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Post subject: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:26 am
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I'm thinking of getting a new amp.

I have an older lacquered tweed HRDlx with the Jensen alnico speaker in it. I dig it.

I don't use it much because it has that "hair trigger" volume knob - when you turn the knob up from zero volume, it goes directly from no volume to loud, with no range of volume adjustment between zero and loud.

If you have had one you know what I mean. It doesn't get super loud right out of the gate, but it gets loud enough to be a problem for bedroom playing late at night and it's really hard to adjust the volume up or down a little - it wants to go from that base "loud" to super loud without any adjustability. After you get it good and loud on the volume knob then it has a decent amount of adjustability and you can turn it up or down a little bit - but down at the lowest volume there is no fine adjustability of the tone knob for bedroom playing.

This is a bummer because it is a really nice amp in my opinion. I just can't use it for most of my playing - late at night at home, etc.

Has the new one been improved upon as far as low volume adjustability goes?

I tried one in the store and it seemed a lot like mine, in that it still went from zero to pretty loud, with no gradual increase of volume from zero to a low volume sound. In the store I couldn't really get into checking this feature out. It seems like it is one of those features that you just have to check out once you have the amp home and can really focus on it in your own environment.

I bet those of you that have the III like them a lot. It's a cool amp. But can it be used at low volume for bedroom playing any better than the one that I have, prior to the III model?

Feedback on this would be greatly appreciated.

I have a great DRRI that works good at home, but I want to get another Fender to have as well. The DRRI is very adjustable from zero to low volume and does not just jump up to loud.

I suppose I could get something completely different like a Blues Deluxe but I don't know if it has the same hair trigger volume knob. I could also consider on of the new "Custom" silverface DRRI's, or CVR's, but I don't want to jump into a Twin Reverb model because I suppose it will not sound its best at real low volume and might have the hair trigger volume knob too. The Twin Reverb would be definitely be nice to own, but I don't want to go that big, I want something somewhat more portable.

I want to stay with Fender, because I dig the Fender "clean" sound that is where Fenders really shine. Lots of other amps do the overdrive sound really well and I have some of them, so that area is covered.

I like to play my Fender guitars - single coil, HSS, '72 Custom tele, Gibson LP, and several PRS SE's that I have that sound great thru the DRRI.

It seems like that DRRI brings the best out in every guitar; such as my new Gibson LP Junior I bought and stripped the junk auto tuners off of and put on some Grover Roto-Grip manual locking tuners on. This is a very cool P90 guitar and being able to connect with it when tuning up with those manual tuners is something that I can appreciate. I'm glad I got rid of those auto tuners, even though it voided the warranty.

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 9:23 am
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I have the HRDlx III and it is a great amp. I use it in my apartment and don't have a problem with it at low volumes. It will get loud at much past 2 on the volume on the clean channel if using the first input. Using the second input, I can go a little higher on the volume before it gets too loud. The drive channel is the same way (you can go higher on the volume before getting too loud if you use the second input). I have also read here that changing the pre-amp tubes in V1 and V2 to a 5751 in V1 and a 12AT7 in V2 (or a 12AY7 in V1) can also make the volume tranistions much smoother. I have not done the tube swap in mine yet, but may in the next month or so just to see what effect it has.

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 9:39 am
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For bedroom playing? Why not a Blues jr or one of the Princeton Reverbs. Surely you don't need a monster amp for that unless you plan on gigging with it.


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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:16 am
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The Blues Deluxe Reissue also has what you call 'the hair trigger' volume. I've dealt with mine by inserting a volume box in-the-loop (purchased on ebay for around $20) Turn your volume and drive knobs up with the volume box maxed until you get the tone you like, then use the volume box to turn it down. Sensitivity is nowhere as great.....works for me, although I'm not a 'bedroom volume' player. No, it's NOT an attenuator as some will claim.

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:01 pm
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The hair trigger volume problem is easily and quickly resolved by swapping out the 12ax7 preamp tube in the V1 slot for a 12ay7 preamp tube which use to be the standard preamp tube line up in most Fender amps many many years ago.

