A Musical Reaction to the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe - a Classic for a Reason

It's a classic mainstay of the guitar industry; go to almost any small to midsized show in the world, and you'll see an amp like this somewhere on stage.
In DK? You can be the lucky owner of this very amplifier - check the link below for details:
- www.dba.dk/fen...

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Today we're running the simplest of setups: - Fender Am Vintage '52 Telecaster, fully stock and tuned to D-standard - Hagström Viking modded with @Sheptone pickups Both are going straight into the 1st input on the Hot Rod Deluxe with no pedals between the guitar and the amplifier. Also! Check out my latest single on a streaming service of your choice by going through the link below: - linktr.ee/madsbolding Have a lovely day!

[@rich1891]

Got one😊

[@BladeDoomer86]

Terrific playing in all your videos man.. you really make that Hot Rod shine. It's all in the fingers, as they say. Cheers from Canada

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Thank you so much sir! Those are high praises, and I'm hoping you'll feel considerably cheered on from Scandinavia!

[@AnnaGlaid]

Yaaay, that's superb!

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

It's my pleasure to have you with me in this digital age :)

[@Dirhtt]

Just got myself one and omg… beautiful

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

They just WORK

[@RossTheBossTrotter]

Excellent playing!

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Thanks man! I'm hoping you have a lovely day ^^

[@robertokeefe8681]

beautiful

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Thank you good sir! :)

[@cebuguitartune]

Thank you! I will try to use this style.

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

It's really a nice thing to try - dialing back the treble and letting the midrange of the amp sing a bit... it's a nice thing! Especially if you turn it up a bit and let your fingers play softly - the tone will bloom nicely :)

[@soapboxearth2]

If you have one of these and you love it, you should take it to a trusted amp tech for some improvements. There are some serious design flaws with all of these that will end up burning the pcb, and there are filter capacitors that will leak. Etc. It won't cost you too much and will guarantee that your amp will last a long time. I regularly buy damaged devilles and hr deluxes for next to nothing so I can hand wire my own amps in them and these things will self-destruct on you . I see it quite often.

[@soapboxearth2]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2S0fYCwa5hnosUsi=bbpvTduRhgAz-000

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

That's a good tip! Actually I sold this particular one, but I did pass it by a solid0 amp tech for a general checkup, so I'm hoping that he will have addressed what you describe. I still do have an old US made '96 Blues Deluxe which I love with all my heart - do you happen to know if that generation of amps have similar issues? The design is of course similar, but the devil's in the details as you no doubt will know :)

[@soapboxearth2]

​@MadsBoldingMusic Yes, that will have the same issues, they're all very similar. Also if the filter capacitors and more importantly the bias capacitors haven't been replaced in it, they're over due. If the bias caps fail you'll loose your power tubes and possibly the output transformer. Here's a video that outlines some issiues with these amps. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2S0fYCwa5hnosUsi=dAol7FjEdGuYy7Q9

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

@@soapboxearth2 Since it has had several owners before myself, I'd say that they probably have been, but I'll definitely take it in for a checkup later this year and bring up what you mention. Thank you so much :))

[@gertzpalma]

THANKS!

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Haha! Thank YOU, good sir!

[@tommyy_J]

I was looking at getting a Hot Rod Deluxe for the nice Fender cleans, but everyone seems to point to the Deluxe Reverb to be a much better amp. However, these are twice as much second hand as a Hot Rod. Any reason I should avoid a Hot Rod Deluxe? Is a Deluxe Reverb really that much better, because you seem to make this amp sing.

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

The Hot Rods were supremely common in the most recent decades compared to the Reverbs, and that is why they now saturate the used market. I think the Hot Rods are worthwhile amps - I owned mine for many years and really got to know it well. Having had relatively little experience with the Deluxe Reverbs, I can say only general things. I find them closer to a vintage sound, whereas the Hot Rods have a more modern circuitry. Both can get pretty much any job done in terms of pedal platforms in pop, soul and RnB and the traditional sounds in blues, country, jazz and so on. For rock music, I may prefer the Reverb a bit because of the slightly more old school design of the amp. What I really like about the Hot Rod series is that their clean sounds feel relatively compressed without breaking up too much, and I demonstrate this to some degree here. This may also be the case for your Reverbs, but I have too little experience with them live to say this with confidence. A major downside to the Hot Rods as highlighted by commenters on this very video is that their circuits have some inherent flaws that need addressing for long term duty. It's most likely that any used amp you buy won't have been modified to remedy these issues (PCB degradation, capacitor leaking and such) and that an amp tech would need to do the part replacements you need. A new one certainly will have this issue albeit with more years before it'll be a serious concern. To my knowledge, the Deluxe Reverb does not have such issues. Either way, I hope this little breakdown helps you in some way, and may you have a great day sir

[@jeffreymars8062]

Last I heard Peter Green settled on a Deville for shows. Almost sold mine. No way.

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

They are fundamentally wonderful amps for so many things. What amp were you thinking of for replacing it?

[@JustAGuitarPlayer]

What speaker is in your Hot Rod Deluxe? Is it the current celestion A type or what they previously used the celestion V type? Or some other speaker? And what year is the tele? Sounds great!

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

First of all, thank you so much - so glad you liked it! The speaker in there is the original speaker from when the amp was made; a Fender branded Eminence type speaker. The valves were switched for sov-tek equivalents - they didn't change the tone that much to be fair. The Am Vintage Tele is from 2012, I believe. I relied on the guitar for the treble and allowed the low and midrange of the amp to shine instead, producing the tone here shown :)

[@nielsfolke8444]

Smukt og lækker lyd🤩. Hvilken mic bruger du på denne indspilning?

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Mange tak! Jeg bruger en AKG P220 stormembranet kondensator :) Den har et lille mellemtoneløft, som gør den god til en varm vokallyd og skøn til en guitar, der skal have lov at "synge" lidt i mixet :)

[@Fishies125]

Sounds great. What mic is that?

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Thanks :) It's an AKG P220 put slightly off axis from the speaker. It's great for acoustics too.

[@ChristIsLord229]

Do you have long nails for this playing? Can i get away with just the flesh of my finger tips?

[@MadsBoldingMusic]

Fingertips is indeed what I use here; the nails are not in play at all for this style :) Some people use thumbpicks to get some extra thump on the low strings, but in this example, it's nothing but the flesh of my fingers