I've had a HRD for a couple of years now. Was the best amp I could find in Poland that I could afford. While it gets the job done, it seems that it makes every guitar too bassy. It that typical for these amps? For a long time I assumed it was just my guitars, but now I'm pretty convinced otherwise.
K
I love mine, and can set it to do pretty much anything (from hardcore Western twang to Grant Green jazz. IF you are playing it REALLY loud, the single 12" will sound crappy and bassy.
I would suggest that over 5.5-6 on the clean channel is too loud for that amp, and you lose the sweet spot.
The dirty (green) channel is about the same. The first gain channel is good, but I really wouldn't go above about a 30% on the drive and keep master below 6 or 7.
The red overdrive channel is completely useless for that amp (at least IMO). It sounds dry, overcompressed, and very 80's solid state.
You may have a tech issue or just an issue on how to dial in the tone. The HRD can be a bit tricky to dial in sometimes, and if you are playing with a REALLY loud band, it may not be the best amp.
The speaker/ power config is pretty inefficient which is why it sounds so great IMO.
I've had great results with it. Most of the time I hooked it up to a 2X12 to mask the boxy sound. I never used the amp's overdrive, always a stomp box. It takes overdrive pedals really well.
For rockabilly or rock n' roll it doesn't really need an extra cab.
My settings were:
bass: 10 to 11 o' clock,
mids: 12 o' clock,
treble: just under 3 o' clock,
presence: 2 o' clock,
bright switch on.
I owned mine for a day and took it back the next.I thought it was overkill for my needs at the time.It was like a BEAST that I could not tame.Now I think I would have enjoyed it.At the time I did not want to deal with modifying and all that stuff,but after trading it in for a blues jr. I wound up "basically" remaking the BJ. from head to even the feet.I have no real regrets,but the HRD was more amp.More amp watts I kinda liked,but more amp in pounds was way more than my back and neck could stand,so I can't complain.I would be very interested to see and hear what the HRD would be like with new cabinet/speaker and other modifications I've heard about.I bet it would be a all around sweet/mean amp.
I owned one for a quite a few years. Ditto everything bobbyrivera said.
My drummer has one on some bizarre loan from a guy he knows... I dunno how it works, but I get to use the amp. After playing with pedals into the clean channel, cleaning up gain channels, and a few other things, I've found my favourite sound is just turning the clean channel up to ten.
i have the 4 10 deville, and agree with pseudoman... just turning up the clean loud enough makes good breakup that is very musical... also, try using the regular drive channel with the master turned all the way up and use the drive to adjust your volume.... also good sounds...
Indeed your second method works well.
Interesting points. I've kind of always thought it was too muddy/bassy, but I'm one of those that doesn't like "dialing to extreme." On the other hand, it's never let me down. I guess it's the 'boxyness' that bugs me the most, however. And sometimes it seems kind of shrill.
Adam, that's a great idea on the master switch. I don't know why I didn't think of that.
K
what bigfootyancy posted! 
check Justins 'unofficial hotrod-site', there's plenty of great mods that make the amp even better than it is. to 'control' the drive-channel, switch the master pot. it's all on Justin's site.
I have a Hot Rod Deluxe. The drive channel doesn't produce a tone that I find pleasing. I play on the clean channel regularly. I use an overdrive pedal in the chain if I want to drive the amp harder. I never turn the volume up very much at all. It will rattle the windows in my house if the volume is turned to about 3.
The clean channel is pretty good in my opinion. If I find a local buyer for the amp, I'll switch over to something more manageable. By the way, the amp loves my Fender solid body guitars. Even the drive channel. Thats just not the case with my Gretsch. Might be different if I plugged in a Pro Jet. We shall see.
They do have a lot of bass. Try playing with a chorus sometime w/ the drive channel and you can feel the vibrations of the chorusing through the floor. Some may like it, but to me its too much. With Fender guitars, I think theyre better, but they do have what I would call "too much bass". They do have plenty of treble to balance out to a nice tone, but the bassiness is the kind you can feel, rather than only hear,if that makes sense. I got a 63 VVRI and love it to death.
Mark Knopfler's been using them live, and he can have pretty much any amp he wants.
If you have one of these amps and don't like the tone, spending 75 bucks on a speaker can dramatically change the tone. A Celestion Vintage 30 can make it a whole new amp. Those black fame Fender speakers are the absolute worst.
speaking of the Hot Rod Deluxe sound, I've got a friend who is starting to learn the drums. He only really wants to play metal. I am always up for a jam, so I figure I would throw some power chord progressions. I do not have a distortion pedal, so anybody have suggestions on how best to dial in the amp for that distortion sound?
Thanks
Agree with bigfoot. Many years back I had a HRDeluxe, and the speaker was the "weakest link" IMO.
I actually liked the gain/more gain channels, and I thought that they worked well with Dynas, but not so good with Filtertrons.
That being said, these were just a little over $500 new back then. A good amp at the pricepoint, and with a few mods, a reasonable amp for the total investment.
With my killer combination of the Hot Rod Deluxe and a DeArmond M-75T (with DeArmond 2Ks) I have sent many people fleeing from buildings.
I still use that amp with my 5120 Gretschbuckers. I have found a fairly pleasing sound by raising the pickups very close to the strings and turning the guitar master volume to about 65%. I can even turn the amp volume up to 2 and still play in the house.
Try putting different pre amp tubes in it! Thats what I did with my 4x10 deville and it sounds amazing
Hey MacSteven,
Which pretube amps did you use?
Anyway, I guess I shouldn't knock it. It always comes through for me - it just seems that it takes a bit more dialing in than I'd expect.
I switched out the pre amp tubes to V1-Tung-Sol 12AX7 New Production V2-Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 EH V3-U.S. Made JAN Philips NOS-5751JAN It gave me more headroom on the clean channel, and in general it just made sound sweeter to me, and it smoothed out the drive channel a lot, although I still only use stomp boxes. I purchased the tubes from HERE
Ditto on the V30. And get some good tubes. Tungsol/Ruby worked for me.
I have a tweed HRD now for three years and I must say that I have enjoyed it as much as any tube amp I have owned in recent times. The size of this amp is the only drawback foe me I play jazz causuals and any amp this size is a pain to get through hotel lobbys and to the bauquet rooms two or three stories up. So I don't get to use it as often as I would like. I love the tone I just us the clean channel and get a nice warm jazz or blues tone. Volume is never over three. I guess is about time to change tubes I still have the orginials and maybe will try one of the 3 spring aftermarket reverb pans.
Thanks Mac,
Daddy-O, I guess what irritated me is that I played a tweed HRD, and it seemed like it sounded much better to me than what I have now. No idea why.
