial quiet seductive girl that you meet in a cafe! It seduced me!!

Manufactured in 2001. Three Channels: Clean, Drive, More Drive. The drive channels are very bluesy, and I only really use the Clean and Drive Channel. Footswitch included, Preamp Out and Poweramp In for effects loop. 3 x 12AX7 preamp tubes, 2 x 6L6GT poweramp tubes. Loud enough for small venues like pubs, not much headroom, being 40 watts of pure valve power, but plenty of power for everyday application. Sounds great, but not extremely versatile.

I use a Yamaha Pacifica with a '59 Duncan Humbucker in the bridge. The amp's clean channel makes the factory single coils in the neck and middle sound amazing. The styles I play range from Jewel to Creed to Dream Theater, Metallica and Symphony X. For my live overdrive, I use a BOSS Turbo Overdrive pedal for rhythm, and and Marshall Gu'nor Plus as a lead boost. The clean ROCKS, it is a beautiful, rich sound which, despite what people might say, can be altered for bright sounds down to quite dark Jazz tones. I generally leave the Bright switch off, as I prefer the slightly darker sound. The overdrive channels are not useful for when I play the heavier stuff, and I never use the More Drive Channel. I use the more drive Channel on a low gain setting as a really dirty clean. The volume on the amp increases up to about 5, from which it begins to distort. On 12, the volume is not much increased from 5, but the sound is very SRV. However, to be heard clearly over a drum kit playing heavy metal, the amp only needs to be on about 2.2-3. The clean just gets better as it gets louder, but if you plan to run overdrive through it for Metallica -type stuff, you may want to look at getting an extension cabinet, as the 50 watt speaker can't cope on it's own at high volumes. On the back, behind the pwer tubes, there are 2 8-ohm speaker jacks. Into one of these, the combo's speaker is attached. This jack must be connected to any sound to come out. The extension cabinet (I use a boogie) will make the clean a lot broader and richer as well. I give this a 9, because the clean is just so fantastic, but the More Drive channel is effectively useless to me.

I have had this amp for almost 2 years, and I have never had a single problem with it.

If this amp were stolen, I would probably buy another one. I would compare the other amps, but a Boogie like a Nomad is twice the price, but nowhere near twice as good. I ended up with this amp after testing everything - Marshalls, Boogies, Engls, I loved this clean tone the most, and that was the most important aspect of the amp to me. You can find a way to get good overdrive, but to get there you need a good clean. For the money, it is fantastic value.

Bought this amp about a year ago after trying to find an amp that was compact, all tube, had a couple channels and was affordable. I wanted something that i could play at home and also had enough power and ext speaker jack to play out. The Hotrod Deluxe turned out to fit the bill.

I used to play full time in a recording/touring band and I used to use a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV head and also had the same in the combo 1X12 version. I ended up selling both after I quit. If I had to do it over, I would've spent my money on smaller wattage amps, like 40 watts is plenty. I've to play small to large sized clubs, once in awhile a larger venue, and my mesa stack was just too much power, even with the power cut down I still had to keep the master volume turned way down. I love the sound of an amp turned up loud, the guitar responds better and you get better tones. You don't really need distortion pedals when you have volume. It seemed a waste to have tons of power and not really utilize it, and Mesa gear is not cheap.

So, when I choose the Deluxe, it seemed to be what I was looking for, though sadly I can't really crank it because I play at home mostly in my little studio and don't want to bother neighbors too much. This amp has plenty of power, it looks cool, if you need to push more air you can hook up an extra speaker cab if you need to with it.

I play mainly a 1968 reissue Fender Stratocaster through it, sometimes I'll play my 1977 custom Les Paul, but I prefer strats. I love the clean sound, which from other reviews everyone seems to agree with. The distortion isn't that strong, but I think it's
workable to me.

One thing that's always irratated me about musicians is their nit picky neurotic gear opinions. I've played "professional" gear and trashed up guitars and amps too. I've recorded in a 2,500 a day studio using a broken guitar through an crap amp with a blown out speaker. You can make great sounds, interesting sounds if you have imagination and have fun. This amp will give you a good basic starting point to work from. I also use a crybaby wah, a fuzz box, a blue box and various other pedals laying around. I haven't really been disappointed. I like the reverb alot too. But like I said, the distortion isn't that strong, but I think if you look at this amp, it's sorta like trying to replicate a classic vintage style amp and sound. If you want that heavy thick distortion, get a mesa or something. Or get a distortion pedal. This isn't an amp that's trying to replicate annoying nu metal tones. The clean channel is very sweet, you can play it all day and not get tired of it. Perfect Fender sound.

I think I can depend of this, so far so good. My only complaint is that the channel switching isn't completely quiet and doens't smoothly go between channels as I'd like. When playing really quite the switching pops loudly at times. I find that you have to play at a decent volume and the distorted channel should be a little bit louder than the clean, then the switching is a lot smoother. I would gig without backup, I've never in my life gigged with a backup amp, and I've toured in lame conditions and pushed gear to the limit. This amp seems built strong and if it crapped out on stage, whatever dude. Walk off stage and smoke a joint or something.

Don't know, but wouldn't expect much

I've been playing music for about 18 years. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you really don't need to spend a billion dollars on gear to get great sound. Even when I had the best gear I could buy, there's still some ass criticizing it. You can't win with dork gear heads. Just find what you like and can afford and rock it. This amp is solid, affordable, has great sounds, looks stylish and simple, it's easy to carry around (not like a Mesa Boogie Stack or any other stack for that matter), has plenty of power for most situations unless you plan on playing the astro dome soon which then you can have somebody else carry yer Stack for you. I wish it did have more gain, but that's okay. I may switch the tubes, maybe do the yellow jacket THD thing to it, maybe a new speaker, but really thats getting a little obsessive nerd freak out for me. I play lots of 'styles' or whatever--clean country velvet underground sounds, sonic youth freak outs, experimental noise, rock and roll, and i'm having a fine time with this amp. I did consider a Reverb a Rocket Ampeg, but I think this is cooler. Maybe I'll still get an ampeg and use it with this amp too. It's all tubes, except for the rectifier and reverb, but who cares freak! If yer a beginner, please don't get sucked into buying expensive crap and feeling like affordable stuff isn't "pro" enough. But, I sorta have old school punk rock ideals and like to use what I have or can get ahold of. If this had more features it'd be more expensive. I'd like a power cut switch, more gain, maybe a different speaker option, but really come on.

Has enough features for starters. You can always add on.

WOW!!! This Hot Rod Deluxe has warm, bluesy jazz tones that even Stevie would like! from Benson to B.B. this amp has the tones to please the most critical critics.

The Hot Rod Deluxe is well built from the inside to out! Someone mentioned above the printed boards vs point to point boards and after doing some research I have discovered that both boards are able to last years of enjoyment if you maintain your amp faithfully.

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I have been in the business for over 20 years and I play a modified mexican strat named "Maria" also a American strat. My Mexican strat has the American beat by a mile. I tried a Marshall avt150, Marshall avt20, Mesa boogie 20/20 and The PODxt the Hot Rod Deluxe blew them out of the water! Gigging is no problem the HRD has enough bark to perform without braking a sweat.

1997 vintage. A very versatile amp for my style--Blues mainly. Three channel switchable--Clean, gain ,extra gain. Don't use the extra too much. Gain at 11 gives a great growl.
More than enough power for any gig and sounds good low for practice. Not too heavy to carry around --a good plus. Good reverb.
Nothing like a good all tube sound. Breaks up well when they get hot.
Agreat all purpose amp.

Main guitar is an epiphone Les Paul custom with gison classic 57's humbuckers retrofit. Also use a fender Jimmy Vaughan tex-mex strat and an epiphone sheraton.Fits all guitars well. goo d response with humbuckers--overloads well. Great clean channel...awesome gain at my volume. Never need to go above 5 on clean or 3 on drive.
Eminence speaker was crap. Changed for a celestion vintage 30. What a difference..warm, full sound. Also run a marshall 1x12 cab for bigger gigs . Boosts power from 40 to 60 watts.Recommend any one to change the eminence speaker.

Never broken down. Used 4-5 times weekly .Never changed the tubes..Just goes on trucking.

Never needed

Playing for 40 years ---had a break for many but really back for the last 5. Used to have a blues jr also but got rid of it.
Would certaainly think of getting another if something happened to this. Only possible rival would be a Marshall 601 or 602.

Mine was bought new in 2000. It has "Normal", "Drive" and "More Drive" channels. The "More Drive" is a bit noisy, and I get all I need from the other two channels. It does not quite the lush reverb of the more expensive Fender models, but this reverb is still kills anything anywhere near its price.

I use stock Les Paul Classics, American Strats w/Rio Grande Tallboys, and Semi-Hollow Washburn HB-35's w/ Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pros. The signal chain is Vox 848 Wah, Original Ibanez T-9, and BOSS DD-5 Delay into front end of the amp. I play classic rock with a regularly gigging band. With my set up, I get all the sounds I need and I only use the "Clean" and "Drive" channels.

I have not used this amp much because I bought it for practicing, but it is too loud for this purpose. I have since used it on a few gigs. The amp has been flawless. I am paranoid and I do usually bring a "Tranny" amp as a backup just in case. The backup stays in the car, but it is definitely there. I am confident about the amp itself, but we all know tubes can go at anytime. I have only had a tube go out once during a gig in 20 years, but I had a spare amp to get me through.

I have never had a problem with ANY Fender product. I once needed a schematic for a footswitch for another amp (bought used) and they were very helpful.

I have a few amps (Marshall and other Fenders) and it took me quite a while to warm up to this one. Now that I have given this guy some attention, I am very happy with it. I have been gigging for 23 years, more lately than ever before. I wish the amp had separate EQ for each channel but I am happy with the stock voicings. Mainly, I use the "Drive" channel and clean up using the controls on the guitar. If I want spanky clean, I use the "Normal" channel. I haven't found a need to use "More drive" but it is there

The Fender Hot Rod Delux is a 40W all tube amp fitted as standard with 6L6 valves. This amp comes with the regular clean and overdrive channels, but also there is a 'More Drive' option which allows a boost in gain and a slight boost in treble. These are all accessed via the included footswitch, which is nice. There is an unbalanced 'line out' and 'power amp in' which can also be used as an effects loop. I use this amp in my band which plays Brit inde rock and we play small venues and pubs. I have had no problems in keeping up with the band (2 guitars, bass and drums) even though my other guitarist uses a 60W Ashdown. This is a loud amp for 40W. If anything, I wish there was a volume boost, or that the 'More Drive' had more of an effect volume wise. There could also be seperate EQ for the clean and overdrive channels, although I dont need this as the EQ is pre-distortion and so does relativly little.

I use a quite rare Ibanez L5S with two humbuckers. These humbuckers are very high output, so the clean channel breaks up relativly early, on about volume setting 2.5. Personally, I love this. It allows a beautiful crunch at gig volumes (2.5 is loud enough) (By the way, all the retro-styled knobs go up to 12! How cool is that?!). To take the crunch out, I knock back on the volume on my guitar. The clean channel is crisp, bright and chiming, and gets better as the volume is raised becoming harmonic and more punchy. The overdrive channel has quite a range of gain, but will not cater for nu-metal or shredding, it is purely a vintage style amp made for rock.
In my band we play Brit Rock and I play lead guitar. The tone is great for this, I have the gain on about 3.5 out of 12 allowing the more drive function to have more of an effect. I stand out nicely in a live mix, and volume is not a problem. The only critisism I have is that the more drive option does not boost the volume significantly for me to really rock the house down on my solo break. Normally I would sit back and play harmonising lines to the other guys or chords, but when I really need to let loose, I sometimes have difficulty being loud enough without turning up the volume on the amp. I could have the vol on my guitar down for most, then turn up for solos, but that would lose some of the lushness of the sound. I am going to counter this by buying an EQ pedal to boost volume.
The EQ is shared for all 3 channels and is passive, so has not that much effect, although it does alter the way the amp distorts as it is pre-ditortion.
There is also a reverb which is huge and an effective presance knob. I sometimes use a chorus pedal lightly in the FX loop which sounds cool with the clean for some jazzy, sparkly tones, and as it is post-distortion, it woeks well with the overdrive channel as well, producing a unique, but subtle tone.

Never any probs.

Never had to.

I've been playing guitar about 7 years, so not that long. However, I would recomend this amp for anyoe looking for a solid, rock amp for classic tones. If it got knicked, I would deffinitely buy another one. It is great value for the sound it gives. Classic Fender clean and lush, rocking overdrive. This is a quality amp. Why not 10? Nothings ever perfect.

What one wants from an amp is subjective. The HRD is a basic amp with GOD AWFUL reverb and overdrive.

This middle of the road amp would be great if it was built well. Hit a bassy note and it rattles loudly.

The sound is dull. Changing the tubes and speaker will help, but do yu really want to spend the extra money and time COMPLETELY dismantling your brand new amp. I returned it and got the 65 Deluxe Reverb RI. $250 more but twice the Quality. I would have gone for the Vibrolux but it's too big.

Quality is garbage. Have 2 in 2 weeks and they both had mecanical problems.

Some of the time you can get a right-on guy, but most of the time they are a bunch of bone heads

It's junk. Fender should hang their heads in shame. The folks below that praise this amp must not know a good sounding amp.

This amp was made in 2001. I have found that the eq dials do very little to alter my sound, and wish it was more versatile in that regard. 1X12 40 watt channel switching hotrod. comes with footswitch

I play rock, blues, alternative with this amp. It works for some styles more than others. The clean channel has a great fat sound when used with my LP studio with the neck pickup. It has very little sustain for a tube clean channel... the notes ring out gloriously but quickly. This does not matter for most of the clean lead styles I play. There are two drive channels, drive and more drive. I personally find the normal drive channel absolutely useless. It seems like an anemic version of the more drive channel. I like the more drive channel with the bridge pickup for searing zep tones. The distortion is not as smooth as I would like when the drive is turned up past 6, yet does not have enough smooth sustain when below. I use an Ibanez ts-9 to solve this. When used with the more drive channel you should definately use the ts-9 with volume cranked to maximum tone at 1 o'clock and drive at only 1/4. This uses it as a boost. Great for classic rock, grunge lead tones. I play Pearl Jam type solos, and this setting is perfect ( wah is great too). I used to use the ts-9 cranked all the way up on the clean channel, and did not use it with the drive. I tried using it with the drive channel, yet there was a little too much gain and waaaaay to much feedback when I was not playing or when sustaining notes. Also tended to hide the tone of the guitar and the amp.
The clean channel does not break up for a long time, and this is a loud amp. For a slight crunch I use the ts-9 at the same settings as mentioned above. Individual notes are boosted and scream, but remain relatively clean. Using the bridge pickup and strumming chords gives a great crunch. It is very natural because the ts-9 pushes the tubes harder, instead of creating its own crunch.
For rock and blues it is great. For alternative ( think radiohead) I cannot coax the right clean tones from it. I want an ac-30 and/or a twin. I listen to bands who use marshalls, but I've found these combos give me the high gain tones without losing clarity of the notes and howl of the guitar.
I give it a nine for several reasons. It is as high as it is because for the price it is unbeatable. It is not a ten because there are better amps out there. I'm thinking pro-series fenders of the ac-30. It all depends on your style.

Have had zero problems with it.

great value, great tone.

2002 HRD. Read the specs on the features. It has everything you really need.

American Strat. I play blues, rock, and punk. I love this amp. At first I hated it. So, I changed the tubes, bought an attenuator, and tweeked the dials. The preamp distortion will sound muddy on the low end if you have any bass at all. This is fine because this amp has more low end with the bass all the way down than most fenders with the bass all the way up. Try the following if you don't have an attenuator: Treble 4, Mid 12, Bass 0 (or 2) Gain 12 Volume, as loud as you can stand it. If you have an attenuator, use it. The muddiness goes away and you get awesome harmonics. I prefer the drive channel with my attenuator. The Weber MASS is a good one ($160 new). I'm going to replace the speaker with a Weber cali because this amp gets monster bass response as the volume increases. For those of you who don't like the drive of this amp. Why don't you try turning the gain down and master volume up? Pre-amp distortion is always muddy if you put bass through it. Also, the clean tone is incredible!!! My other amp is a 67 Twin Reverb Silverface. It has awesome tone, but doesn't have the complex harmonics of the clean tone in this thing.

Never had any problems

Awesome amp. I absolutely love it. You get beautiful fender clean, blusy overdrive, and great distortion.

Specs on this amp can be obtained from Fender. Basically this is a 40 Watt 1x12 combo with channel switching. Features are simple and easy to use however difficult to see particularly in low light conditions.

I use a Feder Mexican fat strat, I much prefer the sounds of these guitars over all (and I've played them) American strats as they have more bite and are audibly brighter than their American brethern.

No gadgets, just the guitar and Amp. This is a great sounding blues amp.

I play out with this amp regularly, that is when it's working. I traded my Hot Rod Deville in for the Hot Rod Deluxe because the Deville wasn't reliable...little did I know the Deluxe was cut of the same cloth and proved equally unreliable.

I've had the Deville serviced 3 times in one 12 month period, the Deluxe has been serviced 3 times in a 9 month period. While both are great sounding amps I am convinced Fender has lost it's edge in the market place with regards to reliability. I own a 68 Dual Showman that has been service twice in 15 years and has seen more use than this Deluxe will ever see so my advice would be to buy a vintage Fender, you'll be worlds ahead.

While I haven't dealt with the Fender company directly I did have a replacement Eminence 12" from my local music store and received the speaker in less than 10 days.

I've been playing professionally off and on for 15 years. As stated earlier I have a '68 dual showman head that I use as a frequent back up. If this amp were stolen I would replace it with a Carvin Belair or a vintage Fender combo, I have no confidence in the new Fender amps. The Deluxe (and Deville) both are great sounding amps ideally suited for Blues if only they were more reliable.
I originally chose the Deluxe for the bite the amp produces when overdriven slightly and the warm tube sound (I would never own a non-tube amp)can be produced convincingly by only a few manufacturers.

All the previous aforemention features, this unit was made in the US and was one of the first of the series to come out.I am approximately 7 years late on my review

As you may well know by now, many of the criticisims in these previous reviews are valid. However, the main problem with this amp is what everyone seems to be hitting on. Inadequate tubes and mediocre factory speaker. With the tips from the previous reviews, I have installed the J.J tubes and Weber Blue Dog 12" speaker, and that is the ticket. It's a whole different animal now! It's not even the same amp. This thing is now a punchy amp with articulate tones.

The only problem I have had with this amp is that the number one input jack quit working. Has any one else had a problem with this and is there a remedy other that replacing the same part. I think these new plastic input jacks arn't worth a #$%*.

Customer service is ok if you can get ahold of a real person. They have a hard time accepting responsibility for user concerns. The people that I have talked to are generally knowledgable.

I have been playing for over thirty years. I have had various Fender tube amps.I have a silver face champ and had a silver face twin reverb which I ruined with an amp mod, shame,shame, shame. Never,never change anything from the original design other than speaker upgrades or tubes. Like others have said. Don't try to make a Ma Marshall or a Boogie out of a Fender or vice/versa. These snake oil salesmen calling themselve amp engineers are a joke for the most part. I would also like to add that I am only recommending the upgrades for those who may already own this amp.It cost me an additional $165.00 to get this amp were it really needs to be. You may want to try a Deluxe reverb re-issue if you are considering spending the money on a new amp. I think the latter is the better amp of the two. Fender would have to increase the price of the HRD if they really wanted to do what is necessary to better the reputation of this amp, but maybe they are selling enough of them as is, I don't really know.

