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

I just crank it to 4.5 at my house 😈

Turn the mid range all the way up!

I put a 22ay7 in v1 of my blues deluxe RI. It made a huge difference, although it renders the drive channel useless, but it's OK I use pedals for drive.

The Hot Rod Deluxe GB has an 12AT7 tube

That was a great demo session. Right now, I'm playing my 2019 re-issue Fender 57 Custom Deluxe Tweed. Maybe I'll pull out my forgotten Hot Rod Deluxe and give her another try. Your demo sparked my interest. Carry own my friends. Randy Price fron West Texas.

the problem with this line of amps HR, Blues JR/Deluxe is that the input jacks are plastic crap. I had a chinese made Excelsior amp and that thing was built like a tank compared to HR/JR/BDeluxe. Also the EQ section leaves a lot to be desired. In my BD USA i put in a Celestion speaker and it completely transformed the amp. On the other hand the cleans are good for that price range.OD /solo channel....meh.

My body is screamingly internally in JCM. That drive channel sounds like every interaction I've ever had with a chalkboard lol I don't know if maybe a cut on the volume and tone knobs might help more than anything else.

I have a Tube works Tube Driver TD-752 combo amp that is the same way it only sounds good if it at 5 or more which is way to loud for the house.

Hi all
I have a question.
It is normal that under certain volume level(say between 1 and 2) the clean sounds ok but drive pedals sounds dead, like they are far away, impossible to get unity volume levels between clean and pedals

Are this amp made to be on +2 to take pedals correctly?

I have a 03 FSR Wheat/Tan first year of Ensenada production. valve swapped to new production Mullards in V1&2 a JJ in the PI and JJ 5881's. swaped out the stock 50w jensen for a 150w Eminence Patriot texas heat and use a Lion Tamer. my chain is CS R8 LP>Xotics AC booster>Xotics RC 20th Ann, at 18V>input 1 Bright switch in. Totally managable beast now.

Thank you! Just finding this update after the first HRD video is awesome, I have an SG too as well as this amp and will definitely try this.

No, no, no! 12AX7s are NOT in the same "family" as the 12AT7, 12AU7, and 12AY7. There is no family involved in any way. These valves are incompatible even though they have similar designators. They were designed to perform totally different tasks and their parameters are totally different. There are unheard aspects of a stage they are in which change significantly when you swap. Some of these involve reliability and even safety! No one ever considers this if they think their tone has improved. If you plot out how they will run in a stage designed for a 12AX7 you will see that the anode current increases a lot with the same resistor setup. That means the anode resistor is now dissipating far more heat, 2 x voltage = 4 x heat. Any amp with a load resistor which is not overly specified is now in danger of burning that resistor out. This advice will no doubt bring on a flame attack but it needs to be listened to. Fender use the "alternatives" in some of their preamps because the stage was designed with that valve specifically in mind from the outset.

Next, putting a valve in with a lower 'mu', (valves do NOT have gain, they do not affect voltages, they alter a current in response to a voltage signal), will not drop the gain of a stage if it includes feedback - which most do as they have a cathode resistor. One of the effects of that resistor is to make the stage more immune to gain change due to valve parameters. Halving your valve's "gain" (yuk) will NOT halve the gain of the stage it is in. If you must do it use a 5751. This valve is in reality very close to a 12AX7 in all of its parameters and it IS a safe swap.

I'm a Hot Rod DeVille user. Not the same amp but similar in some of its "quirks". I discovered early and have always recommended using the Low Level Input which smooths out a lot of the amp's perceived roughness. At the same time taking the guitar volume down to about 5 is helpful too. That way the first stage of the amp is not driven hard into saturation and the tone develops exclusively later on. You actually touch on that in your setup of the Drive Channel in the vid, Drive low and Master high. In any setup too many sources of distortion working at the same time will always risk putting a harsh sheen on the sound. Simplification in distortion generation is better! These amps were designed when guitarists didn't use terms like "hit the front end hard" and "cut through the mix" and they certainly didn't believe in stacking (overpriced) distortion pedals as too many guitarists seem to think is the sole way to generate tone nowadays. Turning down and simplifying is not a modern concept - but it works!

