Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

ok...so you know the features....volume, gain, master 4 band EQ....reverb and effects loop..blah blah...it'd be nice if it had a separate gain for the 'drive' channel...and 'more drive ' channel i give it a 9.

i play a new cali. strat which i replaced the br. pickup with a mini-59. sounds KILLER. i also use a 94 Les Paul STD,a '93 tele, a Guild Starfire 3, and a '67 335. a these gee-tars sound great with this amp....and they all sound like themselves...not a homogenized sound.this amp is very quiet and i play pretty loud alt pop/rock and some fusion(ala Eric Johnson, Al Dimeola, Larry Carlton)stuff. HERE IS HOW TO GET THE KILLER ERIC JOHNSON SOUND OUT OF THIS AMP !!!!! set the drive on 10, tone controls on 3...thats right 3......set the presence on 7...reverb on 2 1/2...run your favorite delay into the effects loop...hook up your strat and VOILA !...tone as smoooooooth as a high school cheerleader's behind. i use this amp ALLL the freakin' time! i push the bright switch in for the clean channel...its brightens it up JUSSSSSSSST right. the clean channel is very smooth when cranked. i play bigger clubs around nashville here with it. All my gee-tar buddies brag on it when they come and here me wailing on it.
TRICK NUMBER 2 !!!
if you wanna make it sound 10% better , swap your stock speaker for a 'vintage 30', and put in the matched groove tubes....it makes a difference.

very reliable...dudes. fenders RARELY break.

i dunno...never needed it..dudes

XXX cellent....i wish i had another. for the REALLY big outdoor places...id run the two together. right now, i run it with my Blues Junior for a little more power.....

I bought this amplifier early in 1998 from The Guitar Shop in Ipswich and I am very happy with it. It is a very versatile amp for the type of music I play which is mostly Rock and Blues with a bit of jazz occasionally. It is a 40 watt 1x12 combo which uses all valve circuitry for the pre and power amp, but solid state circuitry for the reverb and effects loop.I can dial in a great clean tone, Bass-man style, a Rhythm crunch and a Lead tone, and foot-switch between it. It is not a three channel amp, as it sounds but really a one channel amp with foot-switchable gain settings. The only thing which is limiting is the fact that the 4-band EQ is shared over all 3 channels, as is the reverb (not foot-switchable). Another downside is the fact that there is only one gain control for the rhythm (Yellow) and lead (Red) channels, meaning you either have a low gain crunch and lead, or a high gain cruch and lead. I which it had seperate gain controls for all three channels. It has a primitive effects loop, which sends a different amount of signal out depending on volume settings on the amp, but I have found a way of overcoming this problem: Set the master levels high on the amp high and use the output level on my studio type multi-FX processor as a master level. This seems to work very well and also gives me a master volume over all 3 channels. It has no headphone jack, which I don't think I would use anyway. At the moment I am trying to get a new band together and so this amp hasn't been gigged yet, only used at home in our studio. It has plenty of power (remember valve watts are greater than their S.S. counterparts)for studio and club venues. If it had a better FX loop and seperate gain controls, it would get a 10.

I Use a Fender Stratocaster Deluxe with single coil Lace Sensors and a Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro (Check out the review) with humbuckers and coil tapping, and suffice to say it sounds superb with every setting! It suits my style (Rock, Blues)perfectly, creating knockout clean, crunch and lead tones. I nearly bought a Boogie instead, but the only Boogie for this price would be a Subway Rocket, annd this is far better than that! Others say their Hot-Rods are noisy, but I have had no such problem with mine. The clean channel is the best of any amp I have ever heard, the rhythm channel is great, and the lead channel is not of this earth! It's great, far better than the Boogie and far better than the Fender Roc-Pro 1000 which I nearly bought. When cranked, the clean channel dirties up, creating great SRV and Hendrix tones. With Humbuckers, it is more distorted than with single coils obviously.

I wouldn't know because it has never been gigged, but I would do so without a backup, for sure. A few months some plastic melted over one of the Power tubes, but that hasen't seemed to have affected it.

I have never had to have contact Fender, so I wouldn't know!

I have been playing for 2 years now and this is the first pro amp I have ever owned and I love it! If it was stolen, I might buy the same, but I would probably buy something different, just for variety. Actually, I probably wouldn't buy another one at all because I couldn't. I'm Broke! I compared it to a Boogie Subway Rocket and a Boogie DC-2, but the S.R. was inferior and the DC-2 was too much. Sold!

Don't believe everything you read (like the review below this one.) The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a GREAT amp. All-tube, two input jacks (for different pickups, different frequencies, or just to plug in two guitars) three sound settings (Clean, Drive, More Drive), 3-band EQ's, reverb, headphone jack, external speaker jack, (there's more dials; I just listed the ones that make this amp stand out) and an FX loop (though I recommend playing your effects through the input jacks.)

This amp can take ANY guitar and make it sound great, even those really cheap ones. I play an ultra-crappy Charvel CX 290 (made in Korea, sometime in the '80s, I think), and this amp makes it sound terrific. In fact, a Squier guitar I tested in the store sounded better on this than on a Marshall JCM 800 or Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier. This was made for all types of music: alternative, hard rock, blues, metal, ska and punk (yecch!), jazz, classical, you name it. This amp is not very noisy at all, and you won't have any ringing form cranking up the reverb.
'Clean' has a nice, bluesey/light rock sound (though if you frig around with the settings, you can make it sound 'Unplugged'); 'Drive' adds some nice distortion that's perfect for rhythm or soft leads, and 'More Drive' takes your sound and kicks it to the next level, with sounds that go from alternative to metal to just about anything that's live & loud (think AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Metallica, etc.)

Yep, it's built to last. Includes and cover, so you can take it with you and not have to worry about it getting wrecked by liquids. You could probably thrash around with this amp, though I've never tried it, but it sure seems sturdy enough.
The guy who's review is below me says that you can't get a good, clean sound at a high volume on stage like you would in the store. Obviously, he hasn't been experimenting enough: just play with the EQ's on the amp; try hitting the Normal/Bright switch; try using your middle or neck pickups (and play with your guitar's tone pots); and, of course, play around guitar/amp volume controls at home or a practice session (you can make several different tones this way, so don't experiment when you should be playing) and you'll have that good, clean 'store quality' tone you've been looking for without having the amp distort or give feedback.

Hmmm, no. My last amp was also a Fender product (a Bullet Reverb) and I had to get it checked because I got a terrible ringing when I cranked up the reverb. Customer service was great, gave me names of a bunch of great dealers/repair guys in my area, suggested some ettings, the whole nine yards. Fender didn't get to be a leading musical instrument manufacturer by sitting ontheir butts, you know.

Obviously, I love this amp. Don't get me wrong, though, YOU may not like it. Test it, read product reviews, think before you purchase it, etc. But if you would like the middle point between a VOX and a Marshalll JCM-whatever, definetley check this sucker out. I've been playing for 4 years, have tested LOTS of amps, and I can honestly say that this is one of the best (I don't believe there is one supreme guitar amp; I've got other favorites). I dont like the fact that it's heavy, but that might be due to my own lack of stength. The distortion in 'More Drive' could have been dirtier, but I can always buy a 'Metal' pedal; it is great as it is, anyways.
If it were stolen (not likely - I wouldn't let my Hot Rod Deluxe out of my sight without chaining it to something)? Yeah, I'd buy another one, but I might go with the DeVille (same model, 2 or 4 speakers), just to see what multiple speakers sound like. This amp fits all playing styles and all types of music, and it works great after you've found your sound(s).
Fell free to drop me a line if you'd like answers as to how to setop your effects of which jack to plug into. I don't work for Fender (I work at Buffalo Jeans - a clothing store), but with a product like this, I'd sure like to be associated with them.

You've read'em, you know'em. For a tubeamp in this price range, there are more than enough features for blues, rock, or country. This is an amp that is geared towards those styles in that the inherent chatacter of the amp's tone is what you're buying it for, as opposed to a bunch of bells and whistles. Probably more than what most people would need. One wierd thing: a bright switch AND a presence control?

I've owned/used this particular amp three different times, and never kept it. Try following me on this one. You go into the music store and plug into the clean channel. Sounds nice and lush, right? Two things to think about, 1) You're in a music store, not on a stage or bandstand, and there is no bass or drums playing along in the same relative space. 2) You're in a music store, which means you're probably not quite as cranked as you're expecting to be, nor are you digging into your strings as much as when you're gigging. This is what happens when you take this amp out for a gig or jam. You find yourself constantly cranking the volume to hear yourself, and that rich, luschious clean tone you were getting in the store is gone. The reason why the clean seems to sound so nice when the amp is played alone is because Fender has smothered the Hot Rod amps' signals with bass, therefore your ears think that the tone is full and rich. But put this amp on the stage, and the drums and bass guitar's frequencies cancel out the amp's bass, and what you're left with is a tone that's brittle, non-apparent, and harsh. Also, the louder you turn the amp up, the less sustain your notes actually have. It feels as if your sound is just hitting a brick wall and dying. The moral? Don't be fooled on the store room floor! The Hot Rod series of guitar amps are horrible for the simple reason that they sound horrible. Go ahead and compare them side-by-side to, for example, the Peavey Classic 30's or older Fender Blackface amps, then try'em on stage with the band. For the features, these amps are priced nicely, but crappy tone is a rip-off at any price!

Never kept one long enough to find out.

Same as above.

I honestly don't know what people are seeing (hearing) in these amps. It' sreally too bad, because for all accounts, these should be great amplifiers, but they're not. I've spent countless hours trying to squeeze these amps for all they're worth, but they ain't worth much. Any serious guitarists out there who really have an ear for their tone, STAY AWAY from these amps. I'm leaving my e-mail so that many of you readers or owners can tell me to go F myself, but I'd also like to hear why some of youlike this amp, aside from the categories and limited space provided here.

Realy it's only good for bluse, and jazz. It has two channels with a common EQ. There is a distortion boost , but you realy end up just leaving it on all the time. There is also an FX loop, and an external speaker jack. It could use seprit EQ's beacuse by the time you get a good lead tone the clean channel sounds like crap. I never use the FX loop beacuse there is no way to adjust the volume. The one I have had Sovtec tubes in it right from the store wich surprised me.

I have used it with a Gibson SG, and a Martian Strat knockoff. First off let me say that like most tube amps you really have to crank this thing to about three before you really get a good tone out of it. If you mainly play small clubs stay away from this amp unless you have a good distortion pedal, and some other FX. It's as noisy as any other all tube amp I've heard what more can i say. THE CLEAN CHANNEL: To me the clean channel sounds beast with single coils. You can get a convincing hendrix sound out of it. It isn't as clean as the solid state model unfortunetly. It's got sort of a dark sound, but not muddy. THE OVERDRIVE CHANNEL: Like I said before the overdrive dosn't start to sound good untill the master is cranked to about three. Below three you can get a good lead tone, and the rythems ok but not great. Over all the sound is nice, but I wish it had more distortion.There is a mod you can do to get more distortion, it's explained on Duncans amp pages. There is a link to the site if you go to guitar reasources on this site and then to other topics and faq's.

I've only had it for a few months, but I've heard some bad things about the twin reissues like the pc board that the pots are conected to is damiged easily ,I hope this isn't the case with this amp.

I've never dealt with Fender.

I've been playing for about four years. If it where stolen or lost I would buy something a little more versitale and that has a little more gain. It's a good amp,but if you're looking for the all in one amp, this is not it. This amp is strictly a bluse and jazz amp.

