Easy Ways To Tame The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe [Input 2, Dr Watson, Tube Changes & More!]

You guys put the work in for sure. Awesome followup to the 1st vid. Love the HRD, i have the version 4, and it’s a special run. So different look and speaker. Placed a fan in it to preserve it. I do use the attenuator at home.

What ., the amp Cam is fine and for me crucial as I have a HRD and it’s super helpful

Ya if scoops a ton of bass on the overdrive channels

It’s that SG and Dans playing that’s sounds fantastic..

I'm glad to see you guys discussed changing the valves, because I watched Part 1 and figured I'd try that, then watch Part 2 not realising it covered what I'd just done.

I'd go a step further - change all the preamp tubes, honestly. I substituted the ECC83s (12AX7s) for ECC82s (12AU7s). The former have a gain rating of 100, the later a gain rating of 20, so you're dropping the preamp volume significantly. This allows you to wind either channel up a lot further and the amp still not be super loud, but hopefully for most cases like rehearsal and gig, still more than loud enough.

The nice thing is that V1 and V2 are used as the source of gain for the drive/more drive channel so you also get less distortion - personally I didn't like the drive channel at all but now, with less gain, it's like the drive channel sounds like the clean but with a boost pedal kicking the front end, it's beautiful. V3 is the phase inverter and does drop the volume a little further too.

Basically it turns the Clean into a Quiet Clean and the Drive/More Drive into a Master Volume Clean, with More Drive being an "edge of breakup" option depending on the pickups of the guitar you're using.

The tone of the amp is excellent this way, honestly smoother and seems to have more headroom, yet conversely because you're cranking it more the power amp tubes are removing any harsh transients. This is all before trying pedals anywhere, I'm talking straight to amp, input 1.

I've been trying to get a satisfactory sound from my Hot Rod for years now, but the inherent 'Drive' channel just doesn't sound right to me, I think it's something to do with the 'sinewaves' it is producing. Hard to explain, but it sounds sort of coarse and harsh, unlike the smooth breakup you might get on a high-end amp, or perhaps a separate head/cab. I actually get really nice sounds by plugging my modeller straight into the Power amp/Return input and just using the power amp, which makes me think this is a pre-amp issue. Otherwise, great amp and reliable workhorse.

Robby Krieger takes three 4x10 rev. A’s on the road. Two plus a spare. I own one, a rev. A I’ve modded a bit and talked with him during soundcheck about it. He really likes them, got a beautiful, full tone - his classic sound in fact. I have never gotten the tone you’re demonstrating here and he didn’t either. Maybe the dreaded rev. A sounds better?

I should say, I don’t get my sounds from the HRD. I bought it because its insert would work for me. More often than not, I’m playing through a Marshall JMP1 preamp and using only the power amp of the Fender. I have several preamps I bounce between and only use the HRD’s occasionally. I do not hate it.

I just had a look at mine and noticed my Presence is OFF at all times.

I use the 12AY7 and Dr Watson Lion Tamer. Perfect and cost effective method of taming this amp. Thanks for a great video! It's what influenced my purchase!

Gawd I just HATE the sound of those Fender Hot Rods regardless of the particular configuration. They are Fenders greatest selling amp line - but I can’t stand the way their built or how they sound. I owned one once but l hated that ratty thin PCB shreeky board mounted tube socket jive. Definitely not my jam.

Eventually, I am going to fix this awful sounding tonestack. Presence at zero isn’t even enough. The power amp is actually great sounding. Nothing wrong there. I’ve got a list of mods in mind but it’s about 10 projects back so it will take awhile.

