I have an opportunity to buy a Fender HotRod Deluxe 40 W tube amp. The online reviews are pretty good, but are there any things I should be aware of when I try it out and test it?

Yeah

I've got a hotrod deville cool sounds. Take a Strat, a tele and a Les Paul and that will give you an idea of what it can do.

Nick

Yeah, don't pay more than the retail price. hehe sry.
How much is he asking for it?
It's a nice amp if it's working properly.
695 € new.

Open-g, I just wondered (if you know)
what is a Music Man 130 W (4 speakers) from Anaheim worth?
I got one of them...and I've heard that they are sought-after-amps...

Sorry Erik, I'm clueless on Music Man amps

I thought Music Man were exact copies of Fenders ? Even the same factory....

He's asking $450.

D'oh.

I asked a smiliar question a few weeks ago. I searched for 'hot rod', but couldn't find anything, which is why I posted today. Turned out in the first message it's spelled 'hotrod'.

This might be a helpful site for Hot Rods
[studentweb.eku.edu]

and harmony central of course
[www.harmony-central.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-06-05 18:27 by open-g.

used to own one. has that classic clean fender sound and the two distortions are decent for blues. replaced it with a 22-watt '65 deluxe reissue. 40 watts is plenty loud for a tube amp and i could never have the volume past 2 or 3 where i lived. didn't even need to have it past 5 for small club gigs. i felt bad because i couldn't drive the tubes like they deserved to be. never had any problems with it.

Yes - it's LOUD.

If you live in an apartment, be prepared for complaints. It's almost impossible to play it quietly - either it sounds terrible or your instincts take over and you turn it up. By quietly, I mean getting the volume knob down to about "1/2" or "1/3".

That said, I've had one for four years and it's a really versatile amp. Great tube sound, excellent reverb, it breaks up nicely when the volume's up to about 3 . . . simple yet logical footswitch . . . and if you're planning on using it live, it's big enough so that you don't have to mic it up, but of course also big enough to hold its own if it is going through the PA.

Go for it.

Erik_Snow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Open-g, I just wondered (if you know)
> what is a Music Man 130 W (4 speakers) from
> Anaheim worth? I got one of them...and I've heard that they are
> sought-after-amps...

It's a good amp. I think Music Man sold guitars and amps from the mid 70's to the mid-80's (they were made by Leo Fender and Tom Walker after Fender was sold). The company was sold to Ernie Ball in about 1984. I don't know what they're selling for now, but new it was about $750.00, and there is a community of guitarists that consider them cool and rare, so....I dunno.

Thanks everyone - I'll go check it out.

Thanks Texas Fan.
It's impossible to use it above volume level 3, even at concerts...it's so f***ing loud. I got it for 500 euro - 10 years ago, but I thought it was worth a lot more...that's why I asked.

A 70's Music Man is an awesome amp, but be careful with the condition. A lot of its rep in rock circles comes from it use by Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd in the brilliant NYC band Television. That means if your a Strokes kiddy you need a Fender Jaguar and this amp
The 40W Hot Rod is great, but only for small gigs, otherwise you need more power!

>>The 40W Hot Rod is great, but only for small gigs, otherwise you need more power!<<
not my opinion.

Someone wrote this on Harmony Central and I do agree:

Most of the older stuff is quite heavy and was built for a different time when PA's sucked so all your sound projection was from your stage amps. That's all changed now with better house systems. I've always liked the portibility of deluxes as well as the sound of the single 12" speaker. This amp is all the power you'll ever need to gig & not too heavy

If you really need to move more air on stage, just add a 2x12" or 4x12" cabinet

Open G

I know what your saying, but it depends on the venue, "differnet times when PA's sucked" I dont know what sort of clubs your playing in, but a lot of them still do suck. Also don't you think that amp would anyway be a bit thin for a good rock n roll sound when miked?

I've never found the HRD to lack power or projection in any reasonable sized club.
It's a great gigging amp for not a lot of money... if it's classic Fender tone you're after.
Just remember that it's not a Boogie and it's not a Marshall !
So don't expect it to do that as well... and then complain when it still sounds like a Fender. [which is what many of it's critics do]

The first of those two links that Open-G put up is a great resource for this amp.
I'd especially recommend the simple mod to the tone controls...which transforms the amp into something even better at zero cost and with minimal effort.
It's under the "James Vandenberg mods" section. I think he was the guy who supplied the details of this mod to the site..though the mod has been around for as long as the amp in many circles.
If you want the HRD to nail a good current Keith vibe, stick a pair of TAD 6L6WGC tubes in it. They'll make you smile...guaranteed ;^)

Yes, it depends on the venue. size and room response does matter.
Quite a few times it happend that the sound engineer comes up and asks us to turn the amps down.
Then you get the next problem - the sound will change (and might get thin)
They need to be driven to some extent.
But I wouldn't say a HRDx sounds thin or lacks of rock'n'roll sound.

I actually don't recall any club with antique PA systems recently.
They all seem to have upgraded their equipment, at least around here (Berlin that is)