The features for this amp have been listed many times before, but let's recap: 1x12, 40-watt, all-tube, 3 band EQ, 2 channels (clean and dirty w/ a "more drive" boost); 2 inputs an ext. speaker output, and an FX loop. It has reverb, presence and a master-volume for the overdrive channel. It also has a bright switch. Speaking of switches, it has a footswitch that allows you to switch between clean, dirty and the more-drive boost. It even comes with a slip cover. It's black with a vintage silver grill, and has a chrome panel and chicken-head knobs on the top. Weighs about 45 to 50 lbs. The speaker is a Fender-Eminence and my amp -- about a year old -- has 6L6 power tubes (2).
Basically, very modern compared to a Princeton or Bassman, but not as many features as a Boogie. I will point out, however, even though I said all-tube, the reverb on this amp is solid-state. (See Sound Section below.)
Most people who have posted criticize this amp for not having a seperate EQ for the dirty channel. The absence of this feature doesn't bother me in the least because I never, ever use the second channel. (Again, see sound.)
If I wished for anything to be different on this amp, I'd only wish that Fender would make a "head only" version of this w/ multiple impedance settings. Other than that, maybe a "tremelo" feature -- but really, how often are you going to use that anyway, unless you're covering Tommy James' "Crimson & Clover."

As stated numerous times before, this amp sounds awesome clean. For the price, no other amp comes close to its clean sounds -- believe me, I checked. I demoed it side-by-side against a Mesa DC-3, a Mesa Subway Rocket, a Fender Blues Deluxe, a Marshall JCM-30 as well as some sort of Laney, one of Marshall's Valvestate combos and a weird Seymour-Duncan amp from the 80s. It just blew them all out of the water. To get any better clean tones, you'd have to step up to a Mesa Trem-o-verb or a Soldano or a Victoria -- all of which are about a grand more.
Now, the drive channel is another story. I personally find the drive channel weak, tone-sucking and generally feeble. Ditto for the more drive channel, which is a little bit more "blurred," as someone said earlier. Perhaps blues players can use it -- although I'd recommend backing off the gain, maybe just have it set at about 10 o'clock -- I hate its sound, and therefore do not use it. This might strike you as odd when I tell you a play a 77 Gibson SG in a indie-metal-fusion band. But I have a solution that works quite well: Stomp-boxes. Yes, I'm one of those sissies that believes FX pedals are much better than the amp's natural overdriven tone. I definitely believe that in this case. I use a combination of a Dunlop Crybaby to a ProCo Rat to a Metal Zone to a MXR Time Delay to a Boss Compression pedal to the Hot Rod Deluxe. DO NOT RUN THIS THROUGH THE FX LOOP!!! It sounds muy shitty! So why is the FX loop a big feature, you ask? For recording purposes. You can use it to line out to a recording device and get some usable sounds. (I still prefer to mic it, though.)
Other criticisms of this amp involve its reverb, which I've found, if working properly, sounds fine at about 8 o'clock. Surf bands will prefer the Fender Twin or the likes, but everyone else should be able to use this reverb just fine. Unfortunately, mine doesn't work right, and is the cause of my amp being in the shop. It is solid state, and periodically goes out and then back in. So even though I've found the sound to be cool, it is not working on my amp. (Perhaps I got a lemon.)
I'm going to rate this amp a "9" based on its pristine clean sound. Because I never use the amp's other channel, I won't let it affect my rating. But if I took the drive channel into consideration, I'd have to drop the amp's sound down to a "6." What if 6 turned out to be 9? I wouldn't mine. (A little pun/joke there for all of you Jimi-worshippers. :-)

Everything seems cool and well-constructed except the reverb. (Again, could only be my amp.) It's made in Fender's custom shop w/ point-to-point wiring, etc. Too bad they messed mine up.
Back-up schmack-up. I gig with 2 amps anyway. If you need to back shit up, bring extra batteries (for stomp boxes) and some tubes. Otherwise, you should be fine w/ this amp by itself.

Do I dare go to Fender with my problems and become more humiliated than I already am? No! Instead, I let my competent local guitar tech service the amp when needed.

Overall, a great amp in its own right. For small clubs, it works perfectly if you mic it. One of the best features of this amp is that it sounds good at low volumes, whereas a Marshall has to be dimed to produce good tones. Again, I'd recommend a good blend of outboard FX if you ever want distortion -- the amp's set-up won't cut it unless you're playing old-school blues. Modern blues players will fare better with a Tube-screamer or a Boss Blues Driver. Shredders can get could sounds out of this amp with a Metal Zone, but if all you do is shred, I'd suggest going with a Crate Stealth or something. Me, I have to go from clean to dirty, so I need the versatility that this amp provides. In gig situations, I use it either paired up with my Marshall MK II halfstack (the Fender for clean, the Marhsall for non-clean), but I can use it by itself if I'm feeling lazy or on smaller stages or in smaller clubs. I also occasionally put my vintage Vox 2x12 (w/ Greenbacks!) underneath it, and would recommend an ext. cab for more bottom -- especially if you're the only guitarist. The Mesa recto cab works as well.
One final thought, this Web site "rawks" for those of use thinking of buying some gear. I've found it the single most helpful thing in making gear-related decisions. But one request to all would-be submitters, please be honest. It seems like every piece of gear reviewed is just simply the best thing ever created. Although this may be true in some situations, I think people may be just saying that beause they're embarrassed about picking out something that didn't quite work out for them. Remember, people use this site to get the "scoop" on stuff before shelling out mucho bucks. They'd rather be warned that the amp they're thinking about buying is a piece of shi before they sell off their car. Also, be honest about the price you paid for it. I use that bit of info to figure out how much the shit is going to -- or should -- cost me.
Finally, thanks for reading my rantings. I hope I helped at least a bit. You can e-mail me if you have any specific questions.

The amp has the features that you'd probably look for at a glance--good eq section, nice arrangement and positioning of the cool looking chicken head knobs, and it's nice to have presence control. The bright switch doesn't seem to do a whole lot, and there is only one set of eq settings for clean and dirty. But it comes with a cool footswitch and has enough setting controls to get a nice sound.

As nearly everyone has said, the sound on this amp is phenomenal. The clean, in my opinion, is the best, and the dirty is great if you beef it up just a little bit with a chorus or a good overdrive (I plan to get the TS-9/808). The more drive setting is too much but if you want to go crazy for a little bit, it sounds cool with a wah and some crazy riffs... Kind of blurred is a good way to describe it. If you keep the gain less than 7 though, the drive to more drive transition is actually ok. I use a Les Paul in the middle position, with a Danelectro Cool Cat chorus, a Budda wah, and an overdrive. I am happy. I would add the optional 12" speaker though for a bigger sound if I gigged. The reverb, at about 2-4 is very nice. Cool and echoey at higher settings but overall you need to keep it down.

Seems solid. I sit on it. Friends sit on it. Has a cover so it will stay protected. 5 year warranty. Just don't drop it and watch the tubes. Get the Sovtek/Fender tubes from what I've heard--Groove Tubes get too hot in this guy. It's a tube amp so I guess you just have to take care of it.

Fender apparently is slow to respond and not all that supportive, but maybe there's a reason (Maytag thing) that they can get away with this and still have so much demand for their stuff.

I would reccomend this amp if you can't afford a VOX AC30, a Matchless, or a Budda... It is the best blues amp by >far< in this price range. It will put a smile on your face and get some good compliments; trust me, people now think that I'm better than I am! Be prepared to use a couple pedals, but if you like that cool Fender sound and want a piece of history (this amp will become a collector's item, I can feel it), get this thing. It's not the end of the world if you don't totally love it at this price. I think I'm going to put the Celestion Vintage 30 in instead of the stock speaker because I heard it will beef it up a lot... Hey, if you're reading all of this and you're thinking this hard about getting it, let me tell you this: get it. You will be happy.

Others have covered the features nicely

I have a PRS and an American made Strat with a Joe Barden pick-up at the bridge. I play mostly original music that is kind of spacy 70's art rock influenced (check out http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/6153/ for sample wav files). I have been playing my PRS through a Mesa Caliber .50 for quite a while. I got the Strat/Hot Rod rig for some blues and retro surf stuff I have had an ear for lately (I like the Strat, but the PRS is still my #1). What I like about the Fender is its presence and sheer ability to fill a room with sound. By comparison, the Mesa sounds very dark. I like the Hot Rod distortion. Its not the tight crunch the Mesa makes, but I find it very usable. With the drive set around 4, the PRS with both pick-ups on sounds SWEET!. Smooth overdrive, big sustain, none of the buzzy distortion artifacts. Punch in more drive and you are just over the edge. Of course the Strat/Hot Rod combo is pure classic Fender sound. Accept no substitute!

So far so good

Hopefully they stay like the Maytag repairmen!

It is a great amp, especially for the money. Personally I like the distortion, and I find the levels between distortion and more distortion to be fine (others have complained, I'll admit, separate eq and level control for all three "channels" would be the ultimate), the effects loop matches nicely with my effects (I use little more than delay). I rated it a 9 because I dont rate anything a 10, it also reflects how the amp met my personal expectations as a compliment to my Mesa. It is not an all things to all guitar players amplifier (which is why, at least for the present I plan to keep the Mesa too). The amp is plenty loud and as I had eluded earlier, PRESENCE!

This is a very versitile amp in my opinion. It has 3 channels: clean, gain 1, and more gain. It comes with a sturdy 2 button footswitch for easy channel switching. It has an effects loop which I haven't tried yet. Has controls for presence, reverb(which is great), and drive along with the bass, mid, treble, and volume. It is a 40 watt amp with one 12" inch speaker, and is plenty loud for gigging.

I use my amp with a cheaper model Strat which buzzes like crazy, which makes the distortion sound bad, but with a Les Paul it sounds great. I play a lot of Blues and Classic Rock, the clean channel is the best in the world for blues and the 2 gain channels provide a wide variety of Classic Rock sounds. Good for SRV, and clean songs like Little Wing will bring tears to your eyes. Not the best amp for metal, but the More Gain channel provides more distortion than most Fenders.

I assume it will hold up well, but tubes are tubes so you gotta be careful.

I haven't had to deal with Fender yet, but some people have had problems with them. However the store I bought it from is a great place, and I suspect I'll never have any trouble with them.

This is a great amp for my purposes, it is quiet enough to not wake up the neighbors, but loud enough to be heard in the largest of places. In fact I used it in a 1,000 seat auditorium and had the amp set on 3 out of 12 and they told me it was too loud. I would definitely buy this amp again, Fender really hit the mark with this one.

2 inputs, master volume clean channel, bright swich for clean, pre- and power- amp volumes for drive channels, a gain boost/channel for 'more drive', 3 band shared EQ, reverb, prescence, on/off standby/on swiches, effects loop (preamp out power amp in), speaker out, bascially semi-closed back, footswich for channels and boost swich. If you take the features as there features alone, how this amp is looking on paper, its quite featureful, but the shared EQ kills it, so i give it a nine. others may say lower seeing a muhc larger need for separate EQ, and give it lower. But as with alomsty any amp, a good outboard, effects loop EQ can do some wonders for this amp, so i give it a 9.

