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Topic: Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for Steel? |
Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 2 Oct 2003 9:48 am |
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It seems to me that a pair of Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amps might amount to a pretty good steel rig. Has anyone here tried them? What are your impressions?
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 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 2 Oct 2003 10:06 am
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No personal experience but....Look at the insert inside Lloyd Green's latest
"Revisited" CD if you have it...seems to me that is the amp he used to record
this one...using a D130. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 2 Oct 2003 10:15 am
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| [deleted. I realized it was the H.R. DeVille and not the Deluxe, that I had tried and liked for E9 but not for C6] [This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 02 October 2003 at 12:25 PM.] |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 2 Oct 2003 10:32 am
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I played one at the Twin Oaks a while back and it didn't do it for me but I think with a better speaker it would sound great. I've been using a Fender Super Reverb 40 watt head with a 4 ohm transformer with a JBL E-130 and it sounds great at tolerable volumes. Good for double duty guitar/steel gigs.
DZ |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 2 Oct 2003 10:45 am
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Hot Rod Dluxe amps are great..but not that great for Steel.
I did own one for many many years and did use it on small venue gigs for both the Tele and the Steel. I bought one new when they first came on the scene back in the late 90's..It does not have near the headroom or clean bottom end required for the Steel..and it shouldn't..it's a small 40 watt guitar amp. It's very bright for Steel...on the bandstand..
Loyd using one in the studio I feel should not to be compared with using one on a Live gig..especially with Loyd using a D130 Cabinet. Do they sound great at home with low to moderate volume ? You bet...Will they sound awesome in the Studio..oh yeh...
I did try different tubes and different speaker combo's but it still does not give a strong clean bottom end.
I sold mine and stepped up to a Hot Rod Deville 2x12..It's like night and day...
good luck
tp |
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Pat Burns
From:
Branchville, N.J. USA
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Posted 2 Oct 2003 12:01 pm
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| ...I had one and didn't like it at all for steel..couldn't get a good fat clean tone, and couldn't get a dirty tone that I liked on steel....it sounded great with a Tele, though... |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 2 Oct 2003 1:53 pm
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I'm with Tony on this one. Not enough power, and too bright for steel. Highs and mids are good, but this amp has very little bottom end. I suppose that setup (two of 'em) might do a decent job on E9th if you don't push too hard, but even two would be seriously lacking for C6th work.
For home practice, though, it might be O.K.. |
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Michael Brebes
From:
Northridge CA
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Posted 3 Oct 2003 6:23 am
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| Hot Rod Deluxe and Blues Deluxe are almost identical. I believe the Hot Rod has an extra overdrive circuit that the Blues doesn't have. I have a Blues Deluxe that sounds very good, but I did do a couple things to it. First, replaced the speaker with an EV12L, which brought up the volume and bass response. Second, rebiased and installed EL34 tubes. A really great sounding lower volume amp. The stock speaker is kind of weak in the bass. |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 3 Oct 2003 7:13 pm
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I'm clueless about one aspect of running two amps. What do you feed them from? Split right out of the volume pedal or is there some magic mono-to-stereo head that goes between the PSG and the two amps.
I've been told that two amps gives great reverb/spatial effects but living in the woods of western New York State there ain't a lot of info to be found here so I can't find any other info and remain clueless....
Any info on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2003 11:37 am
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I'm thinking of running the output of my rack into the power amp in jacks on a pair of these. The rack is:
Mesa V-Twin preamp (with RotoSphere in effects loop)
into Lexicon MPX-100
into Rolls mixer (to mix in other instrument signals)
I figure that the Fender speakers should probably be replaced. I've never heard anything good about them from steel players. I have a pair of EVM-12's, but maybe Tone Tubbies would be nice too.
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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax |
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Scott Henderson
From:
Camdenton, Missouri, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2003 4:35 am
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I, at one time, had a HR deluxe and a bassmen with 4 tens. now that was sweet for both e9 and c6 but the HR by itself didnt have the tone.