Another point to consider, the tone will inevitably change subtly with the second input on any amp. You go from loading the guitar with usually 1Meg to commonly 128k. Look at the schematics and most amps with a low level input socket have a pair of 68k resistors halving the signal to the grid of the first valve. That lower impedance load will alter the height of the guitar inductance/load capacitance resonant peak which is a forgotten (ignored, not understood?) factor in guitar+amp tone. It makes a big difference. If you don't believe that just set up to add a switched resistor to drop the load to 128k and play it in and out. It is also interesting to switch in extra capacitance which shifts the frequency of the resonance down and can make a marked improvement to the way some guitars and amps work together.

Mighty fine intro Mick. Makes me want another Strat

In the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amplifier, the main volume control is placed after the preamp stage and before the effects loop. Here's the signal flow:

Guitar Input
Preamp (with controls like Gain and EQ)
Main Volume control
Effects Loop (if used)
Power Amp
Master Volume (controls the overall output level after the power amp)
Speaker
The main volume control adjusts the overall volume of the signal after it has been shaped by the preamp. If you use the effects loop, any effects connected to it will come after the main volume control and before the signal reaches the power amp.

The biggest problem with channel switching this amp and the Blues Deluxe is that when you switch to the dirty channel it kills all the bass, as can clearly be heard in this video. That's why I never use the dirty channel, not that it's bad but that you have to readjust the bass knob when you switch and obviously this is very inconvenient
live.

Such an outstanding video!!!! GREAT work guys

Some people call Mick the space cowboy

I love chicken head knobs

High input is just more harmonic..

I always have my volume pedal in the effects loop

It’s like buying a high performance car, and installing a tiny carburetor. 🤦🏻‍♂️

VOLUME PEDAL IN THE LOOP
OR
GUP TECH. LOUD HAILER

THD ELECTRONICS: YELLOW JACKETS

Y7 LIKE A BASSMAN 1ST VALVE

The clean sounds like a sans amp...my vox has a better clean...the bassman is my favorite fender clean but it need s a jensen

Brilliant, thanks fellas , just swapped my Boogie 5.25 for a Blues Deluxe “ for the shimmer, bloom, and headroom “ also invested in the Dr Watson too, but the info on swapping tubes/valves was invaluable. Cheers John

Just turned it into a" Blues Junior"

I have an HRD and have been struggling with this (when not using a Captor X.) Great video - thanks for making it! Subscribed.

I’ve got a Deville III and the 12ay7 in v1 is a change I need to make. Maybe a Doctor Watson for home use as well… Really appreciate you guys doing this in so much depth. Definitely inspires more confidence than trawling the depths of internet forums! 😂

Would all these shenanigans have the same effect on a hotrod deville 2x12?

Does this mean that my green pedal is now called a "Valve screamer"?

So, great show. I built myself a Lion Tamer as a normal pedal on my Blues Deluxe Reissue IV and that goes at the end of the pedal chain, so you can still use the effects loop and get the same results as the Lion Tamer you guys bought. Then I changed the speaker. I now have a Celestion G12 (70 watts) IN the Blues Deluxe and I also got myself a 1x12 Laney cabinet in which I placed a Jensen C12 (50 watts). Now you can use the amp for recording at home and it sounds great both with the Celestion and the Jensen. Still experimenting but it's fun.

Lion tamer made my Deville useable for gigs

man that's some beautiful clean playing

I´ve made most of theses modifications in my blues deluxe some years ago to good result. The best here was that SG, it sounds gorgeous!

Is it not obvious that the drive channel knocks off an octave of bass? More midrange is a sideways say of saying that. I have a blues deluxe which is the same circuit without the more drive. I love the amp with these settings, #1 change the speaker to Jenson P12Q, clean channel, input 1, bass setting at 2, volume at 6 or higher. The drive channel is not useful for me. This thing sings on the clean.