I used this amp with my Epiphone and Gibson SG's, so this is primarily a humbucker review. I personally play all kinds of music. Im really into Santana, but i love hardcore too. Jimi is also a favorite, yet so are Jars of clay. basivally I play with th diversity of a band like the smashing pumpkins, ranging from mellow acoustic or clean styles, to all out nasty metal. But i must say i tend to be more in the Santana-Jimi area, not the _Ultra_ high gain side. I fully agree with other reviews, this amp, has a really really great clean sound. It just sounds great. Even in my extremely small bedroom at medium and lower volumes on the clean channel, this amp still sounds great. If you like a more reverb-y clean though, anything over a 3, 3 and 1/2 with the reverb (all knobs go to 12) gets very boingy and metallic. Some can tollerate it or not hear it maybe, but this wasn't for me. I like everything with reverb, even heavy stuff (think Tool for heavy rock with reverb), and this was fine, but i mainly would use a delay set up as close to a good reverb as posible....which doesnt neessiarily sound good with the clean. The distortion, starting at drive, CAN be nice. If your more into lower gain stuff, this amp can be fine, especially with a good EQ. But kick in the 'more drive' and the subtle sound you noticed in drive; no bottom end, shirll high end, and 'honky' (its really the only way i can describe it personally) midrange just get worse, but with more susatain and compression. The great thing about this amp, that really is good about the distortion is it remains dynamic for the most part throughout its gain range. To get a susatained distortion you pick the note, but if you pcik it more softly the note is less gainy and a bit less sutained, but closer in sound to clean with sustain. but I struggled and fought with the distortion on this amp. After strugling daily, buying EQ pedals and all, some things helped, but nothing worked to get this to sound satisfyable for more than a short period of time. I loathed plugging in and sometimes the amp just kept me away from my guitar. If your a mostly-clean kind of person, this amp is AMAZINGLY good sounding for its price. id even recomend using it in a multi amp set us as a source of clean (I think it could get some positive reactions in a club to all but the vintage fender snobs). But if you like distortion, sustained lead, anything medium or close to high gain, dont buy this amp. Or be prepared ot battle with it. The 7 reflects my needs in an amp, not nessiarily yours.

I had this amp for mpore than a year, and treated it fairly well, only took out out about 10 times or so. it sseems dependable, but tubes are tubes abd can blow at any molment. Might as well bring a back up, or at least spare tubes. Other than that i really cant say. No gigs, just bringing it a few times to another house and back.

No repair or servicing or contacting fender was needed, actually i never even changed tubes. Waranty, if I remeber was 5 years, but I dont know the conditions. Basically i have no idea (:

I would buy this amp for its clean channel in a multi amp set up, definately. but i dont think that will really happen. I pivjed up a nice multi channel amp that sounds great all the way around, and its new, but ive played the bandit transtube for a while, and i purchased the peavey special transtube 212. Great amp, responds alot like tubes (quite dynamic to pick attack for amount of gain on maxed out settings, and very dynamic on lower gain), and sounds _better_ than the Hot Rod, a REAL tube amp, many many times over (you know...In My Humble Opinion). This was my first real amp, other than my original cheap, horrid sounding solid state practice amp. Really like the clean, really cant deal with the distortion. Reverb could be better i gues....could have independent EQ. But all that could be instantly forgiven and looked over if they could improve the distortion. For the clean channel alone, even low gain on the drive channel, under $500 for this amp is amazingly awsome. Its a great deal, great sound. But you cant _really_ expect to get something totaly, fully, versitile with the best sounds all around with a low price.....unless something is sacraficed. I think my new Peavey can be the closest and defy this..but ill give it a few more months to decide that. Bottom line, this amp was not for me, But this is, and for many can be, a great amp.

All the specs for the amp have been previously listed. It had everything I wanted in a Fender amp.

I use this amp with my Fender Mexican Telecaster. The clean channel is very bright and sounds amazing. The overdrive channel gives a good dirty sound, and I don't understand why so many posts complain about it. The amp is noise free, just a little hum while it's idleing, but I had an Ultimate Chorus before this and that hummed like crazy. No worries about this aspect though. It's only noticable in a COMPLETELY silent room. I don't think it's overpowering for a bedroom amp, it sounds really good at low levels. The reverb is just fine. Don't listen to the other posts. It's super quiet even on 12. I love this amp and I hope to own it forever for just practicing quietly and loudly at home.

Fender has a 5 year warrently and I don't expect to have any problems.

I love all aspects of the amp, I probably won't use the extra drive switch too much, and it is a little hard to get the volume levels of the two channels to match up when switching, but those are my only two MINOR gripes. Go buy it!

This section has been more than covered by previous posts

I use this amp with stratocasters an american standard and a road house(texas specials) I use a TS-9 (808 mod) for overdrive. I have been quite happy with this amp. as every other post has said the clean channel is God like..perfect. Yet most people have an issue with the drive/moredrive channel. I would agree that getting a smooth good sounding OD WAS dificult...unitil... I replaced the Eminence/Fender stock with a Celestion Vintage 30. IF YOU OWN THIS AMP YOU MUST DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not believe the difference this has made. The Drive/More Drive is now thick rich fat and full! I have owned many different amps in the 20 years I have been playing. I have never been this satisfied with my tone.

Fender has developed a winner! Back up???? I think I will get another Just in case fender feels the itch to modify later models. I don't know what I would do without it.

I have been through just about every type of gear out there. 2101 stereo rack systems, marshall heads, matchless combo. This thing is incredible for the money. There are quite a few "high end" amp companies that should feel ashamed of themselves after listening to this inexpensive combo.

I use this amp for rock, hard rock, blues, rhythm and lead and fingerpicking. If I played more country or jazz, it would serve just as well. The clean channel is everything I wanted.. I can get a smooth acoustic type sound, and a strong clean electric rhythm, as well as lead sounds. I like the overdrive channel a lot. It's not a metal sound.. it's great for blues rock... light to aggressive. You can switch from clean to drive to more drive at the footswitch. The more drive is ok, but it's set too loud... a control for the more drive master volume would be perfect. If you had control over the more drive master volume you could switch from clean to more drive or from drive to more drive with the amount of boost you want.. not some absurd huge leap which is what it has. It has an effects loop, but I never use it. I wish the reverb had a better master control. It's ok reverb, but there's nothing over three except big sproingy stuff. It does have a bit of high end on it, too, but that doesn't bother me much. I play this in the house... big room... often have the stereo cranked loud.. I rarely get over three on the clean channel, and not that loud on the drive vol. I have cranked it right up and it just gets better. Fuller, richer, the clean channel starts to sparkle, the drive starts to really exhibit tube touch characteristics in spades. Neat! This amp has enough power for any stage application save arenas or the like.... and it has enough outfront volume for any small to medium lounge or honky tonks gigs. I'd take this on the road anytime. I could see a country player being real happy with this amp. As much as a blues or rock guy. And it has a nice bottom end... so I think a jazz player could find some nice tones in here without any problem. But if I had to call it something, I'd call it a blues amp... I've had mine about three months.... I went over it with a close eye to detail.. I couldn't even find a screw head not straight, or a loose tolex piece, or a rough edge etc. Excellent craftsmanship throughout. I'm really happy with the amp. It's light. It's loud. It's tube. It's fender. I love the controls... they are mostly for stage use.. it's pretty hard to get it down to apt. volume.. but it can be done.

I'm using an epiphone sheraton II with twin humbucks exclusively. I'd love to add a tele! This is a quiet amp unless you're really asking a lot of it... and I don't think it's any noisier than most tube amps would be on twelve. I can overdrive the clean ch.with the neck humbuck pretty easily... back off a bit on the guitar vol. and it pretties right up. I love the tonal range on this thing... I see some others have said the differences between the clean and drive tones is problematical .. but I don't have any complaints. I expected a nice clean fender sound, and a good drive sound with nice reverb. The clean was as good as I could have asked for, the drive was way better than I hoped, and the reverb is useable--better than OK, if not great. The more drive is really nasty when cranked..... gravelly, not sandy, and sustains like crazy.. but it's also kinda noisy... noise gate the more drive and you've got something you can use. I like it, but I'd love it with a master vol. I can get smooth santana type sounds.. early clapton... chime right in with george and john... all within the limits of humbucks, of course, it's pretty as hell fingerpicked... I jam with a lot of classic blues stuff, and classic rock stuff, and country rock stuff, and I like to fingerpick accompaniement and solo stuff.. this amp handles all this stuff. It's a stuff master.

No problems in three months of daily use. Quite a few hours cranked really loud... 5 to 7 vol. control. I probably have averaged three hours a day since I got it. Nothing strange has happened at all. I hear these amps run through tubes... I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Sorry.. can't help here..5 year warranty on all but the tubes. I can't see anyone ever using the warranty on this. I'm going to give it an 8 rating... based on how impressed I am with how solid and well done it is.

I've been playing since 1965. I've owned scads of gear. If this amp were stolen or lost.. I would either get the Hot Rod Deville 4 X 10 model.. or this one. I would be tempted to go Carvin, by the way... if the circumstances were right.. they have some great tube amps there in their tween series. more tubes. much better reverb.. and price competitive, too. I love the look of the thing... the rear control panel, the chrome, the chicken heads... but mostly I love the sound, the way it operates comes in second, even with it's failings, because the tone controls have a wide range, the drive is better than I expected. I hate not having a vol. control on the more drive. I dislike the reverb circuit. I shopped mail order....(musicians friend) I was prepared to go with a Roland Blues Cube, but I decided to try less power, fewer speakers and TUBES and I'm glad I did. If Fender redid just the reverb circuit... they'd sell more of these. If they put in a second master vol. for the more drive... they'd have damn near a perfect amp. I don't think an amp should be expected to go from great clean country or jazz to rock hard rock and metal.. while still being able to play some mellow blues, or some bright R&B..just like I don't expect a jeep to ride great on the highway or rip at the drags... I don't expect a cadillac to corner like a vette. But I think this one comes close... it's a lot of damn amp in a small package.. someone else said it sounded like a little twin.. I think that's a good description. I plan on building a matching cabinet for one more twelve..and I think I'm going to go with a fender speaker, too. If fender had a nice matching one twelve cab for this, I bet they'd sell them right away. read all the reviews on this here you can... I read them before I bought and they were -averaged out- right on the money. I'm mostly adding this just to give fender a congrats.. I think it's a fine amp.

No need to repeat

This is the best clean channel I have ever heard. That is exactly why I purchased the amp. I use a Digitech GSP2101 Studio Tube preamp/processor, so an amazing clean channel is all I want. It is so sweet, quiet and LOUD it is unbelievable for the price. I will not go into detail about the drive and more drive settings(I don't care because my processor does a superb job), because they both suck and I will never use them. They sound like your amp is inside cardboard box. Pity the footswitch is included in the price; I'll never use it. I'm giving this category a 10 for the clean channel and 0 for the drive channels;they are unusable for rock, blues, metal, or anything else.

Just got the amp, so I can't comment.

Never dealt with them. Hope I never will.

IMHO, If you want a small mid-priced tube amp that wont break your back or your wallet, run to your local store and buy this amp. If your worrying about the dirty channel, don't. Buy a good quality distortion pedal or processor with the sound YOU LIKE, run it through the clean channel, and, you will hear the best bottomy sound you could imagine in such a small amp. My processor, running through imput 1 on the clean channnel produces the sweetest distortion I have ever heard. I also own a Marshall JCM 900 100 watt combo, and the distortion on this will not touch the GSP2101+deluxe setup. I used to be a Marshall man. I still like Marshall distortion, but the clean channel on my Marshall sucks. The 40watt Fender also sounds LOUDER than the 100watt Marshall! My personal opinion on getting great tone: always make a good clean channel the basis of your tone, and work from there. Since distortion is subject to personal taste, find a pedal(s), or processor that you like the sound of. Unless, of course, you can find one amp with the perfect clean and dirty channel. Good luck! A few may come close, but I have never found one. I you didn't already guess, I love this amp. Strats, Les Pauls, Jacksons, they all sound great through this amp. When I have the cash, I'll buy another one as a backup, or to run my rig in stereo.

