Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

New 2004 HRDeluxe. Standard features.
Nice for blues, some classic rock. Good clean for jazz.
Very powerful "40 watts", plenty loud.
It would be nice if it had a true master volume.
Would be nice if it had less cabinet induced bass,
at least a stiffer baffle-board.

Use Strat, LPS, PRS McCarty, and homebrew hot tele's.
Works adequately with all axe's.
Nice, but unnecessairally boomy, "clean".
Drive selection (selection not "channel"), is "not all that bad".
More Drive selection, not all that good, but usable under some circumstances.
Not a "metal" amp.
Not a DR Z.
Not a Twin Reverb.
But I do hear some (SLM) Ampeg ReverbRocket, in the clean...

Hope it's gonna last. Found little balls of solder
(yes, "little balls") stuck to the PCB, and rolling around
the inside of the chassis, and solder stuck to a couple of the filter caps cases. Cleaned it out. Fingers crossed...

Say what?

Amp came with those Groove Tombs. The output 6L6GB's (sovtek 5881WXT)
are not terrible, biased cold to a little more than 50% at 15.25W
(V plate = 448). They sound fine and should last 7 years at that setting. The Supplied pre-amp tubes are GT's re-labeled Sovtek 12AX7WC (yes the chars "WC" do stand for "water closet" (toilet)).
These are some of the most uneven tubes I've ever played thru.
Replaced all 3 with: V1 12AX7EH V2/V3 12AX7WA. V2/V3 are lower
gain than V1, and as such clean up the Drive/More Drive without
leaving the 12AX7 family, for which the amp seems to have been designed.

All in all, not a bad amp, and probably the best you'll see for
the price. There are a zillion of them out there, so parts are available, only 5 reasonably priced tubes (in fact it doesn't like expensive pre-amp tubes!), and tech's can fix 'em without you paying for their learning curve.
Also built the ever necessary "Volume Box". Without it, the amp is
useless to me. Allows for bedroom volume, and removal of some of the
amp's cabinet generated excessive bass, when playing out.

Using the stock Emminence speaker. To me, swaping this speaker is a waste. It's the overly resonant cab that's the excessive bass culprit.

It's no MusicMan, but it'll do.

Having ?retired? from the larger venues and returned to the world of club gigs, I was looking for a good tube amp that wouldn?t break my wallet or my back and still leave me with enough strength to play the gigs. I bought it new in 1997? after a few years of getting to know each other, I?m finally ready to give it a believable evaluation.

Comes stock with 40 extremely LOUD watts, 12-inch speaker; 6L6 power tubes; 12AX7 pre-amp tubes, high and low gain inputs, channel switching, FX loop. Everybody knows the rest - some additional touches would be nice, and we'll get to them below.

Depending on where I?m playing and who I?m playing for, I?ll play everything from country to jazz - but no metal - and I spend most of my time playing blues and classic rock. This amp fills the bill for whatever I happen to play on any given evening.

I play an ES-335, a couple of Strats (one with ?62RIs and another with Texas Specials), a Tele and a Takamine acoustic/electric. These go into a Boss GT-3, and then into the front end of the HRD. Once the controls were properly tweaked, I have had nothing less than killer tone. One thing I really enjoy about the amp is that it lets each guitar?s individual ?personality? come out. There are no generic sounds. If I'm playing a Strat, it sounds like a Strat. If I?m hammering it with humbuckers, everyone listening knows it.

Like a lot of other reviewers, I?ve done the standard tweaks - fresh tubes and a new speaker. After a little trial and error, I settled on Svetlana 6L6s, Electro Harmonix 12AX7s in V1 and V2 and an Electro Harmonix 12AT7 in V3. I have to agree with everyone else - the stock speaker leaves a lot to be desired. I tried a Celestion Vintage 30, and although it was an improvement, I was a lot happier after I installed a Reverend All-Tone 1250. Nowadays, it not only sings, it sparkles. A temolo circuit would have been a nice touch, but let?s get real here. It?s obvious that Fender marketed this amp to a specific group - players looking for a solid, good sounding, dependable tube amp for around $500.00. Therefore, with the give and take involved, you get an amp with good potential with a crappy speaker and generic (read that as cheap) tubes. For less than what it would cost to buy one with a tremolo, you can do the mods and have an absolutely great amp. And if you still want tremolo, you can probably afford to buy a stompbox.

Much has been said about the amp?s three channels. Once again, let?s get real, here. If you bought this amp, it?s pretty much given that you bought it for the clean sounds. After all, that?s what Fenders are all about. While the drive channel is better off used as a boost, the amp?s distortion (even with different tubes) is a joke. The more drive channel? Forget about it. This is not, I repeat, NOT an amp for metal, grunge, or any other style of guitar playing that requires serious distortion. On the other hand, for blues, classic rock, country, jazz and whatever else requires great clean tone and/or some tasty overdrive, you cannot go wrong with the HRD.

I?ve been gigging with this amp on a weekly basis for over 7 years with no backup and no problems. It has never let me down. Keep in mind though, this is a tube amp, and it is only as reliable as you make it by maintaining it. Change the tubes when they sound like they need to be changed. Keep a set of spare tubes and a spare fuse handy. Tighten the screws every once in a while, and check your connections. A little preventive maintenance goes a very long way. A lot of reviewers have said that some corner protectors would be nice. I put some on, and yes, it was $8.00 well spent. You want a tube amp (or any amp, for that matter)to be reliable? Simple - take care of it off stage, and it will take care of you on stage.

I've never needed to have any repair work done on the amp. Past experience has taught me to forget about dealing with the factory and to find a good amp tech.

I?ve been playing for over 30 years, and have run the gauntlet of gear. Marshalls, Boogies, and other Fenders have come and gone. I have a couple of favorites in my closet, but when it comes to gigging these days, the HRD usually gets the duty.

If it were to get lost or stolen, I?d cry and be disconsolate for a while and then go out and get another one and start all over again. For the money, reliability, and positive results after modifications, this is a great amp.

All the features you would expect out of a standard tube amp. 2 channels, couple of "extended" buttons (bright, more drive) shared EQ. 2 Inputs-High and Low, same if used in tandem. Nothing crazy, not too limited. All workable features.

I am a professional musician that really hates equipment. I mean I hate BS. I want something that sounds as good as I play, gets my point accross, and that's it. I felt I needed to rate this amp based on my experience with it over this past weekend...

I do not own this amp. I flew in to Pittsburgh, PA for a recording session, and to play a College faculty clinic/recital. I told the percussionist to rent me a 40 watt tube amp, and that was my only requirement. He showed up with this little puppy.

I brought with me my trusty DS-1 and DD-3, pluged the DD-3 in the loop, the DS-1 out front, set it to the clean channel and went. In the studio, this was amazing, and on stage, equally amazing.

Amp gets very loud, very quick. Didn't get past 2 at either environment (recital was with a full kit, bass player). Didn't even experiment with the drive/move drivel channel. Seriously, I don't even know what the eq was set too! The thing sounded so beautiful clean, and with the DS-1 full out, my tone was very Eric Johnson-like, perfect for the piece, so I didn't even look at the settings. That my friends, it a sure sign that you are dealing with an amazing piece of equipment.

No problems during the 2 days I used it. Amp was on and being played for about 6 hours each day, no probs. I did notice a loud hum, but not from the speakers. Sounded like it was coming form inside the chasis, probably the tubes. Not sure if this is standard to this amp, but it did not affect the sound quality, and did not show up on the recording. I wouldn't worry about it, but would always bring some extra tubes just in case.

I've been playing for 20 plys years. I'm a session guitarists, and run the gamet on what I am hired to perform, from show tunes, to pop solos, to jazz-fusion...whatever. For the professional, this amp is awesome. Crystal clear, which is the perfect pallet to add the overdrive or whatever else you want to suit your taste. You're not stuck with any preset, uncontrolable overdrive characteristics.

I found I spent over an hour this morning with my Line 6 trying to emulate the sound I got this weekend with the Deluxe. I'm close, but given that I didn't even touch the eq on the deluxe...I'm dumping the line 6 for the deluxe this week.

This amp is not for the metal-head as is, but takes really well to pedals. This amp doesn't cover your playing with wicked good overdrive, or give you tone out the yin-yang that makes a G barr chord sound like God. Rather, it keeps you honest, and brings your playing to the forefront. For some, this is good, others this may be bad. For me, where concentrating on the piece being played and bringing all dynamics of the score to the front, and not ripping through a loud shred-fest (although with the right box out front, this amp can do it), this is a perfect choice.

I bought a standard Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a eminence special design speaker. I bought the amp in 2003. I am playing blues and speedrock. Chuck Berry, Ramones, The Hives, etc. So I do like to play rock and roll, punk and blues. In the beginning the amp was only possible to use for blues. But I made some modifications...
It has 3 channels: clean, drive and more drive.
1x12 inch speaker. And it is verrrrrry loud!!!
I wish it had a better placement of the tubes. The position of the tubes could be better. The speaker causes too much vibrations of the tubes.

I am using a gibson SG standard with it. But the sound was really bad.
I made some modifications:

Here are the modifications that I made

-SVETLANA 6L6GC power tubes
throw away those fender tubes.

-VOLUME BOX
still have to build one!!! Is much better for you ears and nieghbours.

-JENSEN C12N Speaker
WOW! It screams.

PREAMP TUBES:
I now have:
2 SOVTEK 5751 for V1 and V2
and a ELECTROHARMONIX 12AT7 in V3.

Please do this modification! It really changed the amp.

No comments. In the begin it made some cracks and terrible tube vibrations. It is still not gone. If someone can help me?

The amp was a few months in the store for repair. But the problem is still there... Fender europe is really not helpful.

A very good amp after the mods.

i just bought this amp about a week ago. Its a 2004. the features on this amp are great. I play a lot of blue/rock music and a lot of alternative too All three channels omn this thing are realy versatile. Beware this amp is really loud for a 40watt single 12. when i cranked it up , i cuold not beliebve it was a single 12 inch speaker. It has a lot of low end power

i play out of a Ernie Ball Musicman Luke model with emg pickups. Emg hum 81 in the bride and EMG single coils in neck position. The sound on this thing is amazing. I have been searching for this tone forever. I use to play out of a line 6 hd-147 head and a line 6 flextone 412 cab. This amp has 300 watts, i paid close to 2000.00 for the piece of crap. Digital amps SUCK!! Your guitar doesnt even sound like a reall guitar. IT sounds like a computer. Anyway, those of you who are playing with digital or solid state amps, quit waisting your time like i did and go buy this amp. You will be amazed at how much better tube amps sound! The clean channel on this is absolutely amazing. When i want to play some alternative rock i use a boss metal zone through the clean channel and it is great.

Only had it abouta couple weeks, so far so good

Havent dealt with

Overal this amp can do anything. Tone is amazing, if your thinkin about goin with a nice tube amp this is the best for the money.

I ws actually shopping for an ES335 when the salesmen plugged me into this amp. I was immediatly in heaven. I put down the ES 335 and plugged in a strat and fell in love. The tone is amaxing and its very verstile with its all tube 3 channels. I use it for home and lite giging. Its plenty loud for 40 watts. The volume pretty much taps out at 4. from 4 and above you bring in nice crunch. Same with the distortion setting. On challel 3 I use it at 3 for like Moby Dick or ironman. you dont need more than that. at 6 and above it gets bassy. On channel 2 i use it at about 5 for like Cold Shot or Empty arms. CHannel one works great for Wind Cries Mary or Little wing and Stairway.

