Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

i guess 05, clean, drive and more drive, fx loop. loud enough for most venues but keep a sm57 in the back of the amp in case you need it. THIS AMP TAKES A WHILE TO BREAK IN. BOUGHT IN 4/06 AND NOW THE ICE PICK SOUND IS GONE TOTALLY . I EVEN USE THE BRIGHT SWITCH NOW. i almost returned this amp because the ice pick shrill but i decided to wait to see. im glad i kept this amp.

gibson LP's and american strat for hard rock surf and punk in bars. not to noisy but sometimes yes.clean channel is good and breaks up after vol. 2 with humbuckers. i like it. the overdrive sound is debatable, i like it a lot.ac/dc tones with bridge pk up on LP's. ive also added a Fender Super Sonic 212 cab for $499 and sounds great. i also like the reverb for surf stuff. to me this amp sounds better than a 65 Twin reverb RI. i bought one and recently sold it. they sound good at first but they start to sound kinda blah, and stale after a bit. i had it for 3 months and began to hate it. besides its made in mexico as well. buy a real USA Twin if you want one. trust me.

so far so good had it since 4/13/06. i always bring a back up.you never know.

i have had good service in the past, others have not . luck of the draw i guess.

gigging 20+ years using mostly Marshalls but this amp is good sounding to me and i like it. doesnt take up much room. this amp looks classy on stage. mine is the black one. i would like to have a blonde one to match my super sonic cab though. the tone is amazing using both together. the $599 price cant be beat but this amp needs to break in good before you fall in love with it. not the best out of the box sound but give it a chance, im glad i did.

Made in Mexico not sure quite when owing to the new serial # system. I play rock, southern rock, countryish r n r.
3 Channels (sort of, well covered in other reviews common EQ)
Has reverb, effects loop, neither of which I need or use.
40 watts is really enough for most shows, hard to get breakup in the clean channel at some gigs, if that is what you want.

I use a Gretsch duo jet with powertrons retrofitted.
The Hot Rod is pretty boxy sounding and characterless (3 sounds kinda all bad)
It is relatively quiet. Just doesnt sound sweet to my ears.

While I had this amp it was reliable (not long) the jewel light bulb blew, oh well. I do not have enough money to gig with a back up amp, and I never have ever had a backup. I have heard bad things, but there are an awful lot of these amps out there, of course there will be problems with some of them.

N/A

As well as my gretsch I have an old Taylor 410 (93) that I love, a boss tuner and sometimes a blackstone OD...thats it, I keep it simple.
I sold this amp, bought if off ebay thinking it would do the trick (after trying it out in the store) life is too short folks have ordered a plexi from ceriatone for around the same $.
I have owned 3 jcm800s (every one great), a fender twin silverface, a musicman, an old 63 Goldentone (aussie amp, should have never parted with it) and a gibson goldtone (good fun), but my real love is english amps (they play themselves really) hence the Ceriatone ( the best my guitar ever sounded was with a white anny marshall and 2 12, I need that again. If you play covers this amp could be ok it is pretty versatile, but if you need one great sound, don't find out the hard way.
I often read the reviews at Harmony Central, though I should give something back and post one myself, it is a great website...cheers.

I bought this amp brand spanking new back in 2003. I'd been to the ACM and loved it, so I had to get one. It's got 3 channels (Clean, Dirty, More Dirty), a couple of inputs (handy for when your other guitarist 'forgets' his amp...), effects loop and a damn nifty footswitch, with an even niftier way of storing it (it sticks in the amp, as it's magnetised). It's all-tube, with 2 6L6s for the output valves and 3 12AX7s (?) for the preamp valves.

Usual controls, but they go up to 12, and you get a 'Bright' button on the clean channel. Oddly, came with 3 sets of strings. I'd have preferred a couple more vavles...

This is a brilliant amp. It's probably one of the best sounding I've heard for the money, and in some cases betters many more expensive amps.

I play gigs/rehearshals/home practises, and it's suited to every single one of them. Only real gripe with using it at home is the rather sudden increase in volume when you're trying to get an appropriate medium for the volume (gripy Draconian neighbours...)

OK, let's analyse the channels...

Clean: Best clean channel I've used. It's got everything I'll ever need. It shimmers, and breaks up nicely past a certain point.

Dirty: Er... I used to like the distortion on this amp. I don't much anymore. OK, it's still got it, but it's not to my taste. But- objectively- it's a good sound.

More Dirty: WYSIWYG. Same as above, but a little mushier so it's harder to pick out when you're playing with your band. Someone will like the sounds more than me, though.

If you couple this amp with a cheap distortion pedal, it'll sound utterly amazing. It's what I did. BOSS Mega Distortion permanently borrowed from my bassist made this amp a winner.

I'm utterly stunned at this amp. It's had the same tubes for 3 years and been gigged mercilessly, but it still sounds as good as when it was new- I know, because I've compared it to new ones in stores!

This amp is the most reliable amp I've used yet. My old Marshall blew up on me, my next Marshall obviously thought the first one was playing a game and decided to do the same. The Marshall after that I pushed off the back of a speeding truck after I bought this amp.

Never dealt with them, don't really want to either. I think it has a 2 year warranty.

This amp is brilliant, it complements my gear really well. A couple of PRSi and a humbucking Tele really do this amp justice. I have a couple of American Strats that I used to use a lot with this amp, but I got bored of them.

If I lost this amp (yeah, right) I'd definitely get another one. If it was stolen, I'd get another one. If it blew up on me, I'd get another one, because I know it's led a hard life so far.

I compared it to a Marshall DSL401, Peavey Classic 30, Ashdown Peacemaker 40, and a Marshall AVT. It knocked all of them for 6.

One other thing I'd like to share- buy it and you won't be disappointed. It's full of features, but if you're into a good bit of rawk muzak, then buy a distortion pedal at the same time... just my $0.02.

2001 AMP. 2 channel, switching, effects loop sort of. I don't use the preamp out because it sucks, and I don't use the power amp in. This was originally a practice amp. But, I am going to try playing it on stage.

Here's why I'm submitting this review: Stock, the distortion stinks. It's kind of washed out and fizzy, lacking the punch of EL34s, and a closed cabinet, and lacking any definition with highs. BUT, there is hope. I replaced the power tubes with a matched set of groove tubes (no change there really) and changed the preamp tubes to POS 1, 12AY7 new old stock Electro Harmonix, followed by 2 12AX7s, the POS 2 being new old stock and POS 3 a GT modern one. Get at least 2 12AY7s, and 2 12AT7s and start tube switching. The sound I have now is sweet indeed, more classic blackface sound, with a revved overdrive. If you want more character or diff. tone, use a pedal too! It really takes this amp from a piece of junk to a realistic small hall performer.

I use 3 strats, 2 teles, an old LP, and a Heritage H575. I play rock, blues and jazz. The HR deluxe isn't real noisy and had, I think a very nice clean channel.

I had it go out on me in a practice and it really made me mad. It was, however a bad replacement tube I put in it. So, no complaints here.

Never dealt with em.

Played 35 years, own a pile of stuff, Matchless Chieftain, Carvin Legacy, Protools studio, 8 guitars. I hate that this is a cheap little amp. I don't trust it. But, you get what you pay for. Right now, it sounds very good. I enjoy playing it very much. Will that last? who knows. Try messing with the tubes. It's great and it really pays off with this amp.

I bought the American HR deluxe because I heard one played live and really liked it. Not sure if threre is a difference to the mexican one. Dual 6L6 groove tubes ..The clean channel is classic fender with alot of headroom .. hey ,this amp is loud. The other two channels are drive & more drive. Both are great . The 1st drive channel is amazing when dialed in right especially with a humbucker equipped guitar like a les paul and as with all fenders strats/ teles sparkle.
The more drive is great too if the dials are adjusted right( that's why they are there ) don't mind all the experts who probably never take this out of their bedrooms to really try it out. This is a really good gigging amp, not too big.

I use two strats and a les paul through this and my gretsch is great on the clean channel. I play mostly rock/ blues as well as soul. The amp has dials to 12..I guess all part of the hot rod thing. All the power the average musican would need. Sounds huge when miked. This amp really works best with just a bit of overdrive.

I bought a road case for this and am gentle on it as with all my tube amps..tubes being what they are. So far so good regularly used for 5 years. Just replace the odd tube when needed.

N/A never needed to call.

I've been playing for 20 years and own alot of vintage gear. Most of the older stuff is quite heavy and was built for a different time when PA's sucked so all your sound projection was from your stage amps. That's all changed now with better house systems. I've always liked the portibility of deluxes as well as the sound of the single 12" speaker. This amp is all the power you'll ever need to gig & not too heavy.

enough features for what i do. dont use the fx loop or reverb with my band. i use the reverb only for surf rock as a hobbie with an american strat. clean, drive and more drive.

this is an update.. gigged with band 1st time last nite.. this amp sounds awsome except for the ice pick sound. this amp is brand new though. using a gibson les paul standard 05 model, burst buckers. the ice pick sound was less the longer the amp was on though so maybe after full break in it will be gone , dont know yet.. but for some reason you could not hear the ice pick in the audience or threw the mains , only on stage standing infront of the amp. i walked out front during play to listen. all in all i was happy. also i love the drive and more drive. to me they sound awsome. maybe i have a good one dont know. the drive channels are perfect for what i need. jimmy eat world, the strokes, typical garage punk stuff. im just hoping the ice pick goes away altogether.. like i said by the end of the nite it was much better than the start. i did not hear the bad bass tone people complain about though. the bass was very clear on # 4, have not tried higher settings . in my small studio there is more bass. i guess the room is in fault of that. i am satisfied with the over all performance.

we will see. i always bring a back up no matter what. you never know.if this amp breaks , i'll get it fixed no matter what.

some dealers only do warranty repairs if you bought it there. others dont care where you bought it, so ask. go to fender's web site for repair centers and call them to find out. you may have to drive sometimes but its all part of the hobbie or territory as you will.

gigging 20 years. if stolen? well i'll decide then. probably would buy it again. its cheap, has tubes, its loud, doesnt weigh to much. i would keep the cheap tubes and just add a vintage 30 or weber and let it go. the audience only wants good songs and nothing more. other musicians in the crowd dont count because they will say their band is better anyway no matter what. ive heard bands that suck and the crowd goes wild only because the song selection was great. i have used a les paul special before with a blues jr with bad power tubes before and sounded terrible but the bar manager said we sounded stellar. go figure that one out.

what ever, for the price, 10

just got it home and sounds great. yeh it has alot of bass so i turn it down, crank the treble & presence. the knobs go to 12 because fender doesnt know what kind guitar will be played through this. hate the bad reviews from idiots. want a 599$ amp all tube ptp 2 eq's, built in metal zone type distortion, jj's as stock equipment and a vintage 30 in it from the factory? dream on !!!call the custom shop and they will laugh at you.so will i. marshall doesnt give you that. neither does mesa boogie, peavy,crate or any other brand. other people say there are better options but fail to name them. fine, buy a 401 dsl for 1100$ lets see, the 401dsl combo.40 watts? yes. ptp wiring? no. jj's factory installed? no. vintage 30 as stock ? no. ok, how bout high gain metal distortion? no. there is no amp made period that gives you everything. modeling amps sound thin and unrealistic amp models everytime. they only sound cool in the store, that is fact.i guess you can buy a marshall mg250dfx combo for this price and have everyone laugh at you, not with you. a peavy is a good choice .classic 50 maybe. but still peavy is not going to give you jj's, ptp, vintage 30 or a weber 12"r for 599$ are they? no.didnt think so.

dont care. fender warranty does work. at least at my store. in fact i cant wait till my HRD breaks down because the guy i go too will fix it and go through every solder joint and more the first time. i do have to travel 40 plus miles to get there but so what.i have back up. thats why there is a warranty . but try to find a good service center. even if you have to travel. its worth it.had marshalls before jcm series too. they flat out suck.sound good when they feel like it. very expensive and they need to be modded for control and for better overdrive just like the reviews here. even the tsl series. the mode 4 sounds terrible .besides you cant count the number of effects the big name pro's use anyway. keep it simple. unless your rich.$$$$

frankly my dear, i dont give a damn.