Already described in detail, great amp for the money. The master volume control on the gain channel is too sensitive, making it difficult to easily match the volumes between the two channels--generally the gain channel is way too loud versus the clean channel. Also, the reverb is pretty useless past 4.

I use a Standard Tele and a Strat with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage single coils and a Duncan JB bucker in the bridge. Mostly blues, classic rock. The clean channel of this amp is worth the cost alone, and I find the dirty channels to be decent as well except as noted above. Tube Screamer really makes the dirty channel sing. The clean does start to break up above 4. One important note--I had problems with real annoying microphonics in the Groove Tubes which came with the first two of these amps I tried, ruining the clean channel tone. (Fender started shipping all of their Tube amps with Groove Tubes 1/1/98, a supposed improvement). One of them actually smoked and burned with minimal encouragement. I finally found a new (late 97) Deluxe with the old Fender/Sovtek tubes and love the amp. SO--the jury's still out as far as I'm concerned on the Groove Tubes, and keep in mind that most of these glowing reviews come from people with the pre-98 tube arrangement. For what it's worth...

See comments on tube problems above for amps shipped since 1/1/98... Have a good relationship with your retailer and you won't have any problems.

5 year warranty.

Overall I would definitely buy it again as I don't think there's an amp that can touch this one tone wise for comparable money. I do wish they'd mellow out the reverb some and rework the master volume situation on the dirty channel.

3 Channels--Clean, Drive, More Drive. Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence. Footswitch included for Channel switching. Cover included. 40 watts. 1 x 12" gold label speaker. Effects loop and reverb complete the feature set of this well designed unit. about 46 lbs.

I am not gonna mince words--I love this amp. It simply has the sweetest sounds I have heard out of an amp in this price range. I play mostly rock, and blues with a very little country and some oldies. I've owen many amps over the years--always looking for that perfect sound, the sound that makes you think "Wow, I sound great". Well...you've got to hear the clean channel on this baby. Then, after you wipe the drool off your face, hit the channel switch and hang on. The drive and more drive channels will BLOW YOU AWAY. This amp was designed as close to perfection as you will find. It sounds great doing any style of music at any volume, really. It is virtually noiseless, has great reverb, and 40 watts of the the sweetest tube sound on the planet. (Did I mention how much I love this amp?) My wife is getting jealous of my Hot Rod Deluxe!

Like most Fender amps I've owned, it's built like a tank. I have a great dealer so no worries. I gig with this baby with no backup although I sometimes run it in stereo with my Blues Jr. which is loud enough to carry me if the Deluxe ever craps out. I had a Peavey Classic 50 that burned up on me several times mid-gig. I would never gig a Peavey tube amp without a backup (no offense Peavey). My Fenders have never let me down.

Have dealt with Fender several times in the past with mixed success. I don't really care though because I have a great dealer. That's the name of the game with Fender.

I've been playing 20 years, many bands, many styles of music. Main loves are rock and blues. Have owned many amps by Fender, Ampeg, Vox, Univox, Sunn, Roland, Peavey, Traynor, etc. Fender tube amps sound the best. Especially this one. In my humble oppinion, they got it right with the design of the Hot Rod Deluxe. It's as close to perfect as it gets. It does every sound well. I can't stop playing it. Don't even hesitate....go buy one NOW. I LOVE THIS AMP. I'll keep this one forever.

Playing original rock, r&b and jazzy r&b I find my new Deluxe a dream.
No, the clean channel does not have infinite headroom. It begins to break up past maybe 6, but prior to the entrance of that distortion the sound was quite loud and it was sweet. I can get bell-like tones that intrigue me. I can also get some obnoxious honking. Seems to me that the high gain channels are a bit like a flamethrower (not that I've owned one, but I Have seen them in war movies): great awmighty destruction at the trigger. Now I've got to learn how to control it. I've only had the Deluxe a few weeks, so I'm still exploring.

Using the alnico humbuckers in a Peavey Odyssey LesPaul-type it will go from hard clean to scream with no more adjustment than to turn up the guitar volume. That I like. In fact, this is the kind of gain I've wanted for decades. I love its ability to feed back and sing and allow you to control the mess.

Have been playing for some 30 years; began with a Silvertone 2 - 12 back in the cylindrical age. Have owned various small Fender and Gibson tube amps plus a brick house Super Reverb. Most recently have used a Princeton Chorus (transistor, if an updated design) which was not a bad amp, especially at lower volumes. It was loud for 25 watts (has twin 25 w amps, so it's weightier than it looks). But at maxed volume it was brittle and did not sing nor in any way come close to the sound of a tube amp.
I'd like it if someone who's really, really into the Hot Rod Deluxe would write about explorations in fx boxes, the loop and other settings.

By the way, the Drive channel has balls. The More Drive has yet to be well tested because I simply don't need it.

This amp is very versatile for Jazz, blues and classic rock applications, The 3 channel setup is very very natural to use and is helpful. The clean channel is nice and warm, the drive channel is great and tubey and if you hit the more drive button, it's like turning the amp up to 15. I use this amp in just about every performance situation, and I was surprised that the 30 watts really cut through. Be very careful if you replace the final tubes though, I put in a pair of hot rodded Groove tubes and they blew out the power transformer... twice!! the reverb is great. The absence of a headphone jack is a drawback but in no way should afffect a decision for against the great sound of this amp The amp itself doesn't provide a very good "metal" tone (mid scoop) but if you run a Boss Metal Zone or comprable pedal, the tubes make it sing.

I use a '73 strat with the original hardware. It suits my Jazz/blues/rock/fusion needs beautifully This is an extremely quiet amp for a tube amp. There is the natural warm fuzzy background noise but it is really low (you do know the amp is idling though). the amp can't make metal sounds very easily, but it can warm up any pedal or effect you send through it. I used a Gibson sonex with a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge through a Boss Metal Zone into input one and I got a SLAMMIN sound for doing Metallica. The clean channel distorts at 7-10 but it's a final tube kind of crunch it makes the guitar sing and is very responsive to dynamics The distortion rages but not by itself, you need to make it scream, it adds beautiful sounds to the tones you generate, but I wouldn't count on the overdrive to muddy up the sound. If you want lots of fuzz, run a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz face (or comprable) into it and you won't be disappointed

This amp is very dependable, but not indestructable I used a Fender M-80 for 4 or 5 years and THAT was a tough little bastard. With the tubes you gotta treat them with more respect I had the amp break down after putting in some new power tubes (the power supply burnt out), but this was the fault of groove tubes and not fender. I would use this for giggin without a backup. I put some hot preamp tubes in and the Gain on this amp WRECKED them in 5 days. They ALL went microphonic, so don't go nuts customizing this one

No problems They were curteous, no problem finding a store nearby.
the warranty is 5 years

I've been playing for 10 years and my setup is a '73 strat with original everything, a Uni-Vibe pedal (the soul of my sound), a Dunlop Cry-Baby, and a Korg PME which has an analog delay on it that 'aint bad. If it were stolen or lost I would cry for about a week, and then I'd buy either the same unit OR its larger 2x12 65 watt cousin the Hot Rod DeVille I love the sound and the versatility. The dynamic qualities of this amp are great. The distortion gets fiercer and quieter as your playing changes.
The only thing i wish it had was a headphone jack

The features including more than one channel, footswitching, reverb and 40 watts into a 12 inch speaker seemed to outpace other amps that I looked at in the price range, which were mostly Mesa Boogies. I suspect that some Peavey Amps have comparable features for the price, but I did not try any because of an old and maybe irrational prejudice. A headphone jack would be nice, and the layout of the controls is a little confusing with respect to what controls affect what channels. Why not simply have a master volume and gain for each channel? It doesn't seem like it would add alot of expense, and that way you could have one channel running a little dirty and the other really really crunchy, instead of one channel that can only be absolutely clean.

The clean channel is definitely the selling point and is what sets this amp apart from others I looked at, mostly Mesa Boogies. The clean channel has a fullness, deepness, and ringing quality that the Boogies lack. I think the disagreement about the merits of the distortion channel really is an indication of the fact that any evaluation of distortion sound is quite subjective. I agree that this amp will not serve anyone who wants a heavy metal or grunge sound, unless they use a pedal. But for my purposes, which mostly means I would like some distortion on occassion but want the personality of the guitar to come through the distortion, the amp is fine.
I play a standard strat and was amazed at how quiet the amp is when the pickups are set in the two or four positions. I think the noise in any other positioins is inevitable.
I also played a PRS with a bolt-on neck through the amp, and the amazing quality of the sound produced with this combination is why I want to obtain a PRS
Are my ears going bad, or did I notice some clipping on the clean channel when the volume gets up to about four or five?
I agree that the reverb is out of control and not useful above 3, but its fine, actually quite nice, when set at or below that level.
The bottom line is that this amp sounds better for my purposes, which include somewhat restrained volume levels and a high value placed on clean sounds, than any other combo that I have played through.

I haven't had the amp long enough the comment intelligently but my experience with an old Fender Bandmaster head, and some MusicMan amps which are very similar to Fenders, makes me think it will problably be fairly reliable, unless the quality control has gone to pot in recent years.

The five year warranty seems generous, but I haven't dealt with the company. There are authorized service centers close to where I live.

I have been playing off and on, including a stint as a bass player, for about 20 years. I would definitely buy it again. Love the sound, don't really hate anything about it.

40 Watts, all tube (2 6L6's & 3 12AX7's, all Sovteks) 12in eminence speaker, footswitch (with LED's), Reverb, 2 channels, 'More Drive' switch and a 'bright' switch. Has All the normal controls as well as a presence knob, 2 inputs, and effects loop (labeled Preamp out and Power amp in). Great Looking, crome control panel, top mounted (retro style) I've had it for 2 weeks, so far its been _amazing_. This is my first valve amp, so I expected it to have the very wide range of OD that a tranny amp has. Saying that, the amp _is_ capable of a wide array of sounds. I play rock, and careful adjusting of the knobs gives me enough versatility to cover what I play most often. But if you like to _rock_, playing Grunge or Heavy Metal, you'll need an FX pedal.
I wish it had a 1/2 power switch, or something the same, as the master volume for the OD channel is very sensitive. A tiny touch gives a large increase in volume. I use it mostly for bedroom practice so this is an important factor. However, this doesn't mean this amp is too loud. The tone at low volumes is still great. Cranking it gives a house shaking volume!