I bought this new in Dec 1999. Very easy amp to use. 2 inputs (high impedance, low impedance), 2 channels clean & drive plus more drive which I guess could make it classed as three stages. It has a great bright switch. The controls are: volume, drive, treble, bass, middle, master, reverb and presence. These are vintage style knobs along with the rest of the look or theme of the amp, I think very 1950's. Has the necessary standby switch. It has an effects loop which I don't use, footswitch jack and the legendary Fender red jewel pilot light.
I have been playing on and off for 15 years, mostly on. I play somewhere between blues,jazz,funk and rock. I play at; "Church at the Beach" Bondi Sydney Australia every Sunday held in the Swiss Grand Hotel. I also play in band and almost everyday practice or noodle of a night. I can say in all the time I've owned this amp I have never had to change the tubes it came with. I don't know if this is rare or not.

I play a year 2000 Fender American strat, a Maton Mastersound (great Aussie guitar), an Epiphone Les Paul copy with Seymour Duncan Jazz p/u in neck and a JB in the bridge.
Well this amp is loud! At home I play with the volume at 2, the dial goes to 12 but your deaf at 6. The EQ I set all at 7. The reverb at 1.5-2. The reverb is no good after 3 or 4 let alone 11 or 12. Presence at 5 or 6. I Don't actualy use the Drive channel as I use a Tube Screamer TS-9. At one point the channels sometimes would change themselves I think due to radio frequencies. This only happened a few times but I was concerned.
This amp is typical Fender clean, bewdifull. Great for Jazz. I use a wah, TS-9, smallstone, Line 6 Modulation modeller, DD-5 delay. I couldn't be bothered name dropping all the tones you can get out of this amp, get your own tone. I have plugged in various dirtboxes and received many legendary sounds. I also play in stereo sometimes with another cute brute Fender Pro Junior. When doing this I do plug the footwitch in and set the drive and master knobs to zero and use the switch to cut out the Deluxe, like an A/B box.
What I'm looking at doing next is trying out a product called a "yellow jacket" by THD electronics. These plug in to the 6L6 tube sockets and allow you to plug in an EL84 tube, it's an adaptor. Doing this allows you to turn up the amp and get the real warmth of the tube without the searing volume. Class A amps use these tubes. I think Fender should of made a half rate switch to bring it down to 20w. I want the broken up sound without having to invest in hearing aids, you only get one set of ears. I guess if only playing not much louder than 3 most of the time the tubes aren't worn out as much.
A great investment, value for money, good alrounder with pedal assistance.

Very reliable amp. My tubes don't sound muddy yet, when they do I'll invest in "yellow Jacket" setup or try new Groove Tubes GT6L6GE. These are a new vintage sounding tube copied off the General Electric original ala 1950's to mid 70's.

In Australia this amp comes with a 5 year warranty. I believe I won't have to use it.

At the time I compared this with a Laney and Peavey Classic but favoured the clean bright Fender. Here in Australia we get the mainstream amps, Fender,Line 6,Marshall,Mesa,Orange,Vox etc but no botique amps. I would be interested to see what all the fuss is about with the Matchless,Soldano,BadCat etc. I reckon this amp does wonders, Its not what you got its how you use it.
I also drilled out some big holes and fitted Ernie Ball pop out type castor wheels to the base. Great for transporting and also geting the combo off the floor takes the Bass end out of the sound. Loudest, cleanest 40w you'll hear.

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From an engineers point of view: This is for all the people who comment that this amp uses diode clipping for the drive channel or uses opamps/TL072s for the drive channel: look CLOSELY at the schematic - you need to understand it before you jump to conclusions! For DRIVE, it shorts C3 directly to ground (increase the high freq rolloff) and inserts V2B in parallel in the signal path so that it's gain is used for DRIVE, so it multiplies the signal some more, this produces the DRIVE signal, not the opamp. No diode clipping or opamp gaining involved (except as explained later). For MORE_DRIVE the n-channel JFETs Q1 and Q2 short R17 to AC ground and R21 to DC ground repectively, this increases the gain of V2A and V2B still more to produce an really overdriven sound. No diode clipping or opamp gaining involved.
CR1 and CR2 are clamp diodes - they clamp the signal at +/-15V to prevent the TL072 input from being damaged. Ordinarily they do NOT turn on, signals to the opamp are usually not larger than +/-15V. No diode clipping, just protection. This is a common usage in instrumentation for amplifier protection.
If the effects loop isn't used the signal splits into two paths: directly into the V2A/B phase splitter and also into the TL072, which acts ONLY as a buffer to drive the reverb. The TL072, unless overdriven, will not color the tone in any way shape or form (you're well within the unity-gain bandwidth for this amp!) and the reverb output is again buffered by another TL072 section, again no tone coloration.
If you use the effects loop the signal is attenuated by R28/R29, buffered by U1A (again just a buffer to give it current drive capability for low load impedances) and is then recovered by U1B, which is configured as an AC-coupled diff amp and which has enough gain to compensate for the attenuation of R28/R29, which I suspect was done to try to preserve a low-level type signal suitable for pedals. From there it goes to the phase splitter. The opamp is NOT used to provide distortion.
I also own a Hot Rod Deville, same circuitry except that it's run at a higher voltage, the Deluxe B+ is at 431V, the Deville at 485V. Deville preamp and PS sections also run at higher voltages as well.
The amp IS a hybrid in the sense that it uses solid-state opampsfor the reverb driver and the effects loop send/receive circuitry, however in my opinion the solid-state electronics has no effect on the tone and is transparent. Fender could have gone and put in an SRPP or something similar to drive the effects loop and reverb and maybe aother common-cathode stage to buffer the input, but the sonic advantages would have been minimal and the cost would have skyrocketed. All you purists who detest all things solid state unconditionally need to understand the ultimate impact of these devices. You would probably also like to have $25 caps in there to improve the sound, which in a blind test you couldn't even tell the difference? Remeber, Leo's design philosophy was to make good, affordable amps for the masses that anyone (or almost anyone) can afford. If the solid state electronics offends you, then go buy the $2500 boutique amp and quit complaining. Enough bitching...

40 watt all-tube combo with one 12 inch speaker made in 1999.

It has a clean channel with vol,bass,mid and treble, and a drive channel with a "more drive switch" wich works more like a saturated pre-amp. It also has 2 input jacks, a bright switch, externall speaker jack, efects loop, two button footswitch (clean/drive, more drive) and an overall presence and reverb controls.

I play anything from metal to jazz and it fits every single style perfectly (I'm into Tool, Alice in Chains, RATM, Pantera, Incubus, Faith No More, just to name a few).

I use it for band practice, club gigs and outdoor giggs (no need for PA in small clubs, this amp is VERY LOUD, and even in open spaces I've vever used it pass 7)

It's the perfect amp for me but not very versatile tough, if you're in to metal buy a good distortion pedal (and NOT that crappy Metal Zone piece of shit!!! it's over compressed and equalized sound will make this amp sound like a solid-state 10 watt amp only much louder)

My setup is very simple:

Custom guitar (mohogany body, maple neck, fender humbucker in bridge position, shadow mini humbucker in neck) and a LP copy (with di Marzio humbuckers) trough a Boss DS-2 Turbo distortion and an Ibanez Flanger

My band is very Tool-esque, This setup suits it perfectly.

This amp as an amazing clean channel, very bright and clear. I've used many diferent dist pedals trough it and the sound is always very diferent (for me that is very good because I wouldn't want my amp to sound the same no matter what you plug on to it)

This anp is VERY LOUD, and sounds good no matter what volumes you play in. Crank it up in a large club and there will be no need for PA,

Nice Drive for Blues, but that is ALL. DRIVE, not overdrive! All said, This amp is pure tube heaven.

Usit without backup!!!

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for 7 years and this is the best sounding amp i've ever played with live. It has SOUL. Wouldn't trade it for nothing.

Fender's Amazing Clean channel + Good analog natural soundig dist or overdrive pedal = a KICK-ASS sound, guaranteed!!!

Good quality, best sound and top reliability, if stolen I would rush to the store to buy another one.

All tube, 40W, 3 channels (clean, drive, more drive), the usual stuff. One EQ for the all channels. Presence and "bright" switch. Not a lot of features, but I didn't want too many features. If you like your amps simple, toneful, and inexpensive, this is your amp.

Works well for just about any style I play (blues, 80s rock, contemporary Christian, Satriani/Vai, some modern rock, etc.). My rig: Ibanez S540 w/ Satriani pickups or Epi LP X-treme, Morley Bad Horsie II, Boss DriveZone, into pre-amp of HRD, out to Korg AX100G, back to power amp.

Honestly, it sounds really nice for a 1x12. I tried the 4x10 HR Deville, but 60W was just too big for me. I'm miked through a PA or playing in small enough places that 40W is fine. The drive channels are great for blues sounds (no metal here). If you kick in the pedals, they sound good. I can crank in some STACK or METAL distortion from my DriveZone and get a good Creed or POD sound without having to lug around a 4x12 stack. This amp can go from crystal clean to pretty dirty without too much trouble.

Had an "infant mortality" problem with the first one I got within a couple hours of playing. Once I got the new one, I've had no problems since (about 5-6 months). Pretty much any electronic device can break in the first minutes of use. Either they do that, or they generally last a while.

I've got a long-time professional buddy who has had a HRD for years, and it's never failed him. I don't expect mine to fail me either.

I'm very happy with this amp. I didn't expect it to be as good as it is. I was ready to spend more money, but I'm very pleased that I didn't. For the $$, it's the best amp value. It's way louder than 40W would seem. It's clean is that Fender clean you'd expect. It can get pretty nasty with the right effects. And it can go everywhere in between. If it were lost or stolen, I'd certainly get another, and I can afford more.

If I were a really serious pro, I'd probably have something more (Concert or Pro Reverb), but it might not be necessary. You can read all about any mods in the other reviews, but don't waste the money on them unless you really can't stand the sound. If that's the case, maybe you should just tweak it for a while or consider another amp. I'm very sure you'll be happy with a HRD if you get one. Trust me.

Followup to previous post.I talked with Bob at Eurotubes and retubed with JJ's.Tight bass now and smoother mids,not so mid punchy,pretty highs.Bob sent me a hibred tube called an ECC832 which lowers output but retains amp sparkle and chime.It goes in the preamp section and works great to clean up mud in Overdrive(V2 position)or lower the overall gain(V1)so you can crank the amp and get more power tube tone.I highly recommend this tube to improve the overall tone of this great amp.The JJ 6L6's are a big step up from the stock GT's also.

A new speaker and tubes and this ranks with the best I have played in 25 years.

see below

Okay....here's the deal. I've had this amp for about three years now...haven't had any problems. I've used it to jam for hours and hours. I had it quit out on me once, when I was running two guitars through it at the same time for about 2 hours--but I'm not faulting the amp for that one. I was pushing her. Lately I've been listening to other bands and guitarists, and finding my setup to be lacking. I have a Fender Custom w/a humbucker in the neck, and a Reverend Slingshot Custom (p90's). I use various effects--Voodoo labs tremelo, sparkledrive, cool cat chorus, compressor, cry baby wah (not always in the chain). I decided to try changing out the speaker. I put in a Reverend Alltone 1250. $69 including shipping. This is like a new amp. Unscrew the four sides screws, the two top screws, slide the amp apart, take out the old speaker, put in the new. 20 minutes tops, and that's be ultra careful. This amp is simply amazing. It's got more bass response, it's cleaner, it's dirtier--it'll be like that first time you ever made a noise on your guitar that was like music. You'll be riffing and loving it all over again. The chords are perfect, single notes are beautiful Try it, I promise you'll love it.

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Brand new made in Mexico Hot Rod Deluxe.2002 model,three channel,40 tube watts with footswitch,cover and crappy speaker.The review below states the speaker is fine but amp has bad EQ. WRONG! All the features I need for Blues,Jazz and Classic Rock.

I was totally unimpressed with this amp as it came and my Peavey Classic 30 was smoking this thing tone wise.But,I had a Celestion Vintage 30 I pulled from another amp I just sold and decided to give it a whirl before I put this thing on Ebay.Holy Cow! This is what I am talking about!Bass is tight,crisp mids and very pretty highs.It is like I was playing with a blanket over it and suddenly pulled it off!I have always liked the Greenback tone(one in my Peavey)to the V30 but this speaker shines in this amp and this is the prettiest clean I have played on.EQ works much better now that it has something to work with!Can't wait to try some quality tubes,don't know how it can sound much better though.This rate is after the speaker mod...

Only had it a short while but Fenders are well made.

Have not needed them yet.

With a simple speaker mod(you do have to pull the amp from the cab to install)this thing sings and is punchy and articulate.Tone,tone and more tone,I love it! I would buy again and will always have one of these.I have played for 25 years and owned everything at one time or another this is a keeper!

This amp has plenty of features for an almost 3 channel amp. I'm not one to switch channels back and forth. I usually get a sound and grove to it for a while. I use the volume knob on the guitar for my clean and overdrive and lead. Takes practice to do this well, but I prefer it over all the foot switch hopping.

Right out of the box this amp is pretty rough sounding. I recomend a compleat tube change and save the tubes that came with it for your back up kit. I retubed with JJ's tubes from Bob, at Eurotubes. Check him out. The new tubes will really smooth out the sound of this amp, the speaker is fine. The only problem sound wise with this amp is that its EQ is pretty much crap. not a wide sellection of available sounds. it's a very mid sounding amp even with the bass cranked up. Yes, it will get all farty sounding with it up but it really lacks a tight sound and punch. I solve this by running a boss eq pedal trough the fx loop, and setting the amps eq at bass and treble at 0 and mid at 12. I don't really like to use pedals at all but this is an inexpensive solution to a minor problem. With the tighter eq the distortion on the amp is very good. Volume is not a problem, 40 watts tube is more than enough to gig with. I've always been one to mic my amps anyways. I use 3 different stratocasters and a gibson les paul classic the strats are a Road House strat, Lonestar Strat with the humbucker in the bridge, and crapy 60s mim strat, The LP classic is my main guitar. The other three are utility guitars.

I haven't had any problems in this first year that I've owned it. I have a Marshall jcm 800 2210 that I use also, just mostly at the house. To save my back from all the lugging around. The new tubes can be put right in without a bias, because the bias has such a narrow window of adjustment anyways. This is a plus to me.

I've never delt with Fender. I don't think I would either. I would just take it to the shop to have any warentee work done. I don't expect a company that large to do much more for an individual, than answer the phone and say "Hello thank you for calling Fender;" then put you on hold for a 1/2 hour.

I've been playing for 15 years. If it were lost or stolen I would probably buy something else This is basicly an good starter tube amp or a Dependable gig amp with a usable sound. The commercial amp market is pretty slim pickings I can't say that I'm pleased with anything that is available on a working musicians budget.

Standard features. Why in the heck does Fender put 2 stages of lousy distortion in this amp and take away the tremelo? Sheesh! I give it a 5 for no tremelo.

Like many others, stock I give it a 5 also, BUT with Svetlana 6L6s, a 12AU7 in V1 to tame the preamp section and a Naylor Special Design 50, this thing absolutely sings. So I split the difference and gave it a 7.

Muy dependable.

I have a tech who gets a 10 here in town. Wouldn't ship it, and I modded the reverb (clipped R103, THANKS to the Fender Forum!), voided the warranty..

Do the above-mentioned mods, this thing is great! I play surfabilly, cowpunk, espionage - www.umpteen.com/dillengers - check out my band. I use a strat, tele, les paul, jazzmaster, dan-o baritone. The math probably doesn't add up but like I said, with the mods it gets a 10+. Put tremelo in this thing, Fender! The guys buying this thing don't care about Deathmetal grind, what the hell are you guys thinking?

Made in 2000. I mainly play blues, rock, and funk, which this amp is great for! The guy I bought it from had installed a Vintage Celestion 30 as well as some Phillips Power tubes, which make this amp all the more awesome. Features = pretty standard, really. 3 channels: clean, drive, & more drive. Amp out and Poweramp IN for effects.
I don't really use the "presence" control much - I guess I just never could really hear a "huge difference" with or w/out it. I'm fine with the basic features that the Hot Rod Deluxe offers, because they are all really good. This is not a "jack of all trades," for sure.

As others have mentioned, the volume does get LOUD, and fast, too. There is just no stressing how loud this amp is - you have to hear it to believe it. I use it at home (with volume less than 2 or 3) as well as with my band. Plenty of power to go around - trust me.
This is a tube amp, as I'm sure you know.

I give it an 9, because I like the relatively simple features (I switched from digital with 5 million effects) so this is a nice change.

My main guitar is a Fender American Stratocaster - I want so switch out the pickups for HRs or Texas Specials, but haven't got the $$ yet.
This is a very bluesy combination, which suits me quite nicely.
I find that with the "drive" channel all the way up and using "more drive", one occasionally gets some radio interference, but other than that not bad. The clean channel gets a little gritty high up on the neck, which I like, and doesn't appear to get distorted at any volume.
I wouldn't call this amp's distortion "brutal" - I mean, come on, it's a Fender - you're probably buying it for the sweet clean channel.

I give it a 10 for the clean channel - shimmering and lovely.

Construction seems to be reliable - I haven't had any problems, and I don't think that anything major will happen, given that it is built quiet solidly.

5 year transferable warranty. Never dealt with Fender.

Well, I bought it for $525 with all the extras, not to mention that the amp was mint when I bought it (and still is), I consider it to be an excellent value. In other words, with $100 or $200 dollars of upgrades, this baby can sound incredible! I would have to say that it is a definite good value, solidly built, definitely loud enough, and overall good sounding amp for your money. I'm sure I would buy another if it was stolen. I guess the fact that this amp can get SO LOUD SO FAST can be a bit annoying, but it's a small price to pay.

My amp was made in 2002. It is the standard Fender HR Deluxe with one 12" Re-Issue "Gold Special" speaker. Two input channels, one normal high impedance and the second is low impedance for a slightly reduced gain, which I like for Jazz. (both together however work as the first input). Rated at 40w but very loud amp, (if you mainly play at home everything is set <2), great volume for gigs.

I play a variety of guitars and styles. I like the clean tone for Jazz and Blues. Single coil PUPs are crystal clear and the dynamic range and and harmonics are amazing. Humbuckers are full and rich, and not too muddy. Its like hearing a great stereo, you just want to keep listening. At higher volume the amp breaks up a bit (with humbuckers)to give a nice crunch. Kick in the Drive Channel and you can get enough controlled distortion from Eric Clapton to Led Zepplin to Third Eye Blind. A few thing about this amp I don't like are- More Drive selection is pretty much just noise and the db goes way up, hard to contol the sound. The reverb is a bit sensitive and anything over 4 is like a special effect. If you like to play alone or more quietly, the volume is hard to control below 2. Overall this is a very versitile amp with a lot of unique tonal character.

I have owned a few Fenders before with no problems. This amp seems to be built for road use, and I would relay on it for daily use. Maybe some corner protectors for that roadie abuse...Tubes don't seem to shake loose either.

Never had to deal with them. Have a 5 year warranty.

I have played 30+ years and have owned a few Fender amps before. As for guitars, I play Fender, G&L, Ibenez, and Gibson. I like this amp a lot for its clean tone and dynamic range. I also have a Marshall DSL 401 (its ok), Polytone (for real jazz work) and Fender Frontman 25 for practice stuff. The Hot Rod Deluxe is COOL!, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great clean amp which can also get little dirty.

You all know the features. the reason i took off the one point was the shared EQ. that isn;t so great, but the sounds you can still get out of this amp are amazing so i let that slide. Definitly enough power if you;re wondering.

This amp is great. I use a Gibson les paul and the sound is great. It can play just about every style except heavy metal, but a pedal could help that. And believe me, with this clean channel you may want one.

