new amp!!!

[NTBluesGuitar]

What's a MOD tube and are they NEW or NOS and if NEW, where do I get them???

And EMP and all that per my last post; please enlighten me

EMP = Electro-Magnetic Pulse:

"electromagnetic radiation from an explosion (especially a nuclear explosion) or an intensely fluctuating magnetic field caused by Compton-recoil electrons and photoelectrons from photons scattered in the materials of the electronic or explosive device or in a surrounding medium. The resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges."






M.O.D. = UK...Ministry Of Defense. I think, anyway; someone correct me if I'm wrong.

J.A.N = US...Joint Army/Navy

I don't care where they come from or what they're in. I think it's cool to fire them up and see 'em all glowing orange and hearing groovy sounds come from them.

[yankeerob]

I've got a line on some NOS MOD Mullard ECC81's that were made in the 60's - what Fezz is saying is they're available if you look hard enough for 'em - for that matter I've been using used Brimar ECC83's and they sound great - great signal to noise and no rattles...

Not exactly sure what EMP stands for but it's to do with the magnetic fields a nuclear explosion produces - at a guess it'll be electromagnetic summat or other...

We're not here to suck the joy out of anything - when you've struggled with a HR and find out you're fighting a losing battle you wind up with an opinion - that's all

[yankeerob]

Dang you beat me to it Teej!!

[NTBluesGuitar]

Tee hee!

Fastest Googler west of the Mississippi.

[Squeezebox]

kewl....I am in the middle of North Carolina, so I am safe...whew..thanks

Hard Day's Night...reporter asks Ringo..."are you a Mod or a Rocker"

Ringo: "I'm a mocker"

[NTBluesGuitar]

kewl....I am in the middel of North Carolina, so I am safe...whew..thanks

Unless the blast (red section) is closer to you, you won't be.

[Squeezebox]

"Unless the blast (red section) was due South of you won't be"....Duh....I know....poor attempt at humor on my part I guess...

Yankee...NEW...not NOS...NEW

[NTBluesGuitar]

"Unless the blast (red section) was due South of you won't be"....Duh....I know....poor attempt at humor on my part I guess...

Sorry, forgot the smiley...

[Offshore Angler]

Well, first off let me say that I once owned a HTRDLX so I have some experience with it and one of the reasons it seems to have so many problems crop up is because they sell a TON of them. When there are a lot of a particular amp out there, there is going to be a lot of problem amps also
...

That argument doesn't hold water here. All the problems encountered and discussed at TFF are not from the general population of amps, it's only from the people who post at this forum. And out of that population, only a small prtion of them own or have owned HRDx's. So when you look at the sample size, and the number of problems encountered, the HRDx is a VERY problem prone amp.

My take has always been it's a great fun amp for a hobbiest and a good gateway amp to get you from that original Crate to a great amp.

Of the two guys I've gigged with that used Hot Rod amps, one had constant problems, one didn't. That's a fifty percent failure rate.

And, even when it's not broken, I'm not in love with the way they sound.

[NeoFauve]

FWIW: Tubes were NOT designed to be placed next to a speaker blasting out 100db+ of noise....they get real hot too....(not a good thing for sensitive electronics).....but.....that tube sound!!!!!...there is no substitute....you just have to learn to live with the "tradeoffs"

Again.....ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FWIW- I don't think tubes are the main culprit in Hot Rod melt down.
It's the above mentioned corner cutting.

[JAM]

FWIW- I don't think tubes are the main culprit in Hot Rod melt down.
It's the above mentioned corner cutting.

Exactly. It's cheap-ass PCBs with crap traces.

[Rickenjangle]

Of the two guys I've gigged with that used Hot Rod amps, one had constant problems, one didn't. That's a fifty percent failure rate.

And that's a fundamental sampling error. You could never argue that HRD's have a fifty percent failure rate based on two examples.
But you know that...I'm just bustin' on you, ya !

However, even if 30 people on here have owned or now own an HRD amp - at least 10 of them have had bad, bad problems with them. That's at least 33% of the people WE KNOW - and that's too many.

My advice to the original poster, whom I've now forgotten:

Keep the amp. Enjoy it. Gig with it, play it any time you can. Learn what a tube amp can do, and why we like them. Then, when you find you need a better model that will last many more years, THEN it's time to upgrade to a DRRI or whatever.

[Guitar_Mc]

However, even if 30 people on here have owned or now own an HRD amp - at least 10 of them have had bad, bad problems with them. That's at least 33% of the people WE KNOW - and that's too many.