I play a US std. Strat, all stock. First the clean sound; Unbelievably good for an amp at this price, the bass is punchy and tight, the trebles are not too harsh, the mids are well pronounced. The 'bright' switch increases the treble, into a strong twang. 10/10 Overdrive; This is slightly dissapointing. At max, it gives a 'crunch' that still lets the guitars characteristics through clearly. But I would like it to go a bit further into shred territory. But , overall the sound is perfectly adapted to blues, indie, and soft rock. 7/10 More Drive; This just increases the gain, and sustain, but makes the sound 'fizzy' rather than 'heavy'. It really adds to the sound, think Purple Haze. But at max, the more drive only brings it up to skimming the grunge sound. Also it isn't adjustable, which is annoying. The extra drive can be used to give more 'depth' to the overdrive, if engaged then varying the ammount of drive. 6/10
Overall the tone from the amp is warm and resonant, only harsh if the bright is engaged. The reverb is great when set below 3, but any higher, it becomes unnatural, and sometimes unusable. The tone from the clean channel is brilliant, only the OD lets this amp down (thats were the points were deducted). This can be rectified by changing the power tubes to Svetlana's or NOS, which makes the clean sound even better, and livens up the OD. On another point, people in other submisssions have said there is a loud pop when changing channels. I have only replicated it once, and it was probably due to me pressing on both f/s buttons at the same time. However there is a faint click, which I found to be the OD led changing colour, from yellow to red.

5yr warranty, so you'd think they're pretty sure of its quality, however, see below. The amp itself is heavy, of rugged build and covered in tolex 'for long lasting good looks'. Havent gigged it yet, but im sure it will be fine, I payed enough for it!

Comes with a 5yr warranty, but my dealer says its pretty useless, as they only replace or fix after 4 yrs if the amp has never been played and was under constant surveilance for that time. The dealer would probably send it back to the Fender distributer here in the UK, as they are incapable of fixing themselves. Fender should do something about incompatent dealers.

Great amp, let down by a weak OD, but don't let this put you off buying the amp, the clean sound is _amazing_. A cheap pedal will be a fine partner for this, actually I bought a Big Muff for it. Would I buy it again, Yes and No. I would have liked to try one of the Laneys, or even the Marshall JCM 601, but there were none in Northern Ireland when I was looking to buy. But _no_ regrets, this is a fantastic amp, should last for years if treated right, so theres no need for me to buy it again ;-). I also tried the H&K tube 50 , but it was too heavy metal for me, lacked character and a good clean channel. There were a few things that would have made this _the_ perfect amp for home, studio and giging uses (1/2 power switch, speaker emulation with DI, and perhaps a parallel effect loop, with mix control). Fender had a chance to make an absolute killer of an amp, but instead they made a amp lacking a few features required by many people, although not me, for a modern amp, especially as its supposed to be 'hot rodded'.

You've all ready heard em'.

The Clean channel is cool, but the distortion SUCKS. Due to the fact that there is no seperate EQ for the Distortion. Further more it is not a three channel amp! It's a 2 channel amp with a distortion Boost. The "More Drive" feature SUCKS. I give the Clean Channel a 9 and the drive channel a 5 and the more drive a 2!

So far I haven't had any problems! I bought it used and it's still going.

Amp wise I don't know how fenders service is, I've never had to deal with them. But otherwise Fender's service is pretty good.

I won't bore by repeating the features...Gotta confess,I've had a hard time getting a bad sound out of this amp. Very versatile. My wish list would be level controls for the loop.

Using my 335,Tele w/Barden p/u,and Strat with EMG Vintage p/u all sound great regardless whether it's jazz or blues. It seems to do a great mid range-y Robben Ford sound! The "more drive" boost is usuable if the gain of the overdrive channel isn't set to high. If I really need mondo distortion,I add a stompbox. Noise levels seem very acceptable,much quieter than the Classic 50 I had prior to this amp.The clean side is huge sounding and reminds me of the fine old vintage Fenders I grew up with. Plenty of volume for most situations and very easy to carry around and fits beautifully in my car.

So far so good. I've owned it for 6 months and have only had to replace a pilot light bulb. No apparent problems on a gig.

I've had no contact with the company or repair station. Warranty seems good.

I've been playing for 30 years and bought this amp on impulse after playing thru it for 5 mins. I've always been partial to the Fender sound and reliability. I wanted to find another Fender to replace the Peavey Classic 50 I was using. The Peavey, though a nice amp didn't have the over all high quality sound this amp produced. The Peavey did one sound very well but not all sounds. Not only would I replace it with the same if lost or stolen, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a versatile,high quality,and affordable amp.

The amp has three channels, an effects loop, and footswitch for the lead channels. One feature I do like a lot is the Normal channel does not have a master volume. Do like the idea of tube pre-amp and power amp.

I use two guitars currently with this amp. A G&L S500 I bought in the mid 80's and a relatively new Fender American Telecaster. The amp seems to be versatile enough for me, though I agree with some of the others reviewing that it doesn't have the headroom if your doing ensemble work (buy the more powerful versions). I find the amp to be very noise free, except of course when you overdrive the shit out of the lead channels. I also agree with some of the reviews on this amp that the clean channel is quite nice and give it a high rating. The distortion is ok. My forte is doing rythm work, but I did want an amp that would get a little bluesy. The more drive channel is a little to bright for my taste.

Can't say much yet on reliability as I've only owned the amp for two months.

Ditto's on reliability.

Frankly I used this forum to shop for an amp and actually bought the amp without hearing it (even though you preface this forum saying don't do this). I knew I wanted a Fender amp, I knew I didn't want a lot of power, and I knew I wanted tubes. I immediatley replaced the cracker jack speaker with an Electrovoice EV12L. While it made a significant difference in the tone (for the positive) it added a substantial amount of weight. I fact, I'm not certain the handle will last, and the entire frame seems to "give" a bit when I pick it up. Something other owners of the Hot Rod Family may want to try. Turn all of the tone knobs to "0" and use the presence knob as a "tone" control. It really improves the quality of the lead channels to my ears. The lead sounds more like a vintage Marshall or Fender Bassman of the early sixties. It even makes the clean channel unique. I've owned a Fender Twin (1964), a Fender 75 (mid 80's), a bunch of Peaveys, and a Music Man (which I really like). I'm pleased with the purchase of this amp. The workmanship is probably typical of mass produced amps, but at $475 your not taking a big gamble. I would recommend the amp if you have a quality speaker you could throw into it, don't want to invest a lot of money, and are looking for tube performance. The scale of 1 to 10 means 10 is the shit. 7 is where I would place this amp.

I really love this amp. It has 2 channels with 2 selections on the overdrive channel. It has an effects loop, a foot switch with 1 selection for Clean/Dirty and 1 selection for Drive/More Drive (no reverb switch). I play a Tele and Strat with occasional efeects in the effects loop. The More Drive channel is a fixed boost over the Normal Drive channel, it really should be variable - I'm deducting a point because of this.

The sound is absolutely the sweetest sound I've heard. I've played for 26 years and have never been able to get "that sound" I like until I purchased this amp. I play Bluesy SRV style and this is it. I think what ever style you play, you could tweek this amp to sound right.

Not a problem. I've had it about 6 months or so.

I believe it has a 5 Year warranty. Haven't dealt with Fender yet however.

For me this is "the amp". I also switched to Fender guitars with single coils at about the same time I purchased this amp. So it is a combination of guitar and amp that has allowed me to get the sound I like. I have heard Les Pauls sound great through it also.

I guess it's all been said before in the other reviews, one clean channel and one drive master volume channel with a more drive switch, reverb, presence, bass, middle and treble. Great for blues and retro rock. The clean is so smooth I am actually playing non-distorted for the first time. It is very bluesy sounding so if you want metal or santana look elsewhere.

I use a Lonestar strat and Les Paul Standard. I love the sound of the Les Paul and the strat sounds great. Mostly I have all the controls on 5 with reverb on 1.5. With the more drive kicked in, it's great for that clapton cream sound. Without more drive, it's distorted but still clear, I love it. I have some good rack preamps and fx but I hardly use them cause I can get a great tone by just plugging a guitar directly in, instead of wasting time playing with knobs and buttons. I do worry that I might get bored with the sound some day, since this amp just basically does one great dirty and one great clean sound. The tone controls are fairly useless and the reverb is way too juicy but who's complaining? I like it more than a Boogie .22 I used to own.

I've only had it for 3 months but no problems. Other than the expected tube maintenance I see no reason to be worried.

Never dealt with Fender. At least they give you the schematics so it can be repaired by any competent technician.

I'd buy it again. It's got everything I need so I've stopped dropping in music stores checking out pedals, amps and racks. I also have a Piranha preamp and GX700 FX/preamp and bought the Hot Rod cause I was moving around and didn't have the space for a full rack. Although I can get as good a sound out of the rack, and a whole lot more, I hardly use the rack anymore.

The Hot Rod is an extremely versatile for a two channel amp. It has a footswitch for the clean and drive channels, with a more drive boost. It also has a bright boost for the clean channel. The amp has an f/x loop, power amp in, and a preamp out jack. The Hot Rod has your basic three band eq, volume for the clean, master gain for the drive channel. The drive channel also has a presence control. And of course it is all tube with Fenders famous reverb. At 40 watts this amp has plenty of loudness. Great for gigs.

This amp doesn't have the heavy type of distortion I'm looking for, so I use an Overlord to beef it up. But, for the price, this amp is hard to beat. The clean channel is unmatched at this price range in my opinion. The sound is very responsive and warm. I use a Stat with a Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge. The other pickups are stock. I play Rock, Hard Rock type of music.

Haven't had a breakdown yet.

Never had to use them. But the amp came with a 5 year warranty.

I'd buy one just for the clean. If I wasn't on a budget, I would use this one on clean and another amp for the distortion.

Features generally well known so no need to repeat. 40Watt miked up through a PA is more than enough power. Twin channel with "more drive" footswitchable boost very useful. Effects loop could do with a level control.

Playing Country, New Country & '60s/'70s Rock and Roll, this amp is versatile aplenty, coping with '62 reissue Strat and Tele and Ibanez DiMarzio equipped 540P. Clean channel is a delight with rich spring reverb typically Fender. Even at relatively low volumes Drive channel with careful EQing covers virtually all requirements with useful boost for that extra soloing power. I think I'm in love..........

Amp is only a couple of months old but regular gigging has so far proved trouble free, but that's only as expected. Previous Fender experience leads me to expect reasonable reliability.

I tried many amps, solid state, hybrid and tube and as soon as my Strat bridge/middle mix rang through I was in love. I ran it side by side with a Sansamp Tech21 Trademark combo but to my ears there was no comparison. It replaces a Marshall JCM800 which gave many years of reliable service but was basically dull unless wound right up. I also own a British made Laney LC15 15w tube practice combo and have gigged this (miked up through the PA) with great success and is also highly recommended.

Already been discussed a hundred times. You should know by now.

Sound is great! Clean sound just kicks major ass. Lots of volume and sound for 40 watts. Distortion is not metal, but is decent for a slight overdrive. More Drive setting is a little cheesy. Oh well, I don't really need it. Reverb is weak, but good for a slight touch to give you a fuller sound. Footswitch is easy to use but useless because distortion is junk.

Seems dependable. I've gigged with it, brought extra tubes just in case.

I wouldn't buy it again because then I'd have two. If it broke I'd buy an old super reverb or twin something or other. I play through humbuckers which someone said really suck, but for the full, rich and beatiful jazz tones, this combo kicks. Great amp for the price.

I won't bemoan the features. Ease of use is pretty good.