Secondly i would like to say that there has been a lot of complaints about the distortion. I personally love it. Both drives. You have to tweak it a little bit, but you can find it. if you have the drive with the knob fairly low, you get this great tone, and then you can stamp on more drive and play some distorted riffs. Great sound.

Though I gave it a nine because some dislike the distortion.

No problems, but fairly early to say that.

Never had to

This is a great amp, but please, try one yourself. this amp is great, but taste is very subjective, though i will say i love this amp.

Everything you need. two channels, plus one extra boost for the distortion. Bass, Mid, Treble, gain and volume per channel

the clean sound is the most awesome sound you can get... well you know, it's a Fender! The distortion is cool too, but only if your into blues or jazz, becuase it does sound very dirty. I hardly ever use the distortion channels. Instead I have an EH Big Muff PI USA, and the good old Boss Distortion. These two pedals - either alone, or in combination - give the amp the full range of sound that I want.
By the way: This Amp really is LOUD!!!

Haven't had any problems yet. I guess I'll have to occasionally switch the tubes but the potis and stuff seem to be perfect.

Haven't had to deal with them.

It really kicks ass! Better than my old jcm 900 and also better than the previous jcm 800. The only thing I might ever buy now is a Twin, Bassman or some mesa boogie(for the mean distortion)

I bought this amp for Christmas. I play classic rock, rock, blues and some pop and some oldies. I am moving up from a solid state amp. This baby is all tube and it sounds incredible! Terrific warmth, yet has the crunch to suit the style of the music we play. The amp was built in 2002 and is a special edition equipped with a Jensen speaker.

Three channel amp with drive and "more" drive. Haven't used the more much as it tends to be somewhat loud. The amp itself is unbelievably loud for a 40 watt unit. Beats out my old Traynor TS140 by a long long shot.

It has an effects loop that I am current running my nano-verb thru for good dial up delay. I have been playing for 20 years+ and have tried many amps. This one is the cleanest I have used. I love it! Power is enough to fill most venues. We are playing pubs and haven't found a venue yet where volume is an issue. The unit is light and well constructed, so hauling around is no big deal. 45 lbs!!

Fantastic sound. Warm yet crunchy. Not a metalhead tool of destruction, but wonderful for my style of classic rock and blues. tends to follow the fender tradition of pick-up buzz when the guitar is near. My effects beyond the nano include an MXR Phaser > Blues driver > EQ > Amp. Nice combo. I am playing a new 2002 American Tele and it still picks up noise. Also play a Yamaha accoustic thru this machine as well as an SG, ES150, and Howard Roberts. All really do sound good. There is enough in setting option that you can really find sounds suitable for all the guitars I have listed.

With the BD cranked up, the distortion is great. Full yet clear. The 'water' effects from the MXR sounds amazing! The distortion built in is enough to handle whatever the 'purists' out there may demand. As I have said though, the distortion probably isn't great for the grunge bands.

I think I can relay on it, although I am not sure. Out of the box, the unit had a defective power switch that needs repair. Unfortunately, because it is limited, I can't get a new unit as they are sold out, so my new amp already requires repair. Bummer...the old Traymor is 20 years+ and has never broken down. Didn't cost half as much either. I will boil this down to minor and hope for the best.

My dealer is great, however, I have not had to deal with Fender. I have heard they can be real donkeys! The dealer has promised to repair the same day...so I'll let you know if this is the case.

Geeat sound, great price, great looking, tons of punch and worth owning.

Pickering Canuck.

My amp was made in 2000. I play everything from jazz to blues to punk,etc. The HDR seems versatile enough for me in all of these ranges of music. As for other features 3 channels(3rd channel is a diode circut for more drive)effects loop, reverb. I've used it at jams and rehersals, no gig yet.
Tube pre-amp, tube power amp with solid-state rectifier.

I use single-coil and humbucking pick-ups.
suited to many music styles. Does none of them great, but well
Makes some noise , particularly the drive channel.
Very nice fender clean, but lacks something. Changed the inverter tube at V3 to an 12AY7. The moredrive channel now does metal distortion, and since I turn the gain way down on channel 2 to do blues , it is much quieter. but still has loose bottom end.

Its a tube amp. I've never had problems with it or any of my other tube amps. But I would bring a back-up and spare tubes anyways.
Otherwise it is a fender, and biased very conservitively. Probably won't fail you , short of pouring beer on it.

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7 year warrenty

I've been playing for 21 years. I also own several other tube amps.
I can't say that I love this amp. It's a great amp for the money. I wish that I had had this amp when I was gigging. It seems perfect for the small club venue. Not too big to carry around and seems to have plenty of power for small club applications. It does a large variety of sounds for me, with some tube changes. The fender clean is very nice, but still lacking something. The loose low end of this amp in the drive channel really bothers me sometimes. I think if lost or stolen, I would spend the extra money and buy something else.

With 300 and some answers, you do not want to have more of the same. It has two channels, footswitch etc. etc . In fact I was debating between the Yamaha Dg-80 2x10 and this Deluxe; I will have both since I sold my two amps (Boogie caliber 22 and Traynor/Marshall). Best of both worlds.

Beautiful clean sound; it is in my opinion, the most gorgeous clean tone I have found, and believe me, I shopped heavily the last three weeks. The only thing that is comparable is the Riviera Chubster 40. Same clean sound but a better overdrive than the Deluxe. I don't really use the overdrive channel on this amp; I use Zoom gfx-4 for this. The 10 is for the clean tone.

Got it used, but barely utilized (45 minutes, the person was sick and could not play anymore). A preamp tube was microphonic and was replaced, plus the two power tubes were not properly seated which tokk me quite a while to find out(annoying rattle on G string). Fender amp are quite tough and don't break a lot.

No need; we'll see I still have a 2 year warranty remaining.

I have been playing for over 35 years and I am a schooled musician. This amp makes my guitars sound beatiful; I play a Gr-Ready Strat, Jazz Rainsong (very very unusual), Steiberger gl and another American Strat. All of them sound nice; this amp accept any pedal and any guitar; Smmoth sound , very creamy and not as aggressive as a Twin. It is a must for clean sound ; no way around it!

I've got a 99 Hot Rod Deluxe. Its got 3 channels: clean, drive, and more drive. It has an effects loop, but I never use it. It has all the features that I need. The 40 watts it offers is more than enough for me.

The guitar I use is a Martin em-18 (humbuckers) and occasionally a Gibson Blueshawk (P90s.)The clean sound is heavenly! The distortion on the amp is not very good. I suspect a tueb change could clear out some of the muddiness, but I haven't tried that. I put a simple overdrive pedal, and that unlocks the doors to all the classic rock tones I can think of. The amp is pretty versatile with a good overdrive or distortion pedal in front. The clean channel stays clean up to about 6. Then it starts going into some pretty nice crunch. I play classic rock with some blues so this amp fits me fine.

never broken down yet. If anything breaks, I know a "fix-all" guy who i think could deal with it.

never dealt with fender because nothing has broken...

Great amp. Nuff said really. I can't give it a ten because the quest for tone does not lie in one single amp, for the quest for tone is a journey. words of wisdom from yours truly. :) :)

2002 model Fender Deluxe.

The amp is versatile enough for me: it does clean jazz sounds better than any amp I've played (except for the Hot Rod Devilles which are virtually identical); and crunches enough for the kinds of blues that I play.

I spent a long time choosing this amp. I promised myself I would buy my dream amp this year, and this is the amp that I preferred at any price under CD$2000.

I love the clean channel on this baby. That's why I bought it. So far, I really haven't used the drive/more drive channels at all. I play jazz (west coast, cool tone influences, Ed Bickert, Wes Mongomery). Fender clean is the definitive jazz guitar sound, and this amp does it well.

The clean channel on the Deluxe is very similar to the sound of the Hot Rod Devilles -- I suspect that the chassis and preamps are virtually identical in all three amps (Deluxe, Deville 2x10 and 4x8). All three amps have a tone that is distinct from the classic amp clean sounds: more buttery that the classic twins, reminiscent of the classic tweeds (but without the anaemic wattage of the classic tweeds). Allegedly, these amps are supposed to emulate the sound of a '59 bassman, but I've never actually played a '59 bassman, and I've never played a bassman that sounds quite as good as these amps (although that may have more to do with the poor condition of the bassmans I've played). And the bassmans don't have reverb. This may be a matter of personal taste, but I prefer the sound of the new Deluxe and Devilles to the sound of most of the vintage amps I had to choose from when I was shopping around.

Used Fender amps from the mid 80s seem to have aged poorly. My local amp guy says that most of the amps from this period were pretty crappy, mostly because they used printed circuit boards instead of point-to-point wiring.

The classic 60s amps which used point-to-point wiring are now 40 years old and still kicking. Many of the 80s amps that used printed circuit boards are now mostly dead, or in terrible condition. The Deluxe uses printed circuit boards. I suspect that this amp is not going to last 40 years -- although I won't complain if it lasts 20 years. Interestingly, current Fender Twins have reverted to point-to-point wiring (but then, they cost twice as much).

I have concerns about reliability, but haven't encountered any problems so far.

Playing 30 years, but mostly accoustic. I switched over to electric about a year ago.

A beltone vintage 1x10 10watt amp -- lovely amp, but useless without a mic. A fender Studio 85 red knob solid-state that I bought just so I could jam with with people, while I was searching for my dream amp.


Amps against which I compared:

Twins, Hot Rod Devilles: way too big, *way* too loud.

Blues Jr: not enough power to play without a mic. Much less versatile sounds than the Deluxe.

Line 6: Really interesting putting a deluxe and a Line 6 amp side-by-side. The Line 6 does get that magic tube sound -- but only a limited palette of what you can get out of the real thing. The presets seem to cheat, washing out that beautiful clean tube sound with heavy reverb and chorus. The line 6 patches are very muddy compared to the real thing. It is true that you can dial up all kinds of other amps. I struggled with the Line 6 for this reason. But in the end, I decided I really wasn't that interested in playing through an emulated Marshal. Probably a great amp if you're a shredder. The line 6 amps seem to give you very narrow slices of the full capabilities of the amps they model.

Vintage twins: Don't like the evil twins at all: very harsh. I don't like the 70s fender amps: very sad -- 70s fender amps were all about how many watts you could cram into a box, screw the tone. Used amps later than that seem to be hard to find. And the 60s blackfaces: well. If you can afford 'em, power to you. I can't. The bassmasters are nice, but no onboard reverb. Finding a nice sounding used amp in good condition at a price that's anything less than astronomical is a real challenge.

Peavey Classics: A serious contender. You *can* coax these amps into producing that lovely clean tube sound with that lovely scoop, but the Classics don't seem to produce that "take your breath away" sound across all settings. Although the classics seem to be much more versatile than the Deluxe in terms of the entire range of sounds that you can produce, the palette of really great sounds seemed -- to my ears, at a least -- to be less versatile. That being said, if you're considering a amp in the Fender Hot Rod family, you should probably at least give the Classics a test drive.

I did actually purchase a Fender Blues Deville 4x10 (a mid 80s fender variant of the bassman-alike family) the night before I bought my deville, but I took it back the following morning. I discovered, when I got it home, that the amp had a really nasty resonance somewhere around G on the G string that produced an ugly solid-state-sounding distortion sound on the clean channel when the volume was pushed up even a little bit. I don't really know enough about tube amps to know whether it was problems with the tubes, problems with the chassis, or whether it was a speaker rip. Interestingly, the serial number plate seems to resonate at close to this frequencey -- but damping the serial number plate didn't cure the problem. Somebody in a posting below, said that the fender reverb chamber has a tendency to resonate and rattle at about this frequency. Interesting, I do notice the rever b chamber resonance on my new Deville as well. I'm a little concerned about this, truthfully.

Fender Cyber Twin and Deluxe: Allegedly, these amps produce good twin emulations clean channel. However, there's only one preset among many on both amps that really shows off the clean channel emulations. I found it once. And when I went back to try to try the amps again, I couldn't find it. Evem then, the one patch that does show off the clean channel has more effects than is really healthy. It took me about half an hour to figure out how to turn down the reverb, and turn of the chorus. When I did that, it (the CyberDeluxe) did actually sound good side-by-side with a real tube amp. But it seemed like an awful lot of fiddling to get what comes very quickly and easily on a real tube amp. That seems to be the widely-held opinion

HYBRID!
http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/fender/hotrod_deluxe.pdf
See how the audio signal passes through diodes and opamps?!

2! CHANNELS, not 3! Clean and Drive. The "More Drive" is simply a switched diode circuit, not another channel.

To those who scoff at buying this amp and spending money on mods: You can spend $25 dollars and make this amp sound amazing. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with spending more to get an even better tone.
And no, it is not a Bassman, it is a Hot Rod Deluxe.

To address misleading comments in previous reviews, this amp IS hybrid design, is only 2 channels, and you can spend minimum $$$ and make this amp sound MUCH better. Don't let previous suspect negative reviews sway you away from buying this amp.

i don't know much about the skematics of most amps in general. i do know that is is 3 channels clean, distortion, and a boost, it has this very massive reverb you gotta be kinda careful with it and it is the loudest 40-45 watts i've ever heard. The bass player in my band went out and got this very expensive 300 watt mesa boogie and i still have to take it easy volume wise so i don't completely bury him.

i use a strat some very basic effects, distortion, chorus , wah. i play blues and roots rock. i've had this amp for quite sometime and i really can't tell you how versitile it is because i basically plug in turn it on and it always sounds perfect. and that's what i like best about it. it might be a little a bassy or to high end from time to time but it's a quick fix.

broke down once on me. something about the inputs. it was a real quick fix and didn't cost me anything. it's never broke down during a show and it handles well on the road. very sturdy but then again i pamper my amps as much as possible.

wonderful, when i sent my amp in they had it fixed and back to me in about a week, i had to use a peavey studio pro while it was away, that was hell, they even threw in some new tubes at no cost.

i don't know how well this amp would serve for those self-proclaimed tone guru's, but for me it's perfect it's deep enough, it's ambient enough and it's loud, best pick i ever made.

This amp has two channels. I've never liked the layout - volume is next to drive, but only affects the clean channel. Master is next to the eq section, but only affects the drive channel - which is on the other side of the amp. It would make much better sense to give a true master volume knob (power amp) and seperate volumes for the pre-amps of each channel. I'm also at a loss as to why Fender chose to put linear pots on the master volume here. Log/voice taper pots make much more sense!

I play a Roadhouse Strat through this thing and I get all the sounds I need out of the amp. First of all, 40 Watts can be ear damaging from this amp, so don't bother to turn it all the way up unless you're in a space that can absorb most of it. It can really reproduce those wonderful shimmering/chiming sounds from the clean channel, but it's very good at giving all that Stratocaster quack and honk one would expect from a Roadhouse model. Many have derided the drive channel, but it's not meant to be a Warhead. Its for bluesy and classic rock type of music. I use just enough of it to get that edgy sound. Adding the "more drive" button is their way of trying to give you that death metal sound, but its not going to get you there. I also think folks are trying to get Warhead sounds with the wrong guitars. Let's face it, a Strat with a little '69 humbucker in the bridge is no substitute for a Les Paul or an SG. Mild distortion on this thing sounds soft and fluffy like it should. Chunk? Not. The effects loop is a nice thing to have too for when you want to throw in some flange or chorus.

Looks good - solid built like the old ones. And for the record, my bias was right on at 62.

Not needed yet.

This is a great amp with just enough size to handle the power it has, but small enough to lug around for gigs. Others have mentioned getting a Celestion speaker for it, I may try that.

Everyone should be familiar with this one clean, drive, more drive. Have a middle and presence control helps a little. This one is an older model made around 95 or 96. It sat in the store for a while. I bought it new in 99. As stated many times before this 40w tube amp is loud. I have gigged many different size venues with this amp for the last 3 years and I usually set the master on 3 with the drive on 4 and it screams! I am 45 yrs old and play classic rock - I played these songs when they were new. I have had Marshalls and other well known amps, but let me tell you I get alot of compliments on the tone of this one.

My main guitar is a fairly new American Tele. With this amp no one can tell it's a telly. The sound is thick and crunchy unless I purposely set it for telly twang. I occasionally use an old Ibanez Artist and a Les Paul Jr. The sound is good with all. On most songs I play on the drive channel. I use the footswitch to go clean if the song calls for it and more drive for leads (cuts right through). For clean sounds, blues or classic rock this is a good amp. I don't think the alternative players would like it (not that kind of distortion).

3 years gigging 2-5 times a month has never broken down. I don't bring a backup. I had it in the shop once because the channels started to switch by themselves, not always, but once in awhile. It had some bad solder joints. Was repaired by the shop where I purchased it and I haven't had any problems since.

Haven't dealt with Fender. My local shop repaired it for free since it was covered by the original 5 year warranty.

I have been playing for over 30 years and like most players I am always chasing that elusive perfect tone. I would be open to trying other amps but for blues or classic rock this thing sounds really good. You have to be fairly happy when you can bring an amp to a gig that doesn't brake your back, plug in, make sure your settings are where they normally are and have a good sound time after time.

I bought a Brown HR Deluxe, 1 0f 100 in that color, Very nice blues sound. I use this amp all the time and as far as power it is plenty loud for gigging, yet can be turned down for bed room use.

I have a 2002 Paul Reed Smith Custom 22 with dragon series humbuckers,a American Strat with Red lace sensors, and a Fender bullet with stock single coils this amp sounds great using all of the guitars, the overdrive channel is not AS good as clean yet it is very good. The amp on clean with the PRS sounds absolutly AMAZING!

Never had any problems yet

Never had to contact them but it has a limited lifetime warrenty so I'm not worried.

I've been playin the blues for about 4 years, I have to much gear to list really but if this piece were stolen I would definatly get another one(hopfully another 1 of 100). The first time I heard the amp I loved it, it sounds just like a Fender Tube amp ought to, ecspecilly for the $$$

You guys know the features so I'll highlight only one: it is of reasonable weight for gigging, especially compared to that heavy-assed 2 X 12 I used to use (getting too heavy to lift into the car)!

After reading all the postings here, and on other makes and models, I picked this thing up specifically for gigging. I needed reasonable weight and versatility to cover an assortment of rock, pop and blues and, since I'm a rocker at heart, it had to have crunch. Although I've only rehearsed and gigged with it once, there is no question in my mind that this amp is a keeper. In fact, I'm already looking to sell my Carvin XV212 which sounds great, but isn't quite as versatile as the HRDx (and is a helluva lot heavier and WAY TOO FRIGGIN' LOUD).

I'm running an '82 Les Paul standard with a stock pickup in the neck and a Duncan JB in the bridge through a stock Cry Baby wah into a Boss TU2 tuner, into a DOD Preamp 250 into the HRDx. I'm also running a Boss GX-700 digital midi fx rack unit through the effects loop and presetting the volume sort of like the volume box described elsewhere in this section (yields the best lead boost you've ever heard). Even though the clean channel sounds suberbly Fender, I'm satisfied with the clean I get by rolling back the guitar volume on the drive channel. With a little chorus and a smidgeon of delay for depth, the thing sounds POSITIVELY GORGEOUS. Crank up the guitar, bypass the GX-700 and it crunches up real nice...BALLS OUT...definately "it".

There's been a lot of discussion on both sides of the fence about the distortion. Like many have previously noted, I also don't care for the "more drive" function; it's got a lot of spunk, but it's too noisy. Doesn't matter, the "regular" drive sounds great and cuts through the mix quite nicely. Yeah, it's preamp distortion...so what? It sounds really good. It's not a Marshall. It's not blackface, or tweed either. But in the (formerly) smokey bar rooms with the alcohol flowing and the volume in your face, what's the fuckin' difference? It may not have that "woody" sound of a Super Reverb on the edge, but it still sounds great. If you've got just a little magic in your fingers, this is a tool that helps tap it.