I use an EC strat and a few Gibby Lp's. I play only blues and classic rock. There is no noise except the clean channel tends to distort when used with humbuckers at high volumes. Thats OK for what I use it for. If you play jazz or country then do NOT get this amp. The 2 distortion channels are great for like Zeppelin, Bad Company and sabbath. and the clean channel is great for hendrix clean like The Wind Cries Mary or Buddy guy, albert king stuff.

I just bought it a few weeks ago so its working fine at this point.

havent used customer support. warrenty is 5 years and transferable

Ive been playing 25 years and my other amp is is a JCM 900 50 watt full stack and a small crate GT 30 for practicing when the kids are in bed. I really didnt compare the amp a whole lot cus while i was shopping for the ES 335 the last thing i thought I needed was a new amp. I did try the classic 30 and the Fender Deluxe reverb. But the Hotrod deluxe was much more versitle.

You know all the features if you are reading this review

If you want your amp to come alive...Do the mods suggested by this web site.
http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/jvmods.html#master
I have changed the stock speaker to a vintage 30.
Preamp Tube I use regularly include:

Elite 12ax7 or 12at7 if you want to calm it down.

Power Amp tubes:

JJ/Tesla 6L6 and 6V6s

After changing out the tubes you will notice a that the high punch through and the bass is not as muddy. The celesian really fattens the tone so the teslas thin it out just a bit.

I have also performed the reverb suggested by Jason. Normally I ran the reverb at about 2 and it just swapped the signal. Now I run it at around 6-7 and it is much better sounding.

I haven't dropped it yet@?@

The mods will void the warrenty but are really necc.

Playing about 15 years mostly country stuff so a clean tone is very important. Nashville tele with a seymour ducan mini humbucker in the bridge position. I have had difficulty finding a disortion pedal I like if you have any suggesting feel free to email.

Brand - new, made in 2004, Mexico plant. I sold my Mesa mark IV amp head because it's standard e.q. seemed to be a bit on the midrange side for my tastes. This amp does everything I have been wanting an amp to do, mostly sound like the guitar, have plenty of tone shaping ability, and be portable and loud enough for gigs without an uneeded amount of power. I am playing Stratocasters through it. I use a Crybaby wha, an Ibanez TS-808 reissue pedal, a Boss DS-1 distortion, a Boss Chorus Ensemble pedal, and a Boss Digital delay in the amp's effect loop. It takes to pedals very well, and the wha pedal sounds like it should with no heavy midrange overload mid -sweep. We play Jimi Hendrix, SRV, ZZ Top, Creedence Clearwater, Aerosmith, Elvis, you name it, so I have craved versatility. Many of the songs require a clean sound and this amp brings out all the best of the guitar tones.

It has three channels, clean, drive and more drive. Contrary to what other reviewers have stated, I find this amp to be perfect on all the channels. It would be a total miraculous amp if it had tone controls for each channel independent of one another, but unlike some of the Marshall amps I have owned, the e.q. settings seem to fit right for all the channels and do not sound great for lead, then lousy when you go clean. It seems to be just fine. I play in bars about once a week with the band. I am 47 and have a lot of experience under my belt, and have always been complimented on getting good tones, so I am not a newb. The 40 watt rating is as loud as anyone would ever need to play any job. If you need to get a lot more volume or have a wish to destroy your hearing, mike it up! Best I can say is that this amp has clean tones so nice, it's a refreshing return to the days I had my first amp, a Fender Bandmaster reverb. I almost bought a Peavey XXL combo, but the distortion was too wooly around the edges for my liking. This HR Deluxw gives nice singing tones to the guitar yet allows it to still sound like the guitar you are playing should sound (i.e. a Strat sounds like a Strat, ad nauseum).

I play a fender American Series Strat with Kinman pickups in it. These are worth the $250 price tag, as they are the ONLY noiseless pickups out there that are truly noiseless and retain the signature clarity and highs associated with the instrument. As I said above, the amp suits every style from country to rockabilly to classic rock to hard rock. My bag is Hendrix, and it can easily get the same dgree of sustain and tone needed to do justice to a Hendrix solo.

The amp can put out a LOT of bass, if you want a lot of lows. If not, turn the bass tone control down to where it is acceptable. I am impressed that a single 12" speaker combo can disperse such an amount of low end, and that's a plus as my previous amps sounded pretty thin sometimes. he amp is not noisy at all, unless the gain is set way up and that's normal. The clean channel satys clean even when turned up. The volume control on the amp is for the clean setting, the master knob is for the drive and more drive channel levels. The distortion is not the typical, shitty scooped mids sound you hear all too often (in my old fart opinion), but it is not a wimpy distortion either. Quite focused. Now a lot of the guys I read have changed out the stock speaker for another, and said it yields a great improvement. I also see where a lot of them have modded certian electronic components to adjust brightness, etc. Ohters call for immediate tube replacement. I am not doubting that these "improvements" are okay, but I cannot at this time see where anything sounds poorly or needs improving, and I am someone who has owned a lot of amps from many manufacturers. This little amp is, in my opinion, one of the best kept secrets out there. I love it!

Have no issues at this time. I use no backup because I cannot afford to have two expensive amps on hand.

Contrary to all the laments about Fender being this big, uncaring corporation, I have experienced only good things when dealing with Fender. They have been prompt to take care of the few problems I have had with guitars and such over the years, and have done me right every time.

Short but sweet - I love it. It is the amp for me. It fits my style and the sound I have been wanting to get. had Marshalls, Mesas, Peaveys, Ampegs...all good amps, but this Hot Rod Deluxe really nails it for me. I can hear all the strings evenly when I play through it. I get the best clean tones I could imagine. The distortion is thick and sounds focused and picking dynamics come through very well. Good responsiveness. I have found myself more anxious to play as a result of obtaining this amp, it's that good, IMHO. Only thing missing is Fender could offer an extension cabinet for it, maybe, or built - in tilt legs. But it really needs no extension cabinet to sound tremendous, so I will say it's just an all - around great amp. I tried the Deluxe reverb Reissue, and the tones were excellent, but I was certain it would not be loud enough for my use, as well as I wanted an amp that could do some distortion and sustain without having to buy $500 worth of pedals to get there.

Buy one of these - you will love it if you are a Strat player and like classic rock, blues, etc.

Bought used in 2004--looks like it's only a year or two old.
FEATURES:
40 watts, 12-inch speaker; 6L6 power tubes; 12AX7 pre-amp tubes.
2 jacks--high gain and low gain inputs.
2 channels w/ footswitch. Treble, Mid, Bass, Reverb and Presence controls for both of them.
Clean channel has only volume control and bright switch.
Overdrive channel has gain and volume controls, as well as a "More Boost" switch (which just pumps the drive up another level).
Pre-amp Out and Power-Amp in jacks.
NO Headhpone jack--this is a big mistake, Fender. Every amp on the planet should have a headphone jack.

PROS:
Chicken-head knobs on top--easy to see and adjust.
Plenty of volume
GREAT sound (see below).


CONS:
No headphone jack
A little heavy for its size (45 lbs.)
Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence controls not in any logical order--confusing when you go to adjust your sound.
No boost on the clean channel. (Not essential, but it would be handy.)

I play blues (Robert Johnson, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and rock (Cream, Hendrix, Beatles) with a Gibson ES-335 and no effects. I was looking for a medium sized tube amp with a good clean channel and another channel that I could set clean or dirty depending. After reading all the reviews on this site, I almost didn't buy this amp because everyone complained about the overdrive.

Well, let me tell you, that would have been a big mistake. This amp is the absolute BEST! The clean channel shimmers and sparkles like something out of guitar heaven! Better than any amp I've ever had (and I've had a lot of them.) And the overdrive--I've spent years and thousands of dollars looking for this sound! If you want the heavy metal shredding sound, don't bother with this amp. It can't do it. But if you want that great bluesy, mid-range crunch and stinging treble (like Albert King or Eric Clapton), run out and get one of these amps. It was made for the blues!

For settings, I turn my guitar controls down to 5 or 6 so I can turn the amp up. (This is what most of the old-time blues players did. It gets the tubes working in their best range and gives you better tone and sustain.) The rest of the controls:

Treble - 4
Mid - 6-7
Bass - 2 (This amp has a lot of bass. Perfect for rhythm riffs)
Presence - 3
Gain - 6-7

Don't know yet. But looks very solidly built.

Don't know yet. Has a 5-year warranty.

I've been playing for 20 years. I've owned Peavey amps, other Fenders, a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV, a Roland Cube-30. I tried just about every amp out there looking for the right sound. This one beat all the rest, including the Peavey Classic, the Mesa/Boogies, the Vox, Rolands, Line 6 and Marshalls. But, as I said, it's made to play the blues and blues-rock. If you're into metal or hard rock, this is not the amp for you.

The only thing I hate about it is the lack of a headphone jack. But I would still buy another one if it was lost or stolen.

Plenty of features that i don't even use. I just plug in and play.
Line in and out? Nah. I do use all 3 channels. Reverb is not the best, but so what.

I get pretty sweet tones on clean with single coils. Humbucker on tele neck is too boomy. Sounds good with my George Dennis overdrive on clean channel and not bad on the boost channels. I've tried different combinations of tubes and it seems to like sylvania 6lgc's and at7's over ax7's.

I bought the amp used from a guy who stored it in a barn and rats had eaten the power cord, some tolex, and speaker wire. I replaced the speaker with a cheap peavey and replaced the power cord, new tubes... it works fine. Use it on gigs every week.

I wouldn't even attempt it.

Not a boutique, that's for sure. This amp is loud enough, clean enough, has a decent overdrive. For a poor working musician, it gets the job done and that's what it's all about.

bought it in '04 u all know the details

at first i hated the sound. i play alot of melodic heavy rock and the speaker was not able to handle the drive. i use a BOSS mega distortion, and it just sounded muffled.

but fear not! problem solved with a meir speaker swap. bought me a nice celestion G12-T75 and my friends, this amp kicks ASS!!!!

i think ive found my tone...i love it!!!

haven't had it long enough to know, but i gig twice a week, and that means hauling from car to stage twice a week. no problems yet, plus they give you a nifty little cover for it which makes you think that its safer :)

N/A

great amp!!! portable and powerful! i had a peice of crap marshall mg100 half-stack. dont get me wrong, i love the marshall but a solid state bottome of the line marhsall cannot be that good. anyway, the sound is great and i love it! i use a PRS mcCarty and its perfect!

Three channels, pretty standard controls. It is a hell of a loud 40 watter... good clean sound, drive channels lack the tone of even a decent OD pedal. Maybe with a seperate EQ for dive, it would be better.

I have had it for several years, it's been my backup... I've put a lot of guitars through it... Les Pauls, SG's, Strats and Teles. Good clean tone, with any guitar I've had. Drive is OK for blues, but I have a Visual Sounds Route 66 that makes the drive and more drive sound like crap. I use a Blackface Twin for all my purposes... this is a good sounding amp for the money, but if you want real tone, get a real pro's amp.

It's been really reliable, as I said, it's not my main amp, but I do play from time to time through it, no probs... good thing, Fender support sucks.

They suck, 5 year warranty, great if they would support it.