Clean - The amp truthfully has one of the nicest clean sounds available in the sub-$1000 price range. Wonderfully crisp and clear. It does seem to be voiced for single coils - my Strat sounds godlike, while the lower register on my PRS and Les Paul cause it to choke on the bass output, sounding a bit boomy.
Distorion - The other reviews seem to be quite divided in this regard, and I'm not entirely sure why. In my opinion, the overdrive channels are bordering on useless. Through the Strat, the bass is dramatically cut, far too thin sounding to be useful. While the humbuckers manage to eat the bass drain and still sound "okay", it still doesn't compensate for the buzzy, hollow sound that's just inherent. It's not crunch, it's not blues, it's crap. A Tube Screamer or the like is a requirement.
Reverb - It's not spring reverb. Solid state reverb cannot, will not sound like spring reverb. If you use reverb for general sound thickening like some, I guess it's passable, but true reverb freaks will be disappointed.
Clean sound gets a 10, but loses points for the distortion and reverb.

It seems to have withstood the rigors of my bedroom well.

Although it sounds like I've trashed the amp, I'm actually quite fond of it. The clean sound is fantastic and it distorts wonderfully with my Fulldrive in front of it. For the price, it really can't be beat.

It's great! Three footswitchable channels (well, really two plus a boost, but who's counting) with the footswtich included, effective EQ section, reverb, FX loop. What more d'ya need? A tremelo, maybe.

Perfect for what I do. The clean channel is perfect, all that great Fender clean tone, for jazzy stuff with a Gibson hollow body. The drive channel goes from slightly overdriven, great for chords and blues, to crunchy, and kick in the More Drive for some great sustain for lead. I back off the gain with the bridge pu of my Strat and get a great blues tone with lots of body, just enough cut, and anyways the EQ is quite responsive. With the neck pu, crank the mids and gain, it rocks. I love it...gives me great sound no matter what I play.
The reverb is WAY too over the top...that's my only complaint. I never turn it past 3, but it sounds fine as long as you leave it low.

Haven't had it long, but it's solid

N/A

I love it and would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. It's just the perfect size, sound, and features for me. I only wish the neighbors would let me crank it more! I think it gives fantastic sound, real tube tone, classic Fender clean, and all for a very good price.

Price paid: $489 plus tax
Features: 9. I used to have a Mesa Boogie .22 Caliber without graphic equalizer: bought it for a nearly identical price in October 1992. In '92, I originally considered the then-available Fender Concert (now out of production). I always regretted my decision about getting the Boogie instead, since I learned that I really liked the "Fender Clean" sound, and this was not available on the Boogie, whose clean sound (although perfectly OK) always seemed bottom-heavy. Also, the interactivity of the clean and dirty channels on the Boogie was near-maddening: making the clean channel "full" (and not too squeaky-country clean) made the overdrive channel incredibly overdriven. I found it as musical as listening to a 707 at take-off. Dialling in a listenable, not- over-the-top overdrive channel required too low a preamp gain level for a full-sounding clean channel. So what about the Hot Rod Deluxe ? Superior on two accounts to the .22 Caliber: first, wonderful rich clean sound, and second, much less interactivity between the tone settings for the clean and the overdrive channel(s). As Fender's advertisements make clear, you get not one but two levels of overdrive with the Hot Rod Deluxe, and they are footswitch-selectable. See comments about the reverb below. And you get both a cover and a footswitch at no extra charge: the cover was extra with my Boogie.

Sound quality: 10. I like blues: someday I'd like someone to say I sounded like Barney Kessel imitating Jimi Hendrix's Red House on HENDRIX IN THE WEST, but nobody seems to be saying that about me yet. Really rich clean sounds: my comments above suggest the likelihood that I'm a "treble junkie", yet I like how full and rich the lows are on my Deluxe. I suspect what I'm hearing is the 6L6 family of power tubes, which are not as high-frequency-oriented as the EL84s on a Peavey Classic 30 (my other amp). I think the clean channel is slightly superior to my friend Mike's 60W Blues Deville (the older series with tan tweed covering), and his amp always had to get too loud before it sounded good. When you pick harder on a Tele on my Deluxe, it sounds richly twangy, and full of harmonics, not "doinky" and simple-sounding. It is true that the reverb seems to get too splattery too fast with this amp: reverb settings in excess of 3 seem antimusical. I wonder if the problem is as simple as the wrong taper on the reverb potentiometer. Other Harmony Central reviewers have also had critical comments about the Hot Rod Deluxe reverb. The overdrive channels sound fine to me: I find "Black Magic Woman" or "Oye Como Va" are in there even if the amp doesn't come from Petaluma. I play a rosewood and a maple-neck Strat, a Fender Tele Deluxe (with neck humbucker) and a home-made StewMac Tele with a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom in a rout between the standard-placed neck and bridge pickups. I guess I'm not a Les Paul dude: I find it entirely appropriate that a Harmony Central chiropractor recently recommended that we stay away from sitting down playing heavy LPs, and stand while playing lightweight Strats---and I'm (so far) the designated Harmony Central rheumatologist.

Reliability: 10. Bought this amp after trading in the .22 Caliber in April 1997 and have not had any regrets.

Customer Support: n/a: haven't had any problems or questions. The warranty is for five years, which is better than I think you have a right to expect.

Overall Review: 9. My friend Mike also has a Reissue Deluxe Reverb, whose tremolo feature is awesomely rich. ( The reverb is also cosmic). I do lament the absence of tremolo on the Hot Rod, but I had already bought a Peavey Valverb in 1993 to complement my Boogie, and I find I use its reverb alone (as well as its tremolo) to enhance the Hot Rod's spectrum of sounds. I also use a home-made extension speaker cabinet with a Celestion in it: it seems to add to the fullness of sound without much coloration. I'm sure that the addition of tube reverb and tube vibrato to the Hot Rod series of amps would add a minimum of $150 to their street prices: if you're not in need of these features, you can't go wrong with the Hot Rod Deluxe. You can now choose from more tremolo pedals (and also more types of more- expensive tube reverb/tremolo units) than in 1993, when I bought the Valverb, so you have the option of adding on the tremolo feature if you want.

I just bought this amp a few days ago, and I'm totally blown away! It has 2 channels; Clean, and Drive. The drive channel has a 'more drive' option that increases certain frequencies to allow for sounds more fitted for cutting through a band mix for great sustain during solos and such. The effects-loop is great, as it does not inhibit the overall tonality of the amp. The amp uses 3 12AX7's and 2 6L6's (I believe), so there is more than enough power and tone-shaping to allow for a wide range of sounds. I use this amp in jamming situation s at the moment, and this amp rocks. I play with another guitarist (using a JCM 800 and a 4x12), a bassist (Ampeg head with an 8x10) a drummer and a full P.A., and this amp delivers! I have more than enough headroom with the clean at 4 and the drive and 2!

I play a generally wide range of sounds, but most within the rock genre, so I utilize many clean as well distorted tones, although I generally shy away from metal etc. So far, the amp has allowed for every sound I want. I play through a effects processor in the loop, and the classic tone is not hurt at all by the unit. I play through a Fender Strat, with a Seymor-Duncan 'screamin demon' humbucker, and a Fender neck-lace pickup, and I sound great!

I've had it for about a week and I'm totally pleased so far.

Never dealt with the company as of yet, I hear it sucks, but hey, if amps are so reliable, why wouldn't it. (the Maytag repair-man syndrome)

I would definantly by it again! No other amp has as much power, tonality price, weight etc.. for the money you pay. If your like me, a student who lives away from home with no car, and needs an amp with power, but has a budget, who needs a great amp, but doesn't have the space for a head and cabinet, or who can't carry around a heavy 2x12 etc. Or, if you're just looking for a great amp, check it out!

Great features, especially the 3 switchable channels. It would've really been nice if they had put a vibrato channel on it though. The footswitch and the cover are nice little bonus's too! But, this amp has plenty of power for what I need.

I play blues and this sounds O.K., but I've really never been able to crank it up because it gets to loud in my room. The drive channels are a little noisy and there is alot of hiss on those channels. You can get pretty good distortion out of it with high gain settings, but it seems to lack depth and warmth. Because of this I use an Ibanez TS-9 Reissue for a better sound. I'm currently using a Fender Lone Star Strat and a Gibson Les Paul Studio to play through. Overall, this amp has a really great sound.

I've only had this amp since December of '96 so I haven't had any problems with it so far and plan not to.

Haven't had to deal with them yet, and hope I never will.

I would probably buy it again, but I would also heavily consider a Fender Twin Reverb Reissue. I still wish it had a vibrato channel and also maybe another 12" speaker. But, this is probably the best amp for the money that I've seen. I would recommend this amp to anyone, (unless they have $900 to spare for a Twin Reverb.)

a nice touch. Could've used a trem, but for this price who could complain?

Just got back into playin' out again after a long (kid-induced) hiatus. We do the standard rock/r&b/roots/country stuff. The Deluxe is as versatile and loud as I could need. I would like to slap a 12" cab under it, just for grins.
OK, the reverb's not tube. And the amp's way too dependant on PC boards (from what I understand, damn near everything off the front is straight-soldered to one). But I am totally pleased with the sound, feel and smell (and cost, by the way) of this amp.
Let me add that an entry below (from Dave at cyber-something) complaining that the "drive/more drive" section is really bad caused me to pause before buying. I, too, have a strat with gold lace sensors (a Clapton strat w/active mid boost), so I checked the HR Deluxe thoroughly based on that post. I gotta tell you, Dave -- either you got a really bad one, or someone slapped a better set of guts in the one I picked.
Broad range of sounds, lots of guts (top or bottom, depending on them purty little chicken heads), plenty of headroom, and a real nice pallette of distortion tones to choose from - full bodied at that. The active mid boost in the strat and a TS-9 both drive the Deluxe well, too.
The reverb? I've heard/played/owned better (ergo the "9"). But not for a tad under 500 bucks and a 5-year warranty.

Rules of Road:
1) Play tubes? Take back-up. 2) 5-year warranty makes reliability less of an issue.

Fender? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I will say that the dealer I use (Midwest Music, Cincinnati) is top-flight. Thanks, Rusty.

Money an issue? Best sound and features for the buck? I couldn't find anything better.

There's not much more I could ask for in an amp. Two inputs, two channels, bass/mid/treble EQ, presence control, reverb, Gain Master and clean channel volume. The amp also includes a metal two-button footswitch with LED's so you can easily tell and see what channel you are on. It has a single 12" speaker custom made for Fender by Eminence. The nominal wattage rating is 40 watts and is plenty looooud for clubs or jam sessions! The FX loop is the only poor thing - good to have one, but why must it be a serial one ? Put a bad effect-box in the serial loop and the sound gets worse - so take good ones (better nor digitals) or let it be.

I'm absolutely satisfied with the sound ! Before I played the Hot Rod first, I could not believe that a Fender Amp also can make good distortion sounds, but the Hot Rod do so ! Id played a Mesa Boogie Caliber 50+ for years and also a Mesa - Subway Rocket - I've sold them now, cause I don't need them anymore ! The Hod Rod gives me the fantastic clean Fender sound (best I've ever heard) like the early Dire Straits-Sounds, and also Clapton's crunch and ultra crunch at it's best ! The overdrive is very nice, warm and easily controllable. You can get lots of different sounds out of this amp. The Reverb is very full and sounds fantastic, it really sits in the band mix really well. The 'More Drive'-Setting don't make the Fender to a Ulta-High-Gain Amp. You'll ever hear the character of the guitar 'behind' the amp - that's the sound I'd looking for ! O.K. - the distortion of the amp sounds best at higher volumes (unfortunately!), so don't play the amp only at home and say 'poor sound' ! If you are a Ultra-High-Gain Fan, buy a Soldano or Mesa. But I want to hear, what I'm playing - not only a screaming amp !