I suspect better tubes (came w/ Sovteks) might improve the sound to some degree, but it's just fine as it is...really. I did "borrow" one of the "British Series" speakers from my Carvin, because the stock speaker was horrid. The sound tightened right up. Perhaps a Celestion Vintage 30 will sound better still, but the Carvin sounds damned good. Still, I won't sell the Carvin amp with the Fender speaker; I couldn't do that even to an eBayer.

I've only used it once on a gig. I brought backup because I've read the horror stories here, but I didn't need it. I bought this amp from a pawn shop so I don't know anything of it's history. The input jack is a little loose and all the panel screws were too. I will repair the jack before the next gig and secure it with silicone as suggested. Beyond that, I have the utmosts confidence and faith in it. Maybe I'll leave that heavy-assed Carvin in the car next time.

Don't know, don't care. We have great techs in South Florida if I need one.

Been playing since 1973. I've owned Fenders and Marshalls, a Carvin, numerous effects, an old Strat, the Les Paul, a Carvin DC127 (great guitar), acoustics. I probably prefer the sound of Marshall crunch, but how do you get it nowadays without spending an arm and a leg. Besides, new Marshall products (especially the DSL201/401) are built like shit. I'm happy with the HRDx. It gets it for me.

I just bought this amp new (november 2002). It handles the blues rock thing really well with no external effects. The "extra drive" channel is nice, and comes in handy when stepping out for solos. The looks are phat on it. I used to be skeptical of Fender amps, but this put my doubts aside. I havent gigged with it yet, but with a decent P.A. it should be more than adequate

I play an EVH wolfgang special, kinda weird for the blues/rock thing,but it works really well. With a nice amount of distortion, set to the bridge I can get some really crunchy chords, flipping it to the neck, its got a sweet singing sound to it. Its a little noisy with single coils, but I have humbuckers. Not for Slipknot shit, but if thats ur thing, you should use no Fender products anyways. For clean all the way up to rock its good, just no GWAR.

No Idea. But, when i was bringing it in my house, i dropped it like a jackass, and its fine...Thank god its under warranty though.

No Idea

If you are into the blues, classic rock thing, and you dont have money to throw around on boutique amps, this is the best value I can imagine. If you like your guitar drowned out in unnecessary effects, get a modeling amp or something. This is ideal for straight ahead music.

BLAH!...BLAH!...it's me again!
Not to beat this point to death...but,This amp was based on roughly the same design as the '59 Bassman,only with cheaper parts!That I learned from the guy who designed it!
most of your "own sound" should come from: Head,Heart and fingers.
The HR is a very good value,and yes ,if you spend 300 dollars on "doodads" it will sound marginally better,but my point is:"you can put a dress on a pig...but it is still a pig"

Features are well known after this many reviews.

Beautiful clean tube sound. The distortion channels are above average but not perfect. Certainly very usable. Not noisy at all. Tone controls give a good range of usable tones. Very loud. Decent headroom.

I think it is reliable. It hasn't given me any problems, though it has seemed a bit farty at some gigs. I'm pretty sure it is because of poor venue wiring.

Don't know.

Been playing 26 years. I play Strats and Teles, Seagull acoustic, Deering banjo and Fender mandolin. Lots of effects, mostly Boss pedals. Recently purchased a used Boss GT-6 multi-effect, which I like a lot. Own a blackface Fender Twin Reverb.
Like many others have stated, I hate that this amp gets so loud so quick. It is way too sensitive. Sometimes 1.5 is too loud but 1.3 is not loud enough. I use a Boss A/B pedal, which has volume attenuators, in the send/return effects loop to supply a much better volume control situation. This allows me to put the amp's volume on about 3, which would normally be way too loud. This allows me to get all the tone out of the amp. The A/B pedal then attenuates the volume to whatever level I desire. I have considered having the volume modded and may yet do so in the future, though my workaround presently works well.
I would buy another Hot Rod Deluxe.

If you don't know the features then read the other one thousand reviews. I have owned it for 4.5 years now. Bought it new for 500 from GC

I play a USA Strat with this amp mainly. First I can tell you whatever the kid with the Mesa Dual Rectifier tells you, his amp can do clean as good as this can do death metal. This amp is all about the clean channel. The drive is actually not bad at all but it is overshadowed by the quality of the clean. Althought there is alot of gain available in the amp I never use alot of it cause I have another amp for those sounds.

First let me say that I totally trust this amp. Now I have had a problem. For about 1 year it sounded like crap. I traded tubes and took it in for service but nothing worked. It was still very good sounding but compared to otheres I heard it was inferior. Well when putting in new tubes to try to give one last ditch effort I saw a flash then smoke. The resistors that had been going bad for the past year(s?) finally opened and the mp stopped working. Well changed them out and it was like alling in love again. This thing rocks. No probs after 2 years of use after that.

Lost the warrenty card. When the resistors blew I bit the bullet and paid the 2 bucks (would have been 1 but I bought double what was needed) and fixed it myself instead of waiting for months.

I have been playing for 5 years. This is the first amp that I bought and I walked out of the store with more amp then I knew at the time. All form good advice from a salesman who steered me away from more expense and actually tried to talk me into a Pro Jr. There is no replacing the clean sound it makes. I will alway have to have some type of fender so I guess I will just hold onto this one. I think of you want the sound this thing makes and you don't mind using pedals for other distortion sounds then go for it. Just remember no pedal will turn it into a true Marshall/Mesa. You can get by but it is not the best for that stuff at all

The basic features have been covered extensively...it's a 1x12 40 watt tube amp with the standard bells and whistles. Channels: Clean, Drive, and More Drive.

I have gone thru 2 Hot Rod Deluxe's with mixed feelings about both. The first Deluxe I acquired was about 5 years ago - it had an excellent clean channel and sounded great with a US Tele and Strat. I think of this amp as a more clean blues type amp as the distortion is not that intense. The 2nd drive channel doesn't sound that much different than the first until you begin to crank the volume. If you want more heavier rock distortion you will have to end up relying on a pedal b/c the tube amp distortion is on the light side. Thus, it's not that versatile of an amp. However, the clean channel is great, and the slight blues type breakup distortion is nice especially cranked. When considering this amp you should think about what style & where you will play the most b/c the Hot Rod Deluxe is better suited to blues/jazz and sounds best when the volume is cranked.

As I said before, I've gone thru two of these. The first I had for 5 years and I gave that one away to my brother, the 2nd I acquired recently for practice. Both I acquired NEW but both developed "squealing" problems with the drive channel engaged. With the 1st amp, when I cranked the volume it would squeal for a bit then subside. The 2nd amp whenever I engaged the drive channel at ANY volume it would squeal immediately. I haven't had the time,energy, or $ to drag it into a shop but I'm a bit disappointed with Fender b/c this has happened to me twice (bad luck or poor quality checks?)

n/a

Great clean channel. Better suited for blues. You'll need a pedal for hard rock distortion. Sounds best when cranked. Fender quality in question as I have had 2 "squealers"...so test out the one before you buy it.

Overall it's a solid amp - y.j.

This is a classy looking amp... chrome controls on top, black tolex with silver grillecloth... nice... It could use a few things, but, it is a very good starting point. 2 channels + 12db gain boost on channel 2, footswitchable, series effects loop, wish it had a tube driven reverb and tremolo. No tube Rectifier (thank god... those things are very hard to maintain). Stock it is 40w, but, mine is 22.5w (you will see why in the next section)

First off... I am not rating a stock HRDx. That would get a 5. So, here are the modifications from stock:

-THD Yellowjackets w/ JJ Tesla EL 84s running Class A
-Weber VST ceramic Blue Dog Speaker (undoped)
-JJ Tesla 12ax7 preamp tubes
-Exchanged capacitors for a "chimier" sound
-Longer reverb tank installed

With these modifications the amp is a 10... great sound overall and the cost of all the mods was less than $300 so the amp is still a great value. The amp now sounds like 66% Vox AC30, 34% Fender Tweed. So nice... The drive channel is beautiful and make a mockery of far more expensive amps. I find it to be rich with harmonic detail that is generally only heard in far more expensive class A amps. It is still very loud despite having lost half it's power, I can rarely tell that there has been any loss what-so-ever. The clean channel I generally keep just above slight breakup for that singing tone that easily cleans up completely with a slight twist of the volume knob. It gladly accepts stompboxes in front and in the loop, and benefits greatly from a bit of compression every now and then. The reverb is now much fuller and lush. I also added a footswitch for ease of operation.

I have had no troubles with the amp since the Mods and don't expect any...

Fender is terrible, but, my amp tech, Stew, is Terrific.. he gets a 10

I've played guitar for 18 yeads now, and this is my main giggin amp (I have a 1967 Vox AC30 TB and a 1966 Fender BF Deluxe Reverb that I use in the studio) I am planning on getting a second one of these and having it tricked out the same way. I am having a 2x12 cab made to go underneath this amp and can't wait to hear that setup...

My purpose in writing this review was to show that there are things that can be done to a run of the mill mediocre sounding amplifier to make it stand out from the crowd and really scream!! I am incredibly impressed with the way this turned out and I think that there is not one amp (that doesn't bear the name Matchless) that I would rather have... I have a distinct sounding amp that usually blows people away with a fairly small amount of work. Thanks for reading!!

3 channel, 40 watt tube amp. Bright switch, presence control, (high, mid, bass) tone stack, spring reverb, series effects loop, standby switch. The reason I give the amp an 8 is because the three channels share the one tone stack.

I own a PRS Santana SE, Carvin DC135C, and Samick Torino. Each guitar has it's own sound. Each guitar sounds great through the HRD with the exception of the Samick - nice distorted but terrible clean. (What do you expect from a $100.00 guitar with cheap pickups?) I have replaced the stock tubes with Ei Elite 12AX7s and Svetlana 6L6s. I also replaced the stock speaker with a Weber 12F150 (C12N). The amp comes from the factory biased cold. Rebias this puppy for max tone!

Before I go any further - a previous poster asked why do the changes when one could buy a Bassman for approximately the same price? My answer is - because I want my own sound. I'm not trying to get my HRD to sound like any other amp than my own. If I had bought a vintage amp (or a reissue), I would have made the same changes.

With the darker tone of the Weber speaker - the Ei Elites really shine. I play through the second input for more headroom in the "clean" channel. The "drive" channel has a nice breakup with these tubes and the "more drive" is downright nasty. Yes the "more drive" channel does use a pair of diodes, but then again - doesn't just about every distortion pedal out there used them as well? The reverb, while not the best of the Fender designs, is very usable throughout the entire range of settings (1-12). I have no trouble being heard over the rest of the band.

Overall, a great working mans amp. Very versatile as far as tone is concerned - the secret is finding the tube/speaker combination that best suits you. 20 years from now these amps will be as popular as ever with the "vintage" crowd.

If you want a reissue - buy one! If you want a vintage amp - buy one! If you want an amp that you can tailor to your desires without putting yourself in the poorhouse - this amp will do just fine. I've been playing since 1982 and have owned many amps since then. Believe me when I say - tone is in the ear of the beholder.

So far, so good. I gig regularly and have had no trouble whatsoever.

Never had to use it. I'd turn to my local Fender dealer anyway.

As stated earlier. Great amp for finding your own tone. Experiment with different tubes and speakers. It's there. I doesn't have the benefit of the "elitist" opinion but then neither did many of the vintage amps that are so prized in this day and age. Don't fall for the hype.

2 Channels, effects loop, tube pre and power amp, solid state recto, yadda, yadda.. would be nice if it had seperate EQ for gain channel.

Re-tube this amp. Call or email Bob at Eurotubes.com! Review is done with a set of JJ's instead of the Groove Tubes.

Used with an Epi. Les Paul Goldtop (p-90's) and a Washburn J-9 (semi-hollow). I absolutely LOVE the clean channel, but the distortion channel kinda sucks.. I'll use it with the drive turned down as low as possible for a (very) slightly overdriven volume boost. I use stompboxes for distortion, and they sound great. I can even get a "Marshall-like" sound with a Marshall Guv'nor II dirtbox. If the amp came with the JJ's it would have gotten a 10.

Had it for almost a year, and not a hint of trouble.

N/A

I had a solid state amp before, and there is just no comparison.

I looked around for quite a while before settling on this amp, and I'm VERY happy I did.. Great value for an average wattage combo amp. I've played pretty big rooms (300 people) with this amp and a 2x12 extension cab, and had no problems being heard..

1999 deluxe. You guys no the stats! I use this amp in my house & garage band stuff for small parties.

I play 80's Rock, Blues & Jazz & this baby does it all very well!!! I play PRS & Carvin guitars mostly & sometimes ad an old Digiteck rp-5 for effects,but mostly play straight thru her. I also have a Carvin VT50 tweed head & 4x10" matching carvin cab. that I use for really clean tones! The Hot Rod has great versitility & sound GREAT using the more drive in my opinion! Just all around great American rock sound I LOVE THE TONE! I've had it crancked all the way up & no noise. Everything sound GREAT!!!

Very well built

Fender SUCKS!!!

I've been playing for 8 years & have tons of gear. I've have vintage Fenders & think there all hype & not worth the cash! I really like this amp & if you buy used Fender you can get alot of bang for the buck!

40 WATTS 2 6L6 3 12AX7 3 CHANNEL 1 12 SPEAKER
SOLID STATE RECTIFIER

CLEAN CHANNEL IS REALLY SWEET DRIVE AND MORE DRIVE CHANNEL SUCK BAD
IT DOESNT HAVE THAT FLOWING POWER TUBE DISTORTION SOUND
IT USES A TL072 OP AMP FOR THE DRIVE MORE DRIVE CHANNELS
HAS A REAL BUZZY SOUNDING DISTORTION NASAL LIKE
IT WAS BIASED A LITTLE COLD

SEEMS RELIABLE

NEVER DEALT WITH THEM

ALL IN ALL ITS A TUBE AMP WITH A TUBE SOUND
THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS REALLY CRISP FORGET ABOUT THE OTHER 2 CHANNELS
RUN YOUR EFFECTS INTO THE CLEAN CHANNEL AND LET IT FLY

Bought used for $350.00..amp made in 99 or 00. I just started playing again after 30 years. Played keyboards and bass in my youth but always dreamed of slingin an axe. I play classic rock and some blues. This amp is great for this style of music.The Fender clean sound is sweeeeet. Since I only play in my house I haven't had it past 2. This amp is loud !!!

I play an American Deluxe Tele and an American Strat w/Texas pu's.
Tele twang meets Strat grind !!! So far no hum or distortion...but i haven't gotten to crank her up yet.

Built like a tank...no problems yet !!!!

Haven't had to call fender...Hope I never have to. Got the manual
from their website.

For a fairly new guitar player....great amp for the money. Not a big
deal to carry it around and fairly compact. I had a Marshall AVT-50
before the HRD and this sounds SOOO much better.

not to much on features. could use an extra eq for the overdrive channel.

i use this amp mainly with my epiphone lp studio and sometimes with my friends fat strat standard. overall it sounds pretty good with both. it wimps out a little with the strat but still packs a punch. great punk/grunge kind of sound. i really like the sound of this.

its a pretty reliable amp. sometimes it fucks up a little bit but it doesnt last long. never has broken down just cut out a little.

overall i love this amp. great sound great clasic od just a really great and versitle amp.

Everybody reading this knows the features...

Did'n t buy it (have no money, going to buy it probably in a couple of years...), but played one several times & directly compared it to a '65 Super Reverb reiissue and a vintage '63 Vibroverb - killer amps by the way(!) - (with a muddy waters tele and a gibson SG special). This amp is good - especially for the money! Even the stock eminence speaker people always diss is a good speaker - and it's not a cheap speaker - it costs more than every jensen and is about the same price range as the celestions - eminence was cheap in the 70's!!! The thing is, this amp has been designed as working horse for the gigging semi-professional - and it is not a bassman or a blackface fender (if you want such an amp, you have to buy one and not a hot rod) - it's as simple as that!!! The hot rod is a compromise between classic fender-type clean sounds and useable distortion - and it has useable distortion if you leave it around bluesy overdrive - for the rest use stomp boxes! One thing to think about is changing the speaker to a Celestion Vintage 30 - sound would change to less highs and more mids and it would sound less harsh - it sounds a (little bit!) harsh in comparison to a Super or an old Vibroverb (which is massively broken in because of being played 40 years!). All in all a good sound with it's own voice for a good price...

If anybody wants a "better" sound he can buy a vibro-king for clean and a matchless for crunch - but that would cost slightly more...

Fenders are made to be played... Even tubes last probably 10 years...

Good amp, not comparable to old classics or customs(blackface,matchless,etc.) - comparable to crate vintage club 30 or the peavey classics - this is the price and quality range of that amp, the rest depends on taste. People shouldn't write that much rubbish about things they do not know - the amp techs i know do their jobs for about 30 years and more and they played many different amps themselves over the years, they recommend it in this price range and like it as it is (without any modifications)! Remember: 90 % of your sound comes out of your FINGERS!!!

NOT A TUBE/SOLID STATE HYBRID!!!!! its all tube with a solid state rectifier, like most amps these days. clean channel, OD channel, and a more OD channel. all on the same EQ, not my kind of thing, but hey... it works

great, deffinately a fender. did i mention loud? this sucker is 40 all tube watts, and with an extention cab... you cant imagine. clean is fender clean and the overdrive is great and smooth. some of these guys are right, new tubes could help, but its great how it is. pop a 12at7 in the v2 and the distortion does improve a lot.

played with it at shows regularly and has not failed me yet (i've had it 10 months).

haven't needed it

ive been playing 10 years, if it was stolen i would find the prick and cut his hands off and smack him... but if i couldnt find it i would buy a new one. could use tremelo, but thats nothing a pedal cant fix. overall a great buy. not only a good amp for the money, but a great amp period.

Bought new in 2001. All tube, yadda-yadda, it's been covered before.
This is a LOUD amp! Fender rates it at 40W, but that is probably a conservative rating.

I play mostly blues & classic rock, (SRV, Clapton, Beatles, Stones, etc.) I use a Fender American Stratocaster with EMG-SV pickups and a Stienberger GU-7R with EMG-Select pickups. The amp is VERY well suited for this type of music. Like many have said, if you want a heavy-metal sound, this ain't the amp!

Lots of people have complained about the sound of this amp, (Arly breakup, unuseable distorion), but really it's not the amp itself, but the TUBES that are the problem! As has been said here before, if you want this amp to really sing, you MUST replace the tubes with better ones!! Fender doesn't use the highest quality tubes, they use the cheapest and most rugged, but not the best SOUNDING! Mine had Sovtek 12AX7WA's in preamp, and Sovtek 5881WXT's in the power amp, (LOUSY tubes!!) I have replaced the preamp tubes with Sovtek 5751's in V1 & V2, and a Groove-Tubes 12AT7 in V3, (phase inverter), and the sound is already MUCH better! I don't use the amp for distorion anyway, I use a Voodoo-Labs Sparkle Drive, (TS-808 clone), although the amp distortion is smoother and more harmonic with the 5751's in place. The best benefit is I have much more clean headroom with the 5751's, (no early breakup in the clean channel like others have complained about.) Next the power tubes get replaced with Svetlana 6L6GC's. These are without a doubt the best 6L6 out there right now for the price! I also plan on replacing the speaker with a Jensen P12N, for that classic sound.

No real complaints. You need to replace the cable for the footswitch with a high quality guitar cable for the footswitch to function reliably. A cheap cord will not do the job!

No need. Haven't had a problem yet.

If this were stolen or lost, I'd probably buy another, or the big brother Deville 2x12. They are well worth the price, (close to Twin or Deluxe "champagne" sound at a beer price.)