Great for the money, maybe for a first good amp it is perfect... but once you get to the point you want to get great tone, get a truly great amp...

stated below. three channels, all tube, (minus reverb) footswitchable...etc. basic EQ, volume, master,(seperate) drive presance...reverb. etc. preamp in, power amp in footswitch, 2 inputs. Bought mine brand new in'04

i use a fender telecaster custom FMT (not the musiciansfriend version, the real one.) and a schecter 006 (with an upgraded bridge pickup (SEYMORE DUNCAN JB) and upgraded neck (alnico II PRO) bot amazing pickups) i also use a strat with a humbucker and two single coils(squire, no upgrades, very basic)

I play mostly heavy rock, some blues, jazz, classis stuff, really anything i can learn. NOTE: I DO NOT USE THIS DRIVE CHANNEL FOR MY HEAVY DISTORTION. i use the clean with a DOD grunge (YES A GRUNGE. usually not a good pedal, but i got some sick tone with it)
i also use a boss mega distortion. DO NOT buy this amp for a heavy distortion. the drive is awsome for classic rock (led zepplin and stuff) but the main reason i bought this amp was for the clean. its abosolutly PERFECT. anyone who has the balls to bitch about this amps distortion sucking is a idiot, who the hell buys a fender for distortion?! use your heads people. im taking one point off for the reverb. its solid state spring. wish it was tube. its not horrible, but after three is just takes up so much of the tone, its worthless. recomend keeping it low, or buying a better reverb pedal if u like alot of it.

havnt had it long it enough to see ont his model. i work in a music store, we;ve sold aboue 15 of these in the last year and a half we've been dealing fender, we havnt seen one of them in on repair yet. i own a 1950 delux 1x12 that had NO mods or repairs to it when i got it, and i have done nothing to it. 54 years and not a single problem with it? thats what i call a dream.

working at am usic store, we've had to deal with them a few times. i cant speak for the whole fender company, but the people we dealt with were asses. they shipped us three times our order, and expected us to pay for the whole 30,000 dollar order in a month. not happening. we will have not worked out a deal with them, and they have been lazy in returning our calls or solving this problem.

this amp hasa 5 year limited transferable warrenty.

been playung 5 years. own a lotta stuff, dont feel like typing it out, this is about the fender, not my other stuff. i would buy it again if it were stolen, its the most reasonable, best sounding amp hands down in any where near its price range. when you get this thing cranked the tubes sing. VERY LOUD (40 watt all tube). i dont usally have it over 2. only gigged with it once, only had it about a month. it was icredibly easy to use out of the box, sounded perfect. only beef i have with it is its incredibly bassy, which im crediting to the speaker. i plan on putting a jenson in it, and experimenting with tubes, although the groove tubes sound awsome. maybe i'll check out the electro harmonix. No amp is perfect, this gets a 9.

The features of this amp are common to most amps with the same category. Not much to say. Please visit the Fender web site for more info

The clean channel is wonderful. I am not interested with the drive or more drive. I seldom use them. My rating is for the clean channel only.

When I tested this amp in the store it died on me twice. So, I am not sure about the reliability.

The amp is pretty good but the price keeps on going up. I think there is a good demand on this amp and that is why the price keeps on going up. There are many-used Hot Rod Deluxe in the market and they are mostly made in USA. The new amp is made in Mexico. If you like this amp, I would recommend you buy the used. You will save a lot and you can use your savings to buy parts when it breaks years from now. For those of you who love to modify amp ? replace speaker, tubes, or whatever. Just buy use. If you screw up the amp it will hurt your pocket that much. Where to buy used? Go to ebay web site, read the paper ad, visit store near by, etc.

Hey Fender if you keep on raising the price of this amp people will be forced to buy used. So, think about that

By the way, I did not buy. $577 is too high for me. I am looking for a use one.

Of course, my overall rating is everything including the price which is high.

2004- very verstile...you know the features

I play on a Squier strat and my uncles 68' gibson ES-335 TD.. .both sound absolutely great thorugh the amp... the " more drive " channel is almost the same as the drive channel, and sounds fuzzy if turned up loud...

amp is totally reliable, and i would definately gig without a backup.

just got the amp, havent dealed with fender yet

ive been playin for 4 years now ( im only 15, but i know what sounds good ) if it were stolen, id find the theif and get it back... or mow a bunch more lawns and get another one. it sounds perfect for any SRV sounds, and i run my boss me-50 through it and i can play anything else i want.. from metal to blues or classic rock to jazz its perfect all around. i wish it had built in vibrato, and i wish the knobs went to 10 instead of 12.. cuz i have no idea why it should be to 12 instead of 10

The amp has three channels with reverb and a presence control. Forty watts with the Grove Tubes that were supplied with the amp. The amp also has pre amp out and power amp in for effects. I have installed THD Yellow Jackets in the power tube section of the amp which supposedly cuts the power of the amp and turns it into a Class A amp instead of A/B. With the open back cabinet the amp is loud and fills up the stage. Very loud amp more along the lines of a Boogie than a Fender Deluxe. I can't find an additional speaker out like older Fenders had. Also, the controls are on the top. I prefer them to be on the front for easier access especially if you use a tilted amp stand.

With the Yellow Jackets the amp has a chimey sound with a fender blackface background. The clean channel is relatively clean with kind of a Stevie Ray vibe. The other two channels will add as much gain as your would ordinarily need. You have to be careful not to have to much treble in your distortion as the Yellow Jackets add the chime that can get out of control. I use Strats with this amp and they sound wonderful. You get enough high end out of it without that scratchy-skreechy sound that Strats can get through some amplifiers.

Its a Fender. I've never had one go down in 39 years of playing. Once I had the Manager of the Fender Service Department call me from his home in Arizona to make sure that a problem that I had with a new Vibrolux was taken care of satisfactorily.

Ditto

I've been playing since I was 12 when I first heard Twist and Shout and bought a Duo-Sonic in 1964. I got the Fender because I was tired of having to deal with cabinets of gear etc. I wanted something that sounded pro and could be put in the backseat of my car. Without the Yellow Jackets the amp has a wonderful sound, similer to a Ampeg Reverb Rocket not like a Blackface Deluxe. The regular Deluxes have a darker sound and less volume with the 6V6s in the power section. The Blues Deluxe has a sweeter sound and more volume. With the Yellow Jackets the sound is very complex. Think of a Dr. Z or a Buddha with a little AC30 chime added. I love amplifiers. I own a lot of Blackfaced-simulcast-plexi-greenback-JBLed amps and cabinets. For the time being, at least I think I'm going to travel with the Blues Deluxe. Its that good.

This amp was made in 2004. The amp is very versatile but it gets better if you swap out the tubes and the speaker. I wish channels has its own separate settings but it doesn't. The effect loop is great. This amp was design for pedals and a rack system.

My Epiphone Les Paul and Fender Strat sounds good on this amp. It is even sounds better now that I replaced the tubes and the speaker. I ordered the tubes from Eurotubes and the speaker from Carvin. The drive and more drive channel is no longer harsh and muddy. The Carvin speaker took out the flabbiness out when the volume is turned up. Even with the mods, the clean channel remains very clean. The amp is so much better plus it also has so much more headroom, again thanks to the mods. I find the Carvin GT-12 100w 8ohm very similar to a Celestion Vintage 30. Very good speaker. I only paid $69 for the speaker and $60 for the tubes. I also use the Boss Metal Zone Petal for a good crunchy sound through the clean channel. My guitar just sings through this amp. The natural drive is now usable and no longer muddy and flabby. I am totally satisfied. This amp is so versatile now that I can go from jazz (clean channel) to early hard rock (Drive and more drive channel) to metal (clean with Boss Metal Zone. Plus it is plenty loud for 40 watts! I will give it an 8 for the stock version and a 10 for the modified version.

I have been practicing everyday at stage sound level and it takes a good licking and keeps on ticking. I am sure if I gig again, it will do just fine.

Never had to deal with Fender. I may have voided my warranty but I don't care. This amp totally rocks with the mods.

I have been playing for 20 years. I am a Carvin man and always will be. I decided to try something different. I was not very happy with this amp when I got it. I bought it from Musciansfriend. It was very much a crap shot. It was so easy to get muddy sounds on the drive channel but it was the clean channel that sold me. I realize that this amp has potential. I read the reviews in Harmony Central and one of the writes claim that this amp loves the mids. He is absolutely right! So I set the bass set to 3, treble to 4, mid to 6 - 7, presense to 6, reverb to 2.5. The drive and more drive set to 5 if I decide to use it. The clean channel is what makes this amp. You cannot beat it! It is warm, fat, and fluid. I absolutely love this amp!

Already well described in previous reviews. Straightforward amp. Not purchased for features. Purchased for tone.

Nails that classic Fender tube amp sound. Love it. Sounds great clean. In band rehearshals and live, I always achieve distortion by using it clean with good pedals up front. If I'm simply jamming with buddies, a Strat or Tele straight into the HRD using any of the 3 channels (depending on what we're playing) sounds great. Zero complaints about the sound.

Not a single problem since I purchased it 4 years ago.

I've never needed to deal with customer support.

Absolutely great value for the money. I read in one of the reviews that this amp will be discussed with reverence, a la Deluxe Reverb etc., years from now. I have to agree.

I need an amp that is portable, loud, and has great tone. The first two are a given, does it deliver on the third? Read on...

I hated the sound of this amp (especially the drive channel) after trying every concievable combination of guitar, pickup, tone setting etc. Then I decided to take some of the advice offered by other reviewers on this page. I changed the speaker to a Jensen C12N. I was amazed at how much better the amp sounded. Recently I changed the first two pre-amp tubes to Electro Harmonix 12AT7's. The lower gain tube in V2 affects the drive channel dramatically, it has far less distortion and is a bit smoother, although still sounds muddy to my ears. Kicking in the "more drive" button adds some presence.
Still not a great sounding overdrive though. Overall I find the low end response could be tighter and the high mids could have a little more bite. The Jensen speaker certainly helped out in that department.

I've been playing for over 20 years and played mostly Strats and Les Pauls through Marshall amps. I ended up with a Marshall AVT50 which had a decent crunch sound with the preamp cranked on the clean channel, but a good clean sound was not to be had, and the lead channel sucked. I traded it in for the Hot Rod Deluxe and at first thought I may have made a mistake. I was very disapointed with the sound of this amp until I changed the speaker. I'm still tweaking, trying different tubes etc. because the fact is I'm very fussy and never truly satisfied with my sound, but I'm getting there. Some people are saying it's bullshit to have to change the speaker and tubes in a new amp and that they think the amp sounds fine stock.
I guess that's a matter of opinion, because I was ready to trade this amp for something else before I decided to swap out the speaker and give it another chance. I think the clean channel sounds great but the drive channel is still lacking. I'm trying out different overdrive and distortion pedals to use instead. The drive channel might come in handy as a simple lead boost. I'll knock off a point for not having separate tone controls, one for a mediocre sounding overdrive, and one for having a lousy speaker. Seven out of ten.
Thanks to various reviewers who tipped me off to the Jensen speaker etc. and to Justin Holtons great Hot Rod Deluxe site
http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp, purchased new by me in March of 2001. Features covered earlier, Im giving it a 10 because it has everything I need to get the job done.