playing 4ever, own 65 twin,59 bassman,blues jr.and now the HRD. love them all. stock too. i know how to turn knobs. i have a good ear. i think all amps can be upgraded but dont see the need for any of my amps. i gig full time and done so for years.

i have one on lay-a-way now.ive always wanted one and now i will soon. 2005 or 06 dont know. its still in the box sealed. enough features for me. i dont use fx loops, ext.cabs. less is more so i give it 8 for no footswitchable reverb though.

ive never owned one. ive played these for years only in music stores and loved the sound. i sold my deville 410(big mistake) and bought a 59 bassman ltd ri. yeh the bassman is a 10 without any features to it.sounds unreal, but im afraid to take it out of the studio. its so beautiful. i have read all the horror stories on HRD amp but the fender service center in stuart,fl. is outstanding and hats off to those guys. yes the od in the hot rods are very good but made for solo's. chords sound good too when tweeked right. every amp reguardless of make and price gets a bad review from some people any way so 599$ + 200$ for jj's and a celestion upgrade is well worth it to a career club musician.still 300$ cheaper than marshalls 401 dsl combo( thats guaranteed to have problems forever )after the mods. but some like marshall sound. i like fenders.ive heard friends HRD with his band (stock) and sounds great to me.

dont care. Schumacher Music in stuart,fl is the best for repairs. no questions asked except is it still under warranty. they have fixed other amps & cabinets and such. very fast, most done while you wait or go to lunch and maybe the post office or something and go back , pick it up. just that simple.(depending on the problem and parts availability of course) that has been my expierence.

my service center is great

41yo played clubs for 20 years. i know what im doing. i know what i want and need to get the job done. i gig with a 65 twin reverb ri. the HRD will replace my blues jr as a back up amp. the blues jr will be used as a practise and studio amp.

1 channel with 3 voicings: Clean; Dirty; Filthy.
Has channel switching.
Wish it had better quality, that is, Fender knows that
the channel switching power supply is problematic yet
they havent done much about it. Maybe they havent heard about
'heat sinks'. Amp could ues better control over mids,
and really needs to tame that bass.

I use 'clean' and a Boss Blues Driver with single coils.
LesPaul sounds good clean, clean w/blues driver, OK 'Dirty'.
PRS McCarty sounds OK clean, a little farty on the neck PU,
(good for jazz), but sounds unreal "dirty' using the bridge PU.

BTW, re-tubed with SED 6L6's (biased @ 35 whatevers/tube)
V1 = 12AX7EH, V2/3 = Cheapo Sovteh 12AX7WA's.
Changed speaker to a Celestion V30.

I put a set of wheels on it. Raising it up a bit helps calmt he bass a bit.

It's no Twin reverb, but it sounds much better than it did when stock.

No break downs, just had problems with crappy tubes.
Snap crackle pop, 12AX7's that dont have adequate output,
early death, etc. Took a while to get it straight.

Concerned about those 470ohm ceramic resistors in the channel switching/reverb power supply. They really need heatsinks or an
internal fan, or something.

The warranty is 6 inches long.

Nothing is perfect.
Playing 17 years.
Lost / stolen? Where?
I love the plastic bag that the owners manual comes in.
I hate that you can't lick the 6L6's when they've been on for a while.
I compared it to some Peaveys (Delta Blues, Vlassic 30), and some other Fenders like the Vibrolux re-issue, Deluxe Reverb, Pro-Reverb
(the newer ones). Although the sound ain't the cat's meow,
the HRDlx's price point is pretty hard to resist: the audience can't tell... I wish it had 'naughty bits'. I'd like to share my dyspepsia with all.

You know the features. The only feature I wish this amp had was seperate tone controls for the Clean/Drive channels.

I have owned this amp 4 years now. I use various guitars through it in a working band. I primarily use a Les Paul Studio and Fender American Strat through it. I have used various pedals. Right now I use a Zoom GFX-1 into a EQ pedal into the Clean channel. This amp works very well with effects pedals.

Everyone says the amp has a great clean channel. It does. No, it isn't a Fender Twin. I get a little tired of people comparing this amp to amps that cost 2-3 times as much. My Ford Escort isn't as nice as a Porsche. Wow! No kidding?? But for the cost, this is a very good sounding amp with loads of warm tone. Crank it up and it comes alive.

Everyone complains about the Drive channels. I would agree that they are not the best, but you can make them work very well. I have found the secret to getting a damn good crunch out of this amp is to turn Gain (Drive) down between 4-6 depending on humbuckers or single coil pickups, keep Bass down between 4-5, Treble up to 10-12, and very importantly, Turn Presence UP. You can almost get a Marshall type crunch out of this amp at these settings. But you have to turn Presence up to put an edge on the overdrive.

I have tried some basic mods to this amp just for fun. I replaced the stock tubes with JJ's, they tightened up the bass, especially on the Drive channels, and took just a little off the Highs. So the amp is no longer harsh.

I also put a Celestion G12T-75 speaker in the amp just to experiment. I prefer it to the stock Eminence. It handles the big bass this amp has much better. This amp tends to rumble and howl with lots of bass at volume. The Celestion took care of that nicely. I can get some pretty great low-end chug out of this amp now. It also sweetened up the highs too. Overall this speaker gave the amp a Rock vibe. This is really a Blues amp. For Blues it is awesome, for Rock you need to mod it a little or use a good pedal. But with a little work this amp will do it all. It is a very versatile amp, it will do Blues, Rock, Surf, Jazz, just about anything. This is probably the best feature of this amp.

My amp was made in the U.S.A. and has been extrememly reliable. The only problem I have ever had is that it has gone through 2 jewel lights. I picked up 2 for $2 at an auto parts store. That's it. This is a solid and well built amp. I have played this amp at several hundred gigs, it gets a 10 for reliability.

Can't really comment on this, I have never had a problem, so I've never had to call Fender. The best customer support is a quality product to begin with. So they get a 10.

Been playing over 30 years, currently play in a gigging Classic Rock band. This is a very good amp for the gigging musician. It has lots of power and all in all a pretty great tone. You would have to pay a lot more to do better. If it were stolen, I would probably replace it simply because it has been so reliable and versatile for what I do. For the very reasonable price, this is a great amp, so quit comparing it to amps that cost double or triple the price. Sheesh, what do you want, everything?

Limited Ed Maple Dovetailed Cab with Jensen C12N. Clean, drive, more drive, 1 set of tone controls.

I bought this amp because I had previously been impressed with the clean HRD sound and loved the maple cab. Also, the Jensen C12N was hawked as an upgrade and several reviewers seemed to like it. With a strat or tele, the clean sounds really nice but no matter how you upgrade the tubes, the drive sounds are at best okay. My real gripe and the reason I'm writing this is that a LesPaul sounds horrible through this amp! I'm fortunate to have a very extensive vintage and contemporary amp collection and this is the only Fender amp that sounds like pure crap with a LesPaul.

With a 'Paul, the bass notes sound harsh, ripping, unmusical, ugly-and thats on the clean channel. Switch to drive and it sounds like the speaker is blown! Not even the old standard TS9 can get a good overdriven sound with a LesPaul. Mind you, Strats and Teles with a TS9 sound darn good.

I was resigned to the conclusion that this is a single coil amp. Then I started playing the amp with other speaker cabs and found that just about anything else made a LesPaul sound fine (Celestion V-30s, G1275s, Greenbacks, Weber C12N, Weber California, Reverend Alltone, etc). Initially I stubbornly resisted the desire to replace the speaker, considering how I hade paid extra for this "premium driver." Fortunately I opted to replace it and after some reading and listening opted for an affordable Eminence Redcoat Wizard (a cross between a Vintage 30 and a Greenback).

I've read all the many reviews on this amp and I'm now convinced that
there is a great amp lurking within but the Eminence and Jensen C12N are just bad speakers. Let me go so far as to say that the Italian reissue Jensen C12N when coupled with a Les Paul, played through any head sounds like garbage, especially with distortion tones. Ironically, Ted Weber's C12N sounds great, as good or better than the original!

I'm certain there are many other good choices, but the Eminence Redcoat Wizard is a fantastic match with this amp. Go to the Eminence site, listen to the sound clip. It will sound like that and better. Now a LesPaul can go from clean and sweet to a creamy TS9 distortion that is a pleasure to play and sounds as good as any of my classic amps. Strats and Teles love this speaker as well, for both clean and distorted tones.

Alas, even with a great speaker and the worlds finest NOS tubes, the HRD drive/overdrive remain, at best, okay.

(The rating below is with the Wizard Redcoat. Without the Recoat, a 4-5 because of the inability to use a LesPaul)

Once, lost almost all volume. I started switching out tubes and it returned. Never pinpointed the problem.

Buy from a reputable dealer who will serve as an interface with Fender and you'll be ok.

With a good speaker its a dream but stay away from the reissue Jensen C12N if you play a Gibson and like distortion.

Yeah, 3 chanels clean, od, more od. You can change the chanels via footswitch or buildt in buttons. two inputs which are equal if u use two guitars at the same time:), but the second input is a bit lower in volume. Volume control, mid bass treble, presence reverb, bright switch for clean chanel master volume for od chanel and a drive knob. What else...an fx loop and an external speaker jack for cabinets i guess, i have never tried it. 40 watts real tube power is enough, and too much, but its okay. I can use it at home in lower volumes, sounds ok and at the band or gigs is ... great. I play alternative music blues a little bit like jazz, grunge etc. etc.

Now let see how it sounds... I use mainly a cort G200 guitar ( modified, changed the bridge single coils to kent armstrong humbucker ) a Jolana les paul copy and a jolana Vikomot telecaster copy (modified, whit two different single coils in the bridge position). As for pedals distortion DS-1, BD-2, an mxr 6 band eq, boss ce-3 chorus and a boss DD-6 delay, both are absolutely great for me. The variety of sounds i can create with the amp and effects together are soooo huge. I can get nirvana or sonic youth like stuff, or so tipical fender clean tone, which is excellent for blues jazz...One thing is important its a 40 watt fender tube amp, NOT a mesa, or marshall or a Peavey roadmaster. Its "just a little fender tube amp" whit great features if you know how to use an amp. Every feature on this amp is acceptable for the price, compared to other ultra high popular guitar amps. When i decided to have this amp i wanted a low power tube amp which has an fx loop, it has, its fender, its sounds good to me, its enough for me:)
One more thing, as others mentioned the od chanel isnt that high gain stuff, but at low drive settings with the more drive knob on it produce a real good sound ideal for non tipical chords like 7s, 4s etc. for real distortion i use my ds-1 whit the mxr 6band eq in conjunction. The fx loop is great for effects what more, i like it.

Only have since 2005 december, no problems yet.

this is my first tube amp but i have tried many of them before i bought it and since then i try everything what looks interesting. I pluged my guitar in and the good sound came out. Never repent i bought this amp its so great ah enough of this $%^&, if u have possibility try it, if u liked it buy it.

By now you know the features. As features go, this one has a lot for an amp, and especially one of this price. Reverb, Presence, Master Volume, Bright switch...it's all here. Everyone bitches about the OD...but as far as I'm concerned tube amps aren't meant to have a built in overdrive anyway. That's what a volume knob and pedals are for. Look at all of your vintage and botique amps...they don't have overdrives. Enough with the bitching about the OD...it should only be used in pinch.
One feature that is also great about this amp is it's weight. Great for small clubs (why I got it) and a grab and go amp. 40 watts is also perfect for the smaller/medium clubs.

Walk into any bar in Nashville and guess what amps they are using. 75% of them are Deluxe's. Perfect for a small club, grab and go, flexible tone, great cleans. Wether they are playing blues, country or rock...it's all here. It's a Fender...it's obviously not for high gain. The tone I was looking for when I bought this amp was Fender cleanly overdriven. It deliveres beautifully. The natural tone has everything you could want from a Fender...fairly warm, high end shimmer with a decent bottom end as long as you don't go too loud with humbuckers. Use a Tubescreamer and you get that wonderful Cougar/Petty/Blues overdrive. I put a Barber DD in front of it as well and is almost Marshall, with plenty of bite and attitude. I play a Les Paul 57 Goldtop RI, and an American Telecaster as my main guitars ...and this amp loves them both. The Telecaster is where it shines. I can go from beautiful Travis picking to wonderful blues with a pedal. There are so many knobs on this amp I don't know how you can't get a good tone out of it. As I said earlier, I don't even use the distortion.
For fun, I've changed out the V1 with JJ's...and it lowered the clean headroom. I'm still out as to wether this is what I want.

