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Post subject: Hot rod deluxe iii biting midrange problem
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:03 pm
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Joined: Thu May 19, 2011 8:23 pm
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Hi folks I'm new to the forum as a bassist I'm not very clued in on valve amps,I just bough a hot rod deluxe valve amp which I'm using with a Mexican strat....trouble is I simply cannot get a nice sweet clean tone.......I'm using input 2 ....bass/treble at 3 mid at zero presence off and reverb off vol at 2 gain at 1 ......just can't get a sweet clean tone on any pickup mid range is wayyyyyy......too sharp and biting even harsh the louder I crank it the worse it gets almost breaking up like using hum buckers ........at 4 or 5 it's unbearable .....I know it's not the guitar as I previously had a BDR which sounded sweet.........think it's running stock valves 12ax7 /6l6 with the stock speaker..........any help would be great guys not really fussed about the drive channel I just like a nice clean chime


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Post subject: Re: Hot rod deluxe iii biting midrange problem
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 3:13 am
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Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:20 pm
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Location: Indiana
Hi vbass,

I would start with a bias check/adjustment. The HRDlx is one of the many Fender amps that comes biased very cold from the factory, and many times, setting the bias correctly can improve the sound.

After insuring that the bias is set properly, you might want to experiment with some preamp/PI tubes to get the sound that you want. For example, my favorite tube lineup is a 5751 in V1, a 12AX7 in V2 and a 12AT7 in V3. With these tubes, I get better headroom than with all 12AX7s, and the drive channels are tamed a bit.

You might also try using input 2, which is attenuated by 6 db. Using this input can mellow the sound a bit.

You can go on endlessly, different tubes, different speaker, mods, etc, but I've listed a few things that you can try for little or no cost.

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Post subject: Re: Hot rod deluxe iii biting midrange problem
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 11:05 am
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Joined: Thu May 19, 2011 8:23 pm
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Thx for the reply man great info....i decided to go with a 12AU7 for the pre amp and leave the two stock 12AX7 and 6L6 power tubes...totally sorted the tone and now input 1 is sweet and usable....the bias was also wayyy off running at 60ma so i tuned up it to 71ma .......i also compared my mates American Strat thru the amp the Mex was much boomier and sharper.....i decided to put a set of tonerider alnico blues pickups in....sorted guitar sounds sweet now lovely balanced tone.......the drive channel sounds a little better also but still not really usable live......hmmm next mod lol


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Post subject: Re: Hot rod deluxe iii biting midrange problem
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 6:41 pm
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Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:07 pm
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I put a Carl's Guitars Volume box in my efx loop and turn the volume up, and turn the volume box down which cuts that sharp harsh pick attack out. I also use a Blues Driver (Boss BD2) with tone control turned all the way counter clockwise, and the volume knob up to 12 O' Clock and the drive up to 9 O' Clock to give the strat style pups a little more oomph and tame the harshness a bit. Sounds awesome. For my hum bucking guitars I kick the BD 2 out of the mix.

I put a Cannabis Rex speaker in the amp that also helped it too.

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