I use this amp with Les Pauls, and a vintage Gretsch Tennessean. Have used various Fender Stratocasters with it in the past, but have moved on to the Les Pauls. My philosophy is simple: Find a GREAT sounding CLEAN amp, and then add other flavors with foot pedals. I also own an early 70s Fender Deluxe Reverb, and consider that to be the best clean sound period. Anyhow, I have heard reviewers bash the tubes, the speaker, and the "gravely" distortion. I have owned several nice tube amps, and always come back to my Deluxe Reverb and the Hot Rod Deluxe. In my opinion, the HRD sounds fine. Its got that classic Fender vibe and sensitivity, and its fat and warm. With the bass, mid, and treble knobs I have no problem dialing in my tones. Then add the presence knob and bright button, and you have more tone shaping possiblities. Because I use Les Pauls, I find the presence knob and bright button very useful when I want to go clean. They help give some shimmer to the humbucker girth. The Gretsch sounds great through it also, as did the Strats. As for the distortion, yes, it is a bit on the "gravely" side, but, my question is, WHO BUYS A FENDER AMP FOR ITS DISTORTION?? Seriously now, if you want killer tube amp distortion, BUY SOMETHING ELSE!! When I purchased my amp I KNEW the distortion was not for me. I purchased the amp for the CLEAN tones. I play classic rock/metal, and blues, and have no problem getting any of those tones with the assistance of my Visual Sound Ultimate Overdrive. I also use a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, and these pedals sound great through the amp. When I want that nice fat clean tone, I just switch the pedals off and there it is. The Eminence speaker and the factory tubes sound just fine to me, I dont know what all the fuss is about. The amp is a LOUD 40 watts, and the volume knob is VERY touchy, you have to get used to it, a little bit goes a long way. Break up does occur around 4 on the volume knob, but its SO LOUD at that point, I never have to go beyond 1 1/2 or 2. If I play a venue that requires more volume than that, I simply mike the amp - problem solved. The one knock I have on the tone of this amp is the reverb. Dont get me wrong, it sounds good, but its solid state driven, not tube driven, so it can get a little tinny at higher settings, so I use it in moderation. No big deal. I think this is a great sounding Fender amp, I will take 1 point off for the reverb.

Its three years old now, and still has the original tubes, and still works GREAT. I used to own a Fender Blues Jr., and a Fender Hot Rod DeVille, and they never gave me any problems either, and they ALL were used on a REGULAR basis. If you take care of your gear, it will take care of you. Dont beat something to death and then complain about how unreliable it is.

I have been playing for 10 years now. I have owned several other tube amps, and always come back to my Deluxe Reverb and Hot Rod Deluxe. I like the Hot Rod Deluxe because it is loud, and portable. I used to own a Fender Blues Jr., and a Fender DeVille. The Blues Jr. sounded great but wasnt quite loud enough, and the DeVille was certainly loud enough but a little too heavy for my taste. The Hot Rod Deluxe is the happy medium for me. Its loud, and its easy for me to move around. I recently owned a Marshall DSL 100, and a Laney VC50 tube combo. Both were fine amps, but were too heavy, and lacked that pristine clean sound. I would not consider myself a professional player, but I can hold my own with just about anyone. I play classic rock/metal and blues. My favorite artists/bands are Led Zeppelin, U2, Aerosmith, Van Halen (actually Van Hagar), Gary Moore, and Zakk Wylde. I have no problem covering those styles/tones with this amp and my stomp boxes. I get lots of compliments on my tone, and am happy with my sound. I do wish the reverb was a little more tube-like, and the volume knob could be a little less touchy. Other than that, I love it. If your looking for a loud, portable amp that sounds great clean, then try the Hot Rod Deluxe. If you need some dirt, throw a couple of GOOD QUALITY stomp boxes in front of it. If this amp is not sophisticated enough for you, buy something else. It works for me.

2004 Hot Rod Deluxe. Features covered.

I was looking for a Jazz & Blues amp. This amp is that. I play all sorts of styles using Gibsons and Fenders and Marshall amps usually. I dabble with Fender amps now and again. I've had a few of their solid states as well. The tone of the HRD is bassy and bright. If you roll the bass controll all the way down, it's still way too bassy. Infact, if the minimum setting was the maximum amount of bass available, that would seem normal. The mid control is practically useless, and it does nothing to bring the tone up front or add clarity at all. The treble and presence controls give you the following: bright and brigher. Turn on the "bright" switch and plug in a Tele and you can kiss your hearing goodbye from about 2K on upward.

The clean channel begins to distort past 3 and distorts considerably beyond that. Infact, the only real difference between that and the gain channel is that you get the addition of a master volume control on the gain channel and a "more drive" switch.

Speaking of the gain channel, it's a very gravelly sounding distortion. You can dial in your choice of more gravel or less gravel. If that's not enough, there's a boost switch for even MORE gravel if you need it.

Seems pretty reliable, but one thing that annoys me continuously about Fender's amps these days is that there's always some kind of cabinet rattle or buzz going on somewhere. Can't they fix this shit? I get tired of tightening every screw on these amps and wasting time traching down the source of this crap. Get a humbucker guitar and turn the amp up at least half way, and there it is. And I don't buy this crap about it being normal for an amp to do this. It doesn't sound good and it's not part of the tone, so fix it!

I bought this amp after trying out in a store where it's not reasonable to turn the volume up really loud. I tried it with a cheap guitar, liked the clean tone, and bought it. It's a decent amp if you like the sounds it makes. It's the amp to die for, for many people. For me however, it's just an average amp once the novelty fades. You read here where people go on and on about changing out the speaker and tubes, etc. It just seems like a bunch of crap to have to do that.

It's a good amp if you like the tone. For mee it's too bassy, bright, and distorted.

I decided to write a review on this amp because I have recently purchased a Mesa Boogie studio 22,a Tech-21 trademark 60, and a Line 6 Flextone 2. They've all been sold and I still have this amp.To be fair I bought the tech 21 on ebay and the reverb wasn't working so there may have been other things wrong with it also.
I have owned the Hot Rod Deluxe for several years so I assume it's American. 40 watts tube. (If that makes any difference in quality?)I play a variety of music from Country to Jazz, and prefer a mellow blues based light distortion as opposed to a hard rock metal type sound.I mostly play smaller gigs with it, and do not use it for recording because it just doesn't sound that well with a mic in front of it. On a stage it sounds just fine to my ears.
It has 3 channels clean, dirty, and a third which I never use because there's very little control over it and it increases the treble. Using a strat this just doesn't work for me.It also has Fender Reverb which I love ,and effects loop which I have never used.
There's seems to be a lot of power for any gig I've ever played. Once you get the volume over three I think that's about as loud as it gets. I've never turned it up much higher.

I use an Eric Clapton Strat with Lace sensors. I have not found the amp to be noisy even with the gain turned up on the dirty channel. I'm not sure about the third channel since I never use it. I've played plenty of gigs with it and noise has never been a problem.
The clean channel has lots of headroom and high quality clean sound only a Fender can get.I wish there was less bass response and that it had a tighter sound expecially on the dirty channel, but onstage with everything else it sounds fine.
I'm not looking for an amp with a metal or Marshall type sound.I also own a Fuchs modified Fender Bassman 100 and of course it sounds better, but $2,000 better I'm not sure.

I bought it on ebay and it had a bad tube and a hum when I started it up. Some of you may cringe at this, but I kept the amp, and had a amp tech repair it. He replaced a tube and found some loose solder joints. This was several years ago and the amp works great to this day. I'm giving it a nine because I think Fenders are very reliable. I've owned many over the last 35 years of playing.

I've never dealt with Fender other than buying their amps.

I'm not sure if I would buy the amp again because of the loosness of the distorted sound. I wish I could justify a 30 watt Fuchs combo,but $3,000 is a lot for a 30 watt combo amp. At age 55 my playing days are becoming fewer and fewer,and since I still own the amp mabey I'll just try replacing the speaker. It's actually a pretty good amp all the way around and a great value for a tube amp.
The last thing I'd like to say is possibly I'm just getting older, but the quality of guitars and amps seems to be lacking these days.

2003......does everything I need......covers classic country, rock-a-billy and old rock and roll just fine.......you know all the features by now

I use Fender American and Mexican Strats and an American Tele....I have a 77 Les Paul Custom and a Epiphone 335 but do not use these guitars as they cannot cut the mustard for the country sounds I need........

I started out using Fender Twin Reverbs in the late 50's and 60's....I got hooked on the Peaveys during the late 70's till this year when I got got ahold of this hot rod deluxe....I'd been playing through this Peavey Classic 30 when this dude tells me about his Hot Rod Deluxe....as far as relibility I cant remember ever useing a backup amp....doubt if I'd need one now....there all reliable if you take a little care of them.....

I've heard folks have had trouble with Fender....just hope I never have to deal with them....this amp is used so no warranty......

You probably have guessed that I'm an old dude....so something lite is what I needed that had the balls of my Peavey Duel 212....this is it....the sound is great and its not killer heavy....but it aint lite either....it way ahead of everything I own....Peavey Classic 30, Peavey Duel 212, Crate 6212 Vintage Club and compares well to my old 72 Fender Quad Reverb

This amp was made in 2004. The features that is has, are all that i was looking for. The reverb sounds awsome, and the presence is great.
I usually use this amp for practices, and i might start to at shows. I havent played with it enough to really try it out. I can tell this amp has plenty of power for shows. It has three channels: clean, drive and more drive. I use moer drive, to me the distortion sounds better this way, but everyone has their own opinion, and the clean sounds great i could play it all day. It is a tube amp with a solid state rectifier.

I own a epi lp also 2004, a unkown aged guitar (i saw it on the revenge of the nerds at their little techno concert), and thats it. I mainly play with my lp but i sometimes play with my other guitar. The style of music i mainly play are blues and rock, i like to play alot of led zeppelin music, because they are an awsome band and he has some challenging stuff to play. I would say this amp is very good for their type of sound.

I have no opinion, i havent had it long enough to know.

never had to deal with em, and hope i never do

If this amp were stolen or lost, I wouldnt buy an new one, I would track down the theif and FUCKIN KILL to get it back. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the sound this amp produces, ITS JUST GREAT. i compared this amp to the Marshall AVT50 Combo, I kno its hybrid, but i thought it wouldnt be that big of a difference. THE FENDER KICKED ITS ASS!

A 9 might seem pretty high with an amp that has so few features, but there?s a good reason for that. I really dislike how all the new amps make you pay for a huge effects section and a whole bunch of stuff you may not really want. The Hot Rod has only what you need, at what initially seemed to be a very high quality. I want to give a 10 here, except the whole "drive" and "more drive" things seem a bit unnecessary and useless, since I can barely tell which one is on most of the time.

Actually, I've decided to give it an 8, since it is fairly heavy for a "portable" amp.

My initial reaction was that this amp is loud and sounded awesome. I found the distortion I had always wanted, but never could get with a marshall or pedals or even other fender amps.

Within a couple hours of getting it home, though, I realize this amp has a HIGH amount of humm - even with nothing plugged in. If the guitar gets even fairly close to the amp, the humm gets annoyingly loud. There is also a crackly sound, similar to pop corn or cereal.

Within a few hours of home use, I took it back.

I (eventually) got an answer out of Fender, and it seemed like the humm is normal, but the crackling isn't. After reading other reviews, it seems a lot of these amps have bad resistors, which causes this crackle. That's not good.

Almost the worst I've dealt with. After searching their site for a support email for several minutes, it seemed the only way to get help was at their fenderforums website. So I logged in, posted a message on the forum, and within 4 hours it was removed and my account was suspended. To make a long story short, the moderators at that site are huge jerks and Fender should not have these people representing them.

I wrote a letter to Fender, and they eventually gave me their support email address. I'm still giving a 1, though, because they should not send people to that forum - OR they should get more helpful people to run it.

I've been playing for 12 years, and have used several amps. I've used about 10 different fender amps, 4 of which I own or have owned, and 2 of which my current bandmate uses.

I give this amp a 1 because it is a very dangerous find. It pretends to be an AWESOME amp for a relatively little cost... but after the initial floor room reaction wears off, you'll probably end up with a $550 paperweight.

Manufactured in the US in 2000. The Hot Rod Deluxe is a great 40 watt, three channel, 1X12 reverb tube amplifier. This amp has an awesome clean tone that matches all my needs for southern rock, country, rock and folk music. The overdrive is great since I put in some NOS JAN-Phillips 6L6WGBs and biased them at 68 mV (combined voltage measured at the bias test point). I run my guitar straight into the amp with only a tuner pedal and a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah abd am able to cover the entire spectrum of sounds I need to work my gigs. I wish it had a true master volume. The knob marked master is actually just the gain channel's volume. I use this amp for practice and gigs. This is one LOUD amp. My drummer tells me to turn it down all of the time just so he can hear himself.