This amp is fairly new, but has gigged a few times without any problems. I've heard the input jacks can be a problem because of how they are hooked to the amp so I put a loop around the handle before going into the input. So far so good.

Never used it.

I have a wide range of amps. 83 JCM 800, Super Reverb RI, Orange, 60's Silvertone, Blues Jr and even a Fender Solid state for practicing. They all serve a purpose and all have their place, as does the HRD. I bought this as a backup and main amp for smaller gigs. The Super is too big, bulky and loud to lug around for smaller gigs. The 40 watts is perfect to get in that sweet spot during gigs where a 50 watt Marshall is too loud. I love that I can crank this a little and hit that overdriven nirvana. It works great with pedals, and especially shines with Tele's.
If it was stolen I would buy another one. For it's price and target audience it's perfect.
I compared this to the Limited Edition, Blues Deluxe and Deluxe Reverb RI. To me, this had the best warmth, clean shimmer and didn't have that boxy sound. It's a great amp at a great price.

My hot rod deluxe was bought in may 2005. Being a Boogie player for 25 years I bought this amp 'cause of his clean channel.
This amp isn't versatile at all. The only thing that matters to me is the clean channel. Can't use the drive channel it sucks!
The power is great and there is lots of headroom. Playing jazzy and blues stuff most of the time I changed the pre-amp tubes for Electro Harmonix ay7's. This halves the overall volume and makes the volume working more equal from 1 to 10. When you're a jazzy player try it! It's worth every penny! You get a smooth sounding amp wich, in my opinion, is far better sounding for jazz and blues.

My main instruments are Gibson Es335 and PRS custom, I also own a Schecter strat from the exotic wood series (discontinued). All instruments sound well and the amp does his work properly.
But............I sold it!

Owned it for 8 months, there's nothing wrong with reliability!

I wanted a Fender for the clean tone. Thirty years ago I started with Music man, marshall, Kitty Hawk and then Boogie cal50, mk2, DC5, studio pre-amp with 50/50 and Vtwin preamp (rack). The stereo set is sold after the decision to stop gigging. I only do simple studio things, I love it 'cause of the ability to take the time to make your tone and play your thing in the best way you can.
This is why I chose Fender. The hot rod de luxe is a disappointement to me 'cause of his overall sound. Too litlle of; articulation, treblespank, definition lower tones, and a complete worthless drive channel. It may suit your needs but I'm back to Boogie!
Compared a Fender '65 reissue deluxe reverb and a Boogie F-30 and bought the Boogie. The only thing I liked better on the Fender is the reverb. The sound of Boogie is very more ALIVE, never dull, more versatile, and that's what I need. It took me 8 months to sort this out. Anyway, it doesn't make Fender a bad amp, just not MY amp.

Clean channel rules everything else ????

Of course, nice reverb.

Save your money & buy a Peavey Classic 30,
Carvin Nomad or Laney, whatever!
Test drive some amps before you settle on one of these!
The clean channel is great, ton's of headroom. (That's it!)

The Dirt/Drive channel is POOP! You can try to convince yourself it
sounds good, but no matter what I've tried it sucks!
It has a Low/Mid thing going that farts out.
Plus it squeals like crazy at times.

These are vey reliable Amps.

Fender's not known for their "Great" customer service!

A friend of mine has one of these & I must say -- it sounds killer.
Every other Hot Rod Deluxe or DeVille I've heard or played through makes me want to smash my guitars into a million pieces.
I'm sure there's a mod that any Amp tech can do to give these amps a decent Overdrive sound. Unless you have that done, stay away from these amps.
Nothing sounds better than an old Deluxe Reverb or 50 watt Bassman . It's almost like Fender gave up when it came to finding a sound for the Drive channel on these amps.
If it wasn't for Fender there would be no Marshall.
You'd think Fender could come up with an Amp that could kick a little ass.
Fender missed it on this series!
I have found out the hard way, wasting a too much cash. Try a Peavey, Laney, Carvin or find a Fender Prosonic. You can find a Prosonic almost for the price of a Deluxe.

There's only on rreason these amps amps sell like they do.
The Fender name! Come on Fender spend a little more time &
develope an Amp that actually meets expectations!

Main features already listed in other posts. One great feature of this amp is the ease of modifying it and baising it when trying different tubes. Having an effects loop is a must and a good reason not to get a vintage reissue as they don't usually have them. Also having 2 channels is great for playing in different types of bands. I usually don't find multi-channels amps that useful for switching back and forth during the same gig, it never mixes very well. I set it clean for a jazz gig and use a pedal to add a little drive if needed or set it dirty for a rock gig and clean it up with my volume knob if I need a clean sound for a song. Number one feature: Portable volume!!!!! This thing delivers that for sure.

I am using this amp with an American Ash Tele with a Duncan '59 in the neck (sweet axe BTW). I play in a smooth jazz/funk/fusion band. I also play with different rock bands now and then. My gig experiences seem to differ with a lot of the other posts in that I rarely have a chance to mic my amp and go through a PA. It's really not possible considering the small stages and the ever changing personel on a jazz gig. Maybe a sax player will show, maybe not. We have 3 different keyboard players any one of which could be booked to do the gig, one of them sings and brings his own PA. Different people show up at different times and we play. An in depth sound check is not really possible as there is usually a crowd already there talking and drinking etc.etc.

This amp is not a "this is my signature sound" type of amp. But it is a great amp for someone who needs volume, portability and flexability for a gig. I find that the tones controls are similar in operation to a Mesa Caliber .50 or other mid '90s Mesa in that the bass and middle controls can only be turned up a little if at all ( maybe because they were designed to work with the bright switch engaged.. I don't know ). I usually have it set with bright=off, bass=off, middle=1.5, treble=9, and the presence set pretty high. These setting seems to eliminate the frequent complaint that this amp sounds muddy or farty. I usually have the volume at 9. I can get plenty of clean headroom by simpy backing off the guitar volume. With the '59 in my tele, I can get a nice warm, slightly overdriven, loud jazz sound at these settings. Perfect for heads and solos. When I need bite, I can switch to the single coil in the tele and it sounds kind of Keith Richards nasty but with a little more warmth. I use a Boss DS-1 if I need drive for fusion or solos and this pedal sounds great with this amp because the trebley characteric of that pedal mixes well with the darker sound of the amp. And again, never ran out of volume with this amp.

The Drive channel is very usable on a rock gig, though again, I don't think most 2 channel amps are great at switching back and forth at a gig, but setting up and using just the drive cahnnel for a rock gig works great. The key as had been previously mentioned is to crank the master almost all the way up and bring the drive up to about 4. When I did this, I got sweet controllable feedback and great sustain and crunch. BTW. I did retube with JJ power and preamp tubes from Eurotubes. I also tried the 6v6 tubes on a jazz gig and they were awesome, just cut my clean headroom a little too much so I switched back to the 6l6s, but I would defintely use the 6v6s on a rock gig. With the amp cranked, you can easily get an early VH-1 sound going with the 6v6s.

I have to go with a 9 on this amp because clearly there are better sounding amps, but for someone who needs a variety of sounds on a gig in a loud but easily portable package, I don't really see where this is lacking.

I been using it at gigs without a backup and with the volume close to maximum for 6 months. No problems yet. If I get several years out of it, I'll be happy. That's the great thing about a sub $600 dollar amp. I'm not all worried about it. If it screws me, I'll get something else.

Fender support is the worst. I experienced this with a guitar that had a problem...they were useless. I've not needed them with this amp.

I've been playing 25 years and have owned JCM800s, laney tube amps, peaveys. I currently have a Mesa Caliber .50+ and a Tech21 Trademark 60 ( this is a good amp but just couldn't keep up volume wise on gigs ). If it were lost or stolen, I wouldn't be too upset because it's not a vintage Fender, it's a tool for gigs and tools get lost, broken and stolen. If I could find something as loud and portable that sounded better and was within a couple hundred bucks of the HRD, I'd buy that, else I'd buy another HRD.

Plenty O features. You know em...

I bought this amp 6 years ago new. It's a 200 model. This is an update to a review I wrote on it a few years ago.

I'm still so glad I bought this amp. I feel fortunate to have it. I've owned many tube amps and still own 5 including this one, but none are better than the HRDx. I've played this amp next to vintage Fenders and PTP uber-expensive boutique jobbies and have never come out on the short end of tone.

This update is really just to state that I am still as thrilled with this thing as the day I bought it.

Not a single problem in 6 years of heavy use.

N/A

The amps I've bought since this one are a Marshall Studio 15, Skip Simmons Newcomb Pathfinder, Harmony H410 and a Fender Champ. I own too many guitars to mention.

i just bought a new Fender Hot Rod Deluxe from Sam Ash in Tampa Florida. I dont live there but ended up hard pressed for an amp that could play an outdoor gig that had good clean sound. I play a Fender U.S. Strat HH through a Roland GR-20 and a Line 6 XT Live Effects pedal system. Its got 2 channels with a clean / Drive / and More Drive option and Reverb. I would like the to have a little more distortion from the amp itself but in all honesty I didnt buy it thinking it would have better than it has. No headphone jack, so dont get close to this amp if you live in a apartment or condo that has thin walls. I will use it mostly for gigs and practice events that have nore noise restrictions. Its a full classic tube amp, and as far as the sound goes, it sounds just like a fender tube amp we have come to recognize as a standard in tube sound.

I play mostly Blues, jazz jamming music, like phish, Charlie hunter style funk and a bit of heavier tastefull rock with alot of high end. Its a very responsive amp. Seems the volume peaks at about 3.5 or 4 and after that starts to break up giving you a more blues feel. So, off the bat, you may play this thing at volume 2 and say "OMG, this things loud as hell" but truth is, its just enough for a small outdoor venue, anything bigger and I would turn down and Mic it. There is a good amount of headroom for cleans if you consider the overall cap of the loudness. Dont get me wrong, If your not familiar with tube amps you may say 40 watts wont cut it but It will trample most 250 watt solid state amps and never look back. I was looking for a super clean amp with classic reverb sound to digitally destroy, and after a band practice and a gig at an outdoor venue I can say I got what I wanted but, dont let the hipe about this amp being to loud fool you. I was just enough, and I mean just enough. If i turned the volume past 3.5 I was risking tone. Some people buy this amp for the tone that occurs after max volume but with me playing a GR-20 Guitar Synth attached that is not an option. The distortion is just what you would expect. Not alot of balls to scretch out the real constant consistant toned distortion, but has a very classic rock distortion sound. My saying's always been "If your playing metal have a pedal". This amp is not for heavy metal.

I used it on a gig day 2 of owning it without a backup. I was very confident in the product. I do not have the overall experience with it yet to tell you more, so it gets an 8

No problems as of yet. came with a 5 year warranty. electronics covered for 5, the rest (speackers, tubes) is a 90 day. The warranty is deceptive. Know what your getting.

I have been playing for 22 years. I have a Fender Accoustisonic, Fender Twin (1982), And the Hot Rod Deluxe. The clean channel is what you buy this amp for, nothing else. If you want more from it, as I do, make sure you own the gear to bring out the beast in this amp. I think Its a perfect amp if your playing regularly with a drummer, have small outdoor gigs on occasion, have $600 bucks for such things, and take it for what it is, a $600 dollar fender tube amp thats got good sound, a relatively loud amp but not as loud as other reviews may make it sound. Most importantly are looking for a classic clean Fender sounding tube amp thats affordable. If your tossed up between the Fender Blues Junior (15Watt Tube amp with Class A circuitry) or the Hot Rod Deluxe i would suggest one thing. If your playing outdoors without the abiliy to conect to a house PA or your PA with good PA cabinets, dont get anything smaller than a 40 watt from this line.