This amp hasn't given me any problems yet. It seems to be built very solid. I've found the amp to be very reliable so with 5 years warranty I'll rate this a 10.

Haven't had to deal with 'em yet, hope it still remains so.

I really love this amp and I'd buy it again. It is really powerful and can easily be used for a live gig as well as practice. Footswitch and cover were included and not optional. The amps I compared it to were all Mesa/ Boogies I'd played for years, but I'm sorry - he Fender won hands down. The search is over, I'd found my amp: the Hod Rod Deluxe! The clean sound is heaven (Fender at its best!), but also the crunch and ultra-crunch Sound is fantastic, much better than a Boogie or anything else in this price-range. Cause he sounds best at higher volumes try the THD-Yellow Jackets with two EL 84 instead of the 6L6! This gives you best sound at moderate volume! I think this is one of the best amps you can buy for your money. I would pay more for it.

This amp replaces a Blues Deluxe, and I'm not even looking back. Many improvements from my perspective. Three Channels: Clean, Drive, and More Drive. 40watts is plenty for small to medium clubs, and I mike it for outdoor and large rooms. Very versatile EQ that really changes the tone nicely.

For Blues and Classic Rock this amp is awesome. The Drive channel is much improved from the Blues Deluxe, and I don't need a TS9 anymore The clean channel is crisp and through a strat you have lots of tone options. I've been using the drive channel on 5 for starting off with a clean lead, and then kicking the Drive in on bends, and it just increases the Horsepower and sustain of your tone. Perfect for Clapton, SRV stuff. The more drive also sounds great, especially if not completely maxed out to 12. This amp has lots of tone options with EQ, and drive channels.

I hope it's dependable. I sure has problems with my Blues Deluxe. It cut out at gigs more than once. First it needed to get some field change from a Fender repair guy. Then the relays for channel switching died. I noted on the HR Deluxe schematics, that it is layed out differently, and hope that this beautiful sounding amp has been reengineered for improved MTBF.

I have dealt with Fender with the Blues Deluxe problems, and in obtaining Trem Stabilizer adjustment procedures. No problems with my dealer or Repair, I just hope I don't need them.

The amp sounds awesome. It's perfect for my band's music style. It is tons more versatile than the Blues Deluxe, and my r. guitar player says it sounds warmer. I think dollar for dollar this is the best amp for the price. Hope it's reliable nothing is worse than an amp dying on you in the middle of a solo. Would buy again. I even considered the Blues Deville this time, but the 4-10s sound a bit washed, and the damn thing is sooo heavy....I ain't 20 anymore

This is a 40 watt, 3 channel, 1x12" tube amp. Basically a more modern version of the Blues Deluxe. It's covered in black Tolex and silver grill cloth just like mid-60's Fenders. There are three 12ax7s and 2 6L6's. Controls for Volume ,Drive,Bass,Treble,Middle,Master,Presence,and Reverb as well as switches for Normal channel bright, channel select and more gain on the drive channel. I like this amp so much more than the Blues Deluxe I owned previously. It's as if Fender took everything I didn't like about that amp and fixed it. For one, the reverb doesn't hiss past halfway anymore. Also, the drive channel has some real drive and more drive, the master volume knob has a better taper making it easier to set the volume low, there's an extension speaker jack, and a bias adjustment pot. I wish it had a tube rectifier and tremolo. A little quirk I noticed about the channel switching, when you push the channel switch the is a small lag before the drive channel switched to the normal channel, this doesn't happen when the footswitch is used and is not really that annoying. Some nice included items such as a two button three function footswitch and a vinyl cover come with the amp, as well as a schematic. Oddly enough mine included a Marlboro light 100 cigarette at the bottom of the box, I don't think this is standard though. I figure either, someone tossed it in as a joke, they want me to think that the amp smokes (which it does, figurative speaking), or they're giving me a sign that the amp will eventually smoke literally. I hope the first is the case.

The clean channel is bright and very clean, the drive channel has way more gain than the Blues Deluxe, enough for fairly heavy rhythm playing, amost Marrshall-like, and with more gain switched, there's enough for lead playing, even with a Jazzmaster. I don't even need an overdrive pedal anymore. The drive seetings are quite noisy with a Jazzmaster, but that's the guitar's fault. With humbuckers, it's fairly quiet. The reverb sounds pretty good and there's loads of it, plus as I mentioned before, it doesn't hiss like on the Blues Deluxe. One thing I don't like is how the sound starts too get hard when it's loud, I plan on playing around with new tubes and the bias setting to try to soften it up some, hopefully it will help. I also use a Telecaster which sounds excellent and a 12 string Strat copy that sounds very good and jangly through the clean channel. I play classic pop type music like the Beatles, Jellyfish and Teenage Fanclub and it does well for this style.

I would depend on it for the most part, I've heard some bad stuff about Fender's quality control, but I owned the Blues Deluxe for about a year with no problems at all. I would always have spare tubes and fuses just in case.

I don't Fender likes customer support much, I wanted to email them and their address was nowhere to be found on their web site. Maybe if you call or write you'll get better service. I've never really needed to contact them for any problems though.

With my current income, I would buy it again. If I could afford better I'd buy better. It's a very nice amp for the price but it's by no means a desert island amp. It sounds pretty good with all of my guitars and even my beloved WurliTzer electric piano.

10. I really like this amp. Blues, rock and country all all handled well. I play at home and the sound is good on all three channels. The numerous guitars I put through this amp all sound great, no matter what the settings are. I use my Korg ax30g through the effects loop, but the amp is so nice that I have gotten away from using any effects other than those on the amp itself. The foot switch is easy to use beacause it has led's on it that let you know if your clean or in overdrive or in more drive. I use all of it's features.

10. I think it's a great blues amp. As above, the styles I play all sound good. I used to have a Peavey stereo chorus 212...no comparison. The amp is quieter than many solid state amps. The amp is a tone monster. It's neat to be able to roll off the controls and adjust the sound with this amp. Move a tone knob, say from 3 to 6, and the sound changes gradually, not "notchy" like some amps. Clean channel breaks up and starts to sing at about 6 (halfway) max on all is 12. Gibson 335 Firebrand, 50's Tele, Carvin tl60, Godin acousticaster, Squire Fat Tele all sound like themselves. Probably no the best amp for metal or shred. Clean channell would be wonderful for jazz.

10 I have no problems with it at all. The construction of this amp is beautiful...I expect it to last long enough to pass down to my so.

6. 5 years. Fender customer support is a joke. Good dealers in Tucson that will back the product.

10. Yes. There is nothing about the amp that I do not like. I played a bunch of them and chose this one. I also run an extension speaker (Peavey Classic 1-12e).

Buying this amp, I was looking for something tube, fairly light, and with enough power for the clubs that I play in. I had played through a regular tweed Deluxe but wanted a bit more overdrive, and this amp has it in spades, however it is not as "tweakable" as I would like. More on that later.

The clean sound is pure Fender, with plenty of headroom for the clean country twangin' that I do. The dirty channel is good for a bluesy sound, not much else. MORE drive is hot, as hot as my Boogie DC-5. HOWEVER, what I don't like about this channel, is that it is so UNBALANCED to the other sound. In other words, you turn it up to 1/2 to 1 and it is screamin' loud. I like to get up to at least 3-4 to leave some room to back off the guitar volume and still have some tone left. I wish that Fender would have adjusted this channel accordingly. Also, Dick Dale must have designed the reverb on this amp, as anything past 3 is reverb city. The overall volume of the amp is more than enough for the situations that I play in. I use a B-bender Tele, and a '57 reissue Strat with this amp.

Fairly new amp, N.A. at this point. The amp is built well though, should last a long time. The cover which is included well help in that regard.

I have dealt with Fender in the past with a guitar problem, and they basically passed the buck to the dealer, who passed the buck back to Fender. Fender DOES NOT want to deal with us consumers at all from my experience. I was very unhappy with the treatment I received from them, and solved the problem myself. I think that Leo Fender would do things a little differently if he was still around.

Despite Fender's poor service, I will ALWAYS LOVE Fender equipment. Overall this is a very good amp, and a great value. I traded a Peavey Classic 50 in for this amp, the Fender is a better amp for my needs

There's not much more I could ask for in an amp. Two inputs, FX loop, two channels, bass/mid/treble EQ, presence control, reverb, Gain Master and clean channel volume. The amp also includes a metal two-button footswitch with LED's so you can easily tell what channel you are on. This is nice because my old Peavey didn't have any indication of what channel you were on. This amp has clean/drive/more drive channels. The LED on the footswitch changes colors depending on what channel you are using. The top of the amp has the same LED's and controls as the footswitch, but adds a bright switch as well.

I really like the overall sound of this amp. The clean channel is very clean and clear even at high volumes. The amp doesn't buzz or rattle at high volume like the Peavey Classic 30. The overdrive is nice and easily controllable. You can get lots of different sounds out of this amp, and the owners manual includes suggestions on sound settings. I've been more excited about this amp than any other amp I've bought and I play it every day. I'm always inspired by the warm tube sound. This is my first Fender amp and I'm pretty impressed.

This amp hasn't given me any problems yet. It seems to be built very solid. I've also gone over the included schematics, and it looks like a well thought-out amp. I don't expect any problems.

I really like this amp and I'd buy it again. It is really powerful and can easily be used for a live gig as well as practice. I really like the fact that the footswitch and cover were included and not optional. Nice touch, Fender. The amps I compared it to were the Ampeg ReverbRocket 112r, the Peavey Classic 30, and the Crate VC30 1x12. The Fender won hands down. Best sound and best features. I think this is the best amp you can buy for $450. I would pay more for it.

This is one of the more "usable" amps I've ever owned. It is a two channel amp with footswitchable clean/drive/more drive modes. Essentially, its like having three channels. The amp offers good control over your sound. I like the top-controls because they are very easy to see and get to. The amp's FX loop is a nice touch and I like the fact that an external speaker cabinet can be used in Parallel to the amp. Fender includes the footswitch and the amp cover which is a nice touch. The 40 watts seem really powerful and this amp would make a nice club amp as well as a good practice amp for anyone looking for a nice warm tube-tone amp with lots of drive and bite.

Overall, I really like the sound of this amp. The sound can easily be tailored to suit your individual needs. This amp has tons of overdrive and can easily satisfy several styles of playing from blues to grunge/alternative and everything in between. Play a good Tele thru it and you'll get lots of spank. The special Fender design speaker seems to compliment the amp well. The clean is VERY clean and bright on this amp with lots of bottom end. The drive can be as warm or dirty as you want it to be. My ONLY gripe about the sound of this amp is the Reverb. Fender went waaaaay overboard with this reverb and thus, the player has little control over it. Even at a modest Reverb setting such as 4, the reverb is quite overwhelming. I'm starting to get used to it, though. Try it for yourself.

So far, so good. This amp seems to be built solid. I don't expect problems with it, but I haven't had it long enough to tell.

I don't think you can buy a better amp for $450. The 40 watts of power sound like 80 watts, and this amp offers a clean low noise sound that is VERY versatile. I would buy this amp again in a heartbeat! I love it. I've been playing it seemingly non-stop since I bought it and like it even more, every time. Go check it out.

A 2 channel switching amp with a boost mode for the distortion channel, Reverb, a serial effects loop and 1x12" speacker.

