Which Fender tube amp?

Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
So I feel the need to upgrade my Blues Junior to a better Fender. I'm thinking in the Deluxe or Hot Rod series. I want this to be the final Fender amp I ever need. (Okay I don't really need another amp I just want one) Also have a Marshall Bluesbreaker, Nace M1-18R, Vox AC 4 and a couple of Monoprices.

Not sure if I want to trade the Junior, but may consider it. Kinda got my eye on a Hot Rod Deluxe in Surf Green or something in the tweed camp.

Any suggestions?
 
sdbrit68

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
I had the 60 watt hot rod deville, it was loud, seriously loud, it went from off to ear bleed..........okay, maybe not that bad, but it was still loud, very cool amp though
 
Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
sdbrit68 said:
I had the 60 watt hot rod deville, it was loud, seriously loud, it went from off to ear bleed..........okay, maybe not that bad, but it was still loud, very cool amp though
Click to expand...

The one I'm looking at is the 40 watt Hot Rod Deluxe. Is that the difference from the Deville?
 
PapaRaptor

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
Terry B said:
The one I'm looking at is the 40 watt Hot Rod Deluxe. Is that the difference from the Deville?
Click to expand...
The difference is the Deville is basically a higher power version (60W v. 40W). The Deville also has 2x12" speakers v. the HRD with 1x12".

I have an older HRD. At one time I had two of them. Before I got my Eleven Racks they were my go-to amps for practice. The one downside to the HRD in home use is they get loud in a hurry. I had to do some repairs on one of them and if my memory is correct, when I looked at the schematics for the HRD, I discovered that all the preamp and reverb circuitry in the HRD is identical to the DeVille. That would lead me to believe it's just a matter of how loud you want to be.

I replaced the 12AX7 preamp tube with a 12AU7 to lower the gain of the first stage, which seemed to give me a little more latitude of how loud (or not) the amp will go.
 
CapnDenny1

CapnDenny1

Student Of The Blues
Is it for gigging, band practice, bedroom practice,... ?

The Deluxe is 40 watts the DeVille is 60 watts. I think the DeVille is 2x12 or 4x10 or 4x12, not sure. But the Deluxe is a 1x12.

I had a Blues Deluxe, and it was just too dark. I like the clean on the Hot Rod Deluxe a lot better than the Blues Deluxe. It’s sounds a lot like my Twin Reverb to my ears. Kinda, just not as much of it.

The Hot Rod Deluxe is a loud amp. Why buy a 40 watt amp if you don’t want it loud?
 
Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
CapnDenny1 said:
Is it for gigging, band practice, bedroom practice,... ?

The Deluxe is 40 watts the DeVille is 60 watts. I think the DeVille is 2x12 or 4x10 or 4x12, not sure. But the Deluxe is a 1x12.

I had a Blues Deluxe, and it was just too dark. I like the clean on the Hot Rod Deluxe a lot better than the Blues Deluxe. It’s sounds a lot like my Twin Reverb to my ears. Kinda, just not as much of it.

The Hot Rod Deluxe is a loud amp. Why buy a 40 watt amp if you don’t want it loud?
Click to expand...

It's for living room practice for now. And sometimes I play along with my wife who's learning drums.

Good to hear that its like the twin only not as much, that's kinda what I'm looking for.

As for buying a 40 watt amp, sometimes I like it loud. :sneaky:
 
Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
PapaRaptor said:
The difference is the Deville is basically a higher power version (60W v. 40W). The Deville also has 2x12" speakers v. the HRD with 1x12".

I have an older HRD. At one time I had two of them. Before I got my Eleven Racks they were my go-to amps for practice. The one downside to the HRD in home use is they get loud in a hurry. I had to do some repairs on one of them and if my memory is correct, when I looked at the schematics for the HRD, I discovered that all the preamp and reverb circuitry in the HRD is identical to the DeVille. That would lead me to believe it's just a matter of how loud you want to be.