The 12ax7 preamp tube is a 100% distorted gain tube and this is why your amp is slammed immediately as the volume comes up. The 12ax7 is fine in the V2 slot which is the overdrive channel but it is not needed at all in the first stage of the amp which is the clean channel. Also, swapping out the V3 slot which is the phase inverter with a 12at7 preamp tube, gives you a bit mellower and warmer sound from the amp.. again, as the 12ax7 is sending the signal to the big power tubes at a 100% gain rate which is too much in my opinion.

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:38 pm
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musicmatty wrote:
The hair trigger volume problem is easily and quickly resolved by swapping out the 12ax7 preamp tube in the V1 slot for a 12ay7 preamp tube which use to be the standard preamp tube line up in most Fender amps many many years ago.

The 12ax7 preamp tube is a 100% distorted gain tube and this is why your amp is slammed immediately as the volume comes up. The 12ax7 is fine in the V2 slot which is the overdrive channel but it is not needed at all in the first stage of the amp which is the clean channel. Also, swapping out the V3 slot which is the phase inverter with a 12at7 preamp tube, gives you a bit mellower and warmer sound from the amp.. again, as the 12ax7 is sending the signal to the big power tubes at a 100% gain rate which is too much in my opinion.



All great advice from you guys. I appreciate it. Maybe I'll try these ideas on my tweed older design HRDlx. It might tame it down and it might work great for my purposes.

The Blues Junior might not be a bad amp. I like the cranked sound of the Hot Rod Deluxe, but am not especially fond of the drive/more drive channels. With some more experimentation I might like them at low volume after some tube changes.

A tamed down HRDlx compared to a Blues Junior for around the same price sounds like it could be a fun amp. Completely different circuits.

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:55 pm
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If you already have the Hot Rod Deluxe, then we are just talking about a $20 tube change for one slot which is the V 1 slot. I think this is worth investigating first before you drop any more money on another amp.. just my opinion.

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 1:12 pm
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musicmatty wrote:
The hair trigger volume problem is easily and quickly resolved by swapping out the 12ax7 preamp tube in the V1 slot for a 12ay7 preamp tube which use to be the standard preamp tube line up in most Fender amps many many years ago.

The 12ax7 preamp tube is a 100% distorted gain tube and this is why your amp is slammed immediately as the volume comes up. The 12ax7 is fine in the V2 slot which is the overdrive channel but it is not needed at all in the first stage of the amp which is the clean channel. Also, swapping out the V3 slot which is the phase inverter with a 12at7 preamp tube, gives you a bit mellower and warmer sound from the amp.. again, as the 12ax7 is sending the signal to the big power tubes at a 100% gain rate which is too much in my opinion.

Disagree with this. I think the clean channel is fine and does not need distortion reduced. The other effect of the 12AY7 substitution is overall volume decrease (in the clean channel) which you may or may not want.

I do agree with musicmatty that for a cost of $20 (a volume box is my recommendation) it would be foolish to get another amp unless you try it and then find it not to your liking.

EDIT: On second thought, since the 12AY7 is only $20 also, roll the dice and pick one of the recommendations to see if it satisfies. If not, try the other ;-)

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:44 pm
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I have a HRD version 2, I use a Volume Box from Carl's custom guitars in the efx loop to mitigate the drastic volume change from the volume control.

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Post subject: Re: New Fender HRDlx III owners like them?
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 6:29 pm
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The HRDlx is a 40 watt tube amp, not made for whisper quiet playing to begin with, it's made to be loud. Great suggestions here, and it might take a combination of lower gain tubes, and also try using input 2 which is attenuated, so you get lower volume just by using that input.

For the V2 tube, only half of the tube is used when the clean channel is selected, the other half is added to the circuit when the drive channel is selected, so both halves are used when drive is selected, but the first half is still used when the clean channel is selected, so it does affect both channels.

I like a 5751 in V1, a 12AX7 in V2 and a 12AT7 in V3. With this combination of tubes, and using input 2, the amp can be used at very low volume. Some even like a 12AY7 in V1, but that was too much loss of volume and tone for me.

I would not get another HRDlx unless you want to mod it into something very different from the one that you have, because I like variety. If you really want a bedroom amp, and since you stated that you like the sound of the HRDlx that you have, then get a smaller amp for bedroom playing. :idea:

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