Members twotimingpete Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 When I was 16, my mom got me the coolest gift ever -- A few Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10. It was an awesome amp and my only amp for about 5 years. ..Until it was stolen (along with my Hamer USA mirage 2, Am. Stan strat, and more). The theft ultimately caused my band to be dissolved and I didn't pick up a guitar again for like two years. for the last 3 years (roughly the time I've been on HCEG, that's how you can tell) I've been getting back into things and getting gear again. I'm finally in a place to get another fender amp like the old one. I was thinking about going used until I noted that there's a new version of these amps -- "III" -- is this something I should be going for or is it just hype? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 I have a Blues Jr. I played through of the Blues Jr. IIIs at a guitar store. It wasn't the same as mine, and I didn't like it as much. Granted, mine has a different speaker, but I remember how it sounded stock. To me, the old one was better. But really, it's not too much different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 They're supposed to have changed the Jr., at least. There are lots of mods out there for the amp, and Fender decided to update it with some of those mods in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 I believe some here have the new ones. IIRC, many of the common complaints, such as the Volume control taper were addressed. I believe reviews were favorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DavidMgT Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 I tried one and was surprised at how unremarkable it sounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twotimingpete Posted April 15, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 looks like the new ones have a celestion speaker(s)... wonder if that makes a notable difference. btw does the hot rod deluxe have real spring reverb? I know the devilles do. it's an important distinction for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members faberbz Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 A friend of mine bought an HRD III and sold me his old HRD for ridiculously cheap. He's very happy with it, likes it better than his old one. Yes, it has a spring verb. He gigs it in small bars. Sounds good for his music. Having the old one, I get the complain about the volume taper. The new one is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 The face plates are dark with the numbers turned so you can read them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hardtdc Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 You would be better off finding an older US made HRD for cheap ($300-$400 range and shipping the chassis off to Omega Amps for $250 to have it modded. Jim Price's mods gets rave reviews for turning the gain channels into excellent usable channels. Dumblesque is what most say. He also mods the volume pot as well. I've wanted to send mine to him for a while now, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Fortunately, he's only about 80 miles from me. I've done a good bit of research on him and read reviews from people that have had his mods done on their HR amps. One guy even owns a Fuchs and is equally happy playing the modded HRD since he added the recommended Cannabis Rex speaker.If you go with a Deville, I believe he can mod one of those to do Blackface cleans with Marshall overdrives on the gain channel. Anyway, I know it sounds like I'm endorsing this guy but I definitely am going to send him my chassis after doing all the homework I've done on him. I think I'll get a boutique Dumble style amp for $550 plus the shipping total in it. I only paid three bills for my USA HRD. Oh, he also custom builds handwired Dumble clones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twotimingpete Posted April 16, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 You would be better off finding an older US made HRD for cheap ($300-$400 range and shipping the chassis off to Omega Amps for $250 to have it modded. Jim Price's mods gets rave reviews for turning the gain channels into excellent usable channels. Dumblesque is what most say. He also mods the volume pot as well. I've wanted to send mine to him for a while now, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Fortunately, he's only about 80 miles from me. I've done a good bit of research on him and read reviews from people that have had his mods done on their HR amps. One guy even owns a Fuchs and is equally happy playing the modded HRD since he added the recommended Cannabis Rex speaker.If you go with a Deville, I believe he can mod one of those to do Blackface cleans with Marshall overdrives on the gain channel.Anyway, I know it sounds like I'm endorsing this guy but I definitely am going to send him my chassis after doing all the homework I've done on him. I think I'll get a boutique Dumble style amp for $550 plus the shipping total in it. I only paid three bills for my USA HRD. Oh, he also custom builds handwired Dumble clones. I have no idea where I'd find any HRD for $300 or $400. do I need to look in the same magic place where all the mythological $500 used G&L USAs are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hardtdc Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 I have no idea where I'd find any HRD for $300 or $400. do I need to look in the same magic place where all the mythological $500 used G&L USAs are? Hey just saying, I got mine off CraigsList for three bills about a year and a half ago. Times are hard these days so there is a little haggling room you know? I do see them on there advertised for around $450 though, so you might be able to bargain down a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twotimingpete Posted April 16, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 based on observing ebay trends it looks like for a used HRDev you need to be prepared to spend at minimum $500 shipped, any less is very lucky. deluxe is $400+. I'm prepared to spend that or maybe spend a little more for a new III when I can get a nice discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hardtdc Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 based on observing ebay trends it looks like for a used HRDev you need to be prepared to spend at minimum $500 shipped, any less is very lucky. deluxe is $400+.I'm prepared to spend that or maybe spend a little more for a new III when I can get a nice discount. Yeah, I haven't been looking ebay prices but I have seen CraigsList prices and noticed that older ones will pop up as low as $400 but typically $450-500. So that's why I was thinking you could at least score an older used one for no more than four bills if you could haggle down a little bit. I just got damn lucky on mine. (Right place, right time). It was in mint cond too with the footswitch and cover. BTW, the 1x12s are definitely cheaper. Once you get into the 2 bys or 4bys, they are expensive even in the used market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AaronF Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 I played the two side-by-side at a guitar center a few months ago. The differences between the two aren't that big. With all of the tone controls at noon, the BJ3 has a bit more presence and has more of a midrange dip. The BJ2 has a pretty prominent midrange. When I started messing with the tone controls, I was able to get the same tone from both amps, just with different settings for each. In my opinion, they are equally great, just slightly different. Can't comment on construction or reliability as my only experience with the two side-by-side was only for 30 minutes or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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