And if all 10 of those members joined this community because Justin's site directed them here...

Then thats another fundamental sampling error.

[dirtdog]

Gidday from Ottawa, Dave C. Congrats on the amp! Enjoy it.....

All of the above information is pertinent, maybe not now, but eventually.

DD

Former Hot Rod DeVille owner, current Deluxe Reverb Reissue owner. I "traded down" so I could have a amp with grind at reasonable volumes. The HRDV was just too damned loud!

[Rickenjangle]

And if all 10 of those members joined this community because Justin's site directed them here...

Then thats another fundamental sampling error.

Guitar Mc, you're right, 'cause if they found Justin's site, it's probably because they were already having problems.

Ah, I've got the perfect solution to this problem. We should all buy Vox AD50VT's, and never again argue about DRRI/HRD/etc... We could call this the ADxx forum!

Or better yet, all buy modellers and go direct.

[Rickenjangle]

I don't care where they come from or what they're in. I think it's cool to fire them up and see 'em all glowing orange and hearing groovy sounds come from them.

In the event of an EMP caused by a Thermonuclear warhead - those tubes won't be the only thing glowing!

[NTBluesGuitar]

[Hutch]

.....i ws using a mesa boogie amp but my dad bugged me enough that he wanted it back

enjoy the amp, son.

[yankeerob]

And if all 10 of those members joined this community because Justin's site directed them here...

Then thats another fundamental sampling error.

Now that's a statement that really makes me laugh and before anyone gets hot under their collar - I'm not writing this to be confrontational - Fact: If the HR's didn't have such crap PCB's - a lot of what's on Justin's site would hold water because many of the fundamental mods - like changing that master pot from a linear taper to log make perfectly good sense and should have been there by design in the first place. Everyone knows that was pure marketing ploy to dupe people into thinking the amp was louder than it actually is when you try it in a shop... and I can't be arsed showing up whoever said something about 'those of us who think we know more than the Fender designer' but I thought that was a good crack too...

At the end of the day - there's no getting around the facts - I bought a 9 yr old HRDv because in all of my experience with anything electronic if somethings been running 9 yrs and showing no signs of giving up it's usually a good bet it'll run another 9 - and you'd expect that from something that has holds the prestige of having a Fender badge on it. You'd also expect that if it's a tube amp with that marque it's gonna have a certain minimum level of build quality. It simply isn't - and won't be with very few exceptions - the case with this particular series of amplifiers - which is sad more than anything

[yankeerob]

Ah, I've got the perfect solution to this problem. We should all buy Vox AD50VT's, and never again argue about DRRI/HRD/etc... We could call this the ADxx forum!

My next builds's an Orange overdrive clone with a 1224 switch (1 single ended, 2 single ended, 2 AB, 4 AB) - and who's arguing... the facts are the facts

[stratcat55]

I get to play my buddy's Mission 5E3 again tonight at a gig. Yee ha. I can't wait.
I wish he would let me take it home. I think he's scared he won't get it back. He's probably right.
I like it so much better than the Deluxe Reverb. it's such a dynamic and simple amp.

[CzarSketch]

i have the sinking feeling that we may have chased the poor guy off... shame on us!

[Guitar_Mc]

i have the sinking feeling that we may have chased the poor guy off... shame on us!

Who?

[jerryjg]

one thing that you gotta take into consideration..this IS the Fender Forum. Guys here, and they probably may never even post, have some of the finest Fender amps in the world ever made. So..its kind of hard to get many excited about a Hot Rod Deville or whatnot. Case in point; My brother has a massive vintage Fender amp/guitar collection. Try as i might , bringing him all my vintage Warmoth clones and wahtnot, he doesnt get too excited about them. I dont blame him really anymore.

[Plugger]

i have the sinking feeling that we may have chased the poor guy off... shame on us!

After about post 14, it was a like watching a car crash in slow motion.

Poor guy. Justin should really put some sort of warning on the link from his site to this one. Or just remove it entirely.

-Mark

[hawkeye2u]

Dave C
please come back to us!
WELCOME and Welcome Back if you decide to join us again

There are still a lot of us that LOVE the amp, I certainly do
I've taken every opportunety to talk to guys here in Australia that uses a HRDX, NO ONE has had any major problem with it, incl me
A faulty tube here or there when the amp is a few years old, so what!
Do a search on the "vintage amps" and see how many problems they have
Every tube amp will have a few tubes go down on them, no punt here fellas!