Made in mexico i believe, two channels, reverb....the effects loop sucks but then its a fender.....nothing special here, average set of features.

when i had it i ran various strats through this thing along with an ibanez prestige sometomes i believe.
the cleans are cool i guess. the one thing fender does know how to do.....nothing special though, this aint no blackface twin although i'm sure one doesn't expect that for the pricetag.
the overdrive though.....is nothing short of atrocious. you should get a part of your money back each time you hit the switch. flabby, nasty, undefined. when i bought it, i knew about this and had some mods, tube changes and speaker switching in mind but i realized its a waste of time.

reverb is ....not too bad from 0-2....cheesy and atrocious after that.

it is an import fender, i wouldn't personally trust it with hardcore use. i took mine out a few times and it was fine though

HAH

i've been playing for quite a bit and i'm a total tone junkie. I play everything from jazz/blues to very heavy metal, i like a lot of things and a lot of tones. currently i am running through a VHT pitbull half stack and looking for some soldano and carvin stuff. no use comparing because ...they're different 'kinds' of amps. but i was truly dissappointed in this amp.

i wouldn't advise anyone to get this if they actually need all the features this thing offers. if you just want a 500 dollar solution for decent cleans and aren't big on reverb, sure, go ahead. Get a carvin nomad, a traynor ycv40 or even a peavey classic....i'm sure there are other much better amps in this price range as well.

Mine is a 2005 blonde hot rod deluxe. It has been about a year since i got it and it is a really great amp. Its very versitile and can be used in many different ways. I really like the drive/more drive channel. It sounds really good. I mainly use the drive channel for rhythm and click on the more drive for soaring leads

My rig goes like this:
Guitar-epiphone elitist les paul custom
pedals-mxr distortion plus
amp-hot rod deluxe

This is pretty much the perfect amp for blues and rock. The amp is very quiet especially with humbucking pickups. The clean channel is awesome. just what you would expect from a fender tube amp. This amp's clean channel is not really meant to be driven, but you can get some dirt out of it at high volumes. The overdrive on this amp is really spectacular. you can really get some awesome tubescreamer-esque tones out of it.

This amp is fairly well built for a mexican product, but if you are going to be gigging alot, then a flight case is a must. the face plate is very delicate because all of the wiring goes right up to the face plate so if moisture gets in there, it could cause some damage. Also, the knob shafts are made out of cheap aluminum. So be careful if you don't have a flight case.

N/A

Overall, this a really great amp for the money. It sounds really good in overdrive and clean. If mine were lost or stolen, I probably wouldnt get another. I would go after a twin reverb or thd bivalve. But, this amp is really slammin for blues, rock, and country. If you intend to get serious with this amp, then i recommend putting new jj tubes in it and also getting a flight case, and changing out the stock speaker for a jensen or weber. Those modifications would make a huge difference

This amp is LOADED with features,PERIOD! Presents,Reverb,Bright Switch, Pre Amp out, Poweramp in, Good EQ, DRIVE/Volume, Drive/More Drive switching, Footswitch, blah,blah,blah...ect! LOADED! There is nothing more I could ask of an Amp at this Price. Mine are '96 models. Ampeg,Laney,Crate, and Peavey could not compare at the time, 0r now,and I tried them ALL.

I play mostly Blues and Rock. I use several Teles with any thing from High Output RED LACE SENSOR P/U's to aftermarket and stock P/U's. This amp Loves Teles! Clean sounds are quite nice, Drive and More Drive rock also. Keep in mind, it is a Fender! You buy it for the GOOD clean sounds! GET RID OF THE JUNK RUSSIAN/CHINA tubes and you have a very nice amp! A NOS 5751 GE/RCA in V-1 position is a Damn good start!!! DONT bitch about the price...They LAST FOREVER! I have Sylvania STR6L6GC in one and G.E.6L6GC in the other. THE STOCK SPEAKERS ARE FINE. The 5751 will get the MUD out of the Drive/MoreDrive. CHEAP FIX!!!

You can keep the COLD running stock output tube in until one dies...BUT get some nice NOS/USA ones and REBIAS THE AMP!!!! and get a nice NOS 5751 in V-1 NOW. Mine are played daily and have NEVER been serviced ever! IN ALMOST 10 YEARS. I have other amps, but my Tech only seen these Once, for a retube and Bias.

What customer support??? I have never had a PROBLEM, even ONCE!!! BUY REAL TUBES...USA from a REAL dealer, not Ebay, unless you know what you are doing. THEY LAST FOREVER! I have an amp that is 33 years old, and only 1 of 7 tubes have been replaced, in the reverb driver. Divide your cost over the years and they are LESS than russian/china crap, and YEARS more TONE.

Got my first TELE and Fender amp in '77. Both used, and still have them. Owned several, and Tried several More! The HRD is hardly Boutique, but can offer good vintage sound with good tubes, and Extreme reliability for a modest and fair price. If you want some thing nicer, trust me, you will PAY.

The features on the amp are well documented, and, they are what I was looking for when I bought mine - plenty of volume, nice simple/retro look, tubes, ability to get an overdrive sound, for what seemed a reasonable price (about 600.00 US). It gets an 8 only because if you want lots of dials and modeling options, this ain't the amp.

Ah, here is the problem. First, I play blues/jazzy funk/some rock, no metal. I play a Strat (single coils, of course) and a couple Ibanez models (AS83 semi-hollow body, and S470) so I have the ability to get a range of tonality. Not one of these guitars sounds good through this thing. It is harsh, flat, one-dimensional. Where's the warmth? The sweet overdrive? Not here, at least in the stock, off the shelf unit. I swapped tubes out, and got slightly warmer/better tone, but still not there. The overdrive is a bad joke perpetuated on unknowing buyers. It is just bad, not musical in anyway that I can see. The advice I hear is that I should swap the speaker out. Great, another 100.00 into the thing. So for the lack of what it should sound like, it gets a 3 - and even then only for the volume (it can be loud for such a little guy) and an almost liveable clean sound. But forget trying to get good distortion out of it, either through your effect boxes or the overdrive channel.

So far, it just sounds bad, but hey, at least it sounds bad and WORKS...

No reason to deal with Fender directly so far.

I've been playing longer than I care to admit, and I don't think I have unrealistically high standards. This unit just fails to meet my criteria for making good sounding music. I think a 40 watt, single speaker, tube amp with overdrive, for a reasonable fee, from Fender, should be a nice amp that has some real pluses, particularly for the blues/jazz/funk genres. I just can't find those pluses on this guy. If indeed all I need to do is swap out the speaker, ok, great, but man, I would have rather kicked in a couple more bucks up front and have it sound nice out of the gate. Is that too much to ask for? I would not buy another of these, unless someone could show me how the mods really do make a difference.

I have two of these which I bought just under 4 years ago. Both are U.S. made. As for features, they are covered in the 432 reviews before mine, so I probably don't need to repeat.

Features I don't use: drive channel. I like the "more drive: channel better, but found it better to use a good pedal for overdrive.

The amp needs separate EQs for drive and clean channels.

After lots of experimentation, I have come to the conclusion that the key to using this amp is to get a beautiful clean channel and then build on it from there with good effects. But how do you get there. Well, I have experimented with thousands of $ worth of different speakers and tubes. Here's to hoping my experiences help you get where you want to without spending a fortune.

SPEAKERS:
The stock speaker is better than most people give it credit for. With good tubes, it will deliver a beautiful chimey, clean. But it has a tough time handling all the bass this amp puts out. So if you're playing at bedroom volumes, its fine. If you need more, you'll need to change it.

The best speaker I have ever heard paired up with this amp is the Reverend Alltone. It is a thing of sonic beauty. It delivers a very 3 dimensional sound with amazing presence and detail. Oh, and they are no longer made. I'm lucky enough to have purchased six of them before they were discontinued. The only problem - once again -is the heavy bass. But with Reverend no longer making this speaker, Fender should give Joe Naylor a call and buy the rights to it. Then, they could mass produce it, stick it in their amps and have lots of very happy customers.

Until then, my experience is that Celestion speakers as a whole handle booming bass better. I wound up replacing the stock speaker in one HRD with a Celestion Greenback. I know: some folks love the Vintage 30. I tried it for a while. The Vintage 30 just kills this amp's beautiful clean tones. The Greenback handles the bass not quite as well as the Vintage 30, but definitely better than just about anything else. It still lets the amp's chimey clean tones, presence and detail shine through.

Other speakers I have experimented with in this amp include Celestions: Blue Alnico(very disappointing), G12T-75s(surprisingly good), Seventy/80's(surprisingly good for the $); Jensen C12N reissue(over-rated); Eminence: Legend 122 alnico (very good); Legend 125(which is the actual stock speaker); GB12; M12(pretty good) and others.

The Greenback is rated at 25 watts. The HRD is 40. The Greenback is perfect for bedroom practice playing. When needing more juice, I add an Avatar G112 extension which I have loaded with a Reverend Alltone 1250. The combination is perfect. I am very happy with the Greenback in the amp and the Alltone in the extension cab.

TUBES:
Very important. A good V1 tube will make or break your tone. The best sounding V1 tubes I have heard in these amps are by far the JAN GE 12AX7WAs. The JAN Philips 12AX7WAs are pretty good, too. A good Groove Tubes 12AX7M will sound good, but these tend to accentuate the bass - something you don't need. My experience has been that the GT 12AX7M's sound nice for about 5 hours and then start to dull out and sound like Sovtek 12AX7A/7025.

Everyone raves about the old Mullards. I have tried quite a few in these amps. They do sound nice, but I still think the GEs are a better match. In fact, I replaced a Mullard ECC83 last night and wnet back to a GE 12AX7WA.

In the new production tubes, I have tried them all. If you can find a good one, the Ei 12AX7 is amazing. The problem is that most of these are subpar. Believe me, I have tried and tested many. I have wasted more money in Ei 12AX7s than I care to admit.

My bias against the tonal mediocrity of Sovtek 12AX7A/Bs made me weary of trying the Sovtek 12AX7LPS. My loss. This is by far the best new production tube for these amps. The other Sovteks - 12AX7A/7025, 12AX7B or 12AX7C - do not consistently deliver good tone. And everyone I have tested has tested very strong for both output and transconductance.

Some folks like the EH 12AX7s. They are bright, but I have found that they lack the complexity of tone that others will deliver. JJ ECC83s tend to just be too dark.

So, NOS JAN GE 12AX7WA or new production Sovtek 12AX7LPS.

POWER TUBES:
The hands down winner is the JAN Philips 6L6WGB. It is not boomy on the bass - which is perfect for this amp - and has great detail and presence. They are very reliable. And since they are 25 watt tubes - not 30 watt tubes - you can bias them a little colder, which will be a little easier on your transformer and other components. And with the design spec plate voltage in these amps down in the 430 range, the 6L6WGBs will do just fine. I have yet to have to replace a single one.

In new production tubes, the SEDs are the winners by a mile. I found I had to set my bias at no less than 72 to get them to deliver, but they have a very nice, full, detailed tone that shines in these amps.

I was also surprised at how good the current production Shuguang 6L6GCs sound. And they are cheap, too! The Sovtek 5881, 6L6WGC; the JJs; the EHs were not in the same league.

PHASE INVERTER
Lots of folks have talked about using a 5751 or a 12AT7 here to tame the amp a little. I tried this for a while. I don't recommend it. It robs the amp of the presence, detail and chime that folks love about the clean channel.

One amp died at the three year mark. Cold solder joints were to blame. Simple: right? Wrong. The authorized repair service was pretty bad.