I've been playing for 15 years, just for a hobby, no band or gigs.

2 years old, 2 actual channels, Clean, drive (unuseable) and more drive (noisy and unuseable) effects bypass, reverb, youve read the others

I use a 91 american Strat and a washburn BT2 with duncan 59s on it, and the strat sounds really good clean as well as the 'bucker axe for good clean jazzy, surfy, and twangy tones.
The amp is noisy when unplugged and while playing.
The clean channel is very good as this is all I can use. The distortion channels blow hard and are unuseable in my opinion.
I sometimes run a j-station thru the effects loop and this sounds very good. The volume knob goes from dead quiet to full on at 2 and is very loud for a 40 watt combo.
There are some pretty good classic rock/ AC/DC tones on the clean channel if you tweak it right to get the output tubes crankin.

I play for fun with some people maybe once or twice a month, and I let the amp warm up and cool down and in the two years I have owned it, it has DIED ON ME TWICE!!!!! The first time it was under a year old and it would turn on with no sound, Sent it to Fender in ARIZONA and got it back in a month! Well here it is one year later, and its blowing fuses now. the repair tech just sent out for a output transformer, coming from FENDER, and he said it will be another 3 weeks to a month before the part comes in. (its been on order for 2 weeks now) Thank God it comes with a 5 YR warranty because you are gonna need every bit of it! I have owned it since new, and I'm very dissapointed! ITS A PIECE OF DUNG!!! I'm selling it and getting a RIVERA CHUBSTER!!!

Warranty parts take forever to get, FENDER DOESNT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU ONCE YOU BUY THE PRODUCT! If you want a tube amp, save your money and get a decent one!! Stay away from Fender! Trust me

Great clean sounds, noisy though. Unreliable & WHEN it craps out you WILL wait a long time to get it back since shipping warranty parts isnt high on FENDER's list.
If it got stolen, and I found out who it was, I'd send him a sympathy card! If I had to do it all over again, I'd probally had gotten a peavey. STAY FAR AWAY!

go to fender's webpage or one of the big retailers or just look at the other reviews for the little details.. two channels + boost on the overdrive. Revvvvvvvverb...... Needs tremolo, though. All ratings are based on what perception of "what I got":"what I paid".

I'm an old fart and very choosy about my stuff. Guitars are custom made warmoths with joe barden pickups. Pedals are fulltones and some others. It sounds good. The clean channel breaks up at around 5, responding more like a real deluxe than I hoped for. The overdrive channel is pretty good. Good for blues and rock.. probably not for the nu-metal brigade.

I bought it a year ago, I've heard some complaints but I don't have any.

never dealt with them

Why is this catergory a 10 whereas the rest were "9"? I hate spending money. This amp delivers massive bang for the buck. That's the bottom line. A ritzy boutique store in the Chicago area with all sorts of designer hand-wired point-to-point amps tried to tell me a similar Peavey (50-ish watts, 1x12") was a better deal. Pshaw. If you like the Fender sound, this Fender amp will deliver it. My real amp is a '64 Fender Bassman with a presence knob, but that doesn't leave the house anymore. This is a good giggin' and jammin' kind of thing. fits in teh back of my civic.

blah...blah...blah!

Great value for the money. here is my gripe about some of the reviews I have read about this amp. look y'all if you spend 550 bucks for this amp, 110 bucks for a celestion v30 plus another 125-170 for better tubes,JUST BUY A FRIGGIN' '59 BASSMAN RI AND BE DONE WITH IT! (950 dollars new ,6-700 used).It is however a very good amp at medium volume.It will NEVER be a Bassman! no matter how much you spend on doodads!

I have been using it for practice and home use for six years with no problems.The stock speaker sounds fine when broken in.

Tube/Solid State Hyrbid design
2 Channels, Bright boost on clean channel, More Drive boost on Overdrive channel, 3 band eq, reverb, presence, preamp out/power amp in
3 x Sovtek 12AX7WA, 2 x (?) 6L6GC

I create some very eclectic sounds using a heavily modded 95 American Strat (humbucker at bridge), through a Real Tube (for extra chunk), through this amp, from clean and "beautiful" to monstrous fuzz death. My main problem with the amp, as many other reviewers noted, is the master volume. Right around "1" or "2", it is either all or nothing. This really limited its use as a home practice amp until I did some research (THANK YOU HARMONY CENTRAL AND CONTRIBUTORS!!!) and found ways of taming the volume but still getting sweet tones by replacing the 2 preamp tubes and phase inverter tube (all Sovtek 12AX7WA) with lower gain 12A-7 type tubes. After experimenting with various 12AX7(ECC83), 12AU7(ECC82), 12AT7(ECC81), 5751 tubes, I left in the following preamp tubes: (V1: Sovtek 5751), (V2: Tesla ECC82), (V3: Electro-Harmonix 12AT7EH). I am going to replace the power tubes with Svetlana 6L6GC's during the next round of equipment upgrades. I thought about constructing the volume box to insert between the preamp and power amp, but I had some concerns regarding the effect of the circuit on my amp over time. If anybody has any comments on this, please email me.

Note - I would not recommend this amp if you are into extreme, thick high gain death metal, although you can get some mean sounds leaving high gain preamp tubes in, cranking up the drive and using the More Drive switch. I've heard solid state amps that do death metal extreme distortion better. If you want tones sweeter than the girl next door, get this amp and get some tubes....

Tone of the amp from the factory: 5
Tone of the amp with $24 worth of lower gain preamp tubes: 9

This amp has been relocated quite a few times. There is a buzz when I crank the amp up, which I believe is coming from a power tube (which I noticed last night is glowing blue). I attribute this to hard moving and not a defect. I believe replacing the power tubes will remedy the problem. The amp has been otherwise very reliable.

I have not had to deal with customer support.

I will not part with this amp...
Email me if you have any tips, tricks or advice to share, or vice-versa.
www.deharmonic.net

I bought this amp used, to replace my heavy 1974 Twin. This amp is a 2001, with a Celestian Vintage 30. I used it once in the studio and twice on gigs. It seems to perform allright.

I play a Tele Amercian Standard, with texas Specials. My music style is predominantly Classic Country with a little 50's rock thrown in. The only thing it lacks is the low end I've become accustomed to with my Twin. Other than that, it is probably cleaner than my Twin. I don't use the other two channels, so I can't comment on them.

I haven't used it enough to really know yet. But, I am amazed at its power. The last gig I played was an outside gig, and it carried its own without being miked! Amazing! No problems on the gigs or in the studio.

All the years I've been playing(38 years), I've NEVER had to call Fender for anything. I hope it stays that way.

If it were stolen, I'd probably get another one. I've played through Fender amps almost exclusively from day one and this amp does deliver that Fender tube sound 100%. I played these HRD's in stores for over a year before I decided to buy one. I needed to be sure this would be a good replacement if/when I retired my Twin. I think I did allright.

First, I want to thank everyone on here who has ever made a suggestion about a tube or speaker modification for a Fender Hot Rod series amplifier. I have read them all,and they have been tremendously helpful and certainly help fellow musicians trying to spend their hard earned $ wisely in quest of that perfect tone. Those suggestions were very helpful to me.

I already reviewed this amp over a year ago. Just wanted to share some tube and speaker suggestions based on my experience.

This is the main reason I chose to add this review. I have experimented with various different tube options over the last year. I have to admit that the stock tubes really did sound pretty good. However, as a 23 year player, I knew I could get better tones out of this amp with the right NOS tubes.

Several other reviewers have mentioned changing the pre-amp tubes in particular. I tried just about every combination suggested. After much experimenting, I stuck with an NOS JAN GE 12AX7WA in V1, an NOS JAN GE 5751 in V2 and an NOS Mullard 4024 (12AT7 type) in V3 (remember that classic Fenders used 12AT7s in the phase inverter slot). This took my sound through the stock speaker from good to fantastic.

The other excellent suggestion users have made is to run external cabs. I run two 8 ohm cabs in parallel (4 ohm load) with various combinations of speakers: Greenbacks, Eminence Legend V12s, Vintage 30s and others. These definitely tip the scales. With the upgrade in tubes and use of quality speakers, this amp is an absolute 10.

I do not recommend changing out the stock speaker. Leave it in for that just-in-case. Use external cabs out of both speaker output jacks. That way, you do not limit yourself to having your good speaker available only to one amp.

As modified and using external speaker cabs, this amp is nothing short of fantastic.

I've got two of these which I have used for over a year. I have not had a single problem with either amp.

I am fortunate. I can afford any piece of musical equipment I could want. That said, the Hot Rod Deluxe continues to win me over on tone. With minor investment, it gives me the classic, beautiful Fender tones that many of us are constantly after. There's no purpose in spending the equivalent of a monthly mortgage payment or more to buy some boutique amp. Yes, I know this is not point to point and super high quality anything, but it makes good tone affordable to the non-millionaire musician for a reasonable price. For the money, you just can't beat it.

amp was made in 2002. has three channels (clean,drive,more drive), two inputs, volume, master, gain and presence controls, along with reverb and EQ. also has footswitch and effects loop. this amp is a straight forward blues/rock monster with enough power for any reasonable gig.

i play a standard strat with texas special pickups through an ibanez turbo tube screamer and cry baby wah, although since ive had this amp, the tube screamer serves mainly as extra volume control. this amp is phenomenal for blues and rock. i play mostly blues and its gritty, all tube tone and can really leave an impression. the amp provides clean tones at even high volumes and the drive channels deliver a wide range of overdrives, although it is an overdrive and does not provide a metal type distortion, which sucks anyway. this amp is pure tone!!

bulletproof

never had to contact

right now this is the amp i can see myself playing years down the road. its veratile, mobile and has power to spare. there is nothing bad about this amp, and i chose it because it is simply the best amp for the money around.perfect!!

Made In 2000
All tube preamp (3 fender 12AX7A tubes)
All tube power amp (2 GT 6L6 tubes)
3 Channels Clean, Drive, More Drive
Channel switching via included footswitch
Effects Loop
Spring Reverb
40 watts
Paid 300 used
VERY LOUD

I use a epiphone Les Paul, Fender standrat strat. Suits my style perfectly (rock, Punk rock). My setup is a doss DS-1 to SD-1 to Electro Harmonix Small Clone Korg Tuner to amp. This set up rocks with all equilization at 3 presence at 8 reverb at two this sounds rocks i rarely use the footswitch. This amp does everything. so much variety blues to high gain in a second

I haven't had it for 4 days yet so i don't know about the reliabilty but i know fender makes good stuff

Haven't dealt with them, my warranty is gone anyway being the second owner. but i've also heard fender doesn't have verry good support, but don't take my word for it.

Been playing three years now. I have a les paul, strat, line 6 112, several boss peadals, small clone, I love the sound its tubes what do u expect? If stolen, i'd buy it again considering i had the money

Tube preamp/poweramp. Solid state rectifier and spring reverb driver. 2 Channel with gain boost selector. 3 band eq and presence.

I play a 62 reissue strat all stock. This is a sweet sounding amp. Cleans are crystal clear with alot of warmth. OD channel is nice and crunchy with a great bluesy rasp. Certainly not the cheesy marshall chug. Stock I found the clean to be a touch piercing on the top end however.... I put an EH12AT7 in V3 and that completely went and was a great improvement more clean headroom at the preamp stage... I also replaced the sovteks in V1/2 also with EH12AX7s which smoothed out the OD channel incredibly. My biggest problem is when playing at high volumes in a gig situation the amp breaks up too early ( not amps fault maybe I need a deville???) I replaced the power tubes also trying Ruby 6l6str, EH 6l6GC and finally Svetlana 6l6gc... The latter i think have the best tone and clean headroom which helps my problem alot..... Only difficulty I had is cos the svetlana's are from the US the is not enough range on the internal bias pot to get the bias down to 65... lowest I can go is 78, which sounds sweet with great harmonic headroom but the tubes will have a shorter life.
No biggy though.
Another issue I had was that when driven hard the stock eminence speaker farted a bit so I now have installed a Celestion V30. Improves the OD still further but I dont like its effect on the clean channel... seams to put a low mid peak in and becomes a less... err...dynamic sound. Although I have more headroom now with nicer speaker breakup I still feel I have compramised the clean tone too much.... Soooo Im gonna order a Weber c12ca california to try.... I love trying different components out.

I use a GE7 7 band eq before the preamp which boosts a touch and with a slight mid boost gives a nice silghtly harder OD. Also I have a digitech rp14d and a Morley vol pedal in the loop. Digitech is used subtley but is especailly nice for is tube compressor... mmmm
The vol pedal is worth its wieght as well as allowing nice tone at home volumes for practicing. Oh Yeah I play in a Functions band and do a wide range of stuff from Quicksteps to queen, blues to robbie williams, singing in the rain to Floyd. Basically pop/rock/blues/soul from the 50s to present.

No problems at all... Had it about a year.

Not used.

What an amp this is.... No complaints really at all accept the speaker breakup being wierd at gig volumes.... mind you our band is loud. With work, patience and some insight many different tones can be achieved. I gig 1 to 2 times per week all year round pretty much and I have had this baby for a couple months and am still trying different things out. I may end up trading for a deville for the extra power stage headroom. We will see how the weber cali does first. Regards

It's about 2 years new, and if you?re here, you know the specs ? mine is pretty stock, purchased it used, except for a custom made second 12? cabinet that the user made with original Fender parts. Looks like the tubes are GT. I?ve been hooked on Fender since I got my first Champ Amp when I was 12, along with a Zim Gar guitar back in 1967. I went on to a Vibrolux Reverb and for the last 15 years of so have used a non-tube Yamaha 212 for about 600 gigs without a flaw ? So this Hot Rod Deluxe was a treat and thanks to all who on Harmony Central that came before me to help make this the right decision.

I use a USA stock strat and play funk, jazz and blues. The sound of it? - it?s magic and hard to describe the thickness of a tube amp. Set the reverb at 3 and the clean channel drips but with clarity. Yeah, it is loud, so it?s not a bedroom practice amp, but it makes me play longer ? Without a doubt, the second speaker adds dimention but for most gigs, just the 12? unit will be fine. Still can?t comment on the second channel or should you stay on clean and just get a tube screamer. I need to read all these posts again and see some setting suggestions. I can say this for blues, jazz, funk or rock, this amp will meet your needs. Said already, but metal heads should look elsewhere.

Too early to tell, could have sworn it switched channels on me on it's own. Will have to gig it out and time will tell. I would always take extra tubes and such but you should probably have a back up anyway.

Again, I've never called Leo Fender but never had a problem with prior amps.

Been playing long time (I should be much better :) The big joke is I have been using a Roland VG-8 synth (My american Strat does have a factory installed Roland pickup), but even with a VG-8, I set the thing to a Strat setting which essentially bypasses the Strat. But now, I'm reborn as an anti-synth guy and there is nothing like the real deal. However, if you need sounds from the VG-8 (or VG-88), it sounds great running in this amp - you just have to watch the synth tube amp (amp simulation) setting since you are double dipping in tube world.

New Made in 2001. The amp seems verstiale enough for me. The features are the listed in other posts. It would be nice to have a power switch from 40-15watts or so. I bought it as a practice amp not realising how loud it was.

I play a godin LG with seymour duncan p-90 pups. I play hard rock mostly but I like to have a large assorments of sounds at my disposal. So far I've got some really nice tones out of it.The clean channel is very full and ballsy, the distortion channel sounds like a stereo in an old ford tempo cranked at full(meaning bad). It's not very noisy if you back away from it a little. I've tried it with a boss mt-2 metal zone and the amp can really sound heavy if its tweaked properly, however if you don't have a good distortion pedal don't look at this amp for any distortion needs. I am for sure going to do some mods on it, hopefully being able to recover the od channel. The mods I plan on doing are(in order of importance):
1.build the volume box for it
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/newland/2081/id3.htm
2.Change the V3 12ax7 pre-amp tube to a 12avt7 to smooth out the od channel.
3.Change the remaing 12ax7s and also the power amp tubes eventually to better quality ones
4.Change the speaker to a v30 or similar, I would only recommend this after breaking in the orginal speaker with at least 15-20 hours of good volume playing and still not liking the sound.
I'll give it an 8 for sound quality and I will hopefully change that when the mods are finished.

I haven't had a problem yet. But i have only had it for 4 days. So no comment.

Not yet....

If it was stolen I would probably buy another one or at least a very similar amp. I trade in a few guitars and a marshal 8080 valvstate for it. I was looking for a good tube amp for practicing in my bedroom. I also played thru a vintage 74' fender twin and was comparing them. Maybe it was that particular amp but the clean on the fender twin was crap compared to the deluxe. It was so lifeless I don't know why anyone likes those amps.

You know by now. The only difference is that I picked up the brown "super" limited edition which has a Jensen speaker. I wanted a very simple but great sounding tube amp that wasn't going to burn a hole in my pocket book. This is definately it!

I use a G&L Legacy with the stock pickups. I play blues and contemporary christian. I mic it with a Shure SM58 into a PA. The clean sound is great! Distortion is pretty good, but not as crisp as Marshall. However, it suits my needs perfectly. The amp is a little on the noisy side, but doesn't bother me too much. I think mine plays best at about 7-8 on volume. But honestly, I've only gone there a few times. This is a very loud amp!

So far so good. I've only had it a month and no problems.

Well, the first one I bought came in a box that was not packaged properly. (No styrofoam inserts). Consequently, the chassis was cracked. So I had to special order a new one from dealer. This one came in packed upside down. Foot pedal was lodged up in the head section but fortunately didn't cause any damage. So, I can't say that Fender's quality control is really that great.

If this were stolen, I would replace it but only with another one of these editions. I think the Jensen speaker makes a difference. I love the looks of it the most. The chicken head nobs are in my opinion very cool. I do wish it had seperate tone controls for each channel, but if that feature raised the price any, I could do without it. For the price, I am very satisfied.

I recently replaced the stock GT 12ax7's with GE 5751's. Now it has more clean headroom and the drive and more drive channel are smooth as a baby's butt. It is a totally different amp and it sounds awesome. If you are considering this amp and like the clean but think the drive is just too gritty than just do what I did. You can buy 5751's on ebay all day very cheap. Great fender tone at a way reduced cost. I also plan on replacing the speaker with a vintage 30. I have heard this will improve the tone even more.

Basic features and such should be well known at this point, see other reviews for specifics. The back plate on mine says 1996, don't know if that means that was the year it was made or the year the model was introduced. I bought it about 5 years ago in 1998. I play a mix of blues, rock, jazz and modern alt-rock, but no matter what I play, my sound is built around a good Fender clean tone. This amp delivers that in spades. I pretty much don't use the drive channel/more drive boost at all at this point. It's just too harsh and biting (a TubeScreamber and/or Boss SD-1 on the clean channel gives a better overdrive sound IMO). Like many others, I wish the volume control wasn't so touchy (the difference between too quiet and too loud can often seem like a milimeter of pot travel) and I wish I could turn up the clean channel for some natural overdrive without the cops coming. I may do the popular volume box mod. to help address this. I play at home for my own enjoyment and therapy and drag my gear over to a friend's house maybe twice a year to fart around and jam. It's plenty powerful and loud for almost anything I would ever need to do with it. It's a very complete amp, probably one of the best modern, commodity interpretations of what a guitar amp should be. I wish the drive channel had more character and sweetness/creaminess to it though. My rating reflects a scale of 1 being a crappy solid state practice amp and 10 being a '96 Matchless Chieftain. If the clean channel weren't so good, I'd give it a 5-6.