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Steelin' away in the ozarks and life,
Scott
www.scottyhenderson.com
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2003 7:35 pm
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I use a Blues Deluxe (40W 12", two 6L6's three 12ax7's) to practice and jam. Small, light. It has that great Fender tone, at low volume for C6. But it gets a little weak-in-the-knees on those low notes, with any more than 3 or 4 on the volume.
Great job with Stringmaster and Strat. Has a separate drive channel, a decent spring reverb, efx loop, power amp in.
(think of it as half of a twin reverb?) what's half a twin anyway? huh? |
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2003 7:47 pm
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Ray Minich
I think I can answer your question.
You can operate two amps by using the two outs from your volume pedal. No other magic needed. This is called "dual mono". They don't have to be matching amps either. If you want efx, you will want a stereo signal processor (like Bobby Lee's MPX100)
Hope this helps. |
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Mike Shefrin
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Posted 11 Jul 2006 7:22 am
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| I own a Hot-Rod deluxe that I use with my Emmons Lashley LeGrande S-10 (E9) and I pretty much agree with all of the above comments. It is a nice amp for just practicing at home or for recording in the studio. It has good clean sustain with the overdrive. All the tube warmth is there,and the reverb is also good but it really is a bit lacking on the bass end. I was able to finally get a decent sound using the following settings:volume-4,drive- 6, treble-3,bass-10 !!,middle-8,master-2 and a half,reverb-5,presence-12 or lower. [This message was edited by Mike Shefrin on 11 July 2006 at 05:34 PM.] |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 11 Jul 2006 10:27 am
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I had the 2-12 version for about 5 years that I used mainly for my Tele and occasionally for steel in a small venue. The wattage was too low for steel at a large gig unless you were miked and had a good monitor in front of you. If the thing was cranked up it wasn't that clean. The reverb sounded pretty good but like some others have said it's really only good for the studio and small jobs. If using two amps I'd prefer a pair of Peavey Nashville 112's over the HR DeVille's any day of the week.......JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
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Earl Foote
From:
Houston, Tx, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2006 11:19 am
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Hey Bob, I use one paired with a matching extension cab (made by Rick Johnson) and I like it a lot. I don't really prefer the huge 300 watt sound that most players like though. But I also have used a Ernie Ball volume pedal for years which disqualifies me from giving any steel guitar advice or opinions.  |
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Greg Cutshaw
From:
Corry, PA, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2006 11:31 am
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Before I got the FSK I used the Hot Rod Deluxe a lot with my MSA. Great, warm, full range sound but only at low volumes. Had to set two of the tone controls to their extreme position to get a good steel tone and the lack of any mid-range controls makes it difficult to change from a guitar to a steel guitar voicing. Also I was dissapointed that the built in reverb is not tube powered like the standard Deluxe Reverb.
If you are using it just for a power amp, some of the above comments may not apply. But then maybe looking at a new or used Peavey classic makes more sense. Less cost, choice of range of power, and with Peavey you can get tubes in a head only unit. I still have the Hot Rod Deluxe and it is great for guitar. At that price point (I paid $600 new) I think their are better options especially if you are going to ditch the speaker anyhow.
Greg |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2006 2:34 pm
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With a rack rig like that as a precursor, you'd essentially be paying for two more whole preamp/tone circuits that you wouldn't be using, right? And then dumping the speakers. I am guessing that you want to hear the power amp distortion too, or you would be going with a standard stereo power amp like a MosValve, Peavey or Crown. It just seems as though there ought to be a more efficient way of getting a stereo, tube, power amp output than buying two whole guitar amps.
I know Dan Tyack like his VHT's for his (somewhat raucous) sacred steel stuff, but I'm not sure that power amp distortion is something I'd want dialed in as an integral, constant part of a steel guitar sound. Maybe you could borrow a Marshall stack for your next country gig and give the concept a tryout? (Is the old Mesa/Boogie just too tame, these days? ) |
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