The authorized repair facility told me that the problem was the power tubes - a "repair" that obviously was not under warranty. I had tested the tubes before, so I knew that was incorrect. I had to take the amp back. After the second attempt, the repair facility assured me that they fixed it. When I got home, before turning on the amp, I noticed that the white lettering on the Fender Sovtek 5881s had turned brown - a sign that the tubes had been run too hot. The tubes were not in this condition when I took the amp in. Here's the really interesting part: the repair center had supposedly run a full diagnostic on the amp this time. But when I cranked up the amp, the tubes started to glow red. HOw could their "full diagnostic" have missed this? When I cranked up the amp, I had hooked up a Bias King in line. It started to read like 200. If you know anything about power tubes, you know these are all very bad signs. I shut the amp down right away. I popped in a second set of power tubes and got the same danger signs. REMEMBER: the repair shop said they had repaired the problem and done a full diagnostic. I have my doubts. I took the amp back a third time. They finally got it repaired.

The second Hot Rod Deluxe has continued ticking right along. No problem.

The five year warranty is great. As you can read, my experience is that the authorized repair service is not.

The "it's the tubes" excuse was used every time. It struck me as (1) simpy an attempt at avoiding warranty responsibility and (2) a way for service centers to get around being paid at the rate agreed to with Fender - which typically is a lot lower than what they charge you coming in off of the street with an out-of-warranty unit. Unfortunately, this is typical of how more and more businesses operate this day in age. I'm not happy about these practices.

I was ultimately able to get factory authorized repair work, but it was not consistently done right. One repair required three trips back. Another repair on a different FMIC amp also required three trips and took over 9 months before the job was done.

The Hot Rod Deluxe is the amp that brought me back to Fender amps. Fender's five year warranty was one of the factors that convinced me to roll the dice. But the mediocre repair service was definitely a factor in convincing me not to spend the $ I was ready to shell out on a Vibro-King. I instead experimented and bought a B-52 AT-100 triple rectifier tube head, which I am extremely happy with. And I saved about $1000.00!

Fender has some good products, but they have got to provide better service to their clients!

25 years playing. More modest gear - including speakers, amps, guitars and tubes - than I can list.

I absolutely love the beautiful, chimey clean tones the HRD delivers. Stock, it is not a "10", but it is a great sounding amplifier at a very reasonable price. With a little tweaking, you'll get close enough to "10". Still, a great sounding amplifier at a very reasonable price. On the other hand, unrealiable warranty service might very well keep me clear of buying Fender amps in the future. While I love my HRDs, if lost or stolen, I might very well buy something else.

I have tried to give credit and criticism, respectively, where each is deserved, and the results of my experiences. Hope this helps.

This amp is a pretty good amp, made in dec 2000. Its got a shared EQ, which isn't that big of a deal for me. Its got 2 channels, channel two having drive and more drive. The more drive on my amp isn't that much distorted than the drive, but one of my preamp tubes is microphonic. I tried it with newer tubes, and it sounds much better. I wish that it would have a boost function, but its ok without one, and you could buy or make a boost pedal.

I play a Fernandes Retrorocket-X, which isn't that great of a guitar, but it plays really well. Its a SSH setup. The most/best sounding distortion comes from the humbucker, which is really hot on my guitar. The mid single coil has a great sound too. The neck pickup has the best sound on the clean channel. It fits my style pretty well. I play everything, from jazz to metal, and everything in between. I've had some problems with my amp, so i'm gonna return it, but if you get one new with a warranty you should be OK. The one i got was the $1000 version with the celestion vintage 30. I've played it and the one with the eminence. The emeinence sounds really bad on the clean channel, but it sounds ok on the dirty channel.
The amp has a lot of clean headroom, as can be expected from a fender. It has a really nice dirty sound, and you can get from no distortion on channel two to a ton.

Well, the amp i got was used, so this won't apply to many people. First off, my amp is missing the grounding sleeve on input 1. I took it to a tech, and said that this caused the the amp to randomly switch between the two inputs(or channels, its been awhile) which overloads the amp, and causes it to sqeal on the more drive channel. It only does this on a non-conducting florr, so on concrete floors it works fine. It would cost $80 to fix. However, the problem is intermittent, which causes him to think that the amp has a cathode imbalance, but he also said the problem would be hard to trace. The problem with this amp is that in order to look inside, you have to take apart the front panel, and it is a huge ordeal. I'm gonna open it up one time before i return it, just in case i find a loose wire. Like i said, this rating is beause it is a used amp.

Never dealt with fender

Been playing for 3 years, owned a clean solid state amp and wanted a tube sound, but this wasn't reliable enough for me.

I bought this amp at 2004. I gave it a fair review in stock mode. Since then, my amp has been modified. It has three channels (clean, drive and more drive), effects loop, 2 input jacks (one high and one low), extension speaker output jack and it is a loud 40 watt amp. I do wish the reverb was switchable, and each channel had its own controls compared to shared, I also wish it had a headphone jack. My style is mainly rock and hard rock plus a bit of blues. This amp is very versatile and it is pedal friendly. It is loud enough for small to medium venue . If you need more volume, you can always mic it. Plus it has a 5 year warranty.

My amp has been modified. I changed the tubes to strictly JJs Electronic tubes (ECC803 preamp and 6L6GCs Power tubes). The stock tubes made by Groove tubes where harsh, muddy, and piercing. It was so easy to get muddy sounds while the highs were sounding like ice picks. The overdrive was just unbearable that it was unusable. The JJs took out the harshness and the piercing highs. It smooth out the tone. The next thing that had to go was the speaker. At high volume, it would fart out and sounded flabby I replaced with a Carvin GT12 speaker. The stock Fender speaker and the Carvin was made by Eminence. The Carvin GT12 sounds great in low, medium and high volumes. The overdrive is now usable and very mean. The more drive sounds like a stock Marshall JCM 800. It is very AC/DCish. If I put a tube screamer in front of the drive and more drive channel, I have a very nice brown sound aka Van Halen II "You're No Good". The lead tones has a woman tone with lots of bite. I use a Fender Heavy Metal Strat (with a Dimarzio YJM neck, HS-II middle and Evolution bridge) and an Epiphone Les Paul Standard (with a Dimarzio Air Norton on the neck and a geniune Bill Lawrence (from Bill and Becky Lawrence) L500L on the bridge). Both guitars sound great with the amp. They just sing. I also use a 2x12 Carvin Legacy cab loaded with Celestion Vin30 as an extended cab. The sound is much fatter and fuller with the cab. I get the my bottom from internal speaker while I get the mids and highs from the extended cab. I did not think a Fender could attain a Marshall tone, but it can. When I use a Boss MT2 (metal zone) petal though the clean channel, I am in metal territory and it absolutely rips. The amp becomes a fire breathing monster. The clean channel remains very clean and it starts to break up around 4 and 5. If you put an electric acoustic guitar through the clean channel, the sound is truly heaven. Last thing, I could never get muddy tones no matter what settings are used. As stock I would give it a 7. With the mods, I would give it a 10.

I had the amp for two years now. I lost volume in less then a year I own the amp. I had to take it to a Fender repair center and it was fix for free. It has been running great ever since.

I did not have to deal with Fender. Fender repair centers are all over place because most resellers that sell Fenders also repair them. It has a 5 year warranty.

This amp is a labor of love. I have been playing for 25 years and really love this amp. I also own a 1991 Carvin X100B head and a Carvin SX200 combo. This was my first tube amp. I was not happy with the amp stock. In stock form, it sounds like a blanket covered the amp. With the help from Harmony Central, I was able to turn this amp into a tone monster. I love that fact that it is portable and it sounds very good as a stand alone amp. I would recommend this amp only because it has the potential. It is like the girl next door that blossoms into absolute babe. It is all there. With few mods and the tubes and speaker broken in, you get an all round beautiful sounding amp.

Read all the others for features.

It sounds good. Breaks up pretty quickly.

Ok this is what I was waiting for...This amp is a piece of shit. I've had it for about a year, DO NOT gig with it, DO NOT play it over 2, baby the thing, and I've had more f*ckin problems than I can count. DO NOT BUY THIS AMP! I know it looks good because of the price and the glowing reviews, but you'll regret it. This model is rife with problems. Go to that unofficial HR Deluxe website and read all the things that have gone wrong with it. Terrible. I wish I had bought a Twin on eBay or something. It would have made more economical sense. BUYER BEWARE!!!!

My warranty is void b/c I had to fix the thing myself. Fender sucks.

Like I said, if you buy this amp you're buying a ton of problems/issues. And, as if to rub it in, the price on these things has gone UP! Do not make the same mistake I did. Why do you think there are so many on eBay? Everyone's getting rid of them while they still can!

It's all been covered many times. I do wish it had separate eq controls for both channels to set up the distortion right.

I use a 2001 american strat that runs into a mxr zakk wylde od, fulltone clyde deluxe wah, boss ce2 chorus then to the hot rod deluxe.
I play classic rock, reggae, blues, metal all of it. I find it suits all styles well as long as you have an od pedal for extra dirt.
It isn't noisy at all. I run everything through power conditioners and use good cable.
this amps clean channel is why you should buy it. I was playing my strat through an orange rocker 30 before i got this amp. I was ready to get rid of my strat because i felt it didn't have the full dynamic sound I wanted. I sold the orange and bought this fender. Holy shit my strat came to life. fender guitar with fender amp equals holy shit. the overdrive is awesome if you want overdrive not nu metal distortion. the clean channel has tons of headroom. i never turn it up past 3. I like the overdrive because you can have full chords ringing out and it stays under control. sounds very defined. This amp is extremely touch sensitive and breathes nicely. I have had mesa amps, orange, soldano and I'm kicking myself for spending so much damn money on amps when for 600 bucks you can beat the tone. seriously, it's fucked up. don't buy amps that just cost a lot of money and expect them to sound great. live and learn.

I just got it so I cant really say but it seems to be well built and the tubes do not rattle at all.

i've been playing for 6 years now. I would buy this amp again or maybe just a twin reverb and a good od pedal. definetly a fender though. I have had gibsons, prs, gretsch. I am set on fender strats and fender amps now. I wish fender would shell out for corner caps on the amp though to keep the tolex happy.

I got this amp as a senior in high school. I don't think there are many features besides reverb. I play a Gibson Les Paul standard

I sold this amp. I had an Ibanez turbo tube screamer ts9dx and dunlop crybaby hooked up to it. Basically this amp is boring and rattles a lot. It has a pretty classic fender clean tone and i have honestly never heard a worse distortion tone in my life. My 8" Peavey sounds better than this piece of junk. DO NOT BUY THIS AMP YOU WILL BE BORED AND DISAPPOINTED. Go with a Fender Blues Jr. they are so much better than this amp. I really hope no one wastes their time or money on this big rattling box.

I owned it for a while and played it a lot and I have to admit, i've never had a problem or anything. It has always been there when i needed it.

The volume control on this barely works!! On 2 it is loud enough to make your ears bleed and then it doesn't get louder! It's just one big piece of mush from about 4-9. There are pretty much two volumes on this amp...OFF and LOUD. That really bugged me, the insensitivity of the volume control. It isn't really impressive, just annoying. I hated this amp and I am very glad to be rid of it. Like I said before the distortion is complete crap and is almost embarrassing if your fellow musicians come over and flip it on. I play blues and I do have to admit it had a decent tone for it but for everything else it was terrible. A fender bassman or blues jr. is far superior and recommended over this one. I really hope no one wastes their money on this particular amp.

Features have been described thoroughly in other reviews.

I play a Fender Toronado through a Sovtek Big Muff Pi into this amp. A lot of people give this amp bad reviews, but really if you just fiddle with the controls for a good hour, you can find a really good sound for any guitar. I play Indie/Power-pop type alternative and Classic Rock through this amp (think Supergrass, Weezer, Ambulance LTD, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin) and I get the perfect sound I want. Its all about the settings. I have Treble and Bass on 9, Mids on 4, Reverb at 3, Presence at 6. I don't understand how people say you need a seperate equilizer to use the overdrive channel. This channel isnt distortion, its used to make the preamp tubes run hotter and produce a gritty overdriven sound. The More Drive Channel I use for bridges and solos, it adds a slight touch of gain to not drastically change your sound, but boosts the mids for more harmonics. Amp sounds good at any volume, best at around 6-9, the clean channel breaks up at around 7 and gets good.

This amp has survived getting wet from a thunderstorm, dropped, kicked, etc. Works as good as new, tubes are secure, everything is secure and durable in this amp.

