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Post subject: Will this smoke my amp?
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:52 am
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I own a Hot Rod Deluxe & love it however I can't turn it past one without having the wife scream "Do you have to have it that loud? Turn it down PLEASE!" I've considered a Tom Sholtz power soak, (due to the price I could snag one off of e-bay) and looked at Hot Plates & other attenuator devices offered. My question is
Will these cause damage to my amp, transformer, tubes?
My only other thought is to see a guy in Rochester who in MVHO is the best amp Doctor in the area John Nau. http://web.mac.com/tom.hedrick/iweb/Nau/Welcome.html
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... ngineering
who for a small fee will build into my amp a switch that will allow me to cut the power (sort of like my Twin Amp) to obtain the crunch without the screams.
Please any advise will be appreciated!


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Post subject: HRDlx power soak
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:36 am
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Hi Carp57,

I have a HRDlx also, and also like it alot. :D The power soak itself will not harm the amp in any way (have to match impedance of amp). Where the problem is though, is that it allows you to crank up the volume of the amp to get the drive at lower volume, so your amp could be pushed harder than it ever has been before, putting more strain on the amps components. It will still deliver all of the watts as without the soak, it just dumps the power in the soak, instead of in the speaker. With the soak, it's tempting to keep cranking the amp up to get more and more drive. It would be the same effect on the amp as running it wide open all of the time, if you aren't careful. :)

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:54 am
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I see your in the same boat I am.

Hot plates (Any of them) will work an amp harder then it should be.

What I did was to get a Fender champion 600 amp, and I can play it at 4 in the middle of the night with everyone asleep and it won't wake up anyone.
Being a 6V6 amp, it has a very sweet tone, and if you drive it to 12, it will overdrive nicely, and still not bother the neighbors.

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:07 pm
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I'm leaning towards John Nau's doctoring! He's wrenched on my equipment for years and has never done me wrong. I've heard Fender Bassman's doctored by John & come out of surgery sounding like Mesa Boogies when he's done.


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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:05 pm
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Yeah, I'd go with NAU. If it's not working out for you, sounds like you can go back to him for timely adjustments. Did you ask him about the power soak route ? Art

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Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:13 am
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aclempoppi wrote:
Yeah, I'd go with NAU. If it's not working out for you, sounds like you can go back to him for timely adjustments. Did you ask him about the power soak route ? Art


I took it to Nau last night, and he let me listen to the difference on another amp he had done his magic on, and WOW!!! You can crank the master up to 7 and still carry on a conversation with someone standing right next to you, while still having the crunch of those 2 6L6's & the 3 12ax7's just purring along!
I did ask about power soaks and John said they're hard on your amp. Transformers, tubes and other components are cranking full tilt and tend to burn out prematurely. So I'm glad I went this route!


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Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:35 am
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You must live in my house... lol :lol: that is exactly the same words I hear from my wife.

Here is the cheapest solution and the only way to deal with your problem.

Teach her how to play... Yes this will be very exhausting at first but trust me it will pay off after some work.

then you don't have to waste any of your time and money no more...

Good Luck Bro..


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:10 am
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Carp57 wrote:
aclempoppi wrote:
Yeah, I'd go with NAU. If it's not working out for you, sounds like you can go back to him for timely adjustments. Did you ask him about the power soak route ? Art


I took it to Nau last night, and he let me listen to the difference on another amp he had done his magic on, and WOW!!! You can crank the master up to 7 and still carry on a conversation with someone standing right next to you, while still having the crunch of those 2 6L6's & the 3 12ax7's just purring along!
I did ask about power soaks and John said they're hard on your amp. Transformers, tubes and other components are cranking full tilt and tend to burn out prematurely. So I'm glad I went this route!


How much does something like that cost to get done?


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Post subject: Re: HRDlx power soak
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 2:40 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
Where the problem is though, is that it allows you to crank up the volume of the amp to get the drive at lower volume, so your amp could be pushed harder than it ever has been before, putting more strain on the amps components.


Guitar amps are not built like home stereos. They can be run wide open without damaging them. That's not an issue. Guitarist have been doing that for decades.

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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 1:30 pm
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I bought a power soaker and it changed the sound I was getting. Dulled it a little. Instead I got a modded Boss Blues pedal and it sounds just like a cranked tube amp (using my tube amp at low volume).


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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 3:59 pm
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tjinca1 wrote:
I bought a power soaker and it changed the sound I was getting. Dulled it a little. .


Pick up the Hot Rod after NAU "tweaked-it" and wow
Can you say HOT- ROD!!! I'm giving my testimony right here right now!

NAU (pronounced "now" ) is WOW!!!


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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 4:58 pm
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I've had the same experience with the Hot Rod Deluxe. Bought mine new a couple of years ago and I rarely use it because I can't dial in any tone without blowing the windows out. I'm no stranger to this stuff and have been playing about 35 years. I've owned a lot of amps and still have a few but have never been more disappointed with one. I can't believe that Fender has not come up with a fix for these amps. I'll probably end up trading this one for a Dlx.Reverb or possibly a Mesa Boogie. I've always loved Fender guitars and amps but at this time my go-to combo is a MIM Tele and a Peavey Classic 30, more tone than you can shake a stick at.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 6:25 am
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S Bender wrote:
I've owned a lot of amps and still have a few but have never been more disappointed with one. I can't believe that Fender has not come up with a fix for these amps. I'll probably end up trading this one for a Dlx.Reverb or possibly a Mesa Boogie.


Don't do it! Step away from the trade in and call NAU NOW! I too had that same thing going on and John Nau (for less cost than a used stomp box) made my amp crunch like crazy at a very low volume. I highly recommend John's services.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 7:27 pm
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Hey Carp, seems like you're kind of OK with the way things worked out. Very cool, man ! Art

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