I put a Electro - Harmonix 12AY7 in V1 and a Lion Tamer in my Hotrod deluxe 3 some time back a nd now all is peaceful in the neighbourhood 😊 l can practice on 50 db and the rod sounds sweeter than honey. A really good mod for quiet or louder gigs. 👌

Replacing the electrolytic capacitors with something that wasn’t bought by Fender never hurts. I put F&T’s in my Fender 75, which I guess is kind of the forerunner of the Hot Rod, and it is a completely different animal. I have had it since it was new, so it’s not a degradation over time thing that I am hearing. They just bought at a price that gave them the Fender sound, if you know what I mean.

Thanks boys for doing this. Spent about 5 hours at multiple shops this weekend trying to find a tube amp to replace my Vox Pathfinder 15smr for home use. Stumbled on a HRD that sounded incredible with my Jag Special HH and beat any smaller amp I tried (ac15, blues jr IV, etc) by a country mile. There was no denying that it would be pushing the upper limit of what Id call acceptable for a home use volume, however. Doable, but definitely WAY more power than I need. Bought myself a master volume pedal (similar to the JHS LBB) which will hopefully get me where I need to go, but cant thank yall enough to show how many more options I have to give myself more range while still keeping the tone that I fell in love with.

You can’t polish a turd!

can anyone summarise from this vid the best way to bring down the db to bedroom levels whilst still allowing use of pedals and fx? There is so much going on here!

cheap amp

The overdrive channel on 2 sounds like a plexi on 0.5

I put 12AY7 tubes in and tamed the ice pickes about 5 years ago but it is still a little brittle

12ay7 in V1, 12ax7 in V2, 12at7 in v3 with 6L6 power tubes..................this combo with the lion tamer makes the ONLY fender style amp you'll need.
This combo makes one hell of a pedal amp, that will let your pedals sing.

wow that lion tamer might be the one missing piece of het HRD, going to order it right now.

edit: I just got it, and its amazing; this is just what I need. Is set the volume to about 6 on the clean which gives me that nice crunch where I previously needed a pedal for; with even better picking dynamics and volume control on the guitar now. I can boost the signal with an EC booster which gives me more grit and more sustain without a too obvious volume boost and without altering the tone. The second gain channel on the EC booster gives me even more grit for the 'distortion' tone, where I needed another pedal for previously. I'm going back to a tuner and a booster. I use a slapback 'reverb' last in the pedal chain (yes, not delay, but short slapback reverb) and that works just fine without it getting too muddy. Glad I stumbled upon this video.

Funny how they had a switch setup for the 2 amps but didn’t think to use it for the hi/lo inputs 🤷🏻‍♂️

I have gotten some of the best distorted tone out of my (stock) 2002 HRD on OD/2 with drive set at about 6 while playing my Les Paul Melody Maker equipped with the P-90 single coil pick up. (My HRD came with 12AX7WA pre-amp tubes which have slightly less gain than standard 12AX7 tubes)

My BluesJr III suffers from the very same thing. The volume knob has a jump in it going from 2 to 3 making it impossible to try and play at home at a reasonable level. There are mods that can be done in the pre-amp section that will tame the front end but they should be performed by a qualified tech. I've attempted these only because I've built several amps and understand the circuitry and can read schematics. Swapping out V1 to a 12AY7 is the easiest thing to do by far. The taper of the vokume pot may have something to do with the issue. Newer pots have a 30% taper whereas the pots used in earlier amps were 10%. These pots allow a much smaller portion of the input signal to pass through especially through the first half of their travel. Best to speak with your local tech about this.

I would love to see an episode where you guys take a Fender The Twin (Red Knob) and get some different decent tones with it

I gigged two HRD Devilles in stereo for years and years because I saw Leroy Parnell use that setup at a show where we opened for him. The real secret was to plug into the input of amp one then amp send to a stereo rack unit which provided compression (a very important part), a graphic EQ, several delay options and all the wobbly bits. The stereo outs of the rack then back to the returns of both amps. Essentially the rack unit was my Lion Tamer in this scenario. I could get all of the grind and EQ I wanted or needed at the front end of amp 1, and control both amp volumes with the rack piece output, anything from 120db down to 50 if called for. This gave me really hot valve goodness at any volume. Oh, and that Presence control really should live around 0-1 unless you want to change out speakers with some warmth to them.