I own a few Fender products, never had to deal with them. I heard they have bad service, but not having a firsthand experience I'll give them a 5.

I've been playing for 3 years owned this amp for a month (enough to make a review for it) This amp covers any style with the right pedals if thats what you're into. I play straight into this amp and I get all the sounds I need. Great amp, no wonder it has sold so much. But, always make sure to get a decent quality amp and test out the amp you are actually buying. Every amp sounds different.

I bought this amp brand new in the box in fall 2005. It's got three channels (clean, drive, more drive...actually one channel, three degrees). I play jangly rock and roll music like <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thesluggos" target="_blank">this</a>, and the amp has been awesome. I shopped around a long time looking for that killer tube tone, and this amp has it in spades. It's SO LOUD...Though this one "goes to twelve" (not eleven!), I have never gigged it with the volume knob turned above TWO! The only thing I might add (and that's a big "might") is a tremolo.

I play a 1980 Les Paul Studio/Standard with aftermarket Seymour Duncan humbuckers through this amp, and it sounds like God. The Hot Rod Deluxe is set up to "break up" at lower volumes, giving it that dirty, overdriven sound...I love how it sounds perfectly clean and chimey when I'm playing arpeggios, but if I give it a little SPANK, the growl is right there! Sounds awesome. When I want distortion, I find that I get a classic sound by using the "more drive" channel along with my REAL TUBE pedal. Between the clean and the dirty, this amp runs the gamut from early R.E.M. to early Black Sabbath!

So far, so good. I've never, ever had trouble with any Fender product I've owned, and I've had a few.

Never had to deal with 'em, because their products kick ass.

I have been playing for about 20 years, since my misspent teens back in the '80s. I've had TONS of off-brand guitars and amps over the years, and more than a few pieces of classic gear. Though I've rocked Mosrites, Jazzmasters, Telecasters, Rickenbackers and lots of other keen guitars through Ampegs, Peaveys, Univoxes and other amps, my current setup (Les Paul & Hot Rod Deluxe) just takes the freakin' cake. Anybody steals this amp, they better have life insurance. It looks great, sounds great, and considering what Marshalls sell for these days, the value is unbeatable. Want classic guitar tone from an amp? Buy one of these.

40 tube watts
2 channel plus OD boost (it's 3 channel; sort of)
22" reverb
includes cover
Special Design Speaker
you can plug in an external speaker
51 pounds

I play a USA Tele - USA Strat - PRS Soapbar Singlecut - PRS Santana SE through this amp. I love the tone. The Soapbar guitar sounds the best followed by the Tele.

The clean sounds warm, round, tubey.
The OD that I use is just slightly dirty and loud (like a tubescreamer). I happen to really like the OD edge and I like the boost for solo's. Perhaps it's the combination of guitars & amp but the Soapbar is amazing. I have played the Santana (Humbuckers) with lots of OD and the harmonics and sustain were just amazing.

40 real Tube watts are LOUD - -my nephew has a Marshall AVT (hybrid) 100 watt head and 4-12 bottom. The Deluxe can drown his amp. Tubes are nothing like solid state; you cannot even compare the power ratings apples to apples.

My only gripe is that from Master setting of 0 to 1 goes from no sound to shaking our china cabinet. This amp is really a loud amp. It's hard to play late at night with lower volumes but I have a Vox AD30VT for that.

My HRDX has been bulletproof.

Fender is good in general. I had a ground problem with my Tele 2 years ago. I called Fender's businessnumber inn CA and they actually transferred my call to a staff engineer and the helped me for 5 minutes. The business office let me speak to an engineer.

Very nice.

Great amp - I knoiw that I'll keep it for many, many years. I've already bought an older 1-12" Fender Extention cabinet to use with it at jams. Verty nice tube amp.

I bought mine at the GC in Brookfield WI. They always take good care of me.

((i thought id try the amp out for 3 months before posting a review..so i did))

Mines a Mexican 04

I play Blues, Jazz, and Rock. The amp really suits my playing style well.

As far as features i think its fine it comes with Reverb and Presence i use the Reverb at level 3 at most.. Presence i ve tried out but i dont really find and use for it at the moment.

I use this amp for home, practice, and gigs. Its a really loud amp, at home i keep it at level 2 volume wich i find perfect for home use.. but when im out any place else i keep it at 4-6. If it needs to be louder i just mic it.

Its a great sounding amp IMO. Ive heard different some various people tell me its the best manufactured amp to this date.. so cant go wrong with that :D

I play a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Studio, this guitar came with Burstbucker Pro Pickups which really sound nice and tonefull.. especially on this amp.

Once again i play Mostly Blues if not ROck.. i play Jazz one every blue moon.. but for Blues damn it sounds perfect.. for rock Id recommend you add your own Distorion pedal.. the distortion that comes on the amp isnt really all that good..

I really havent had any "Noisy" problems with it.. however the 1st day i got it, i was pissed to hear noise when i wasnt playing.. now.. that noise is gone. I take it the amp was just getting broken into since it was Brand Spanking new when i got it.

Ok as far as sounds..
**Clean: at level 1-3 is Very Very clear and warm.. at level 4-6 you get that nice classic fender tube amp sound warm but a little bit more bright.. i havent gone past 6.. ill blow my head off!!

**Distortion 1: I use distortion one ALOT for Blues.. however i only have the distorion setting at 2.5..(set up for a LP on Rhythm) I put the treble at 7, Bass at 6.5, and Mids at 5. Then Put the Reverb at 2-3..Presence 0.. Once again with a LP this setting sounds nice and warm you can put the volume at any preference.. this is how i get my blues sound..

**Distortion 2: I really dont use it.. unless i forgot my distortion pedal.. (which never happends) but i did try it out for a while.. I personally dont like it.. i dont use it.

This amp feels solid..I have giged with out a back up 4 times already with this amp.. shes still running smooth!

In the last 3 months no problems at all.. (ive only had it for 3 months.. got it new outta the box)

It came with a 5 year warrenty.. hopefully she lasts longer than that.. but i havent dealt with Fender CS

Ive been playing for 11 Years now.. I stopped playing for 4 years.. and got back to it like 2 years ago.. I got rid of all my previous gear.. (smacks himself) (..again) but for now all i have is my Gibson LP and my Fender Deluxe =D

If it were stolen id be pissed.. id most likley end up saving up more and buying a boogie..

I like how the amp sounds for blues.. its right on the money.. so for me its a perfect match.. im very very satisfied..

If your in the market for a good tube amp the Hot Rod series from Fender is never a bad choice..

I bought mine new in 2001.I play rock blues ,country.Or whatever I need to carve a living from this harsh land. It has two channels along with a "more drive feature" on the drive channel.I don't much care for the "more drive" tone though.It is pretty nasty with lots of brittle harsh sounds. The overdrive channel is usable but you would probably want an outboard pedal along with it.You can switch the channels via footswitch which has l.e.d.'s to let you know what channel you are using. It has an effects loop but I never used it.I have played this amp at a lot of gigs in rooms of every size.Not to mention arena's. I almost always had a 57 shure stuck in front of it.It's got lots enough power for me.A few times I have had to angle it back pointing upward because of a very loud stage volume but I would not want to have to do that too often.This little amp is pretty loud.

I have a 93 Fender Tele with seymour Duncan "five two for tele" P/u's and a Hamer handbuilt Strat with Duncans in that too.Both guitars are maple necked. I like a fairly fat tone with some bite to it when I dig in.Not thin on the high end.I use a Boss cs-2 compressor in front of it and that does it nicely for me,especially for the country stuff.I run the volume at around 4 or so.It is still clean and loud enough for giggin.It starts to break up after that though.I don't care much for the natural overdrive sound of the amp and always used an old Boss SD-1 for that.

I have never taken a backup amp along with me.I do well to remember my guitars, amps and stage clothes. But I always thought if it broke down I would use a D.I. box from my pedals to the board bypassing the amp. After 4 yrs of giggin the volume started to drop off so I took it in. And the diagnosis was "ya need new pre-amp tubes". So we put 3 12ax7a sovteks in it.The volume was right back to where it was when it was new.But the tone did get a little more high ended.....I think...?I'll get used to it. In 4 years of giggin the cabinet still looks pretty good and all I used was the cover that came with the amp.The speaker grill cloth is gettin pretty dingy from cigarette smoke and who knows what...but thats not the amps fault. There is a definate weakness in this amp though.The input jacks are made of plastic.In no time at all the metal nut will strip the threads that holds the jack to the frame.And I was careful with it too because I had been warned about it.It is not a big deal having them replaced or you can leave them loose and hope for the best like I do. It's still goin.

It's got a five year warranty but I have never taken it in for anything.I have never dealt with the company.I deal with my friends at the store where I buy my stuff.They look after me.If they don't I'm on their ass!

For the money this little amp has earned her keep. It don't sound as good as my 59 Bassman but it cost only half the money. I am very partial to a Fender tone.I learned to play on usually borrowed twins and super reverbs. This amp has a fender tone to it. The price was right at the time. This amp has done a good job for me.
I've been playing for 30 years.My back appreciates that this amp is not too heavy. Yeah, I wouldn't be afraid to buy another one.

the two channel are not comparable because to get a good clean and a good distortion require different settings from the shared eq. rendering foot switching useless. the more drive setting is ridiculous.

i bought this amp and was so disenchanted i returned it on the third day, then i bought a blues deluxe reissue and i love it, and as far i can find the only difference is lower gain white label 12ax7's. so i think the problems with th h.r. deluxe are fixable but it's one thing if you get one at a yardsale , but who wants to spend $600 on an amp you have get rebiased for different tubes right away.the problem i have with the h.r.deluxe's tone is it goes from a sweet tone with slight sour overtones to a grateing overdrive with raspy overtones with out any middle ground. i think fender is trying to impress young kids with this amps halfassed massive distortion that totally compremises the potentially great tone and dynamic response this amp could have , if that's what you want a good stomp box through a revamped h.r. deluxe or a blues deluxe sounds way better the the crap a h.r. deluxe dishes out the way it's set up from the factory. i'd try one and then tell the people at the music store to rebias it and you'll come back in and try it .

there's a great site on this family of amp at, http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/ ,lots of info on getting the sound you like out of one, if you checking these amps out do yourself a favour and try a blues deluxe reissue they sound so much better,and if your checking them out at music stores try them all out if they have more then one because there's a big difference how their set up from one to the next, and don't order one from a catalog. i love this amp but fender has droped the ball with this product, when you buy an amp it should sound right right out of the box..so i'm reluctantly giving it a 4.

Mexican made.

A favorite for backline and generic tones. Very consistent and reliable amp (Normal Channel only - more on that follows).

Easy to find tubes, replace tubes, set bias, etc. Easy to mod and really make your own...fun amp.

Use with single coil pups mostly (P90, Tele/Strat singles). Play all kinds of music (Pop/Rock/Country/Jazz/R&B/Blues/Americana) and lug the amp from studio to stage to church. Portable and toneful.

Nice jack-of-all-trades amp. NOt much personality (i.e. unique tones) but really good at getting the require job at hand done well. A little muddy and lacks that 3-D tone. But I wouldn't expect it from this amp...it's a mid-priced, general market work horse, not a tone box.

Normal Channel is great, OD channel is garbage - all the Hot Rod series are that way (have owned them all too and used them all on numerous occassions as backline for fly dates). Set the amp clean and use OD pedals for the various tones you need.

Sounds good stock, but really allows the owner to 'mod' the amp to personal tastes with ease of access to speaker, tubes, chassis and the 'guts' for reverb mods and changing volume pots to Audio taper.

Always blows folks away when I crank it up...no one believes it's a HRDx when they hear it.

Most dependable amps I've run across.

However, don't use Windex on the chrome control pannel of the Mexican series models - will take the silkscreening right off.

NA

I keep coming back to the HR series for workhorse/generic amp needs. Just reliable, easy to repair/use, toneful and get the job done. Good amps for the money - especially if you can find a mint one used.

05 hot rod groove tubes got it from my pops for my birthday wanted one since day one ...specs been covered right?

