Question:
Introducing...
Mr. Fender Hotrod Deluxe!
...More coming...
Answer:
I hate you. No, not really. I'm very jealous though. Though the overdrive is nothing terribly special (it's good, it just doesn't cut it for me), those things have some of the best cleans I have ever heard. Ooo, just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. I would buy one, but it's twice as much as my blues junior, and its volume level is just way too high.
So congrats you loser! Enjoy a great purchase and don't let me jelousy spoil it for you.
Answer:
Thanks . The clean is certainly amazing, I can't argue there.
The "more" that was coming later was my review of it so far:
So far, I'm really liking this amp. Good cleans, pretty good overdrive sound. I haven't been able to make it sing yet, though, 'cause I'm not allowed to have my volume up too high in the house when everyone's home... But there will come a day... And when I get an attenuator. Either way, it's a great amp so far, and I know I'm gonna love it, especially when I get a quality guitar instead of a Squier Telecaster .
Answer:
Fender Hot Rods have never been my cup o' tea. Good for you. I'm sure I'd hate to own one.
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It's a solid amp. The former chapel band lead guitarist at my college played a Gibby LP Studio into one and got some pretty killer tones. Congrats!
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yes congratz from mahself too
Answer:
Congratulations. You'll enjoy that amp quite a bit. The clean channel is very nice.
I'm kinda weird, though, apparantly, because I kinda like the drive channel when I get the right EQ settings dialed in.
Answer:
nice!
Hey what's the difference between the deville's and deluxe's? Which one is better?
Answer:
Deville is 60W and availabe in 4x10" or 2x12" speaker configs. The Deluxe is 40W in a 1x12" config.
better...listen to your ears...
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Nice amp bro!
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Congrats Bro ! May it serve you well !

Answer:
Thanks, guys .
After some fiddling with it and the not-so-great guitar I'm borrowing (A Squier Telecaster from the '80s, but I can't complain, better than nothing, and it sounds okay), I've found some tones I really enjoy greatly! The drive is superb for the music I like, though I've found that I can't really emulate harder rock tones. Maybe I'll get a distortion pedal eventually, but, for now, the drive is amazing! I love the tone with around 7 drive, 10 bass, 5-7 mid, and 5-7 treble... Mmmmmm...
The clean channel is also beautiful. I can't believe electrics can get this good of a clean tone! My only complaint so far is that it doesn't have separate tone control knobs for the clean and the drive channel. That'd be rather helpful... Well, that and my foot pedal hasn't come in yet, which is a pain . But it's coming, so I don't care.
I have a question or two about this amp though:
1. It has a "Normal Bright" button right near the input jacks. What does that do? I can't tell a difference with it engaged as opposed to disengaged.
2. What does the "Presence" knob control?
Answer:
Fender has the Hot Rod Deluxe manuals available on their website. Printing those out and having them can be very helpful. IF you do print them, make sure you only print what you need...which likely isn't the entire manual as the manual is in multiple languages.
Here's a quick and sloppy rundown of the answers to your questions:
1) bright switch? The bright switch provides a high frequency boost. The way your EQ is setup, you might not be getting any appreciable effect to your overeall sound. Also, I found that the change is more noticeable on the clean channel than on the drive channel.
2) Presence? The Presence knob is...well...weird. It's sort of a post EQ high-frequency adjustment. It adjusts the highs after going through the distortion circuit allowing for unique tone shaping. Some people hate this knob.
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve Fender has the Hot Rod Deluxe manuals available on their website. Printing those out and having them can be very helpful. IF you do print them, make sure you only print what you need...which likely isn't the entire manual as the manual is in multiple languages.
Here's a quick and sloppy rundown of the answers to your questions:
1) bright switch? The bright switch provides a high frequency boost. The way your EQ is setup, you might not be getting any appreciable effect to your overeall sound. Also, I found that the change is more noticeable on the clean channel than on the drive channel.
2) Presence? The Presence knob is...well...weird. It's sort of a post EQ high-frequency adjustment. It adjusts the highs after going through the distortion circuit allowing for unique tone shaping. Some people hate this knob.
Ah, gotcha. Yeah, the bright thing didn't make a difference on the clean or the drive channel, so I'm left wondering if mine's broken somehow. The Presence knob is odd, I agree... I was messing around with it and can't really tell how it shapes the tone, but it seems best on a lower setting, around four, to be precise.
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve F
2) Presence? The Presence knob is...well...weird. It's sort of a post EQ high-frequency adjustment. It adjusts the highs after going through the distortion circuit allowing for unique tone shaping. Some people hate this knob.
I do...as a matter of fact, I hate the amp
Just kidding. That MIJ Japanese Squier should be a pretty good guitar. In my mind, a MIJ Squier is on the same level as a MIM strat.