Which amp would be an easier option for a home pedal platform amp for the same or less money?

What about putting a volume pedal in the effects loop?

single coils input one, humbucker input two

I did finish that ghost drive after updating some issues with the Hot Rod Deluxe I bought at a reduced price as the drive channel was intermittently cutting out. I bought a parts kit to replace caps diodes resisters etc. and trouble shooting after the 5 watt resistors and capacitors were replaced I had no drive at all. What was an intermittent trace open when the board got hot to those 5 watt resistors being right on the board became a permanent open so no 16v to the drive relay. Bypassed that trace with some pickup wire and now works great. I tried to bias the original Fender Output tubes but couldn’t get to the value that was suggested. I put new tubes in and no problem getting to that value. However the tone and attack was what I heard you reference as ice picky. I had my nephew play through the amp while I adjusted the bias back down to 30ma about where it was with the old tubes. Sounded much better. Then I hooked up the ghost drive with volume off and about halfway on the amp. Guessing as I have more stuff to change out on the lower tube pcb and I haven’t put the knobs on yet. The ghost drive volume barely on the amp makes any guitar sound great. No kidding. Hopefully will be done updating this old original Hot Rod soon. BTW I plugged in a monoprice 12” speaker cab with Celestion V30 and much better than the original Eminence speaker. I’ll be swapping out the speaker too. Thanks for all the great videos. I kind of tune out when you guys go into distortion but that’s just part of the show. The drive channel sucks in the hot Rod as far as I’m concerned. Clean channel with a little grit from the ghost is heaven 😂 cheers!

Anybody tried an inefficient speaker?

Found the dr watson Lion tamer on Etsy. Best $35 Cdn I've ever spent.

I dumped an original 1995 Blues DeVille for a '59 Bassman, which now has a Raytheon 12ax7 in V1. High resolution, less painful tone.

Fantastic content here, I just disagree about the sound of the amp being pleasing. It could be the case, in a mix, I might love it. By itself, not loving it. It needs to be compared to a reverb, a Princeton, amps we know we love in a mix.

I liked the EL84.

I picked up a 2016 Blues Deluxe for £250 last month, the speaker tag board connection was flappin in the breeze, easy fix though. It has the original Groove Tubes in the pre and power amp, I had a look thru my stash of vintage ECC83 and found a Telefunken long plate from 1959 but its emission tests low, about 65% from new on each triode, so popped it in V1 - instant gain reduction. Also gave the amp a light coat of shellac on the tweed covering. Sweet looking and sounding amp.

i watcheg lyle caldwells vid on this amp and there are far more problems than just the volume pot taper. fender is really not giving two f&ˆ% about their customers

Use a volume pedal instead of the lion tamer and then you can use delays, choruses or anything else you want in series in the loop. I use a 10-band equalizer w/ a volume pedal. Great video guys, thanks.

Probably wouldn't have sold my HRD if this video had come out by then. Keep up the good work boys.

The high ends just hit me right in the ear hole.

I use 12ay7 on V, 12ax7 on V2 and 12at7 on v3 (FHRD 1998). It sounds really better overall. Some changed V2 for 12dw7 (ecc832) for better overdrive channel.. What do you think about it?

Volume for home practice aside, these sound great. That drive channel is better than Dumble style amps that sound like a late 70s/early 80s distortion pedal on 1 to me.

Just for reference, lawnmowers are regulated to 85 db in the US. So, an 85 db guitar amp is like cranking up a lawnmower in your bedroom.
75 db is half as loud as that.

this was very helpfull, thanks

In Putin's Russia, 'hot rod' tames YOU,

I've got 4 hot rod deluxe amps you can't beat them .

I guess the price is going up since they're made in Mexico thanks to our big fat orange president