I have an old 60s harmony thats all fucked up and a gibson sg special from the old days when i thought i wanted to be like angus young or sumthing great guitar tho.... but my main squeeze is my epiphone casino with p-90s. holy shit man this combo is tiite. Theres a bunch of ppl who are insane and bitch about the distortion and all that on this amp and it makes me sick. i mean im young and havent been playing that long but i know tone damn well and if u run a compressor through this thing the tone is really really really good. it sounds good with humbuckers and all but ive noticed it sounds especially good with single coils. i use it in this order: casino to visual sound jekyll and hyde to jimi hendrix wah to hot rod deluxe and i couldnt ask for more. i dig the strokes alot right? this sound covers that damn good u know all tighty and clean and punchy and neatly overdriven but then i can get this raww overdrive tone to it u know this shredding fuckin sound u know? its great i never get bored with this thing and on clean i can get this real nice trebly modest mouse/pixies tone u know...and with the tubes its jus soo raw and classic like u know i think the phrase im looking for is its jus so pure and back to basics i love the hell out of it buy it man u wont regret it

man first of all i cant afford a back up but even if i could i wouldnt need it this amp is real reliable ive gigged with it like three times it soo loud man and sounds soo great turned up when u crank those tubes up not matter wut u do to this thing itll be fine trust me

nah i havent dealt with em

i already mentioned my gear...i play in a band we've been playin together for about 2 years now and my second guitarist and i both use this amp....fuckin great man its jus the opidemy or however u spell that of a tube amp...love it dude love it annd i dont know if you can say this on here but FUCK YOU! if you dont like this amp

I believe this is a 2001 model, 40 tube watts, 1 12" speaker, It's pretty versatile in that it is a good pedal amp. It has an effects loop, but no headphone jack, but its 40 watts so you really shouldn't be using it for a bedroom practice amp.

I'm using this with a les paul with P-90 pickups in it, and it sounds very full and warm on the clean channel. The distortion is not really good for anything unless you use it for soft overdrive, because when you crank the distortion it just sounds too ratty and transistor like. The clean sounds phenomenal though, and pretty much any distortion pedal I've put through it sounds great. I play rock/jam music from U2 to Modest Mouse, and it can handle any of that with the right pedals, but if you're looking for an amp to supply the distortion, don't go for this one unless you play blues or jazz.

It has been very dependable, except for the speaker blowing out once in practice. The input jacks are getting loose and I'm gonna have to replace those soon, but other than that, it's held up pretty well.

Never really dealt with Fender.

I've been playing for about 5 years-I own a peavey classic 20 also, as well as numerous pedals. My rig is as follows: Boss tuner-Daddy O overdrive-Rat 2-Ds-1-Fab Tone-Keeley Modded TS-9-Line 6 MM4-Line 6 DL4-Ernie Ball Jr. Volume-Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. If this amp were stolen I would probably look for another amp with better distortion, however this would always be a possibility.

bought new jan 2005.i play a mix of new and old covers,and origionals.and works well for what i want.it is very loud and i have gigged with it a couple of times.just a plain tube amp with no effects which is how i like em. i only use the clean channel and use pedal distortion & effects

i use a mix of guitars ,strat,schector,danelectro,ibanez.it is very noisy with ANY distortion pedal.the volume control pisses me off because its just as loud at "2" as it is at "4"they make them like that so they sound loud in the store tricking you into thinking it is louder than it really is...the result is the volume is either on or off which makes it too loud for bedroom practice.the clean channel sounds good with electro harmonix 6l6gc's the factory groove tubes are junk.the dist channel is 100% useless,grainy,flat tone with no bass.i had an old peavey blue marvel speaker laying around threw it in and belive it or not it sounded better than the stocker...hmmm blue marvels are cheap speakers.i do like the sound of this amp overall though

ok here we go...i bought this amp new and in 10 months its on its 3rd set of tubes. it rattles itself apart like a harley davison the tube sockets are cheap and flimsey, the bias adjustment drifts dramatically they are made in mexico with the cheapest parts and the thinest circutboard i dont abuse my gear.i bought it new for a reliable amp on stage which this is not.too loud for bedroom practice. was in shop the first time for 3 1/2 weeks,second time a month and now i just brought it. back in where now they are trying to dispute the warranty because i opened it up this last time.

they should have used locktite the first time they fixed it and maybe the bias wouldnt have drifted up to 85 and cooked the power tubes fender claimes a 5 yr warrenty. well see....

ive been playing for 25 yrs if it were stolen i would laugh and definantly get something else.why doesnt it come with corner protectors? a cheap ommision.i do like the sound of a fender twin but now that i know more about amps id have too look inside one first.the peavey classic 30 over drive channel sounds better than the hotrod.and i may consider one

OK, this is not a Matchless... But for what it is, it is a mighty fine amp if you ask me.

My amp is a US made late 90's version and I use the amp in two different band settings (Blues & Classic early 70's style Guitar Rock). I use both Channels a bit but have never played it past 3. The amp is very loud for its size. I have also only used it for practice situations so far and am waiting for a live opportunity to test it out better. My only wish is that the Reverb was foot switchable, other than that it suits my needs very well.

I have owned my amp for about three months now and am it's second owner.

Let me qualify all my statements about the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe by saying I bought a US made model. I have tried the new ones made south of the border and they are noisier, a bit brittle on the highs with muddy sounding lows. Maybe I just got a good one... I don't know. So please take that into consideration while reading this review.

I use a 1976 Stratocaster and a late 90's Les Paul Studio. I prefer the Les Paul for the way it sounds through the amp. A bit warmer I would say compared to my Strat... though this is hardly the case with my 67' Super Reverb. I don't know exactly why yet, but the strat has a harsh mid range tone with this amp.

The amp is a little noisy, but nothing I can't live with. I have found that I can dial in a great 70's Keef Richards live tone with this amp. All I had to do was play the opening line to Tumbling dice on this baby and I was sold! With my Keeley Modified Boss SD-1 I can also attain Mick Taylor like Lead tones. I use the secondary Channel as a lead boost more than for distortion. When I hit the More Drive button I get this Sizzle that I don't see anyone here mentioning. I would almost compare this with the sound Frampton gets on his Comes Alive album. Of coarse, I'm getting these sounds at fairly low settings. I may never get the chance to turn this baby up because I like to play smaller clubs anyhow and when I do play larger venues, I like to mic the amp.

This amp surpasses the quality expected for such a low price. I keep up with some very nice Mesa Boogies at both practice places and the guys marvel at the tones I am achieving.

So far... excellent!

I never have used CS for an amp.

I've been playing for 28 Years. I also have a 67' Fender Super Reverb. I have played, Boogies, Marshalls, Peavey and an array of old Fenders. I like this amp just fine in comparrison.

I would most likely buy this amp again if it were somehow "missplaced" by someone. I think the US made version I have is better and less noisy than the ones currently being made. I love the small size of this amp and the full tones I am getting, and the sweetness of those tones at the lower volumes (which are quite loud) I currently use it at.

This amp gives me the tones I love from the late 60's to the early 70's guitar rock. This is in my humble opinion a great amp for my R&R needs.

Hi all hot rod deluxe users.
I own a laney lc30 which is a el84 driven classA amp with a single 12 inch speaker with a british sound. Sure it has not got the clean jazz sound of a 6l6 driven amp but it is a honest british chime coming from the amp and the amp sound better as you turn up the volume.
I had to borrow a hot rod deluxe one evening playing with the band because a new guitarist was using my amp.
Here is the conclusion:
To much bass, and a certain low midrange resonance that I could not dial out. This offcause gets worse the more you turn up the amp.
I think mr R chungs review is spot on.
It might be better with a british speaker that have less bass but tighter bass and less of that resonance lower midrange, it should have more mids and less treble at 2,5-3 kh.
the resonance could be due to ratling of tubes, badly built cabinet in cheap materials that resonance at a certain low midrange to bass frequency or a error in the design that simply gives to much bass.
So i am very confused that this amp gets these very high ratings.
I would probably look at the canadien contender traynor ycv-40. It has a british celestion, built in ply birchwood, to give low weight with great strenght and better resonance character, and probably not that nasty boomy bass/low midrange that is imposible to dial out.
these are just my thoughts
reagards Anders

It's a 40 watt tube amp with one 12 inch Eminence speaker. It is loud. REALLY loud. You could knock over a small child with this amp. I play mostly rock and blues with it, I don't know if it would do heavy metal, but you could certainly try. It has good reverb, three channels (clean, drive and more drive) and a footswitch. With cowboy boots, sometimes it's hard to hit the right button on the footswitch, but that's my only complaint about the footswitch.

I am using a Fender Stratocaster and a Dunlop Crybaby with it, and it sounds amazing. It's an awesome amp for blues and rock. The clean channel is really warm and... clean (duh), and you can get the distortion just right for what you want to play most of the time.
Although I haven't cranked it past two, it's loud. Even at two, it's not suitable for the living room. But this is what I was looking for. If you want an amp just for your bedroom, don't get this one. If you need something to take to band practice, this is what I'd recommend.

Uhh... I just got it today, but I've heard that Fender has good customer service.

I also own a Marshall MGDFX20... or something. But it doesn't quite compare to this. The things I love about this amp are the volume, the tone (tubes are awesome) and the look. The one thing I dislike is that the buttons on the footswitch are too close together for cowboy boots, but hey, that's not that big a deal.

The amp was in 2003. Folks there is no amp that does everything. Don't waste your time and money looking for that ONE amp. However, if you play, blues, classic rock, jazz and even some metal...this amp will work just fine. You know what you are buying....it's a tube amp, not a solid state amp modeller. If you need all the different sounds, then feature-wise this amp is not for you. If you play clean, crunch, dirty blues, etc....you've found a very good amp feature-wise. Remember, they still build pedals if you're looking for a feature this amp doesn't have. If you're a gear head, you'll be happy to have an excuse to buy something else. It has everything I want.

I use a Gibson Les Paul Standard, American Made Fender Telecaster, Epiphone Riviera Jorma Kaukonen and an Ibanez Artcore AF85 (for Jazz). This amp suits all my styles very well. Like any amp, you have to play around with it to find the sound you like. If you are a bedroom/basement player, a little tip. Stand away from the amp when you test the tone/sound.....It does matter. It's very loud...plenty of volume to jam with. Great TUBE TONE!!!! Some don't like the distortion....they're probably looking for a heavy metal sound. You spend some time tweaking....I guarantee you'll find distortion you like.

Haven't had any problems (knock on wood). It seems like its built pretty sturdy...its not a Mesa Boogie, but it doesn't cost $1200.00 either.

Fortunately I haven't had a need to contact them.

Played as a teenager...stopped for 25 years (long story). Picked it up three years ago big time (obsessive). If it were stolen I would buy another one, but might take a look at the Deville for the extra speaker...don't know....I get bored easy. I've owned Line 6 amps, other Fenders, small Marshall....Like them all...they all had strong and weak points. I looked at Mesa Boogies and Marshall AVTs before settling on this amp. It blew the Marshall AVTs away and the Mesa couldn't compete for the money (Mesa makes an OUTSTANDING AMP). This amp is EXCELLENT. You can't beat it for the money. Great amp for someone looking to jump up from their practice amp to a tube, perfect for intermediate guitarists and I would imagine a pro would find some great use out of it as well.

clean, drive, and more drive channels- clean sounds great, drive is good too, but the "more drive" feature is pretty useless, you would probably only want that much gain for metal, which this amp does not do. EQ is pretty responsive, reverb goes pretty deep. Speaker is crap.

I use a Strat and a Les Paul with this guy, sounds killer in my humble opinion(after having replaced the speaker with a low-wattage alnico)clear, bell-chimey clean tones, nice burly drive tones, lots of versatality with a twist of the tone controls. The reverb is a little dark, buy a fender reverb tank-this is the only game in town for you reverb lunatics. I must be clear on one thing-- I live in a 1 bedroom apt, and haven't cranked it past 2.5 on either channel, but I've been playing 17 years and I got a good feeling about the higher volumes.

Speaker is an undeniable piece of crap.

Owned it 6 mo., hasn't let me down yet. I would back it up with spare tubes only.

never dealt.