It don't sound good

Great video guys. i also have experimented with my fender Blues deluxe, and have now settled with an AT7 in V1 position, and to my ears the amp is sounding awesome. Apart from the valve change it is totally stock. I've owned many amps over the years (boogie, Vox and numerous fender amps). I tend to use a strat 90% of the time, and find it hard to beat the sound of a fender guitar into a fender amp a marriage made in heaven. Although the Blues Deluxe is not same as HRD its very similar in many ways, however, I prefer the clean tone of the blues deluxe. I use it mainly as a pedal platform, with drive and boost pedals in the front end, and a Plethora X5 in the loop for delays and modulation sounds. I use this setup for gigs, I personally wouldn't dream of getting a HRD or Blues deluxe for home use, they are far too loud, and these days there is a huge choice of low output tube amps totally suitable for bedroom use

Where was all this 20 years ago when I couldnt stand my HRD!
Actually, I knew about the volume pot in the fx loop, and the AY7 tubes.
It was that the 40 watts was too loud for I wanted.

Good job guys

Thanks for all your content gentlemen. I was just wondering if a regular passive volume pedal would have the same effect as the lion tamer if placed in the loop

Add ext cab and it’s even better only way I run mine I’ve got a first year hot rod great amp drive channel is useless but that’s why we have a million pedals.

Any alternatives to the Dr Watson for the States? I suppose a volume pedal is fine but it doesnt look as slick.

When are you guys going to admit that the hot rod deluxe is just a rubbish amp lol

I gave up on my Gen 4 Hot Rod DeVille OD channel for live performances. I tried changing tubes, messing with settings, etc. I was never able to find an OD tone that I liked. The EQ settings to get a good clean tone don't work for the OD channel, IMHO. I wasted several weeks trying to fiddle around and stumble onto a good setting that would work for me.

I put a balanced output 12ax7 in V2 and that helped the OD channel considerably. But the EQ still didn't work well when switching between channels 1 & 2.

However, running pedals through the front has worked very well for me.

The Gen 4 OD channel is improved but in my opinion it still isn't useable for performances when I need to channel switch. The EQ between the clean and OD channels is too different to utilize both channels while on stage. If you pick one or the other, you'll be much happier.

If you are a player that plays all clean or all dirty, you'll get along with using one channel or the other. If you are a player that uses clean and dirty tones, plan on pushing pedals through the front.

It's simply easier to run pedals through the front and get on with my life...

Love you guys’ content, as always. I feel like I have grown so much as a guitarist watching this channel over the years. I would love to see you guys throw in the Kasleder Toxic Twins dual OD in a Pic n Mix or however you may see fit, but it is a fantastic OD pedal & I would like to hear it played through your fingers!! Thanks for reading 📖 ♥️ Greetings from the USA! 🇺🇸

THANKS!

Somehow, I never knew about the Dr Watson Lion Tamer before watching this video. Ordered one straight away and it just arrived. Ha! First time I've gotten to hear some decent tone out of this amp without upsetting any of the other residents here and feeling totally inspired by the results for once. Yay!!You guys really do perform a service with your videos. I can't wait to try out a few more of these ideas. Now I finally realised this channel isn't just for rich guys with a gear fetish.

i love your 'experiments shows' this is a doozy and i never thought valves would go on my shopping list but that GT5751 just sings! thank you

I use a Lion Tamer with my HRDIV but really tempted to go with the 12AY7 tube in V1 now. That sounded so good.

Never discount the incredible improvement of installing vintage tubes into a modern tube amp. Black plate tubes tend to have lower headroom, and add a scoopto your sound. Like a gained up fender. Gray smooth plates are very detailed in the treble frequencies. Grey Ribbed plates are kind of low mid focused.

I have an ohmite power, scaler, a.k.a. a variac, and I run it at about 90 V. That helps the volume drop down a little bit, helps lower the headroom of a loud amplifier, and it also adds a little compression to the tone, a kind of sizzly compression. It’s a really unique sound, and it works great with my supro Delta king 12.

If attack is what you are looking for, while still retaining that smoothness in the 12 AY7, then get a 12at7. Telefunken’s are nice and bright and retain that detailed nature, but they can be sterile for some.