I play two strats ('89 EC Strat with gold Lace Sensors and a '02 Classic 60's MIM with stock pups), an '01 MIM Standard Telecaster and an '86 LP Standard. The clean channel is a perfect blank canvas on which to build a great individual sound. Very Fendery, in the tradition of late tweed and "black face" amps. Lots of warmth, good bottom end with an emphasis on the mid-range and clean, chimey sparkling highs (feels like it was made to play Strats through). It's not a Deluxe Reverb Reissue (let alone an original), but a nice amalgam of different Fender clean sounds with its own distinctive, modern flourish. As you can probably tell, this is why I bought the amp.

Noisewise, it's pretty quiet as amps go (not significantly louder or quieter than the 70's MusicMan 210RD it replaced). It is sensitive to noise in the signal chain though, so you might want a noise gate, esp. if you're using single coil pups. It's so fricking loud though that you also might want a little compression to smooth out the dynamics. It's very touch sensitive though, which is nice. The clean channel does distort in a nice characteristically Fender way (think Bassman, BFDR), yielding warm, creamy overdrive with nice sustain, but, again, you have to get the volume up to around 6-7 for this to start happening and at that volume you're already setting off car alarms in the next block. I've been told to investigate a power soak or the volume box to get this type of sound at living room/practice volumes. My current solution is to dial in the "black panel" model on a Line 6 POD with some distortion and put this in front of the HRD. This works well, the amp seems like a good match with the POD (although I prefer the raw HRD clean sound to the POD's Bassman, Line 6 Twang or Black Panel clean models). Brutal strikes me as a good description of the drive and more drive channel's distortion. When I do play through the drive channel (and that is rarely), I never go more than 4 or so on the drive and usually goose it with a TubeScreamer to tame the harshness and add some compression (but I generally use the POD alone or the POD and an SD-1 through the clean channel when I want good distortion).

I don't "gig" often, but when I do, I'm glad I'm not lugging around a Twin or other heavy amp. For as loud as it is, the HRD is very portable and reasonably rugged (chrome corner protectors would have been nice). The only performance problems I've had with it were when plugging into a 60's Bassman 2x12 cabinet were the sound would stop after awhile (my fault for not matching impedences correctly). Doesn't seem any the worse for wear beacuse of this. I've never replaced the tubes, but they are due for a change (I've just ordered a macthed pair of Svetlana 6L6s and some EH 12AX7s from tubestore.com, we'll see how the replacement and re-biasing goes).

I don't know any of this stuff. I've never had a problem with the amp though. I'm the first owner, bought it new at a local shop.

I've been playing for 16 years. I often use a Line 6 POD in front of the HRD. Only other effects are the two dist. pedals and a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah.

The HRD has its strengths and weaknesses like any piece of gear but it is a great match with a Strat, which is mainly what I play on, and gets a _great_ (very useful) Fender clean tone at any reasonable volume. I feel like it doesn't represent a tremendous value, since I don't find the drive/more drive channels very useful and hence kind of feel like I've paid for features that I don't use or don't like (my fault for not demoing it for longer when I bought it, but I also feel like the built-in distortion on Fender amps always sucks and that the best way to get a dirty sound out of a Fender amp is to turn it up until you are overdriving the power tubes and then overdrive the input gain stage with your guitar + a favorite pedal or two).

One thing that really drives me crazy on this amp is the tweed style layout, where the amp electronics are mounted vertically with the chicken head knobs pointing up out of the back of the amp. This means that if you are sitting in front of the amp at speaker level, and you've got it on an angled amp stand or tilted back, you can't adjust the sound without getting up and peering over the back of the amp (usually while wearing your guitar and banging the headstock into the wall, the amp, your face, etc.). This is a real pain in the ass and makes all the blood rush into my face. Would have much preferred a 60s-style setup with the amp horizontal and the knobs accessible on the front face.

I A/B'd this amp against a DeVille, Blues Junior and Pro Junior when I bought the amp (basically the whole HOT, or now American Tube I guess, line of amps). Since they're more similar in price than I realized when I bought this amp, I could see replacing it with a Deluxe Reverb Reissue (since I'm all about the clean sound) if the HRD were lost or stolen.

Brand new FHRD. Three channels, reverb, blah, blah,blah. You've read it before. Comes with a cover, and footswitch for channel switching, which is nice. Has a Presence control which doesn't seems to do much.
You can also run a power amp in to the speaker, or hook up an 8 ohm external speaker. very nice options to have. Tube pre amp and power amp. Solid state rectifier (transfers AC into DC, or the other way around).

Classic Fender sound. Reverb is not the best, but its not bad either.The clean channel sounds great, powerful,lots of controlled volume, yet stays clean. THIS IS A VERY LOUD AMP!!! I don't know how they do it with just one 12" speaker. I jammed the other night with this, and it held up perfectly well with the other guitarist Twin Reverb!
The Drive channel is good, the More Drive channel is a a bit noisy. Sounds are useful, though.
Sounds very good with both single coils, and with humbuckers. Quieter with the HB's.

Seem dependable.its a Fender, the rep is good. I have an original 1965 Deluxe Reverb (which sounds amazing,but I'm getting a bit paranoid taking a $2000 amp out to gig, which is why I bought this amp)which has worked very very well for me since a bought it used in 1966 (for $140!!).
Its only a week old. Time will tell, but at least Fender has enough confidence in its products to warranty this amp for five years. Way to go, Fender.

Never dealt with them. Bought this from Sam Ash in Carle Place, from John L. , who was a pleasure to deal with.

Been playing for 38 years. Back with a band after a long time just down my basement. Feels great.
I have a Tele, a PRS CE, Danelectro 12 string, Guild D-50, Gibson 125-TC, a Larravee bass.
I use a POD 2.0 with the HRD, and it sounds great.
I'd buy a new one in a minute.

By now, you know. I haven't modified mine in the slightest.

I use several different guitars, all of them inexpensive foreigners. I prefer humbucking pickups but I occasionally use a strat-copy and coil tapping on my Dean Tonic S. I really love the sound of this amp! It is creamy on all channels but with enough brightness to cut on leads. Even the lackluster humbuckers in my LTD can sparkle in the right setting. The reverb is very Fender, though not as rich as a full tube unit would be. The Groove Tubes have a modern-trying-to-be-vintage sound that I can really use. Maybe I'll switch to SovTeks when they wear out. The drive channel wails the blues convincingly and the more-drive channel crunches tight and hard for punk. Even old-school metal sounds solid, though not perfect. The clean channel is quiet for a mid-level tube amp, and is very nice. It's only usable up to about 6, and I've rarely had it there before I just mike it. The sweet spot manifests itself around 3 which I use live, but my bandmates won;t let me turn it above 1 1/2 when we rehearse... it's stupid loud! It can compete with a half stack, though it doesn't move as much air. It's rather mono-directional. Still, for this price? Unbeatable!

I gig quite regularly and rehearse when the band has the opportunity. This amp is all I need! I have had it for 3 years and the tubes still glow with authority and the speaker is tight and snappy.

The warranty is a five-year limited. I've never had to deal with the company, but I am fortunate enough to have a Fender-authorized tech close by my base of operations, so most likely I'll just go straight through him.

I have been playing for 7 years, I now play for a living. This amp has become an important part of my (and my bands') sound and I would replace it in a heartbeat. I own an early 90's Crate GX-15 for practice and a 1974 MusicMan 4x10. The sound is lovely for any music that I play, and unlike some other tube amps, it won't muddy up with effects. I considered getting a slightly more powerful (and more expensive) DeVille, but I thought the Deluxe would mic-up better and be PLENTY loud enough for bar and club gigs. The only improvements I can think of would be tube reverb and a more intuitive volume control on the clean channel. i.e. more usable lower-volume settings. Or maybe a wattage reduction switch... like down to 15? Just a thought. This amp is worth the money! And if you play punk, or blues, or heavier-ska... you don't nead a half-stack! Hooray!

I (lucky me) found one of the Brown Tolex ones with the Wheat Grille(white chicken head knobs), and it comes with the vintage Jensen Speaker. Only 250 made, in 2001, oh yeah. It sounds like a dream, if you get a chance to find one of these (250 made, just a reminder) dont hesitate. Buy it!

The Features have been pretty well spelled out besides the ones I have stated for mine, but I'd like to clear up what seems to be somewhat of a misconception. The Amp is indeed very versatile, and as I have heard in the past, it serves as somewhat of a piece of clay, mold it to whatever makes you feel good. Of course it's no death metal amp, but if you are even going to play that stuff, dont buy this amp. It is not for that stuff, but if you have a desire to play heavy stuff, like Hendrix, you can do it. A perfect place to start and take your music where ever it want to go.

And yes, thre previous reviews are right; it's loud, loud as all hell.

When I decided to buy this amp, I was at first considering the black tolex one, but that Jensen speaker makes the difference between night and day. I mean it, seriously. Without a doubt, if I had not seen the brown one I found, I would have bought the regular one, but Jensen speaker does make a difference.
I play through a Fender American Telecaster, with upgraded pickups(a stacked single coil pickup in the bridge, a really hot neck pickup to balance it nicely). I play the blues, some oldschool classic rock and this amp delivers a tone that is so warm that words cant describe. I really cant describe exactly what I mean in words, it's all about what you feel. Just try one out in the store, and dont waste your time reading this. It delivers.

Have no Idea. I've heard good things though. I won't give an opinion, because I dont have one.

Fender Service sucks ass. It really does. I had one fun in with them ,it was not good. But hey, You really shouldnt have any problems with the amp. Solid, gig worthy.

I'm going to keep it plain and simple here. If you are looking for a tube amp that does not cost an arm and a leg, buy this amp. Nothing in this price range can compare with the Fender Clean, and the sweet distortion, even though its not that heavy. I tried Marshall, Traynor, Mesa Boogie(too much $), the works.

This one caught my heart. It is perfect. Simply perfect.

If it were stolen, I would not bother trying to find another one(Because I couldnt find another one like mine). I would hunt down the theif, and if even a scratch were added, I would beat the thief senseless.

Ohh, if anyone else actually has one of the Brown Tolex ones with the Wheat Grille and Jensen speaker, E-MAIL ME! I really want to hear how much you love it, and how it go to bed with you every night, just like mine guitar/amp does.

40W two channel amp with boost function on the "drive" channel. Chickenhead knobs that go to 12 instead of 10. Shared EQ and serial FX loop are downsides but we can't have it all, can we?
Made in 98 or 99, I bought it new in the summer of 99 and use it as my main combo for practice and gigs. Still came with Sovtek tubes and that's a big advantage over those GT they put in today. Overall features are limited, but the price is too and the amp offers an enormous bang for the buck.

I play Blues and Rock and came down all the way from a 100W halfstack. I simply was tired of hauling that huge gear around and never crank it up. The Hot Rod is VERY LOUD, offers a very Fenderish clean up to setting 6 then the tone gets some hair around and a warm, wooly crunch that can drift into classic distorsion. The overall sound is bassy and punchy, so it sounds a lot like a Fender Bassman or a Marshall JTM 45 through a 1*12; I'd say from Country to AC/DC everything is possible. No Hi-Gain, Nu-Metal or the likes, but tons of SRV, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Gallagher.

I gig without backup amp, but I carry tubes, fuses and a "Jewel" with me. The bottles have three years, like the rest of the amp and one starts to rattle, so the end is near. Three years ain't bad and replacement tubes are always handy. I went for Sovtek again, don't want to change the character or tone or the amp.

5 Years warranty, never had any trouble.....

I play for 30 years now, own two other amps and 8 guitars. This is the second time I rate this amp, and I am astonished that none of the initial fanatism has worn off. If there is one downside to this amp, it's the fact that it is still very, very loud. You need to play a big gig to be able to crank the volume to half! If it was stolen, I would buy it again without hesitation. It is a perfect overall amp, fits every music style and sounds just the way I want it. I don't know if I would rate another amp any higher.... I mean a 10 should be reserved for the likes of a Vibro King or a Dumble, but those are more monodimendional...... This amp still deserves the 10, even after 3 years.

This is an addendum to my previous review. For a mid-priced amp, i think it has an abundance of features that work WELL.

Here is the ADDENDUM part:

After objectively playing this amp and my other amps side-by-side (my other amps are a Mesa MK I re-issue and a Marshall DSL50) my opinion was that this overdrive channel was too flaky-crunchy and weird-midrange-y, so i started tweaking on ALL the knobs to see if i could tweak it out.

I figured out something. I dont like where ANY of the tone controls were centered EXCEPT the PRESENCE control.

See, its real simple-
i want a 4X12 stack sound from my combo. And the best sound- to my ear- was with ALL THE TONE CONTROLS ON 2 ! and then adjust the PRESENCE to fit the room.

Also, the REVERB adds a weird tonality (above 2) that i dont care for.

DUDEs! with the tone controls set on 2 and the DRIVE on 10, this sucker SCREAMS, like my Marshall DSL50 through my greenback-loaded 4X12!!!!

Now, this may not be your idea of tone, but give it a whirl and see what you think.

P.S (i have changed the speaker to the Mesa/Boogie Black Shadow for a little more tightness, and put in quality SVETLANA and SOVTEK tubes)

This amp has been VERY reliable, and ive played MANY gigs with it- but i take care of my stuff...

I always use quality SVETLANA and SOVTEK tubes, and a good Boogie speaker.

(Although i must admit that ALL of my amps sound the best through my Marshall Vintage30 2X12 cabinet)

N/A

i would rate this amp-overall- a 9 -because it wont do EVERYTHING, but it does a lot and it does a lot WELL...

the effects loop is great.

the channel-switching works great.

the clean sound is nice, and (now that ive twiddled with the knobs)the O/D sound is great too.

it doesnt give the same sound as my 100w Boogie, but i never expected it too.

tube amp. Three channels, one-clean, two-crunch, three-distortion. Reverb. Presence. All I need.

I use a standard strat through a digitech effects processer to the amp. It sounds good with effects, and the guitar fits the amp perfectly. I'm not a fan of the distortion chanels. They're very noisy and are really crunchy, but the clean channel is probably the best i've ever played through.

I've heard about slight problems, but it's very reliable as far as i know.

I only deal through the guitar dealership.

It's the only amp i'd buy for what i need it for. It's extremely loud, and i only set the volume at 3 1/2 during gigs. It has a great clean sound, but the distorted channels aren't very good at all. I was comparing this to the Marshall avt50 when i bought it, and i was sold on the fenders clean sound. The tubes start to kick in with a little bit of crunch when i set the volume pretty high, and produces a perfect sound. I'm 14 and i think i have an amp that i will own and use for the rest of my guitar carrer.

you know by now

i got this thing because of the great sound ive been hearing about in reviews. and to be perfectly honest, i wasnt that impressed. im not going to be an ass and give it a 1. that would be stupid. this amp does have a decent sound, but to my ears, it just came out quite harsh. the clean breaks up at around 6 and then u get a good sound but till then a very high pitched treble infested sound. the drive is total crap, it may be better than some cheap solid state amps but you cant get a good sound. it only sounds good at around 8 and if u turn it up past 8 then ull more than likely blow the tubes. im not going to be gay ill give the amp a 4. thats being generous

here is the only place i can trust, fender amps are great, this amp is very sturdy and would last a while, but i dont like it because of the tone, it is a tube amp so there will be some tube replacing

well its fender great service

well its probably a good amp, but just not made for me, personally i prefer the sound of solid state, and maybe taths because i play alternative rock, but theres an amp for everbody and this is somebodys amp but it just isnt mine.

this amps features are ok if you have a good pedal to work with. i really hate that their aren't separate tones for the separate channels, but ill live. and yes, people are right when they say that the reverb is very nice. as for anything more, its completely barebones. but that can be nice if you use it to your advantage. it makes for a ball of highquality clay that can be shaped into something fantastic.

ok, i have a frankenstein that i put together in highschool. it's basically a doublecutaway les paul styled guitar. its been years so i forget what exact pups i have in there, tho i know they are gibson and i know they ran about $240, they sound really niiiice. anyway, this amp sounds sweet with the volume gased up thru the clean channel, and thru the drive but i only use the drive channel when i do some sort of deep jazz solo-ing with nearly no treble on my guitar, it gives it that nice thickness. the trick is, but i guess this is depending on the guitar, to not gas the volume off the guitar. i leave mine around 8, otherwise the clean gets a little on the dirtyside and cracks around and stuff, just nasty. i play in two bands, one punk rock and one slow jazz. two ends of the spectrum and i use this amp for both of them. it gives me the deep tones of a strong jazz lead, and the chunking palm-mutes of a fast punk song. for small venues its good enough. you can always mic it thru a PA, but it will get over the drums and into the crowd all on its own, thats fer sure. oh and i give it an 8 because im just over critical and nothing ever gets a 10 unless its godly.

this amp has never given me any trouble. tho i've only had it a short while, it has always worked properly. but 6 because i've only had it a short while and its not been tested but about 20 or so times.

5 yr factory. tho i think it will prolly live long without it. the manual it came with was pretty crappy.

for the starving guitarist, this amp is the best under $600. i would recommend it to anyone in any band just because it has such a good clean and you can do just about anything with it. but if you wanna be really freaking loud, you might wanna go with something a little bigger.

a all tube vanilla 40 watt amp, with a surprisingly good sound.
Use for Bebop(jazz), blues and rock. The effect loop works fine.
The power is ok for the small gigs I do, if necessary can mike the amp to a PA. The only thing I would add/change is to add seperate tone and reverb controls for each channel. The reverb is killer.

Strat with lace sensor pickups. The clean sound is great, if marshall could do this I buy there amps as there over drive is better. The 2 over drive channels are much better than old fenders I've had in the past. The speaker they have coulped with this works great. Plenty of volume.

Amp is only 3 months old, no problems so far.

5 year factory warranty

I've been playing 30+ years. Also use a Mesa Boogie Mark II, luv it but it weights to much. I would replace it. I do not use a backup amp, but this amp has only seen a few gigs. The boogie has not let me down in 24 years, hope this amp is as reliable. the only thing I wish this amp had is seperate town and reverb controls for each channel.

This amp only has fairly basic features, two channel [seperate volumes, but only one low-high-mid pots for both channels], two distortions, reverb, presence, external speaker jack, 40 watt all tube power, effects loop, two inputs [one normal, the other for guitars with active pups]. Its all pretty basic, but thats all Im looking for. There should independent eq controls for each channel, but it still works fine.

I mainly play two completely different guitars through this amp, a Gibson SG Standard and Fender MIM tele. Both guitars play and react very differently through this little guy, so I'm gonna break it down for each guitar.

Gibson SG: This setup can do no wrong, I have it so I get some thick mid sounds. The clean is just amazing, but thats true for all fender tube amps. The distortion was a little icky at first, but after some tinkering I've been able to prodeuce some real thick and smooth sounds. In a band situation this setup will be really complementary to the overall groove and sound of the band.

Fender Tele: The cleans are simular to the SG, but brighter and with more 'cut' to it, unfortunately it lacks the Sg's body and sustain. My Tele is still a little new to me and I haven't found a good distortion sound with it. The distortion has a harshness that really contradicts the tele's natural sound and I don't like it, I'll have to invest in a good overdrive pedal. In a band sitaution, this setup's brightness and twang is gonna make you stand out alot more than the SG. Which can be good or bad depending on whats good for the song.

I almost gave this a seven, because of the weakness of the teles distortion. But the cleans and the SG's distortion was enough to compensate and bring i up to an 8.

I've owned and abused this amp for the past 6 months and this what I've figured out: I've moved this amp around alot between gigs and rehearsels and the amp cover really preserves the tolex finish during transportation. But the tubes seem like they're starting to head south, convienently after the warrantys expired. My cousin has also informed me that the quality control of foreign Fender products is on the decline. Even though I'm pretty sure this amp is american made, Im still gonna bump off one. I'm also gonna take off another point because its a circuit board and not point to point wiring [circuit boards can crack and break].

the place I bought it from is an authorized dealer, and the amps got a 5 year warranty.