If it were stolen(lost? how do you misplace a freakin amplifier?) I would probably buy another unless I struck it rich, then I'd most likely spring for an Alessandro. I wish it had that high treble capability of the bassmans and plexis and the like, but you can always install a high pass capacitor in your guitar, this adds some treble as you back off the guitar volume, and opens up a whole new world of tonal possibilities. I compared this to many amps including a Crate Palomino(crap), an Orange combo(no EQ on clean channel-no, not shared EQ, NO EQ!) and a couple others I can't remember right now. This blew them all away. Overall, a killer amp for the price, highly recommended. Buy a new speaker.

'05 Hot Rod Deluxe.
I'm an old geezer with a JV Strat.
Sounds real Fendery. I only use the clean channel, which has enough headroom for me.
Nice reverb.

It has stuff I don't use. The footpedal stays in my desk.

Switchable amps are fine, but I confuse easily.

I like OLD sounds from the heyday of Classic R&B, Instrumental Rock, Jazz, Blues, and Country.
With a Jimmie Vaughan Strat and this amp, I can bask in the crisp bouyant Fender reverb sounds I've always loved. Rich sounding.

Like a Tweed Bassman RI, but lighter and with reverb (and won't sound as good loud either, but that's ok -good clean headroom for my purposes and loud enough).

I keep it stock, and replace with the right spec Groove Tubes.
I have a bunch of old miniature pre-amp tubes around too, but so far have not needed any, though I toy with the idea of trying a 12AY7 in the first spot someday.
It's just that it sounds perfect, and has from day one. I suppose the speaker has changed some since breaking in but still gets crispy enough. Like new strings!

'Course, I'm a deaf old geezer, so YMMV.

Never any problem with this amp or any Fender amps. I have had many others, but Fender tube amps have a certain bouyancy and sparkle that's just a bit more to my liking than all the others trying to emulate it.

I've even had Ampegs fail on me, and that's unheard of, but not any Fenders that I can remember, even old highly molested wanna-be Boogie modified Showmans.

Tough as nails (though I always ride tube amps on the seat, not in the trunk or bed of a pickup truck or van).

Never tried.

I've been playing guitar since 1960, continuously. Been in the Musician's Union since 1970.
I keep a Tech 21 TM60 and a Tele in reserve but primarily use a JV Strat and the HRD. There's a Pro-Jr around here somewhere too, and a parts-o-caster project in pieces.

If I needed another I might try the reissue Blues Deluxe, because I only use the one channel anyway and tweed is nice. A friend has an old Blues Deluxe of mine. It looks terrible now though.

I used to use Showman piggybacks, Pro-Reverbs and Twin-reverbs, back in the day. This HRD sounds as good.
Also plenty of Ampegs and others, but a 6L6 based Fender has a certain sound I like, and the reverbs are usually nice.
I liked the blackface stuff in its day, but the HRD has some "tweed" mixed in there that I like a lot. Like I said, sounds like a Bassman RI only without as much paper moving the air.
I like 10" speakers and old JBL's, but this 112 sounds good to me, whatever it is.
Tried to like a cheaper Crate VC50310 once, but it didn't have the round bass tones or as nice reverb. I think you've gotta have 6L6's and a long reverb tank, and Fender tone stacks, which I pretty much leave at halfway for all on this. Sometimes the presence gets higher (my ears crave highs at this age).

I bought it 2002 'cause my '60 bassman began to burn down at a gig. Great show, pretty funny for the crowd watching me pouring down three bottles of beer on it.
Nothing more to say about the features. I played it 'til 2003 without any mod. To this point his amp was just useful to me at big gigs without PA because I needed to volume up to 4 to have my "sweet spots".
For smaller locations I used to play my Twin. (...that broke down half a year later!!! I should give up modifying my amps!)

I played it with Gretschs, Teles and other stuff, but with my Epiphone-295 with p-90 the sound was awesome. It makes a rich, clean Fender tone, that works perfectly with my blues, fingerpicking and rockabilly style. A little reverb, a little echo and Scotty Moore is right back on stage.
After my Twin got broke down, I replaced the speaker with a P12Q alnico and Tube Amp Doctors Tonebones, which tamed it down to 16-18 watts in class a with JJ El84 tubes. That is wonderfull!!! Small locations? Tonebones! Bigger Locations? Push in the original 6L6 without any BIAS settings and you got 40 watts tube power. It takes just a minute.
By the way, did you ever need 40 tube amp watts? I'd never! My band made some support acts for Brian Setzers Stray Cats in Germany and that where really big stages!!! I used my tonebones, 'cause you're always taken up to the PA at such gigs. No need to get in trouble with the sound engineer because you blow up his 2000 dollar mic.

Til now it worked fine. Never had any trouble. I must depend on it, because I'm not carrying two of this heavy f****** amps with me. But I always do have some tubes in it's back.

This amp is mine since more than 3 years and it works great!
I guess, it will work a few years more. It's solid made and sounds really good (with some mods) but for that music I'm playing, there are better offers ( I should have known before, I know). That's my opinion about playing hepcat music with it. Try it out!

All the features covered by now. I bought it used, near mint condition. Was made in the USA (98 i think). Cover and footswitch included. I wish the reverb was footswitchable.

I play a Epiphone Standard with Seymour Duncans and this little monster amp covers my music style (ska, reggae, rock) just perfectly. Very versatile, except for metal (if you're not using a pedal). Clean is not noisy at all and sounds awesome. Litlle (normal) noise on the drive chanal. I play it in a band and get still too loud sometimes :) Great sound and volume for a 40W amp.
I didn't make any mods (liked it how it was - everything original), i like the reverb, the drive and...oh, guess what?!? - the more drive too! It gives a nice sustain and punch. You just have to play around with the knobs a little.

Seems solid build. I never have a backup amp (just some spare tubes) when playing live. Looks dependable.

I once wrote a mail to Fender (about some other pice of gear) and got a fast and nice response.

I'm playing for 16 years now and own a Marshall and a Yamaha (for home use). This is my practicing and gigging amp. Before i bought it i compared it to a Peavey classic 30, a H&K Tube and a Laney VC30 - this one was the best sounding. I would buy it again if it was stolen. Great value for that money.

What the hell do you want on an amp that you can't get in pedal form anyway? In my opinion an amp should have at least one volume, treb/Bass (pref Mid), reverb and a speaker. This 1997 HRD has those. Jack inputs are a bit feeble but experience has taught me to loop the lead around the carrying strap. Dual channels work fine (not 3 channel as described). The best 'feature' is the tone of the amp - awesome. It would have been nice to have a tilt leg on it.

The amp is a bit noisier than my Peavey Classic 50 (2x12) but who cares if you can hear a little noise through an amp (other than your instrument) you can't be playing it! I have a Gretsch Tennesean (1964) Rickenbacker 360/6, 3 Tokai 80's strats and 2 Tokai LP's all sound individual and awesome (wish I could do them as much justice as the amp does). I like a full but toppy clean sound and a managable crunchy heavy sound (Who, Beatles, Pistols, Kravitz, Zep etc - yep Classic Rock) this amp is it!! Controllable Grunty Crunch & a Booming Glassy clean sound. Already cost me two days off work to get nasty with this thing :-)

Only just bought it on eBay. I think the guy sold it knowing it needed servicing. He did supply it with Solvtek tubes and gave me the full set of original (Russian) Fenders tubes which were more expensive than the ?30 service :-) Like most Fender tube amps THESE DO NEED BIASING AWAY FROM THE FACTORY SETTINGS

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Been playing for about 20 years - rejuvinated my love for guitars in the last 2 years. If it were lost... no I couldn't/wouldn't lose it, if it were stolen I would drop my Peavey Classic 50 on the banjo playin' inbred from a great height! I could compare the HRD to the Peavey, The Peavey has a slightly 'sweeter' sound but this could be due to the extra tubes and speaker. The HRD are very portable, VERY Loud (Maybe not as POWERFUL as some). Two minor things I would change would be the power lead (for a detachable 3-pin computer lead type) and also make it easier to slip the footswitch into the rear of the cab.

The features have all been mentioned already. At the price it's got plenty of features, though the reverb and tone controls are pretty cheesy sounding, especially the presence control. See my sound description for more...

Ok, here it goes: I owned this amp for about two years. In that time I've learned that the amp has a bad sound to it. It's hard to put into words exactly, but it's got harsh tone, the distortions are mediochre, and changing the speaker and tubes only marginally helped. The clean tone is not a true Fender clean tone; it sounds more like the Boogie Mark 4 I used to own. As a matter of fact, they sounded pretty similar when I side-by-sided them. My guess is the Fender designers were shooting for this kind of sound, thus the "Hot Rod" in the name (boogies evolved from hot-rodded fenders). In any event, if you put one of these side-by-side with the '65 Twin Reissue, you will see the difference between this amp and a true Fender clean tone. I ended up bypassing the preamp completely, and running my tube effects preamp directly into the "power amp in" of the effects loop in order to get a decent sound. I finally traded this amp in last weekend on the aforementioned '65 Twin reissue, and I couldn't be happier. I HIGHLY recommend to anyone considering this amp that you take a look at the twin, or if you can't afford it, then the '65 deluxe reissue. You can find both of these used on Ebay around $500 or so, and I'm certain anyone would be happier with them. Just get a pedal for distortion, because you would end up doing that anyway, after dealing with the Hot Rod's distortion for a while. Remember, you can always use a pedal to "dirty up" a clean amp, but it's almost impossible to clean up a dirty amp!

Never had a problem in 2 years, but changing speakers is insanely difficult. You have to remove the entire amp unit to change a speaker!

One time I called them because a Strat I bought didn't come with the warranty card and manual. They sent them to me for free.

I bought this amp new from Musican's Friend so I know I'm the only one to have ever played it. It's now 7 years old. 3 channels, all tube, basic tube amp. I like the basic look of it too. I added some casters to make it a little easier transporting. 40 watts - at first thought that wasn't enough, since it's bigger brother, the DeVille, has 60 watts. But I've never taken this amp past 3. It's usually miked (sp?) through a PA so the power is just fine.

I use an American Lonestar Strat, a Paul Reed Smith early '90s EG II, an Ampeg AMG-1 from '99, and an Epiphone Dot Studio. The Strat and PRS, both with humbuckers sound full and have bite. The Ampeg guitar as Duncan soapbars and has a great tone. All-in-all, I haven't come across something that this amp doesn't do well.
I have replaced the tubes - preamps with Sovteks and that growled it up a bit - I like the new sound!

It's never broken down and I don't ever worry about it doing so. However, little things bug me like the nut around the footswitch jack came loose and fell off in transit. The light bulb went out on the power light. Not major stuff and all very easily fixed, but still annoyances.

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I've been playing guitar for about fifteen years but electric only seven or eight. I have 3 Taylors and one that I made while working for Taylor and a Mark Hoppus Fender bass. I also use a '75 or '76 Fender Super Twin amp and a Fender Acoustasonic Junior amp and a Tube Works 7200 bass amp. I would most definately replace this amp - probably wouldn't even shop around. I like this amp and I recommend it to anyone who needs a lower cost amp with basic functions but with the tradition of Fender and the tone it's famous for

See below

I've had this amp for 5 years now. I replaced one of the smaller tubes, and a off/on light. I play a variety of music, from country to jazz, excluding metal. There is some noise on the more drive channel, but I use another pedal for distortion anyway. I haven't had to drive this amp past 3. If I need it any louder it goes into the PA. I love the clean sound! It's pure Fender.

So far so good. It's never broken down and I don't bring back-ups. Just never felt the need.

Customer service is kind of useless. I've emailed them but never got any responses.

This is a fantastic amp. There are people that feel differently as you will soon read from below. I don't think this should be the forum for WARNINGS and such. Don't let the rantings influence you. Try the amp out and see for yourself.

As for myself, I have been playing for 36 years. I've reduced my instruments to a Fender MIA strat, Boss ME-50, and this amp. It's all I need for what I play. I'd replace it in a heartbeat. I did compare this amp to everything our humble music store had, including Peavey, other Fenders, Roland, and Behringer. No contest.