I use a Les Paul Classic with Seymour Duncan pickups (JB in the bridge and '59 in the neck) running straight into the amp. I have to recommend that you swap out the OEM Eminence speaker for a Jensen C12N. You will kick yourself for not doing it sooner once you hear the difference. I play mostly classic rock, blues, southern rock and some country and western. The HRD handles these genres without breaking a sweat. I get compliments on my tone all the time after gigs. This amp can have alot of headroom if you bias your power tubes on the cold side but I prefer an early breakup and this is accomplished by biasing the JAN-Phillips 6l6WGBs to about 66-68 mV. The gain channels is that kind of smooth creamy fuzz akin to the intro to Satisfaction or Revolution.

I gig with this amp almost every weekend and it has yet to give me any issues. Most of my gigs are outdoor venues and in Austin during the summer you're talking 100+ temperatures.

I bought the amp used and out of warranty.

I've been playing since 1985 and I've owned lots of amps. If this amp were stolen I would replace it the next day. As good as this amp sounds it's still portable enough (45 lbs) to make practices and gigs without sending me to the chiropractor. It is an outstanding value and I can't say enough good things about it.

2004. Nothing to add to features.

Am I the only person who thinks stock the gold label (read Eminence Legend 125s) are great sounding? These speakers yield a little bit compared to squeaky clean Jensons for instance. Nor do they sound like the legendary Celestion Vintage 30's - another fav speaker designed for a real strong Brit tone. Instead, they sound very warm and vintage. I think these speakers were designed with a certain goal in mind and are highly regarded in product reviews. I'm still trying to find out why everyone rips on these speakers...I think they just rip!! I don't think Eminence makes cheap stuff...in fact the vast majority of boutique amps are stocked with Eminence speakers, custom or stock. Moreover, the 10" little brother of this speaker, the Legend 105, is heralded by the Tonequest site as the ultimate 10" replacement speaker. Gobs of praise heaped on that 10" "thumper".

Also - the tubes used in this amp, while they may a bit harsh on the distortion side, accel on the clean side - my opinion of course. They're the much maligned SOVTEK tubes. Again - the issue here is design intent. These tubes are built for longevity/reliability with slightly lower voltage than other tubes. This lower voltage yields a bit harsher distortion tone (read the Groove Tube site). But the clean sound is great. So, if you're not going to use the Fender for overdrive (e.g. using pedals), why swap tubes? I think all of this upgrade discussion is more for personal tone taste vs. the stock tubes or speakers being inherently "shitty". Its all in what you want to hear. The stock stuff sounds great to me. I've played professionally for a long time so I think I have some idea of a decent tone. BTW - try running your axe through a Route 66, or Drivetrain pedal into this amp and decide if you think this amp sounds "shitty" stock.

Cool so far.

Read Sounds section.

All already stated above....bought it new in 2003....wish there was a wet/dry mix for the FX loop

Hate to be so repetitive, but this amp is simple. Get new preamp and power tubes, get the eminence speaker out of there, (I put in a California Weber for $130 with labor), and there you go. I fairly shitty amp suddenly becomes a tone MONSTER. Clean channel is unreal, drive is great. I perfer a Holy Grail reverb to the spring reverb, although the spring reverb is very good.

Make the mods, they are not that expensive compared to a half stack. All said, they cost me about $300

No problems so far

Never used it

Great, great, great Amp. If it were stolen I would buy it again and try some different modifications to see how they effect the sound.

The look is cool, three channels are nice but would be better to have seperate EQ's. FX loop, standby, loud 40w tube. eminence speaker, I prefer jensen for fenders, maybe even celest, but never heard with fender.

I have a tele and an epi supernova and both sound fine though it. distortion is a bit muddy, but the clean is nice. the preamp is noisy and even more so with insufficiant power at high vol. sounds better than a lot of other amps.

bought used on ebay. i never replaced the tubes or serviced it. it's a workhorse. still going.

If this were stolen I would buy something else. I had a peavey classic 30 before this and it sounded a load better and this is generally speaking. I like vintage and warm tones, which this amp has but on the bottom of pole. I have a sweet little box called a volume box. it's basically an volume taper that you run through the FX loop. you can pump up the volume knobs on the preamp and match them and control all volume with this guy. it gives you the volume easy of a single channel but the real glory is you can get the driven tube warmth at any volume. $20 on ebay, well spent.

no headphone socket, no emulated speaker out, no seperate eq for drive. drive channels are not good, no master volume

there are 2 inputs though, an FX loop and channel switcher

cleans are perfect, so Is cranked tone. drive channels let it down though. Not for metal really... TRY IT OUT!!

light broke instantly, tubes (or something else) rattled from day one. After a month, I took it back, and got a marshall dsl 401 insetad of a reoplacement as it suits my style more, and the features/drive channels are better

Superb Cleans, very loud, gigable. Probably too loud for most people at home without a band or anything. drive channels suck. very big and heavy. Looks cool - knobs are on top - very ahndy

try findign a good distortion pedal insetad of the drive channels on this amp. ant go wrong with the clean sound though

good for blues, classic rock, indie etc.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!

I own a 2003 Limited Tweed HRD. I play alot of Hendrix style music, overdriven blues and classic rock. This amp covers those bases perfectly for me. I'm don't think you could get that real crunchy distortion out of this amp without a pedal, but it can be done, and I do when the mood strikes me. The HRD has two channels, though I was dissapointed that there is only one set of tone controls for both channels, which can be inconveniant. The clean channel features a nice bright switch and the drive channel has a "more drive" switch. It also has controls for reverb and presence. The amp includes an effects loop which I haven't used yet, a pre-amp out jack and a power amp in jack. It also has a footswitch which is a must.
I play in my house normally and I will sometimes take it to jams to play with others. In the house I have keep the master down around 3, but I still get great tones from it. Playing with others is where the amp really shines. It really has what it takes to cut through the mix.

I play a 2001 Fender American Series Strat through the Hotrod Deluxe for the most part. It really is a great match, especially for the music styles I prefer, which again is classic rock and overdriven blues. Unlike a few of the reviewers here who complain about lack of headroom on the clean channel, I am very satisfied. I get no breakup until I crank it to about 7, and after that point increases in volume are minimal anyways. I should mention at this point that the clean channel is one of my favorite features on the HRD. It just sparkles. I have never played through an amp with such a beautifully clear clean channel. I like to run a Boss Blues Driver between my guitar and the amp on the clean channel for leads. What a sound!!
The drive channel is also great in my opinion. I love the sound of the distortion on this amp. It is not overly harsh, yet if you crank it, the sound will break up very nicely. Again, a great Hendrix tone.
I saw a few reviewers who bought the amp rate the drive channel with a 1 or another low score, which is fine as long as its their honest opinion, but it makes me question their intelligence. Why buy the amp if you don't like it in the first place. I get the impression that a few of these people expect to get good metal tones through it or something. It won't do that. At least not without some pedals.

I haven't had any problems with it. I've only brought it out of my house to attend jams at a small auditorium. It has never broken down on me, though I have had it for only 8 months. The Tweed cover holds up especially well. I'm sure no amp is perfect so I will give it a 9.

I have never had to contact fender about anything on any of their products I have owned. As their reputation would have it, their products are very reliable. Authorized service centers are easy to find in my area and the amp came with a 5 year limited transferable warranty.

I have been playing guitar for 4 years now and have gone through 6 electric guitars, 3 accoustics and this is my third amp and my favorite so far. If it were stolen or lost I am pretty sure I would buy another, maybe test other waters if I had the options available. I would try other amps not because this amp is bad or I dislike it, but because you never know if you might find something better. Though, yes, I could definetly see myself buying another HRD is the situation presented itself. I love the tweed look, the sound and the way it cuts through the bass and drums. I can't say I hate anything about it, though seperate tone controls for each channel would be nice. A short summary of this amp would be, beautiful to look at, even better sound, great value. Normally this amp would cost more than the 650 it cost me, but I work at a music store and get a nice discount.

I have the standard edition that came with an Eminence speaker and Fender tubes.

Like many people have already said here, this amp is not that great out of the box. You HAVE to modify it asap. I bought mine in 1998. And I modified it in 2003-2004. I can't believe I tolerated that amp 5 years like it was before.

Here are the modifications that I made, in order of importance (in order of obvious sound improvement)

-SVETLANA 6L6GC power tubes
(check on Ebay, or Torresengineering)
When I lit up the amp after putting those in, I litterally fell on the floor, and it happened to be just before a gig, happy me. Putting those tubes in make the amp VERY usable. All the highs get crunching (not overdrive, just nice brilliance), the headroom is great, and the bass is where you want it. It is vital to throw away those fender tubes.

-VOLUME BOX
(check on Ebay http://stores.ebay.com/Carls-Custom-Guitars, or build one yourself)
This box makes it so that you can turn the volume up to 12 and have the sound of screaming preamp tubes, but at the volume you want. It is Unbelievable.. believe me. It sounds like your amp has just taken 1000$ in value.

-JENSEN C12N Speaker
I haven't tried any other speakers in my amp except the stock Eminence, but the Jensen gives it great brilliance and deep warm bass. With the help of the Svetlana tubes, it gets rid of the last signs of muddiness, the highs are great, and it seems to respond more equally to all frequencies than the eminence

PREAMP TUBES:
I now have:
2 SOVTEK 5751 for V1 and V2
and a ELECTROHARMONIX 12AT7 in V3.
The one that really makes a difference is V1, ESPECIALLY with a Volume Box, since you actually hear the difference between tubes by checking how they react from volume 1 to 12 but at the same volume on your ears. For the Sovtek 5751: At volumes 1-4 the sound is clean, it starts getting an awesome twinkle clean overdrive around 5-8, and from 9 to 12, it's an awesome crunch sound. (Before having a volume box, I was stuck at the clean level since I could never go past 4-5 because it came too loud). Believe me, this gives many more tone possibilities to the amp.

I haven't settled yet for preamp tubes, I have tried the Sovteks, the Fenders, and the electroharmonix mentionned above, but the possibilities are so big that I will continue buying preamp tubes to compare and settle eventually. The Sovtek are great though.

-----------------

I haven't talked about the Drive channel at all.. Basically, it can go from great blues to pearl jam style.. Its just great, i dont know what to say. (With the mods of course. No need to say how unusable it was before).

For pedals: It will take what you give it. If you give it bad sounding pedals, it will sound bad, if you give it good pedals it will sound good. After the mods, this amp gets closer to a Vox AC30 in the sense that it becomes a very good amp, versatile for everything. No matter what you do with it, it wont sound bad. If you don't like it, it's a question of taste, but no more a question of quality.

WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO I PLAY?
-Reggae (Bob Marley style)
-Garage Rock (Strokes, Led Zeppelin style)
-"Smooth guitar licks over guitar-playing female singer" music
-A bit of jazz
-A bit of blues

Had a few buzzes after changing the speaker, but I believe that it was the speaker not being broken-in, it got fixed by itself,

-Wish Fender had put metal corners, but I can just shut up and go buy some.

No idea!

DO THE MODS. Don't hesitate, do them right now, and listen for yourself. They will cost you about 100$US / 150$CAN and everything is buyable from the web.
I wish I could express how sad I am that I played 5 years on this amp without modifying it. It is so great now. Go for it.

Features have been pretty much described by others. I play primarily blues, jazz, and Pink Floyd stuff.

