FENDER HOT ROD DEVILLE

helstab · Post by **helstab** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 9:57 am

One of our guitar players has this amp right now and I cant STAND it. Anyone like this thing? It's nice having the Marshall/Fender setup in the band, but I think he needs to sell this "HOT ROD" and get something else. Of course this isn't my decision. I'm just wondering if anyone likes this amp?

-Matt

greenmeansjoe · Post by **greenmeansjoe** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:28 am

My main amp is a Hot Rod Deville 212, and I love it. My Tele sounds like butter through that thing.

The guys from the Strokes use Hot Rod Devilles, too.

What, exactly, don't you like about it?

Rodgre · Post by **Rodgre** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:32 am

My advice about the Deville is to never leave the clean channel. It's not my absolue favorite Fender, but for a newish Fender design, I like it quite a bit. It was my main live amp for years ( the 4x10") until I got an AC30.

Roger

gabewheel2000 · Post by **gabewheel2000** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:34 am

YEAH, STICK TO THE CLEAN CHANNEL.

Catoogie · Post by **Catoogie** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:48 am

Again, the clean channel. Or get a reissue Vibrolux!

soundguy · Post by **soundguy** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:49 am

what fender design is this amp based on? Is this their modern reworking of a tweed circuit? Ive never played one but a lot of my friends seem to love this amp.

dave

Rodgre · Post by **Rodgre** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:58 am

First off, the Vibrolux RI is INSANE. It's so gorgeous.... For those used to "boutique" amps, it's nothing earth-shattering, but for a modern Fender, it's out of this world. It's a lot like a Vibroking, just less power and less bottom. It's a gorgeous amp.

The Deville isn't really based on anything. They "look" like Tweed Bassmen, but they're not.

I think it's just Fender's modern look at an affordable tube amp. Vintage look, some vintage tones, and some modern tones.... The Hot Rods have that extra gain channel that I hate. I have the old Blues Deville with the tweed covering and the Alnico Blues and the dual channels. The Gain channel is icky. The Normal channel, decked up sounds nice.

Speakers will make a difference too. If your guitar player doesn't know any better, they just may need the knobs to be tweaked. Bad tone drives me nuts too, but I know that the Deville can sound good. Maybe not the greatest, but very good.

Roger

Auxillary · Post by **Auxillary** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 11:02 am

imho, best clean channel of any amp that exists... just stick witha ds-1 for distortion or whatever. I just bought one for a friend and I had it in the studio here for about a week of non-stop toying. Really a great amp if there's a good guitarist behind it.

greenmeansjoe · Post by **greenmeansjoe** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 11:03 am

<<YEAH, STICK TO THE CLEAN CHANNEL.>>

I don't agree with that at all. No, the dirty channel isn't gonna get you any Marshall or Mesa Boogie sounds. The distortion tends to be loose, screechy and all over the place, but used correctly -- gain up, volume down, proper eq settings -- it'll deliver a decent crunch. You just gotta play with it.

That said, it doesn't hurt to have a good overdrive or distortion pedal in your setup. I've got an out-of-production Vox overdrive pedal I use to get smoother, creamier break-up.

Joe

EasyGo · Post by **EasyGo** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 11:17 am

Those Hot Rod Fenders aren't bad for the dough. I bought the Hot Rod Deluxe after using a friend's, and it was okay. The plastic input jacks on mine stripped very quickly - like all the Hot Rods (and most new amps, to be fair), the switches, jacks, and pots are mounted directly to a thin PCB inside. To Fender's credit, they did cover the replacement (which would have cost $120 without the warranty). The repair tech suggested tying the guitar cable to the amp handle to prevent the input jacks from stripping so quickly.

By itself, it made a pretty good tube amp sound. When we got a new guitar player, he brought over his Silverface Twin, and it just killed the HRD. When I say killed, I am talking mainly about the 'toughness' of the sound and its ability to cut through. The HRD was rather saggy and wimpy in comparison with the Twin. Not a fair fight.

I think the Hot Rods are okay as an affordable tube amp. Wouldn't take it on tour though.

helstab · Post by **helstab** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 11:56 am

Correction, he has the single 12 version. We have recently moved everything to my basement so now I will have time to play with it. I can set everything exactly oppasite of how he has it set, and he would never know. He is a strange guitar player. He isn't GREAT and has a bad ear, but is extremely creative and easy to play with. Pro's definatly out way the con's. But I need to convince him to maybe invest in a nice distortion pedal. I know he has been talking about it. He doesn't care if I fuck with his shit so I guess I will have to do just that. I'm glad to hear that there might be somthing to work with. Thanks a lot.

gabewheel2000 · Post by **gabewheel2000** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 1:01 pm

might also wanna tweak the presence. lotsa folks crank that, and it's kind of obnoxious. pull back to maybe 6-8 (outta 12) see if that helps.i have the 410 and love it.

twitchmonitor · Post by **twitchmonitor** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:05 pm

I had one and they can be excellent. I used to get compliments on it all the time at shows, from guy playing boutique amps no less.

Here's how to get the goodness:

ONLY use the clean channel. Period.
This amp LOVES pedals. Anything I threw in front of it sounded great. DS-1, Analog delays, Jeckyl and Hyde overdrive/distortion, tubescreamer, flanger, etc...the thing is that this amp WILL break up, so using an overdrive in front to give it a swift kick in the pants when you need it does wonders. Keep the "drive" low and the "level" up. go from (fairly) chimey to bluesy to nasty just like that.

Some folks are fond of swapping out the speaker, but I never bothered and got great sound. Just make sure your guitar isn't a piece of junk. This amp doesn't cover that stuff up.

And yeah, turn that damned presence knob down! and if you turn the reverb past 2 on the dial, you'll wash you sound out in some pretty crappy 'verb, but under 2 it's ok.

Don't fret....you can make that amp sound great.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:26 pm

I would experiment with the tubes. Most of the "Hot Rod" series have 2 12AX7 preamp tubes, but many players swap them out for lower gain tubes (e.g. 12AT7, 12AU7, 5751s, etc.) The preamp distortion can be pretty buzzy, and scaling back on the preamp tubes seem to warm up the overdrive sound quite a bit.

I use 12AT7 on my Pro Junior, and I like how it stays clean but full (just on the verge of overdrive), and it takes pedals really well.

Randall · Post by **Randall** » Wed Jul 23, 2003 1:21 am

I've been using one live and in the studio for several years and have no real complaints,I agree they work well with pedals in the clean channel,however,I made the mistake of buying the "satalite"(Sam Ash called me and offered me the last one in their inventory for 100 clameroos) just have'nt got around to moving it on yet

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