I replaced the 12AX7 preamp tube with a 12AU7 to lower the gain of the first stage, which seemed to give me a little more latitude of how loud (or not) the amp will go.
Click to expand...

I'm okay with loud, we have a large living room and no close neighbours...
 
CapnDenny1

CapnDenny1

Student Of The Blues
The HRD also has two levels of gain on the gain channel. Something a Twin does not have.

The stock speaker could probably stand to be replaced. Unless the fancy Green Tolex version already has an upgraded speaker.

I read somewhere they are the most popular Fender amp? But I also read about tge aliens, so...
 
Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
CapnDenny1 said:
The HRD also has two levels of gain on the gain channel. Something a Twin does not have.

The stock speaker could probably stand to be replaced. Unless the fancy Green Tolex version already has an upgraded speaker.

I read somewhere they are the most popular Fender amp? But I also read about tge aliens, so...
Click to expand...

It's a Celestion Creamback. What would be your choice for speaker?
 
CapnDenny1

CapnDenny1

Student Of The Blues
That is an upgrade from the standard. Stick with that. You will probably like it. If it's new it may take some break in time? So give it some time to decide. But those are nice, I've heard. I have one downstairs I plan to team up with a Vintage 30 in a 2x12 to put with one of my walnut Twin heads I am building. It has the neo magnet so it's a bit lighter.

A guy gave it to me in an oak combo cab for a Legend amp. No amp, just a cab and a speaker. He said he didn't like it. When I first tried it out it buzzed. So I put an Eminence Legend in there and use it for a test speaker when I work on an amp chassis at my bench. Then I heard the Eminence buzzing and traced it to some loose screws in the back panels of the Legend cab. So I expect the creamback is fine. I used it for a while and I thought it sounded fine, it was just buzzing.
 
jmin

jmin

Student Of The Blues
I really like the Twin Reverb. Whenever I hear someone say they “like the Fender sound,” I just assume they’re referring to the Twin. The only problem(s) with the Twin is 1) it’s Really heavy, and 2) it’s really LOUD. I’ve recently been looking at the Deluxe reverb - it’s smaller (22 watts vs. 85), and lighter! The new Fender “tonemasters” have caught my attention. They say (?) the new Twin and Deluxe really sound close to the tube versions - and they’re much lighter!
So many choices! Good luck!
 
Crossroads

Crossroads

Thump the Bottom
A Suhr Bella would set you back about $2k. Or for that money you could have the sounds of thousands of classic and rare amps.




And if you want a "real" tube amp. I love this amp though it may not be your taste.

 
Last edited:
Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
jmin said:
I really like the Twin Reverb. Whenever I hear someone say they “like the Fender sound,” I just assume they’re referring to the Twin. The only problem(s) with the Twin is 1) it’s Really heavy, and 2) it’s really LOUD. I’ve recently been looking at the Deluxe reverb - it’s smaller (22 watts vs. 85), and lighter! The new Fender “tonemasters” have caught my attention. They say (?) the new Twin and Deluxe really sound close to the tube versions - and they’re much lighter!
So many choices! Good luck!
Click to expand...

I agree on the merits of the twin as I've had the opportunity to play through a friend's 65 reissue, but I feel I have the "really heavy" and "really loud" covered with the blues breaker, so I've been looking for a little smaller. The Deluxe Reverb is on my radar as well, the tone masters not so much.
 
Last edited:
Rancid Rumpboogie

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
If I were interested in a Fender tube amp (I'm not) I would get whatever that is behind Gregor Hilden's teddy bear. And his signature Okko pedal to go with it. I love the tone he gets in his demos!

I have the Okko Diablo Gain+, the pedal Gregor used for a looong time in 90% of his demos before he got his own signature pedal. At $300.00 a pop, I'm not going to switch ... besides I dearly love the bright orange color and big ol' light on the Gain+. :) But let me tell you, that pedal lets me get VERY close to Gregor's tone with three different amps, two of them tube, one SS, none of them Fender.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top