Primarily I use single coil type guitars. The amp sounds great. The clean is where it shines. The distortion leaves something to be desired with the stock speaker. Once I replaced it with a Jensen it sounded 10 times better. It has that old school Fender sound and the distortion channel sounds a lot like SRV. If this is your bag, then this is your amp. You will not get heavy metal sounds nor the greatest rock sounds. Haven't tried any pedals yet, but then again I haven't needed to. Minus one point because the overdrive has a lot of noise.

So far so good. Seems as reliable as any other amp.

N/A

I've been playing off and on for about 10 years. I own a Hiwatt, have had a Marshall stack (too loud & heavy), peavy classic 30, G&L strat, and fender tele. If it were stolen or lost I would buy it again. For the price it's worth it. I like the amp stock, just wish it came with a Jensen vs. the emminence.

This amp does about everything I could possiby want it to (except work properly, see reliability...). The two inputs (one for pre-amped guitars like active acoustics) are a good idea, as is the "more drive" button, turning the gain up on the drive channel essentially, both footswitchable. The reverb is very excessive, but then I'm not a huge reverb fan anyway so I'm biased. The power is awesome, anyone who says this amp isn't loud enough for them needs their hearing checked (or at least will do after years of playing with this thing past about 4!).

I'm running a Tele and a box full of effects through it, and also an Epiphone Zephyr Blues Deluxe (P90 jazz guitar thing) and the clean sounds are great. The dirty sounds have quite a gritty tone to them (not sure how else to describe it I'm sorry), which I love a lot. Only misses out on a 10 here because the Fender Deluxe Reverb sounds so damn good that this has become my new benchmark for tone.
As for how noisy it is, fine up until it went wrong, skip to next section...

Here's the thing, I've owned three of these amps in as many months, all of which have exhibited exactly the same fault, within 24 hours on the first one and about 3-4 weeks on the other two.

The fault was low-level (but audible) white noise with occasional clicking and popping, even with the volume turned all the way down and nothing plugged in. I'm fairly sure it's nothing I've been doing to them, as another unit at the shop has also developped this exact same fault, and my latest amp was shipped in from their main warehouse in Holland so as to try to avoid any batch problems.

I e-mailed Fender who said they had traced the problem to a faulty anode resistor, probably. But as of yet they've not done much further testing. I've also heard from other sources that a lot of these were made with faulty resistors, so I'm not going back to this amp again, unless I find a secondhand one that's been working for a few years already.

Well, the store I got it from says Fender eventually stopped returning their calls about this, but I got an e-mail response within a few hours, so I'd say it's good.

This is a tricky one, because it doesn't matter how much I love the sound and features of this amp, three of them have failed so I can't work with it really. Time to try Peavey I'd say...

made in 2002 i think...it's a hrd deluxe obviously. 2.5 channels, that more drive really isn't one. Shared eq, which is sad, but not too bad. i wish the volume and master pots were audio taper, not linear, which means up till 4 the volume goes like whoa, but after that not too much volume increase. audio pots would make it easier to control the volume at lower levels. effects loop that i haven't used, extension speaker jack that i haven'tused, reverb that is nice but i hardly use just because i'm not a reverb fan. high and low jacks (VERY IMPORTANT). it's actually too loud in most cases, but hey more power.

I actually use this amp for heavy crunch (NOT numetal god forbid, but like zeppelin plexi style and Van Halen) as well as blues and clean, and it works quite well. I take my EMG 81 equipped Jackson (don't scream, i hate modern metal as i've said before) plug it into the low gain input and set the eq at bass 3-4, mid 8-9 treble7-9 and presence 6-8 depending on the room your in. Keep the gain LOW between 3 and 5. i NEVER turn it above 12 o'clock. Don't forget though , this is with the highest output pickups i know of. I put an emg-85 in the neck to deal with the clean, and though it won't give you strat tones, when you turn down the volume on the guitar and play hard it can give you great boucy sounds. This setup works adequetely well for me with a wide variety of sounds. I recently used it playing guitar for a ton of peolpe at school and playing such wide varieties of music as billy joel, i will survive, i love rock and roll, James Taylor, and some Led zeppelin, and it worked well just changing channels and rolling off volume when needed. For all you people who can't stand the distortion, try these settings. It won't give you a Marshall distortion , but i don't know why you would look for it anyways, it's been overused. My buddies all know when it's me playing, because it sounds unique among crunches. I haven't really bothered with the other features, as i don't have money for delay pedals or anything. use the low gain input though , and cut the bass. Remember that the eq is predistortion, so adding pre eq bass is like turning back your tone knob, of course it will muddy up. So cut the bass. It makes a world or difference on the drive channel, and your clean will live.

Well like two weeks after i got it, a pre amp tube and the power driver tube died, but i got it replaced under warranty, and they replaced all the tubes with some nicer Sovteks. Nice of them, but i was kinda annoyed at the sudden death of my amp

never really dealt with them in person, just took it bckto where i bought it. They were licensed Fender repair guys though , so i suppose if that counts they're good

I've been playing 3 ish years, but i've been around music my whole life, playing violin since i was 4 and whatnot. I also own my Jackson, a wah pedal, and assorted cables. Hey, i like it simple, and i want a car. If it died on me, i'd get a deville 4X10 for the sake of more speakers. I wish the volume wans't so touchy. That's about it though. Maybe a better speaker, but this one functions. Don't get it to play nu-metal; it won't work and you'll lower it's ratings on this site with your whining about the distortion. It won't do Modern high-gain. Period. Go get a Crate. This amp's for old school rock.

1998 made in the USA. 3 channels - clean, drive more drive. Effects loop, reverb, two inputs, bright switch, 1 12" eminence speaker. Tube power and preamp, SS rectifier and reverb. Footswitch and cover included.

I play a fairly wide range of music, though my main style is rock and a little blues. Pearl Jam, Marcy Playground, ect. This amp does a good job at anything but dark death metal. If your singer sings like "bar waw waw waw satan! bar waw waw" this isn't the amp for you. Probably no Fender is for you. It also handles pedal effects very well.

I don't really mind the rectifier being SS, but I kinda wish the reverb was tube. It would also be nice if the channels had seperate controls. I also wish the volume was audo taper instead of linear so you could control the volume more effectivly. I hate this cheasy sales gimmick companies use. Not huge deals, but it would be nice.

This really is a great sounding amp. I'm using and Epi Les Paul and a Strat. The Paul sound absolutely great through it, real punchy mean to clean. The strat sings. I hear a lot of complaints about the speaker, but I like it personally. I also hear a lot of mod this and mod that, but I don't buy into that too much. My philosophy is you buy an amp for the sound that it has, not the sound you want. The speaker it has is good quality and there is nothing wrong with it's electronics. This little things are what makes it an individual. All these old amps we drool over had thier quirks. That's what made them stick out.

The amp can be a little bassy for me, but that's easily handled with the controls. Playing at low volumes can produce rattles with the bass string, but it's really just normal amp stuff and nothing serious.

I liked the drive ok at first, but I didn't like the more drive much at all. It had a very metallic sound. A set of JJ's from Eurotubes solved this problem, however. I really like both drives now and use them both quite often. They sound good alone and can really shine when combined with other od's or distortions. I use the drive channel with my DOD Yngwie OD to get a good Pearl Jam "do the evolution" sound. You can also get some really good old dirty blues out of these channels.

Unless your playing Madison Square Garden the amp has plenty of volume. If you play anything very large your probably going to mike it anyway. I've actually been considering trying tube combos to cut the wattage a little so I can saturate the tubes without making my ears bleed.

I bought it used but in brand new condition, the guy said it never left his house and I'm inclined to believe him. It still had the stock tubes in it when I bought it. I haven't had any problems yet and don't expect any really. I drag it to the ocassional jam session, but it mostly sits in my practice building outside my house. I trust this amp as much as I trust any tube amp.

Never dealt with them and hope I never have to.

This is my first tube amp to own, but I've heard and tried others. This is my favorite so far of the ones that are affordable and practical to carry. I think these will be sought after amps when they get some age on them. I started jonesing for a 65 deluxe reverb reissue, but I think I've talked myself out of it. I love my Hotrod too much. Bob at Eurotubes says he now has a way to knock the power down with some good tubes to get a little DRRI flavor out of the Hotrod. I think I'll try that route first and keep the versatility of the Hotrod.

I would definately buy this amp again if it were stolen. I'd probably shop a little first and would seriously look at the 65 DRRI, but I think I'd end back up with a Hotrod.

I bought this amp brand new for playing chord melody jazz (Johnny Smith and Joe Beck style). I play a Joe Pass and Johnny Smith tribute gig on the weekends with this amp. The clean channel on this 40Watt amp is powerful! Lots of bass and mids for fat sounding chords. Classic Fender tube tone. The 12" speaker has a very well rounded and warm tone for richness. This amp can carry a large room fairly well. It has two channels that share the same EQ section. The foot switch is used for switching channels and overdrive. Since I never play through distortion, the drive and presence sections are pretty much not used by me. So, I never switch channels. I use the second input for a microphone for talking between songs.

I play three guitars: Gibson ES-175, Ibanez AF120, Ibanez Artcore. They all get great classic jazz tones with this amp. As I mentioned earlier this amp has a lot of bass and mids. The 40Watt amp handles the bass frequency at moderate volumes without breaking up. Nice! In fact this was a big selling point for me (I'll rate it a 10 for this feature). Other guitar amps struggle with producing thick bottom a moderate volumes. They seem too focused on upper end. This one is great for rich chords and integral chord melody bass lines. I found the amp to be a little bright. So, this amp certainly does not have a flat response signature. In fact, I have the treble adjustment on the lowest setting with the bright switch off. This does allow the brightness to disappear.

After six months, it has done very well. I like the fact that Fender has protected the tubes with a panel in back (Mesa does this with an aluminum bar...Nice!) Check out the Peavey models, they have no tube protection. You could easily shatter a tube on one of those models.

No experience with customer support. I bought it a the local music store.

Nice jazz amp with plenty of power on bottom. Check this one out if you play chord melody jazz. A nice lower cost alternative to the '65 Reissue Twin. The 12" speaker is a real workhorse with massive dynamic range!

I think this amp is a little high on the price scale for being made in Mexico. They could shave another $50 off the price. Fender is probably getting a fair profit margin on this one. However, the amp is nice.

FUTURE PLANS:
I am going to swap the 6L6B Russian Groove Tubes for a matched pair of British designed 6L6GC Golden Dragons. These tubes create a nice sounding personality for most Fender amps.

You know the features if you read the other reviews...
I don't like that Master volume not being a MASTER VOLUME.
I see people talking about an FX loop...there definately is not one on mine. Maybe the Pre-amp out and Power amp in can be used that way...haven't tried yet.
Anyways, the rest of this is gonna be short probably

I use an American Deluxe Strat with lace sensors (blue, silver, red).
In my opinion, this amp isn't all that great by itself (without pedals/rack units, whatever)
But I'm just gonna break it down in its sections...

Clean: Very nice clean...when it's clean. With my strat it STARTS to break up at 4 with the guitar volume at 10. Somewhere between 5 and 6 is where it really starts to break up. I don't know, really don't like how early it distorts.

Channel 2: I can see why some like the distortion and some don't. It's definately not your typical "dirty channel" fender sound. Hell I really don't know what to compare this distortion to. It seems to just lack "character" as some here have put it. But, I do use it occosionally just because it does sound different from anything else. I mainly kick it on just to get feedback though.
(There are only 2 CHANNELS on this amp. The 2nd channel just has a 10-12dB boost you can turn on if you want)

Overall, this amp seems to be almost overpowered with bass and low-mids. I think this is fine, just doesn't suit alot of people. It does resonate and rattle badly with pretty much ANY bass note though.
The speaker probably needs to be changed. I suggest getting an ext. cab instead though.