This amp is hard rock and blues, lots of mids and a really solid sound. I really like that I have an amp that'll get as loud as I'll ever need, is affordable, great souding, but with back friendly weight of 45 pounds. It has its flaws, but it compensates in other areas. Its a great amp, and I'd buy another if I had to.

I play clean jazz, dirty blues, and basic rock and roll. I bought the Hot Rod on recommendation from people I respect at our local music shop. They said it had "the sound". However, the unit I recieved seemed harsh and I could never really dial it in. After reading through many of the threads here I noticed many people felt the same and were changing tubes speakers etc. so I decided I would go with one of the more popular recommendations of Electro-Harmonix pre-amp and Svetlana power tubes. During the process I decided to learn how to bias it myself. I went to the Fender support site and got the schematics which contained all the biasing information. Just for science, I decided to check the bias of the stock tubes (Groove Tubes (which are Sovtek)). Low and behold, there was not enough adjustment in the bias pot to bring the tubes into specification, which is 60mV at the bias measurement point). I could only get down to 64. This however, was much better than the initial 75 reading I got from the stock factory set-up. Even though I couldn't get to 60, the amp instantly sounded much better. I had already ordered my tubes, so I was worried if they would work, and sure enough I popped them in and lowest measurment I could get was 78, and wow was the amp harsh! I used The Tubestore and they very kindly exchanged the tubes for a different matched pair (the pair match number they sent is 20 as opposed to 29 for the first set). They had also heard of this problem before with this amp. The bias adjustment went smoothly and now the amp does have "the sound". My guess, is that most of the adverse reviews here are related to Fender delivering amps with tubes that cannot be biased properly and not setting the bias properly to begin with.

I've been playing casually for 15 years, serious for 2. My electric guitars are an American Tele upgraded with Texas Special pickups and a 4 position switch and a Hammer Archtop with P90 pickups. Both sound very sweet through this amp. I play with no effects and clean much of the time, however I use tremelos, compression, various distortion, and other effects pedals with the amp as well.

currently stock setup

Un-freaking-believable...

This amp had me at "hello"

I have farted around with substandard amps for FAR too long. Marshall, Crate.... forget about em. This thing will set off the harmonics in your soul. This amp completes me.

Havent put it through its paces yet.

I have owned countless Fender guitars and have had no reason for support.... Im hoping the same holds true for their amps.

11 years of playing.
I began playing AIC, Pearl Jam, Nirvana... matured a little and got into rush and some Led Zeppelin. Now I play in a jam band (phish, moe, sci, GD, etc) where I place a lot of emphasis on sound quality and accuracy in my leads. Most importantly, I am not limited to any one style in my gigs. If I feel like playing ZZTop or the Beatles, I do it and this amp says go for it.

If this thing were ever stolen, I wouldn't buy another one...
...I would track down those bastards and take it back!

as a side note, if you are ever in the N. Alabama area shoot me an email. We are always looking to jam w/ new folks

FENDER HOT ROD DELUXE IN TWEED. 2 channels, More Gain, b/m/t, presence , & reverb. Also, "effects loop", and 8 ohm speaker ext. jack. Loud 40w 1x12 combo. Built in TREM would be nice, but I'm not complaining. This amp is very loud. On the fenderforum site there are insructions for a volume box that connects in the FX loop. I have built a couple, and recommend this for anyone with volume issues.

I am using a Les Paul Standard w/Classic 57's, Fender Strat Plus w/Texas Specials, and a Fender Tele w/Delta Tone. For FX, I use a modded TS9DX, VOX wah, Dunlop U-vibe, & Boss Trem. I bought this amp used on ebay knowing that I would have to replace the tubes and the speaker. This was the conclusion I came to after reading the reviews here on Hamony Central. I do not care for the black tolex version, so I waited until I found a Tweed one in mint condition. I was all preparred to hate the sound of this amp. Since I used to own a Blues Deluxe ,I knew the "clean" channel would be great. The HRD really did not sound all that bad, even though I knew I still had work to do. First, I contacted Weber VST about a speaker. I said I was looking for tight/round bass, woolly mids, sweet but not overpowering highs all in good proprtion. Early ZZ Top? Bassman meets Deluxe?. Ted Weber himself answered all my e-mails and recommended the C12NQ. This speaker is an incredible improvement over the C12POS the amp came with. Second, I installed EH 12AX7's and Svetlana 6L6GC. Again, big improvement. The amp still needs to be re-biased. Gain and More Gain are both now very useable. No trouble at all getting early ZZ Top tone along with that great Fender clean. Although I have never owned a "plexi", I can get CLOSE to that sound due to the speaker and tube swap. I recently changed the preamp tubes to 5751 to reduce some of the input gain. This gives added warmth & headroom in the clean channel and also tames the touchy volume controls and the "More Drive" function. This amp now sounds as incredible as it looks. Because this amp is now very responsive and relatively quiet, it made realize that the Texas Specials in my Strat are kind of muddy in the lower mids. I ordered some Fender 57/62's to solve that. One pleasant surprise was how good my Les Paul sounded through this amp. It did not sound very good at all through the Blues Deluxe that I used to own. As I stated, early ZZ Top is no problem. With some knob fiddling, 70's and some early 80's hard rock tones can be had. The reverb is very lush and full, but gets out of hand past "3". All in all I am extremely pleased with how this project turned out. The Weber speaker just keeps getting better as it breaks in. I owe a great deal of thanks to all the reviewers'here at HC for the info that I took into account when purchasing and customizing this amp. Also, many thanks to all the folks at Weber VST and theTUBESTORE.com for the great service,products, and prices. In the future I may install tilt back legs and possibly have the tweed laquered. In conclusion, with the mods made to the amp, I can get a wide variety of great tones(blues, rock, jazz, country). This amps works very well with pedals. Now that I have great sounding gear, I REALLY need to improve my playing haha! I hope this helps anyone who is considering purchasing a HRD. TAKE CARE THANKS STOCK 6 CUSTOMIZED 9 1/2

I would certainly use this amp without backup, as I take VERY good care of my gear. With a tube amp, it is always a good idea to carry fuses and tubes. I have not used this amp live, so I couldn't comment on how durable it is. The input jacks are part plastic and the tube sockets are soldered to the PC board. These are the only items that I see as potential problem in the future.

I have heard and read about the horror stories, but I have never had to deal with them so far. Seems as though just about every music store is a Fender dealer with access to a repair facility.

I have been playing for almost 20 years although it usually doesn't sound like it. I have a second mortgage payment for all the gear I have bought through the years. For a lack of a better statement, I have used almost everthing or so it seems. This is the amp for me as far as tubes go. I also use an AX2 and P.O.D gear for recording. In the last year, I have been fortunate to play through an original'59 Bassman and Dumble OD Special. While these amps are incredible, my customized HOT ROD DELUXE does what I need for A LOT less money.

Anything else I'd like to share? Yes, Boss Metal Zone is the most terrible excuse for tone I have ever heard. Not for Adults.

Mid 90's. 40W Tube. Amp isn't versatile enough for me. I play in a house band so when gigging I play blues, rock, country and metal. Clean channel, Drive and "More Drive" channels. Presence nob is kinda cool, but doesn't compare to the Contour nob on my Marshall S240. Not bad for power.

My guitars: Jap Strat, Squier Jagmaster, Epiphone SG. I like to have an insane, Eruption-type distortion (without the tape echo). This amp (without a good pedal) is only good for blues. When playing at higher volumes the clean channel gets buzzy and the amp has a nasty hiss on the drive channels. Distortion is extremely weak (I have to turn up the drive, volume and presence almost all the way to get a good distortion). If you want to be Stevie Ray, get this amp. If you want any other / additional sounds, avoid it like the plauge.

Amp's never broken down. Had the tubes worked on once, that cleaned up the hiss a little bit.

N/A

Been playing for 4 years. If it was stolen I'd say good riddence to a shitty amp and buy something more versatile. Clean channel is nice at low volumes and the amp is good for blues, otherwise it sucks ass.

I bought my amp new in 2000 so i guess that's when it was built. After many years of putting up with compromise amps, I finally took the plunge and bought this one. It has the tone(s), volume and portability I need as a semi-pro working guitarist. I play straight into the amp - no effects, however, i have used a delay via the effects loop and it works fine. I often use a 2x10 extension cab in bigger venues and this adds more than enough air-pushing power to reach the back of the hall. I've never used it above 4 on the clean channel and 3 on the drive channels - never needed to! I like the simplicity of the amp and the fact that all the tone controls really do work!

I use 2 strats( left handed). One is an American Standard with an ATN Tone Circuit added for extra 'sounds'; the other is a 'bitsa' guitar. It's a 70's Jap squier neck and pickups and the body was hand-made by myself and painted Ford Modena Green. I have to say that the bitsa guitar sounds better than the American Standard - those Jap pickups are sooooooo sweet! My band play mostly covers - however, we adapt all songs to suit our line-up (2 guitars/2 vox/bass/drums/occasional mandolin and acoustic guitar)ranging from Beatles/Crowded House to blues, country, Irish to out and out R @ B (the old style - not this modern warbling stuff!) Clean channel is superb. I can go from a very glassy sound to mellow using only the tone controls on my guitars (all amp tones are usually set to 6/7). The drive channels are great. Generally have the Drive set to 6/7 and volume to suit. Cos I use single coil pickups, it tends to squeal a bit above drive on 7, but as that's all the distortion i like it's not a problem. The reverb is ok - just don't use it beyond 3 or it sounds like playing in a bus station! I have often used it linked with my other amp ( a Laney VC30) and the amount of sounds using BOTH sets of tone controls is out of this world! - you really should try it! Overall, I'm totally pleased with the sound of this amp.

I gig it around 80 - 120 gigs per year. Only problem so far has been that the Bias has 'slipped' i.e. I replaced the power valves recently and rebiased to suit (sovtek 6L6's) and within 8 weeks and 10 gigs, i've had to rebias again. I'm not sure if the valves just needed 'settled' for a while but it was a bit disconcerting. If anyone has had similar problems, please contact me abouth them - we may be able to help each other. Generally no problems though. I don't carry a backup amp (should though, just in case.......) as i feel i can depend on this one.

N/A No probs during Warranty period and I carry out my own repairs - learning all the time about about valves and their peculiarities.

I've been playing for 23 years and have to say this is the best amp i've evr owned. I sometimes do a blues gig for which i mostly use my Laney VC30 (2x10 combo plus 1x12 cab) This has to be the best strat blues sound on the planet! but for sheer versatility the Fender is spot on. Can't think of any hates about the amp, though a valve rectifier and a panel mounted bias control (like the older ones) would be nice - it's a great working amp.

I think mine must have been one of the early Hot Rod models, because it has the (much prettier) Tweed styling ofthe previous Blues De Luxe model, rather than the later, black and silver livery.
This has got to be one of the best-sounding, most versatile amps I've ever owned - and I've owned a few (Fender, Marshall, Trace Elliot, MusicMan etc). If you don't know about the features of this amp, then read the other reivews...

The only things I wish it had are Fender tube tremelo (My little #35 Danelectro Tuna Melt does a good job, but I'd rather have it built in!) - and some decent metal corner protectors on the bottom of the amp to save the Tweed in transit. (I know it doesn't quite fit in with the "vintage" Tweed look, but what the hell!)

I play blues using US '62 reissue Strats (fitted with the incredibly under-rated US Standard Fender pickups that everyone else takes off theirs and throws away!) and Teles (1 beat-up old '52 reissue for slide and an utterly brilliant Tex-Mex Tele with a humbucker at the neck and the best bridge p/up I've ever heard - totally stock!).

This amp does it all! (well, almost!) Clean, crunch and more dirt than a sane (ie: non-metal)guitarist could need. It's full and balanced and unbeleivably loud for a 40w amp!

Beore I got this, I already owned a 40w Blues Deluxe, which I converted to take two 10" blue Jensen speakers - a great combination that I've ended up using as a harmonica amp! I bought the Hot Rod to replace the Blues as my main guitar amp and was planning to do the same thing with the Jensens.

I had been under the impression that the Hot Rod was basically the Blues Deluxe with an extra switchable gain stage. WRONG! The voicing and gain structure of this amp is very different. The Blues Deluxe's clean channell breaks up early (like a Bassman) and the lead channel is a bit feeble and lacking in gain - even flat out!

The Hot Rod's clean channel stays cleaner a lot further round the dial and there's much more gain available on the lead channel - and that's before you kick in the extra gain stage! In fact, the "third channel" has too much gain for my purposes - but sounds pretty good at low volumes for practising metal licks! See what I mean about versatile!

Before this I gigged a Blues De Luxe and a Blues De Ville for several years (hard!) without any reliability problems at all and I've no cause to complain about this one either. The only problem I've had so far was a microphonic preamp tube, which was easily fixed.

No comment

I have been playing for 25-odd years and have owned and/or used all kinds of amps in that time - mainly Fenders, but everything from cheapo tranny jobs to Matchless!

If it was stolen or lost, I'd definitely buy another one - preferably a Tweed one.

I love its compact size, its versatility, the fact that it has enough volume to cover any gig I do within reason; the way it looks; but above all the sound!

Dislikes?
The lack of corner protection; the lack of tremelo; the fact that they've flipped the control panel round so the writing faces forward (it faces backwards,Tweed Bassman-style on the Blues models and makes things a bit confusing when I'm using both amps on stage at the same time!)

If you like Texas-style blues-rock with a funky twist and love great guitar-playing (mostly not mine, unfortunately!) check out our band website: www.rockinarmadillos.com

It's got all the necessary features - no useless extra gimmicks.

I have been looking for a sound that would combine the classic rock sound with modern day low-end and this amp can do the job. Not on it's own though, but I use it with Mesa-Boogie V-twin preamp which brings in the low end power and I have a Yamaha Tone Booster TB-01 which brings out the metallic string-noise into the mix from my precious splitted Seymour Duncan SH-5 pick-up. My guitar of choice is Jackson King V-2. The clean channel is beautiful. I would recommend this amp for anyone who wants to have a huge tube sound with portable gear. My dream amp!

I just recently got it. Looks reliable. :)

No experience

I have played for six years. I love riffs and I wanted a sound that can make single note riffs sound powerful and that's what I finally achieved with my current setup. I'm also using J-Station to record direct and I can get a pretty mean sound out of it when using the Tone Booster. But that's another review. :) Before Hot Rod I used a Peavey Bandit and Marshall Mosfet and they are crap compared to this Fender masterpiece. I tried many tubeamps in stores before this one but there was always something missing.

This is a follow up to my first review. I have since installed NOS tubes including 3 RCA 12AX7s and two Sylvania 6L6s and what a difference it made! Changes it into a totally different amp, and a much better one at that. Also the RCA's have made the amp louder than the stock and total crap Sovteks, and has even made the Second overdrive channel useable! Do yourself a favor if you own one of these, get some NOS tubes for it, or even some good new ones. There are in fact good tubes being made today. The Sovyek LPS 12AX7s and the Electro-Harmonix (made by Sovtek) 12AX7s are awesome and for the 6L6s go for the new Svetlanas. These are all HIGH quality tubes at an unbelieveably affordable price.

Mine is a 2001 model, bought in September 2001. I play blues and blues rock. I don't particularly think Fender is a good choice of brand for blues, but that being said this amp does a good job. I mostly stay on the drive channel with little drive and lots of master volume. For a volume boost or more distortion I use a Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal, which I really like.

For me, this is an amp where you find the tone you want and then tinker as you play. I don't use it to get a vast palette of different tones. The only thing I wish it had was tremolo.

I use a Gibson 61 Reissue SG or a US Fat Tele. The SG does better for the blues stuff and the Tele is good for country. Oddly enough for a Fender, I don't think this amp really nails a good country twang. I definitely wouldn't try to play Beatles music on it either. It's too rich and gritty.

The amp hardly makes a sound as far as hum goes. I notice in rehearsals that it feeds back more than I wish it would, but that could just be the rooms I play in. I notice that the clean channel breaks up early, around 4. I can get a louder clean sound by using the drive channel with very low gain, as I mentioned before. Basically the clean channel is good for low volume playing or if you want natural tube distortion.

I rate it an 8 because I have found a good tone that I like with it, NOT for any dreams of versatility. It would be a 10 if it were an Ampeg.

I bought this rather than a vintage piece because it's modern, uses tubes still in common production and sale, and because there are so many of them that all amp techs will know what to do with it. I do trust Fender's reliability in non-lemon cases, which this amp has proven to be over the last 7 months.

I haven't changed anything... I don't carry spare tubes or a fuse with me, though I know I should. The only issue I've seen is that after about 2 hours of loud playing, the loudness seems to go down and even though the knobs are only on 4 or 5, turning them up doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I don't know if the tubes get too hot and stop performing optimally or what.

I expect good service from Fender. Moreover though, I expect good service from Guitar Center, which is where I bought it. I am a regular customer there and they know me, have been good to me, etc.

I have been playing 6 years. I have a vintage Ampeg Gemini with great tone, a Fender Bullet Reverb (surprisingly good tone for what it is) and a Silvertone 1482 (because I wanted a low-watt tube amp with tremolo). If this one were lost, I would look at others, but honestly I can't see myself making much of a change.

For the price of the amp i have been very satisfied with the features. I bought the amp in 2000 and i have been using it in a high school jazz band as well as minor pro work. The amp has one clean and two drive channels, reverb, effects loop, and four band EQ. I dont really use the reverb very much as it is not a very good reverb sound( usually on one or two). The amp is quite a little monster power wise. Most musicians will not need more power than the 45 watts of this amp.

I am currently using a Hamer Vanguard with P-90s, a korean Hamer with seth lovers in it, and an early 80's jap strat with all seymour duncan jr. humbuckers in it. I play any style of music that i can including jazz, rock, and funk. The amps distortion tone is satisfactory but does get a little muddy for my tastes. The clean is also satisfactory but distorts at about 5 (typical blues amp).

The amp is very well built and is very reliable. I have also used this amp with a backup (1971 100 watt marshall super lead on a 1975 cabinet).

I've never dealt with fender or had any problems out of the amp.

I have been playing for 5 years i own a dean exotica supreme acoustic and the guitars I mentioned above. My amp selection includes a 1971 Marshall head on a '75 Marshall cab and a Sovtek 50 watt tube midget(awesome little amp). My pedal board is too much stuff to mention but it is an SKB to say no more. I would not replace this amp if it were stolen but i would miss it.

Bought new in Jan '02, it's outfitted with Groove Tubes in the front end and power tube positions. Forty watts, two gain channels, shared tone controls, reverb, effects loop. The gain boost of 12.7 db on the "drive" channel is well chosen, the reverb sounds good, the loop is sonically transparent, and the presence control is one of the most useful knobs I've played with. No excess, and mediated by a stylish and uncluttered control panel. Bravo. Points off for the linear volume pots, though.

Let me say that this amplifier (all stock) has a hugely rewarding sound -- and that you need to get the volume/master levels up beyond the 1 to 2 range to start getting the joy. I use a Scholz Power Soak to effect this; I recommend some sort of power attenuator (e.g., Marshall Powerbrake, THD Hot Plate) for any tube amp without exception. With the tubes operating in the "meat" of their power range, the amp gives glossy, purring, blues-friendly sounds in the clean mode; a thick, swampy, non-strident distortion in the drive mode; and a classic early-metal crunch (think the first two Zeppelin and Sabbath albums) in the "more drive" mode. I also auditioned a Mesa-Boogie Maverick, which I passed over: compared to the Hot Rod its distortion has a sizzly, "frying bacon" sound. The Hot Rod will probably not satisfy players who want a lot of crust. My old rig is a Fender '69 silverface Bandmaster head (tube rectified) driving a 4 x 12 slant-front cabinet loaded with Celestion G12-70M's. In comparison, the Hot Rod has a wider range of tones and a slightly more gravelly distortion. It must be said that the Bandmaster I've had for 19 years and is a Tone Monster -- yet the Hot Rod has been happily supplanting it for the two month I've owned it. My guitar of choice is a rock maple Carvin with splittable-coil humbuckers; but my Mexi Strat also sounds dandy through it. The Hot Rod gets 9 only because I've played through a Bassman once that was a 10.