Enjoy the amp and the tones you get out of it as I do!

Some of the fellas here have more experience with it than I do but I feel there is also a fair amount of "wanting tho old stuff " syndrome
That is just IMHO

Cheers lads Hope the guy chimes in again
I'd hate to have read all this bagging of his new love, there has been a fair amounts of congrats as well!!

[elicross]

I just sent my third Xbox 360 in to be repaired or replaced. I'm sure they'll replace it, and I'll be on my fourth 360.

The first two had optical drives that failed; the third had the more common three-red-lights problem less than a week after I got it from Microsoft Customer Service.

But man, when it's working and playing Gears of War or Forza Motorsport 2 or Halo 3...only two things in life are more fun.

I thought there might be an analogy here. I'll leave it to the reader to decide if there is.

[Hutch]

Ah, I've got the perfect solution to this problem. We should all buy Vox AD50VT's, and never again argue about DRRI/HRD/etc... We could call this the ADxx forum!

That's EXACTLY what I did!
and since you mentioned it.... That forum is over here! --> http://www.valvetronix.net/forum/

[Rickenjangle]

That's EXACTLY what I did!
and since you mentioned it.... That forum is over here! --> http://www.valvetronix.net/forum/

LOL Hutch! Ya !

[twenty4]

i really dig Hrdx's. i see them all over TV these days.i cant recall any repair ive made to a hrdx. a bad 12ax7 once is all. ive had several in and out of here i bought used, gig them out and sold them to friends and have a new one now since august and a new blues dx RI in sept. if you can wait for the speaker to break in, they sound good to me. love both amps. i use no pedals. only the footswitch it comes with and gig that way and have very good results , '96 USA Lone Star Strat. Gibson Les Paul Std.

[Dave C]

im still here.....lol.....i have to admit ive ben a fan of fender all my life....was raised in a fender family if you will.....i did not know about this site until after i bought the amp.....i have to admit i am a little bummed over many of the post here putting the amp down....few reasons i bought the amp...

1. cost.... 800 cnd taxes incl. vs 1200+ for a twin or reverb dx
2. i only gig part time once a month if im lucky......
3. i know a few peeeps that use this amp that gig all the time and recieved positive words about it.....

that being said ..if i knew about this forum maybe i would of bought a different one???? who knows.....doesnt matter....i love the amp and i rely enjoyed all the feedback i had on this topic.....i am here to stay and look forward to many other posts and topics!!!!....im gonna head over the strats and tele section now and see if i can get another topic going with 75 replies to it...lol....

again thanks for all the info....

[NTBluesGuitar]

Maybe Canadian electrons behave better in a HRD than American ones?

[Rickenjangle]

1. cost.... 800 cnd taxes incl. vs 1200+ for a twin or reverb dx
2. i only gig part time once a month if im lucky......
3. i know a few peeeps that use this amp that gig all the time and recieved positive words about it....

Dave, if you're anywhere near the US - like within a couple hours of the border - you owe it to yourself to come to the nearest US larger city and buy your gear down here - with the US dollar at or close to par, you've got a ton more buying power down here. And prices have not come down up there to reflect the relative strength of the $Can.

Enjoy the HRDx - esp. if you're only gigging on a part-time basis.

You might want to think about getting a little Vox Pathfinder 15r as a backup, though - I've known guys that gig that little amp, with a mic placed off center of the cone. It's a cheap little insurance policy against total gig failure...

[Kap'n]

A pair of JJ 6V6's might help, along with covering it to PTP. The only problem would be getting a new case for it. Got a refrigerator you don't use anymore?

Fridge? I think you'd need several of these.


No, not the lady. You'd only need one of those. And you'd forget about the Xbox.

[Plugger]

Fridge? I think you'd need several of these.

Several? Are you kidding? The univac would be outpowered by an Xbox by several orders of magnitude...

-Mark

[elicross]

Several? Are you kidding? The univac would be outpowered by an Xbox by several orders of magnitude...

True, but Univac was all-tube and analog. It had a much better tone. You owe it to yourself to try out Windows on a Univac RI. It's the last computer you'll ever want or need.

[Plugger]

[NTBluesGuitar]

True, but Univac was all-tube and analog. It had a much better tone. You owe it to yourself to try out Windows on a Univac RI. It's the last computer you'll ever want or need.

Yeah, a Univac was the LAST system Windows would have worked on.

[Plugger]

Yeah, a Univac was the LAST system Windows would have worked on.

Get serious -- when has Windows ever worked on anything?

-Mark