This amp has one of the best clean sounds ever. The Reverb is very full. At first I thought it was too full, but it really sits in the band mix really well. The distortion covers a nice range of sounds and is fully controllable with the tone controls. Since this amp uses the typical Fender tone circuit the settings of the tone controls really makes a difference and makes this a very versatile amp for distortion sounds. Having said that, I'm not sure the ultra high gain crowd will like this amp as much as a Boogie. The distortion has more of a clearness to each note, which is why I like it. The More Gain boost is great for extra sustain and especially for slide playing.
I normally use this amp with a Gibson Nighthawk (lately) and also with a Les Paul and Strat. It really lets the character of the instrument come through. I've played Boogies and Peavey classics and don't really like their thick and cloudy distortion.
I play Christian music, which encompasses a wide range of styles, from Rock to MOR to Jazz and Country flavours. The Rock side can range from Bluesy to Metal or Alternative and everything in between. This amp was a good choice for covering a bunch of styles.

I use it all the time and it has been excellent. I don't bother with a backup amp. This one has never let me down.

I haven't needed to call yet.

I've been very happy with this amp. It is the closest to an all in one combo with great tone that is easy to cart around. The workmanship and sound are excellent and I'd buy another without pause.

The amp is a straightforward combo. Controls include input gain, bass, mid, treble, presence, reverb, and master out. It is a two channel design (clean and drive) with a "more drive" option in the drive channel only, providing an effective third footswitchable sound. The clean channel also includes a brightness boost switch (not footswitchable). There is an effects loop, and the amp has an included two-switch footswitch (channel and drive/more drive). I intended this amp to be the heart of my main gig rig (run with a 2X12 cabinet and a Quadraverb for occasional effects). Unfortunately, it didn't serve this purpose too well, and I have since traded it in for a Mesa/Boogie DC-5. The reasons for my dissatisfaction follow in the "sound" section...

I have never heard a better clean tone. Running my gold lace sensor Srat in clean channel gives what I consider to be the perfect clean tone: clear, bright, dynamic, with plenty of classic Fender character. Just switching toggle positions on my guitar gave me every clean sound I needed. It sounds absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, I have never heard nor could I even conceive of a worse sounding drive channel. I have a piece of junk $39 Epiphone mini travel amp with a nicer distortion sound. Both the drive and the more drive have a goofy buzzy fuzzy sound with no real power, edge or tonal character. I figured the amp may have been designed for pure blues (explaining the total lack of crunch), but I couldn't even coax a tollerable blues tone from the thing. I know there are people who are happy with this amp, but I can only assume they enjoy sounding really really bad. In drive this amp hasn't a ball, let alone balls (and just so you know, I don't play over-the-top thrash metal. I run a smooth overdriven blues/rock sound somewhere between The Sundays and Stone Temple Pitots). It's too bad this amp sucks soooo bad in drive, because at what seems to me to be a very affordable price, its clean tone is amazing. I have since replaced it with another amp (the aforementioned Boogie DC-5) that is actually too brutal in drive, but at least I can back off on the gain (I run it at about 2) and still get a great sound. If you're looking for an affordable amp for small to medium gigs with super-sweet clean tone, and distortion isn't in your vocabulary, then this is a great buy. I, on the other hand, use distortion, so it was goodbye.

Like the sun rising in the east I could rely on that thing in drive channel to sound like a deranged AM radio. Reliable? It's all too reliable. Maybe if something blew it would sound better.

No experience.

Because the clean tone is so great (it crushes the Boogie in clean) I still might buy it again. But then I'd have to schlep two amps around to every gig, get some sort of A/B switch, and find some way to squeeze the Boogie the Fender the 2X12 cabinet and my big ol' fat ass into the tiny corner of stage left for me. No thanks.

Features are really great. I went in looking for a Marshall Valve State 100 and walked out with this one. Has the requisite features: Bass, Treble, Mid, Presence, and reverb. Has a drive and more drive setting (like my old Acoustic Boogie clone with 2 dirty drive volumes).

Nice, quiet, smooth, glassy, but vibrant, living tone.
Plus: Great tone! Wonderful Tone! LOUD for a 40 watt amp.
Minus: Starts to distort past 4. I was looking for something with a little more head room. Oh well. This is a GREAT practice amp OR if you go through a PA.
I'm using my Boss ME8 though it. Really love the sound.
Looking at the 4X10 Blues DeVille model for gigging for more headroom.

Had it for a month. SOLID. No problems.

Haven't had to deal with 'em yet.

I'd buy it again for smaller practice situations. For Band situations, it appears that the Blues Deville (2X12 or 4X10) would fit the bill.
Don't let the 40 watt rating fool you. This mother moves nearly as much air as my 100 watt Acoustic Boogie clone.

Not repeat here.

Clean is sweet and glassy that is Fender's trade secret and HR Deluxe gives you all. Drive and more drive(12.7db more gain) channels with the EQ I can dial in almost all the sounds(close enough) I want. For the price with footswitch and cover, I compared to Peavey Classic, Crate VC and Marshall JTM, this is it. 40 watts is bit too much for home practice but replace the driver tube(V3), 12AX7A, with a 12AU7 (GrooveTube) and it got tamed for home use. This way I won't void my 5-year transferrable warranty.

I just got it for 1 month.

It is perfect for a Strat.

Due to former reports I think you will allready know all its features, in short the preamp part has, a clean channel, drive channel with more drive option. Volume for clean channel and Drive with Master control for drive channel, and the usual treble , mid and bass controls. The Power amp section has Reverb and Precense control. The channels and more drive are switchable via a footswitch.

It sounds very nice, but the reverb has some overkill in the high frequencies. But adjusting it to 2 it gives a nice sound. I think the amp is great for clean and not to much distorted sounds, is more common usefull than the Blues the Luxe. I only had one problem I wanted to use the amp as a practice amp at home. Allthough possible the volume it not easaly adjustabl for home use. So I changed the amp a bit, V1 and V2 I changed from 7025 to 6072A end the third 7025 I replaced with a ECC81. Following I changed the the 5881WXT from penthode operation to triode operation (wich is very easaly done). Now it sound even better as the 'original' and it is very simple to adjust the volume to home usage. Don't be afraid it sounds to weak because it still can make a lot of noise allthough the output is tempered from 40 to 15 watts. (Due to the triode setting of the 5881WXTs) The overall sound is although still very clean now looks like a mix of Blues the Luxe and Hot Rod the luxe.

N/A I have the amp for 10 days, And due to my changes I think I spilled the 5 year garantee ( but it's worth it)

ChickenShit, I asked the pros at WWW.Fender.com before i made my change what they would think about it. And all they answered 'Do not apply such a change'

At the moment I would certainly buy it again and make the same changes i did. I was very in doubt buying a Blues Junior or the Hot Rod. I loved the sound of the Junior and the features of the de luxe. At the end i have both.

This amp is quite versitle for practice or the working guitarist. It weighs slightly more than the classic Vibrolux amp. It has a single 12" speaker custom made for Fender by Emminace. The nominal wattage rating is 40 watts and is plenty loud for small to medium clubs or jam sessions with several other musicians. The controls include: volume, drive, bass, treble, middle, master, reverb, and presence. There are also switches for bright, channel sellect and more drive. The reverb is a long reverb tank on the bottom on the amp which is solid state driven. You can carry this amp with one hand. The amp comes with a footswitch and a protective covering. Overall, its a pretty nice looking and transportable package.

Let me discuss the sound in three parts 1) clean sound, 2) reverb, and 3) distortion. 1) The clean sound on this amp is supurb. It captures the classic fender sound and stays relatively clean up to at least 5 or 6 on volume. I was actually surprised how good the clean sound was for the price paid and a single 12" speaker. I have owned new and vintage amps that cost twice as much that didn't sound this good. I have to rate this a clear 10. If you want the "Fender sound", look no further. You will not be disappointed. 2) To my ears the reverb sounds horrible. It sounds very artificial, non-dimensional, tinny, much to trebly and nothing like the classic reverb sound of the twin or the vibrolux (which sound GREAT). This may be OK for the beginner, but if you want the classic reverb sound, for surf music, rock-and-roll, etc. then this ain't it. I rate this poor sound a "2" on a scale to 10. Sorry Fender, get back to the drawing boards on this one, fire the engineer who came up with this cheezy circuit. This is a big disappointment for an otherwise great sounding, great valued amp. I currently own a vintage 65 Vibrolux, a Princston chorus, a Marshall acoustic soloist and now the Hot-Rod Deluxe. In the past I've owned a 65 Twin Reverb and a classic Princston Reverb. This reverb may be the worst I've ever heard in my 30 years as a guitar palyer. Fortunately, my stomp box has a good sounding reverb and I can get around this problem. 3) Distortion can be subjective depending on your style. This amp has a very good distortion for my needs which is blues and rock-and-roll. I don't do metal or grunge so I can't comment here. The distortion is not quite as sweet sounding as on the Peavey Classic series but I think it's versitle and adjustable enough to satisfy a wide audience. My rating here is a 9. My overall rating for sound including the crumby reverb is "7".

It's a new amp but it seems to be constructed well. Too early to tell.

Never needed any.

I probably would not buy it again, but not because of the sound or features. There are so many great amps out there, I would try another one first. I would first look for a similar sized, similar sounding amp with a better reverb. Possibly the Prosonic.

This amp is a 40 watt,1-12 combo, with three channels. It is basically a newer version of the Blues Deluxe. The amp has channel switching between the three channels (clean, drive, and more drive) and a great reverb! It is an all tube amp that uses two 6L6's for power tubes. It is easy to get a great soundout of this amp!

The clean channel is just what you'd expect from Fender. Strats have a great beel tone coming through the clean channel. The drive channel adds an over drive to the sound and even when maxed out is more prone to blues flavors. More drive takes drive one setp farther. It makes for great rock tone! If your looking for Metal or Thrash tones this is not your amp. I'm playing new country and the amp is ideal. I can go from clean rhythm to a slight overdrive for leads and then hit "more drive" for my slide work. I love this amp! I use it with an assortment of telecasters, a strat, and an ES-335 and the amp lets the identity of each guitar shine on through.

I've only had the amp for a month and a half but have played 17 gigs with no complaints. In my experience, I have never had a problem with any Fender amp I've owned. I've found them to be very reliable so I'll rate this a 10.

i've never had to use Fender customer service but I'm sure they stand behind their products.

I'd definately buy the amp again. I think that it has alot of "bang for the buck" and sounds as good or better than some amps costing 3 to 4 times more. I checked out many of those amps and even leave my Mesa Blue Angel at home to gig with the HOT ROD Deluxe.

Amazing versatility from jazzy blues to crunch. It has foot switchable dual channels. Dual inputs. Power amp in, preampout, nice reverb, dual stage gain (also foot switchable), presence, brightness. It'd be nice to have separate tone and reverb controls for each channel and a headphone jack but I'm just being picky...I use it for everything from practice on up. 40 watts is enough for me, especially when I can mike it if need be. Also about $200 cheaper than the Hotrod Deville, which at 60 watts is a bit much for me around the house, just ask my wife :) Comes w/ nice cover.

I like to play blues to grunge. Amp seems noticeably quieter than my Crate VC2110R. Great distortion in the "MORE DRIVE" mode. Killer clean/reverb sounds. Using w/ Fender Strat Plus and Gibson Les Paul.

Just got it, no probs...

Can't help ya' here either...

LOVE IT! Very warm, very loud 40 watts, great distortion, good price. You won't be sorry. Has cool little 50th anniversary logo on back worth the ticket price right there :)