No complaints so far...

I knew I liked it from the first few notes -- A great plug 'n' play quality. And very easy on the eyes!

I bought the amp two years ago, and i'm still satisfied with it.
The clean channel sounds really good and bright with my guitar and also with alot of my friends guitars that i played on it. The drive/more drive channels are built more for jazz than heavier or louder stuff so I suggest getting some good distortion stompbox for this one. the reverb is pretty good and clear , the equalizer on this amp is versatile and good ( if you know how to find a good preset )
the tubes produce a really rich tone and in other words ' this amp rocks!

I use an Ibanez RG-470 with the v-7,s-1,v-8 pickups , and I usually play progressive rock , heavy metal and punk rock. the clean channel is very good for every style ' for distortion i use an ibanez "Smashbox", its louder and more cutting than the amp's built in dist. I usually take it around with me while going to jam with friends and sort , and it sounds great in every enviornment i played it with, the distortion channel itself isnt really noisy , no noise while playing and only abit while not playing.the variety of sounds in this amp is pretty wide, there are alot of options for settings with the equalizer. the clean channel gets distorted around 5-7.
the only feature in this amp that bothers me is the distortion
its pretty weak....

Since i bought this amp i never had a problem with it
I go around with it , travel with it , gig with it , for over 2 years and it still plays like the fresh amp i took out of the box on the day i bought it... since I bought it I didnt change any of the tubes and the tone is still great. this amp is solid and never been damaged no matter where i took it. on gigs i would use it without backup for the simple that it si a veru reliable amp

never dealt with the customer support till now , and i hope ill never will

ive been playing for 4 years already
except the Hot Rod Deluxe i had 2 other amps, 1 marshall and another fender
the hot rod beats them all.....
If my amp would be lsot or stolen first ill hunt down the 1 who stole it :)
if i wont find it ill get another one
it worth's the price.
i love almost everything about the amp except the distortion, as i already said , it needs to be changed and fast!
although this amp is really good i wish it had some other features, like built in chorus or tremolo.
other than that
it kicks f***in ass!

I finally purchased this amp to serve as a portable work horse. I got tired of it fairly guickly. The distortion was very "blatty" to me. Yes, there's a lot of drive, but I'm not crazy about its "character". The Fender treble "vibe" also grated my ears after a while. At loud volumes I found the sound cold and harsh. No springboard feeling or warmth. For the money, I just purchased a Traynor YCV 40. It is the Guitar Players Pick Award and they have picked some definate winners (THD Univalve - which I own, Reverend Hellhound - played one, sounds damn good but not enough gain for me, and Rocktron Replitone- had one, the best modelor out there, but reliability problems). There's just something about Fender's that never really hit it with me. The speaker also needs a tighther bottom end, it was very farty. The stock tubes blow, they're Sovtek WA's which are the bottom of the barrel. Replacing the tubes and speaker helped the amp but then that's not really what I bought the amp for and I can't rate it on those modifications. The rating is the stock amp on its own. Don't get me wrong, I'm very picky on my tone. The only combo amp that I've loved is the Mesa Nomad, but that's over $1,000!!! I want a nice sub $500 portable amp with channel switching. I have a Mesa Triaxxis rig for the big stuff anyway.

Didn't have it long enough.

Well, considering I only kept it a week, I don't think its a great amp. Its good in its price range though. I'll see how it compares to the Traynor YCV 40 I have on order.

You can check them out below.

Beautifull all tube sound. I'm sorry, but nothing will ever take the place of tubes for me. Unfortunatly the overdriven channel just didn't have enough "crunch" for my tastes. Of course it all depends on what style you play, I just thought I'd point that out for anyone who may be looking for something to use with Punk or Metal music. Uh yeah... but the clean channel is definetly sweeter than a Marshall any day.

I liked it a lot! Please note the following though:

1. Don't get it if you have picky neighbors or landlords. This is a
pretty loud amp, not for the casual bedroom strummer.

2. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone playing louder, high gain music
(punk, hardcore, metal, etc). While it does have a rich tone, the
Overdrive is not like a Marshall or a Mesa Boogie.

3. If you do get it, take time to learn about the settings and
experiment with the sound. I know for me anything with more than
five knobs takes a while to get the hang of.

Well with those pointers in mind go out there and try it out for yourself!

Same features as afforementioned examples. Versatile, yes. Crystal cleans to beautiful crunch. Loud as all get out. I was out-blasting my partners TSL602 with it today.

Sounds are amazing. Tone to last for days. You cannot be dissatisfied with the sound from this amp no matter what guitar you use. Clean channel is clear until around 6, then levels off and distorts beautifully on the way to 12. The natural distortion from this amp rules, if your ears can stand the volume. The gain channel is great as well. With the use of the surprisingly sculpting tone controls and the gain conrol you can dial in a wide variety of tones and textures, from 60's growling rhythms to Nirvana inspired grunge.

no problems as of yet and had it for over a year

no experience here and hope I never will

I've been playing for over 15 yrs and own a couple of other tube amps. I've also played through several other top amps thanks to my friends collections and I would pit this amp against any of them. All my friends are jealous of the sounds and volume I can coax from my deluxe. I love to play and collect old amps but I needed a modern amp that I could depend on. I made the right choice.

Has a clean channel, and 2 lead channels, and a decent variety of bass/treble switches. However, the reverb is my biggest complaint with this product. It's useless, and I always leave it turned all the way down. But effects aren't what I bought this amp for.

Anyone who badmouths the sound quality of this amp either has a tin ear or can't work the control knobs. I gig normally with this, playing classic rock and some metal. I don't even mic it, this thing is louder than loud. The sound cuts through anything. I see some reviews stating that only the clean channel is worthwhile, but I disagree. Although the clean sounds are as beautiful as I have ever heard, I play distorted most of the time and the distortion is perfect for heavy blues and classic rock. I have even used the "more drive" channel for Metallica and Judas Priest, although a Boss Metal Zone or similar pedal would definately be preferable for metal. But for classic rock, the sound is fantastic. And did I mention how loud this thing is?

I have owned this for 5 years, gigging regularly. I have left it in my trunk overnight in extremely cold weather, banged it against walls and spilled beer on it. I have not replaced one tube or had any type of repair or modifications done. It still sounds as good as the day I bought it, although I'm sure the tubes are nearing the end. I have used it without a backup, but some people may want to be more cautious.

Have not dealt with Fender, I haven't needed to.

If I ever lost this amp, I would get another one. Simply the best sounding, loudest single speaker amplifier I have ever heard, it is better than a full Marshall stack when playing indoors.

I bought this new in May of 2001. I play everything from blue to hard rock. 2 channels, 40 watts (loud). It gets a seven because the more drive setting sucks.

You can get quite a few sounds out of this amp, especially if you run a couple of pedals through the effects loop. The clean channel is great, the drive channel is ok, as mentioned the more drive is crap. I mainly use it on the clean channel with a tube screamer for light stuff. I also use a Boss metal zone for heavier stuff, and it works good to. I can get quite a few different sounds out of it.

I have never had a problem with reliability. I don't have a backup, so I am hoping it will stay reliable. I do however travel with extra tubes and fuses. It has seen a couple of gigs and handled everything fine. I actually had a sound guy ask me to turn it down once, it was only on 5!

Never had the pleasure?

I have been playing for about 6 years on and off. This is the first guitar amp that I bought and I am very happy with it. I would like to buy a marshall and q 4x12 cab, but I just can't justify it. Maybe if it gets stolen, that would be a good excuse!
One tip. If you do play at low volume most of the time, build the volume box that is talked about on the fender forum. It is only two jacks and a 100k pot in the middle, takes about 10 minutes, and only costs about 8 bucks. I bought all of the parts at radio shack. You can put the amp settings on whatever you want and control the volume with the box you made. It runs in the effects loop.

All the other reviews have itemised the stock features adequately. My score is for the factory stock amp.
It does lack a tremolo and tone controls for the drive channel.
Also, the linear taper pot on the drive channel is not a good design feature.
This is a good, affordable stock amp but can be made much much better with your own tailored modifications. Here we go now.....
V1 & V2 - Mullard CV4004/M8137 (12AX7 type)
V3/PI - Mullard CV4024 (12AT7 type)
V4 & V5 - Svetlana 6L6GC (biased hot @ about 38 each).
Speakers - Weber C12B (Blue Dog) + matching 2x12 extension cabinet wC12S (Silver Bell) & wC12N. Cabinet is on/off footswitchable. (Dimensions, black tolex, silver grille & chrome corners to match.)
FX loop volume box (sweet spot at about 2/3).
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/newland/2081/id3.htm
40W >> 15W pentode/triode power attenuation switch.
Master volume pot - replaced the linear taper with an audio taper, just like the clean channel.
Chrome corners.

My score is for the modified amp.
This thing is called a "HotRod" for very good reason. It needs to have it's throat cleared from time to time. Crank the beast and it will reward you. Set up right and this thing rocks ye and verily.
Bright off, clean vol 7.5, drive 4, treb 9, bass 7.5, mid 9, master vol 11, reverb 2, presence 7.5. Humbuckered guitars.
I use a tubescreamer set to clean boost with all 3 channels. Gain 1.5, tone 40%, vol max. Occasionally a DOD classic fuzz. And I always use the FX loop volbox (sweetspot at approx 2/3).
Changing all the valves, especially a 12AT7 type in V3/PI and the Svetland 6L6GCs did wonders. Even the drive, more-drive channel sounds fantastic with this set up - but with the gain set to no more than 5, or else it just fizzes out.
Try it with a quadbox or external cabinet. Very handsome sound.
Also, the FX loop volume box is pretty indespensable.
VERY rock. Very very rock.

So far so good, thanks to my amp technician John.

N/A

A good factory stock amp that can be made wonderful with a few extra $$, a bit of research (look through months of old posts on www.fenderforum.com and use a good search engine), and a bit of enthusiasm. Do your homework first before settling on new parts.
Most of the criticisms about this amp are solved by swapping the tubes, biasing the 6L6s a bit hotter (minimum 34mA each), and getting a volbox. I reckon the speaker swap is about no.3 or 4 on the list and I wouldn't dream of a Celestion V30. Go the Weber C12B Blue Dog, or a C12N (if you want the V30) or a Weber Californian if you want clean headroom. Or even a Greenback. The V30 is for kiddies.
Finally, don't pussy around with thing turned down low in the bedroom. If that's what you do, get a blues jr or less. Turn this thing up in your band and let the wild cat growl and roar.

Hmm... what a odd mix of reviews. I just played one at the local Guitar Center along with a Marshall el84 40 watt combo. I think this Fender blew it away. The Marshall combos always sound thin and boxy to me. The Fender sounded meaty with that crisp vintage vibe, but maxed out on the more drive setting. I planning to buy one for portability. The clean is incredible for an amp at this price range. I like this amp a lot, and I own some incredible equipment (mesa triaxxis, Mesa 20/20 amp, THD univalve, Weber speakers, etc.). I guess everyone's tastes are different.

2000 or 2001 model. Definately a versitile amp. It has two channels, the second channel having two modes, drive and more drive. All tube, blah blah blah, you know all the features, you want the review ...

I'm using a Standard American Strat, which was recently upgraded with the EMG DG-20 set. I had the amp before that, so I know what it sounds like with stock pups. Frankley, we think of blues/rock with Fender amps, and this one won't dissapoint you, BUT I think this amp can cut just about anything with the right tweaks and a pedal or two. The amp seems pretty quiet on the clean and drive channels, a little noisier on the more drive channe;, but not too bad with the active single coils I have now. It was a bear with the stock Strat pups on the more drive channel, but that was the guitar, not the amp.

OK, here is the real deal on this amp. For whatever reason, Fender decided to put crappy pre amp tubes in this amp. The power amp tubes aren't all that much much better. I guess maybe they thought that anyone worth thier salt would replace the tubes right up front. Yes, the tubes need to be replaced. I re-tubed this sucker for $60 total. Not bad. I used the 12ax7EH's for the pre's and Svetlana power tubes. Then, I rebiased the amp for 68ma. That's it. If you don't know how to bias a tube amp, take it to your tech and have him do it. It should be cheap. If you know electronics, you can find how to do it on the web. The only other mod I may do is to replace the 12ax7 with a 12at7 in the V1 position to get a little more clean headroom. I can get it to about 4-4 1/2 before it starts to push. The clean channel is fantastic. The drive channel delivers a nice crunch and the more drive sings. I've heard complains that people don't like the pre amp buzzy sound. It's very simple. TURN THE DRIVE DIAL DOWN! I find between 2-4 is fine. Then you crank the Master volume and this amp just sings. The speaker? Sounds fine to me. It handles the lows very well, and isn't buzzy at all. Now I have to tell you that before I retubed, the clean was still nice, but drive sounds were a little farty. New tubes and a re-bias(a must!) fixed that well. I love my amp.

I only gave it a 7 as this is mostly unknown. I hope that I don't have to change this. I've had this amp for about 5 months.

Playing 20 years.

If it were stolen someone would be in big trouble, but I would buy one again, and re-tube it before I turned it on.

The amp has great sound as far the clean channel goes, however the amp is loaded in the back of the car getting ready to be taken back for the 3rd time. When striking some of the bass notes there is a glassy (broken light bulb sound) that rings out and it shows up vividly on recording. The 2 devilles (bought at guitar center) prior to the deluxe did the same thing. The amp being brand new and making this sounds concerns me that it may get worse (especially after the 30 day take back at mars)So it's going back. It also pops and crakles alot when first turning it on. I play a mid 80's strat plus deluxe with lace pickup and considered my self a true Fender man and God I've tried to be loyal. I believe I'm going to suck it up and get the 65 deluxe reissue.

Haven't found one that works right yet!!!!!!!!!

Not going to bother with all the negative talk about there support.

I have been playing all my life. Over 30 years.
I'm looking at a differnet model to replace it.

The usual features listed below. Some of the features are a nice addition, some are what you'd expect, and some are totally unnecessary and not worth much at all.

Well, it's a tube amp. Using with a single coil strat the sounds on the clean channel are really nice. A little more dirt than your normal Fender clean, but still the telltale chime and clarity. Tweaking the EQ will give a wide variety of nice clean tones. It will start to break up around 5 or 6 on the volume, and past that it just seems to lack headroom. I use the "drive" channel to fatten up the sound and add a little boost for solos and heavier riffing with a moderate amount of gain. Any more than this and the sound becomes harsh and brittle, very muddy. The "more gain" channel is really quite obnoxious, as far as I'm concerned. No character at all. Way too much gain. I think Fender felt they needed to include this so that the amp could be marketed as "hot rodded". Great idea, poor execution. Who buys a Fender for high gain anyways (other than the late great Pro Sonic)? When I need to push the amp I'll just use an OD pedal in front of it on the clean or drive channel. I've had this amp for over a year, and the stock speaker now has a nice tone to it. You really have to give 'em a chance to break in before passing judgement here.

The reverb is pretty good up until about "3" at which point it becomes a little overwhelming.

All in all, a pretty decent blues amp as long as you stay clean. Use your pedals for anything more than that. Also, for you folks who say that there is a noticeable change in volume when switching between "clean" and "drive", try balancing the volume on the clean side with the "volume" knob and the volume on the "drive" side with the "master" knob.

I'll give this one an "8" just because the clean is pretty decent, but the drive is not that great.

I'm VERY dissappointed in the reliability of this amp! Granted it's all tube and it's mass produced, so you can maybe expect a few flaws. But so far, after only about one month of moderate use one of the preamp tubes started to go bad, giving me the "whistling tea kettle syndrome". OK, tubes aren't the most reliable. so maybe I can accept that. But that doesn't make up for the REALLY AWFUL way that the instrument input jacks are mounted (or should I say NOT mounted) on the panel. For some reason the threads aren't long enough to reach up through the panel, so there's nothing for the retaining nuts to thread on to! They're just loosely sitting inside the amp! Also, the inserts inside the jack just pop right out of their own accord. Very poor design and very poor quality! Oh, the cable for the footswitch is really flimsy. Mine gave out after about 3 months of moderate use. I would really hesitate before depending on this amp as my main amp.

Don't know. Never called Fender. They encourage folks to go through their dealer for support. Five year limited warranty on the amp itself. One year warranty on the speaker (which is voided if you swap speakers).

I think Fender designed and marketed this amp to be an "all things to all people" type of amp. And judging by it's popularity and the number of reviews here, I would say that they have succeeded. Now, having said that I would say that this amp IS NOT for everybody! You want a high gain amp? Look elsewhere. This amp is for people who want a moderately priced Fender tube amp that has some features that you won't find on other amps in this price range. It's big enough and heavy enough and loud enough for the ocassional weekend blues gig. It'll hold it's own in a small venue without miking. And it looks pretty cool in a retro/vintage sort of way with the top mounted chicken head knobs (it'd be even cooler if it came in tweed/oxblood!). It won't do the high gain thing without a lot of help from gizmos in front. It's not a real versatile amp, but for what it does I'd have to say that it's pretty decent. The poor man's alternative to the '59 Bassman RI (up to a point!). If it weren't for the poor design/construction issues I'd give it a higher rating because of it's good clean tones. But if I had to do it all over again I'd probably save my money and get the Reverend Hellhound instead.

I'm not sure what year my amp was made, I think '99, but I bought it used in perfect condition. I've read most of the reviews here and have to agree with those people who dislike the sound of the stock 12" speaker. Ever since they brought this amp out I've wondered what it would be like with 2 tens instead of the 12". Well after using it stock for about 2 years I decided to make the change, 2x10's . After about two weeks of researching on the web for suitable speakers, I finally decided on Jensen C10Q reissue's' 16 ohm versions so in parallel an 8 ohm load.I made a new baffle board out of 3/4" plywood used Fender original grill cloth so it would appear stock. What a difference, better definition,nicer lows,more punch, and smoother overdrive sound. The amp is not quite as loud as before,due to the less efficient speakers, but this little gem has lots of balls to start with. There are perhaps better 10's on the market, depending on your budget but the Jensens are a good deal for the money. They take several hours of playing to break in, they are a very stiff coned speaker. After using this set up on two gigs I am very pleased with the results, not for everyone, but if you've ever wondered about making this change it tuns your amp into a vintage sounding almost Vibolux Reverb type of amp. Not a heavy metal or even hard rock type, perhaps just for us old over 50 guys who don't have anything better to do than modify perfectly good amps that people like Fender spend years developing. THE TENS ARE GONNA STAY THOUGH!
I like this amp and it has all the features I need in an amp, I just use the clean channel. I use a TS9 for overdrive sounds.

The amp sounds great, I actually liked it even before making the mod, but it was a little hard sounding and when overdriven was a little harsh. With the tens I give it an 8. Sound is so objective, I've never bought an amp that I didn't like the sound of. Funny how things change once you've used it for a while. Guitar players are always looking for the perfect amp and manufacturers count on us to keep on lookin'. I think my ASAT Special sound great in this amp, but so does my Epiphone Dot Ltd Edition.

Not one single problem in 2 yrs.

I've been playing 38 yrs. and if the amp were stolen I'd probably pick up a Vibolux Reverb, a Vibroverb or a Traynor Custom Valve 40. The Hot Rod Deluxe is still a damn good amp though.