I seriously recommend using pedals with this amp. The 2nd channel just isn't good enough to stand alone.
A MXR Micro Amp really helps pull this amp out of the "mud". With the volume down on your guitar it should sound good. With the volume up it will drive the amp harder depending on how you set the pedal. I DO NOT recommend Tubescreamers. I don't know how the new reissues of the originals sound, but I just can't see how people like those things. I personally think they sound terrible. If you can get an Aphek Peanut Butter (basically a hard clipping, true bypass TS with no tone knob and more transparent) do so. My Russian Big Muff (a year old) sounds "ok", I'm getting that replaced with something else though.

Anyways, the amps ok, depending if you can take the early breakup on the clean and the kind of wierd dirty channel.

Have had absolutly no probelms with it. Bought it used.

Never dealt with Fender

Been playing for 4 years. I use in this order: Strat, Boss TU-2, Boss CS-3, MXR Micro Amp, Aphek Peanut Butter, Russian Big Muff Pi, Boss BF-2, Boss DD-3, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
I got this amp only because I needed to get an amp within a week. I was borrowing a Super Twin Reverb :shudder: and the guy needed it back to use. I didn't go out "looking" at other amps because the guy I bought it from needed the money and let me pay only $150 for it. I payed the rest later.
I love the way the clean sounds and I like the sound of this channel breaking up. I just don't like how early it does break up.
This amp is definately nothing compared to a Twin or a Blues Jr. but it does pretty good for being between $400 and $500.
Anyways, this amp is not what I really want. I much rather have a modded JCM 800 (to use KT88s) or a JMP MK2 with 6550s. But I will be getting a cab first since its hard as hell for me to keep up with the other guitarist when we play outside. Actually I have no idea if anyone can even hear what I'm doing when we do. So a cab is definately a must if 1) you play with another guitarist who's using a stack, 2) if you're playing outside without being miced.

I recommend this amp for anyone who likes 2 channel tube amps (but still uses "distortion" pedals) and doesn't want to play a hell alot money.

I've had this amp since it came out in around 1996. I use it for everything from clean "60's" rock to heavier rock, but not metal. The 3 channels work very well for me. The "clean" channel is very Fendery, and the distortion and overdrive work well when the "drive" control is nearly all the way up. My only problem with this amp is that it's too loud (to get the tone I like). So I removed the 6L6 power tubes and replaced them with an adaptor that uses EL84's. This cut the power down by about half, so now I can get the sound I like at a reasonable loudness (we mike all our amps so we can keep the stage volume down to the "drums-level"). The tube distortion is still the best distortion I've heard. It only has reverb as it's only on-board effect, which is all I use (I like to hear the sound the guitar makes).

I've run many guitars through this amp with success. My main guitar now is a Carvin DC200, with humbuckers that have split switches to enable single coil operation (I should write the manual, huh?). I like using the single coil pickups with the clean channel, and the humbuckers with the distortion channel. I think that's how it was meant to be. With the tube modification I made, I can just start to break into slight distortion on solos on the clean channel (Vox AC30 sound at high volume setting), but clean rhythms are still very clean. And I now because I can drive both the pre-amp and power amp tubes to distortion, I can really crunch solos on either neck or bridge pickups.

I've had my amp for nearly 8 years with no problems. I think this amp was made in the USA in 1996, but I believe it is now made in Mexico, so I'm not sure of the reliability of those. I still haven't had the need to replace any tubes yet, except for what I changed to lessen the volume output.

The warranty was 5 years, which I am now beyond. But so far, no problems for which I had to deal with Fender (and I hope it stays that way).

I've been playing out for 28 years. I used to use all solid state amps with signal processing effects. Those sound great at low volumes in your basement, but live with a full band, everything just craps out. Tube amps sound great at the higher volumes, and natural distortion allows so many other things to happen (harmonic squeals, percussive attacks, etc). The headroom I have with a tube amp is much wider than a solid state setup can offer (play soft, is soft; play harder, plays louder). I would definitly recommend this amp. And at the asking price new, this is great value.

I play in a rolling stones, who, small faces-esque kind of band and this amp has all of the features I need. Nothing fancy but everything I need, 2 channels (plus a bit of boost) reverb and the usual bass, treble and middle controls. If you play heavy thrash stuff then dont bother with this amp. Get a solid state Marshall DFX or something. If you like bands like the Kings of Leon, then this is the amp for you. I gig a lot with this amp and its fantastic and VERY loud. Way too loud for bedroom, home use. I have a Laney LC15R which I use at home, and nothing compares with that now that I've replaced the speaker with a Jensen. But then again it all depends on your taiste. I dont do heavy thrash stuff, this is not the amp for that.

I use two guitars with this amp and both produce stunning results and complent the tone of the intstrument. This is very important to me and the style of music I play. I use an old 76 Tele Custom and a Vintage SG.

I've given this amp a four in this department, but for about 40GBP you can turn this amp into a tone machine, giving it 10 accross the board, easily. On the clean channel it sounded way too sharp and spikey with both of my guitars. It lacked the velvet rich side that I personally like. Even with the treble of it was still sounding a bit on the ugly side. This amp peaks at about 3, and this is very loud!

Heres what I recommend you do. Replaced the power tubes with Sovtek 6l6GBs. These add more shine to the overal sound and get rid of some of the harshness. Then change the power inverter tube to a 12AT7 to stop the power tubes from being so slammed. Then buy some good quality 12AX7s. The clean will now be much softer, with the customary Fender twang (with my Tele) and the overdrive/ distortion channel wont sound so muffled and wierd. After these mods the distortion on this things sounds fantastic. I used to use a Fulltone Full Drive 2 but I'm selling that because the amp is now far better than even that. Great pedal though. When I use my SG the results are also great and my SG sounds like it should do. I have no problems playing a bit of AC/DC on the overdive channel and the clean sounds rich and well rounded. These mods make the amp much more chunkier, thicker, bolder and fatter. When making these mods I recommend that you buy the valves and take it to your local guitar shop for fitting and re-biasing. Dont do it yourself unless you really know what you're doing.

I use this amp with a boss chorus, boss auto wah, cats eye fuzz face and a very old VOX wah. It likes pedals if you need to use them.

Power tubes need replacing after about a year. Its done a stirling job for 6 months.

Not had to deal with them, but I bought my amp second hand and Fender sent me a copy of the manual. Good on them.

I used to own a Marshal Valvestate 2000 and it was OK but had too much functionality for me. The clean wasnt great and the overdrive sounded synthetic and unreal. For home use I use a Laney LC15R and I love it now that I have replaced the speaker with a Jensen. It was a bit boxy before, but amazing now.

My advice would be to try as many amps as you can before buying, and try them with your own guitar/s. Really scrutinize. I would recomend this amp for gig/ studio usage, but you would have to make some tweaks. Otherwise buy Dr Z or Matchless but you'd be looking at spending a hell of a lot of money.

To be honest I really wasnt happy with this amp when I first bought it but knew what to do becasue my old man did the same with his. I've played a lot of quality amps, Matchless, Dr Z etc... and this amp AFTER the mods is equal to them. No mistake. It serves its purpose as a quality amp for gigging and studio work, and I wont need another for a while. After the mods this amp is 10 accross the board and excellent value for money. Without the mods its a tad on the harsh side and the overdrive is a bit rubbish.

New 2004.

It sounds good, but I feel that Fender should have done more to refine this amp in the development stage. The reverb is out of control loud on 2, the volume controls max out early, the clean channel distorts anywhere past 3 (the clean channel distorts so much it makes me question the need for a separate gain channel). I'm constantly chasing cabinet buzzes and vibrations, and the cheap speaker farts out at moderate volumes. As for the tone controls, the midrange is almost useless- the frequency is too low and the control's not intense enough. Like the reverb, the bass is too much on 2.

The basic clean tone is pretty and Fender-like of course, but the gain channel's tones are hideously mushy and gravelly. Sounds more like the ripped-speaker kind of distortion.

There's a lot of room for improvement. To me these amps are for beginners, people who don't play loud, or people who want a cheap amp they can beat up from carrying it to rehearsals and gigs. The Peavey Classic 50 2x12 is a far better value.

I've had it for 2 months. It seems pretty reliable, but I hate having to chase cabinet vibrations. They can be so hard to trace; you fix it here and then it pops back up over there, etc. It really disrupts my playing.

For under a grand, especially in the Fender line, you're not going to get a super high-quality amp that's actually stellar. This is a decent bang-around clean amp. I'll mostly use it for back porch jamming.

My amp was purchased new in 2003, made in USA. High & Low Inputs, Bright/Normal Switch, Volume (Clean Channel), Drive (Gain for Drive and More Drive Channels),Treble, Bass, Middle Tone controls, Channel select switch, Master (volume for Drive channels), Reverb, Presence, Pre-Amp Out, Power Amp In, Footswitch, Standby, and Speaker Out.
The HRD has nice features. The only downside is that seperate tone contols for the clean and drive channels would be a big improvement. So, sometimes you have to find a compromise. If Reverb was footswitchable that would be nice also. But still, plenty of options and everything works well.
I use this amp to gig regular. It has plenty of power for small and medium clubs.

I use a 91 Fender American Standard Strat with a DiMarzio humbucker at the bridge and Seymour Duncan humbucker at the neck. Stock single coil in middle. I also use a Squier Standard Telecaster with stock single coils, and have even played an Ovation Balladeer through it. I play Classic & Modern Rock. The clean channel is very nice. I can't believe the guy who rated this 1. Why did you buy it? It is very clear and warm. Starts to break up around 5 or 6, that's when this baby sounds bad! Especially through a Strat. I think the Drive channels are great. You just have to experiment. I can get a great slightly overdriven sound on Drive- sounds awesome. This is not a Metal or Grunge amp. It is Blues or Classic Rock like you would hear in the 60's or 70's. I actually like that sound. I use a Danelectro Fab Tone to get modern distortion and it sounds great. The Drive channels really start to sing at about 5. This amp has great sustain. The reverb comes on quick. Usually around 2.5 is enough. But turn it up and its great for Surf-Music. Presence works well. I like it best around 4. Crank it up and it can get piercing if that's what you like. This is a loud amp, but I still play it at home everyday at about 1 1/2- 2. The louder you play this amp, the better it sounds.

The one and only problem I've had is the little ruby-light bulb burnt out. I picked up 2 at an auto parts store for $2. That is the only problem I've had in a year and a half. It is built very well. It looks and feels like quality. Some complain about the plastic inputs jacks. Try pulling your cord out, not yanking.

No problems, so I wouldn't know.

The Hot Rod Deluxe is a gigging amp. It is a little loud for home if you want to crank it up for tube saturation. But get it out where you can crank it and it sings. It really cuts through. It is loud enough to play anywhere, has great tone, and won't break your back to carry it. Yes, I would buy another. Great for Classic Rock and Blues, if you want the modern sounds just get a good distortion pedal. If you want a good tube amp, this is the best bang for the buck out there.

Not sure when it was made. It does great for light rock - blues - country - classic rock... doesn't do that great for metal stuff but most people who play that kind of music would just buy a marshall or mesa boogie or something that is better suited for that style of music. It has three channels (regular, drive, more drive) but channel one is the only one I really use because you can't EQ channel two or three very well at all and the drive is cheezy sounding to me so I use floor pedals for my tone. I wish that it had a better sounding drive channel.

I am using an American Fender strat with dimarzio pickups. It does great for clear tones to overdriven tones but with that Fender sparkle on the high end. It is pretty quiet. The drive channel as I said earlier pretty much sucks. However the amp when it is dead stock is pretty weak. First of all, the speaker must be replaced if you want any tone at all. I have read that most people put in a celestion vintage 30 or a weber but I chose to put a Jensen C12N in it because I read the history of the fender amps and saw that Jensen speakers are what the old vintage fender amps came with for the most part as well as the limited edition hot rods and I can honestly tell you that it made a huge difference in the tone of the amp! Mostly in the low end but the high end is not piercing my ear drum anymore, with the stock eminence speaker the low end just kind of melted and fell apart but with the new speaker it was tighter and had more of a focused punch than a sloppy mess. I also changed out the power tubes (the two big ones) I read other reviews that say to change out the preamp tubes and the power inverter tube as well and I probably will sometime soon but the power tubes were a must for more clean headroom and a more full rich tone. The stock tubes breakup way too soon and don't sound that great at all. The reverb was improved as well, the drive channel was better but still not terrific. I understand that manufacturers are for the most part more concerned about using parts that are cheaper so that they can keep the price down and sell more because most people who buy the product won't notice the difference but if you notice it then change the speaker and the tubes and you will be golden! Check out this website for other cool mods and tips for your hot rod deluxe: http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/tubes.html

I found this website while browsing the net trying to find info and this site is killer for mods and practical information about your amp.

No problems yet but who knows. I have read other reviews about problems with the deluxe but not too many. But I am sure that I will encounter some sometime down the road. But it is to be expected I geuss.

Never had to deal with Fender for anything.

It is a great amp for clear tones to overdriven rock. Don't buy it expecting to play metallica or any new metal band, this is certainly not the amp! But for bluesy type of stuff it fill the need great! Just need a few adjustments and you are on your way. I would probably buy it again but I would look around at maybe a vox ac30 or something like that. I am really into U2 and coldplay type of stuff so it serves my needs great! I looked at the deville but it was too loud for what I am doing and didn't seem to be better at all, just louder and heavier so I chose the deluxe.

3 channels, reverb, 1-12" speaker etc.

Here's where this amp suffers... clean isn't sparkly like a twin reverb at all. Gain channels are both buzzy and harsh. Perhaps the mods the previous reviewer stated will help... Regardless, I find this amp to be a huge disappointment, especially since the Deluxe 90, Stage 100, and Stage 160 all kick its ass completely in every way... and all for less money. I was expecting the Hotrod series to be good after hearing how great the Dynatouch series (solid state) sounds.

I'll sum it up this way -- I have never come across an amp that I expected to love, yet I completely hate. Even the reverb sounds like crap. A sad excuse for an amp when so many solid state amps out there can kick its butt!

Won't know -- it couldn't go back fast enough.

Never contacted them.

I'll quote Ted Nugent on Jimmy Page and this is how I feel about this amp: "Grossly over-rated, a real fumble-finger!" If that doesn't say it, I don't know what else can. I suppose it could sound good if you get some heavy-duty ear plugs and then put rifle range ear-muffs over your hears and hum the star-spangled banner to yourself while you play... Can I give it a zero?

---------All ratings are with the modifications explained below-------- (for the original stock amp, take away 3 marks everytime)
Mine was a 1997 model with the Eminence speaker. I give it an 8 because I find the EQ doesn't respond that good, and the reverb is exagerated. I never set it higher than 1.2 / 12. Nothing to worry about though.. It sounds so good that you don't really need radical EQs.

I use a Japanese Vintage Strat. And I've used the amp many times with Les Pauls, Chet Atkins Tenessean, and others. No matter what guitar you have, the amp will make it sound good. If you have a strat, you'll get that fat bluesy tone, and if you have a hollowbody jazz guitar with humbuckers, you'll get that great jazz sound.
-Clean is great
-Distortion is great
(wasnt thrilled over the original amp. I had it five years before modifying it, and I regret the time when I had to stuggle to sound good, buying pedals, eqs, etc)

Somehow mine has a strange vibration when I play a low G, but that's something I'll fix when I get a chance, I think it's because I didnt tighten the reverb unit tight enough when i put it back together. In general, it's bulletproof. Hold on..... Thinking about it, that damn light bulb keeps burning on me... it lost a mark for that.

never had to deal with them

Mods that I recommennd absolutely:
Tubes: 2 Svetlana 6L6GCs, and 3 Sovtek 5751s. (I tried an ElectroHarmonix in the inverter position, but didn't see the difference.
Speaker: Jensen C12N
**Let's say someone doesnt have much cash, but still wants to upgrade the tone, I suggest changing the 2 big 6L6 tubes for 2 Svetlanas. I think these make the cheapest and most significant change in sound. The sound becomes much more clean, round, creamy, fat, precise. You loose a lot of the muddiness but there's still something missing. Then, when you change the speaker, you start hearing the high frequencies very precisely, the mids are beautiful, the bass takes it's place,etc.

It has three channels, I'd only use two but one extra couldn'tr hurt. I use it for my clean amp mostly, and the overdrive as a different dirty sound along with a Mesa Tripple Rectifier mainly for effects, and an Orange AD30. IT has plenty of power but it is mainly for clea and texture.

I use a PRS Custom 24, a Gibson Flying V', Univox H_FLIer, and a 69' Fender Mustang. I play moden effects oriented rock. The custom 24 and the mustang sound completly perfect through it. The clean is not noisey at all 100% pure warm clean tone unlike the clean channel on the rectifier which is aways a little pushed.

If you want an amp for an awesome clean tone this is the amp for you. Awesome for in the studio and its a good price. I give it an eight because it isn't really versitle but if you are only using it for its clean I recomend it.

Brand new amp (2003). Very versatile amp w/ 3 channels & footswitch. I stay on CLEAN channel 90% of time. Amp has plenty of power for small to mid-size clubs and it's VERY light. I switched from a Peavey Special Transtube, which was very heavy and still is Solid State, no matter how you slice it. The HRD kicks it's butt. Wheels would be my only suggestion.

I'm currently rebuilding my setup, but now it's:
Fender Tele-->DigiTech GNX2 multifx pedal-->straight into the amp.
It sounds great even though I'm tired of the efx pedal. I play Top40 Country(75%) & Classic Rock(25%). The amp has made a WORLD of difference in my tone. I had a Solid State Peavey before and would NEVER go back. TUBE is great! So warm & mellow. The amp is also very quiet. Clean channel is excellent. 2nd channel is Ok, and I never use the 3rd - it sounds a bit TOO over-the-top, tinty, and noisy, but that's just what I hear w/ my setup. Clean channel is unbelievable. Great for Country, Blues, & Rock sounds.

I've had it for about a year, and have had no problems w/ it. I bought an extra set of tubes, just in case, but haven't had to use them yet (knock on wood). No problems with this amp. It's so light, too - which is great on the Back.

Haven't had to. Warranty is 5 years, I think.

I've been playing for about 15 years. I play Country, Classic Rock, and Bluesy stuff. I'd definitely get another one if stolen. It's so light and SO powerful and great sounding for it's size. I'd never go back to SS after hearing those tubes. Even though it's light, wheels would be a *wish list* item maybe. Also, maybe a 3rd channel that isn't so harsh. I stay on 1st most of the night, sometimes onto 2nd. This thing has made me a BELIEVER in tube - I'd never go back. This is a great amp!

Brand New (2004)
Amp is really OK. Has 1 channel (take a good look at the schematic,
if you're able to understand it), with 2 "fuzz boxes" - Drive/More Drive. It's' got plenty of power. Maybe even a little too much power. I basically use the 'Clean channel',and I put a Vox Wah, Blues Driver, Metal Zone, Chorus, and Delay unit in front. I play clubs, weddings, and liposuction recovery rooms.

Using a PRS McCarthy, LP, Strat...
Gives fine tone, although a bit bassy with stock tubes/speaker.
Put in 3 12AX7EH's and they brightened up the amp. I'll get to the power tubes in 6 months or so. Also put in a Celestion V30 that I had laying around. Amp is less muddy than before. I think that the non-hardwood cabinet causes some of the fartz. But the V30 added weight.

Good workingman's amp. not too heavy. Simple to service.
No problems, to date.

Never delt with Fender. I'm sure that if I tried to contact them,
I'd come away still saying: "Never delt with Fender".

Playing 38 years. For smaller jobs, I use 1 or 2 Blues Jr's..
If the HRD were lost or stolen I'd probably pick one up, used.
I do wish that Fender hadn't used a linear pot on the Drive Volume.
They should use an audio taper pot. The amp also needs a Bright switch
so it can sound more like a fender, especially when using humbucker's. It's not a great amp, It's not a bad amp. And that's not
bad for $550.00, with a 5 yr warranty. And, if you ever want to get rid of it (without losing it or having it stolen), it has a respectable re-sale value.

Full tube ; 40 watts but REALLY loud.
2 channels (the third is useless).
It's a LIGHT amp, i like it. :-)

I replaced the speaker with a Vintage 30. What a difference in tone!
Maybe later i'll try the Jensen (it's on the limited edition).

Clean sound is awesome : full, rich, fat and with a little crunch at volume set > 7 (but it can hurt your ears!) It's the classic fender clean, different from a Twin Reverb, but still great. Love it!
You can easily play jazz, not only blues.

The gain channel (with Vintage 30) is also great: perfect for blues and rock-blues, even for jazz fusion, NOT for hard rock or metal. If you play metal, forget this amp.

The "more drive" function is crap: don't know how Fender could put this garbage on a beautiful amp like this.

P.S. With the basic features, you can't get a heavy sound, but try to use a good tube preamp and connect it to the "power amp in" jack, so you skip the fender preamp section.
I tried a Carvin Quad x Amp : the gain sound is AWESOME!!
Try it, and you can sell your marshall :-)

I had to turn and fix the screws, now it sounds great at higher volumes.

Clean, Drive and More Drive, all using the same EQ. Mine is Made in USA. I hear some of the new ones are made in Mexico. Points of for not having a separate EQ for the clean channel. See sounds as to why this matters.

You need to understand how this amp works before you judge the overdrive channels. 1st of all, $30 including shipping and handling will get you 3 JJ preamp tubes from Eurotubes-this will make the amp's distortion sound as if you spent $600 more on it- I didn;t believe it until I heard it. Bob will have the tubes on your doorstep in 2 days. I hear replacing the power tubes will improve your sound even more, but I havn't felt the need yet.
For starters, the eq is pre-distortion; this means you can't turn down the mid to get "scooped" distortion sounds. This amp loves the mids @ >7 to give you a nice full harmonic disitortion sound. The base on the other hand probably needs to be kept at <5 so that is does't get farty - this is much like the classic mesa combos. When driving this amp you want to keep your presence at <5 also or else the high ends get out of hand. Setting the mids high, bass low and the presence low may seem all wrong to those used to Marshalls.
The clean channel is very versatile, but you may have to sacrifice it some to be able to footswitch into the distortion sounds you want.
On the other hand, a good distortion pedal (I especially recommend the Zoom Hyper lead)in front the the clean channel can make this amp out perform any Marshall stack I've played or heard-no kidding.

As reliable as any tube combo. I don't drag it around, so I'm not sure how it would hold up.

Not been an issue. My local dealer is great - Marty's Music in Annville PA.

Doesn't have the bells and whistles of a high end Mesa combo, but I love this amp. It's beautiful to look at. I love plugging directly into it without any floorpedals, spinning the chicken head knobs and jamming away. I play a Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat & Gibson Les Paul Studio. Clean Jazz, blues and even VH style hard rock/metal. It's louder than you can imagine. The $30 for JJ tubes is pocket change compared to the cost of mods one would have to do on a Marshall to get it to sound half as decent at a reasonable volume.