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What do you guys think about the clean sounds on the Hot Rod Deluxe? How well does it take pedals? I played my friend's and I loved it...but I only had about 20 minutes of trying it. Is it worth the price? Thanks a lot guys...I'm sick of constantly playing on a crappy $100 practice amp.

It's a great sounding amp until you get to the distortion channel, which everybody hates*.

I'd recommend looking at the Peavey Classic series first as they tend to be much nicer amps in terms of cleans, distortions and looks (can't beat some yellow tweed) for less money, but it appears that the prices have started to climb on those to the point that they're becoming similarly priced to their Fender counterparts. That said, I still prefer them, and you can generally pick them up cheap second hand.




*EVERYBODY.

they are what they are-- average affordable amps
they tend to break a decent amount- esp input jacks
but it will certainly be an upgrade from your 100 dollar amp---
used they should go for about 400 in real good condition
and i know some guys that have used them in bands for years- so to each his own

Another +1 for the Peavey Classic line. I have Classic 30s and 50s go for 250-300 all the time locally. Beautiful cleans and a more useable drive channel aswell as effects loop and a few other perks

i wouldn't recommend a classic 30 over a hot rod deluxe, to be perfectly honest, unless price was a factor.

put it this way- the last time i recorded with my band i took my hot rod deluxe thinking i wouldn't use it, as there was a silverface twin and a blackface concert 4x10 in the studio, and i ended up using the HRD for everything. now, under no circumstances would i ever record with a peavey classic 30, unless perhaps someone threatened to slaughter my family on camera and upload the footage to www.imkillingyourfamily.com.

having said that, i only ever use the clean channel, as the drive channels suck baws big time. also, it's been mentioned before, but the retail prices are laughable. second hand only.

I've never played a Hot Rod Deluxe as far as I know, but I've played a couple of Classic 30's and strongly recommend them. I'm surprised to hear the strenght of Stewart's conviction dismissing them. What did you dislike about the Classic 30, Stewart?

It's odd, I really don't like Fender amps, but I really like those Peaveys, so maybe that means the Peavey's aren't great at what they're suppose to be.

stewart wrote:www.imkillingyourfamily.com.

Love that site

I had 2 classic 50's...2x12 and 4x10. I also have had 2 different hot rods. One of the newer black deluxes, and an older 4x10 tweed hot rod deville. If you can find one, get the tweed hot rod deville. That said, the fenders kicked the peavey's ass hands down. The prices on them in the UK are alot higher than US though so it depends upon where you are.

i had a hot rod 4x12, and loved the clean. the dirt is crap on it's own, but i found it wonderful to mix with external overdrives/distortions. i had no quality issues. thing was built like a tank. unfortunately, it got stolen in a house robbery.
that said, if i was to buy either today, i'd lean towards the peavy. it's clean is almost as good as the fender, and it's overdrive is way better. i'd say the fender's reverb is better, as is to be expected.

Make sure that you test it out really loud. I play bass in a band with a guy who uses one of these, and it can get very, very icepick-in-the-eardrum at times. Maybe he's just a tard and setting it all wrong though. The drive channel definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

BacchusPaul wrote:What did you dislike about the Classic 30, Stewart?

hard to pin down cos i'm not that analytical when it comes to 'tone' but the one i played through (i've had to use it at rehearsal a few times) sounded boxy, harsh on the treble side and the volume knob is fiddly and gets right on my tits. actually, it reminds me a bit of a solid state amp with a 'tube simulation' switch, like those old H&Hs used to have.

that said, the one in my rehearsal space has probably been brutalised regularly, but even so i've been put right off them.

I recently sold my Hot Rod Deluxe which I had, and gigged solidly with, for 2 years. I replaced the speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30 and I used to love the clean sound and it took pedals really well and sounded awesome. I often used to get compliments from other bands that I let use it when I played gigs. I agree that the drive channels sound rubbish, but then I never used them so it didn't bother me. Mine was a made in the USA model, which are apparently much better than the modern made in Mexico ones.

When I said I loved the amp, I did until I was lucky enough to get a vintage 1969 Carlsbro 50 Top Head. Compared to this the Hot Rod sounded muddy and lacked clarity, therefore I sold it. Also the pain in the arse of carrying a combo to gigs meant that I had stopped using it for gigging most of the time. I sold it and bought an Orange Rocker 30 as a backup for the 50 Top instead for roundabout the same price. The clean isn't as good as the Hot Rod, but as I play distorted with pedals most of the time I don't see this as a problem - with drive or distortion it sounds awesome though.

buy a deluxe on ebay and immediately replace the 12ax7s with JAN-Philips 5751s and you'll be set. for reals.

It's a nice amp but quite a cold one.

It has the price of a very nice amp though that's it's bigger issue for me

how much do these amps retail for? i bought my deville for $500 and sold it for $450. seemed like a pretty good price for that amp. i don't remember the distortion being all that bad. hated the taper on the volume knob, though. also that the master volume wasn't really a master volume. overall, they're not bad for a first-time tube amp.

dunno about the US but over here they're about £600 or something ridiculous like that. i paid £300 for mine, i think that's a decent price for the quality of the amp.

i've never had any trouble with the volume knob on mine, it seems quite smooth.

BacchusPaul wrote:I've never played a Hot Rod Deluxe as far as I know, but I've played a couple of Classic 30's and strongly recommend them. I'm surprised to hear the strenght of Stewart's conviction dismissing them. What did you dislike about the Classic 30, Stewart?

It's odd, I really don't like Fender amps, but I really like those Peaveys, so maybe that means the Peavey's aren't great at what they're suppose to be.

That's how I see things too... I'm really not much of a fan of certain mainstream Fender amps... no depth to them... sickly cleans... far too pleasant !!

Aren't the valves in the peaveys more associated to those found in Marshall / Orange type amps ?

The classic 30, when it comes to recording or rehearsing (or generally cranked) has really come into its own, at bedroom volumes I've always been pretty unhappy with the tone... would really love to gig it properly.

Classic 30 is bloody brilliant. Loved mine since I got it, still love it, couldn't imagine selling it.

the rhythm guitarist in the band i am in uses a hot rod deluxe and it sounds great. i am pretty sure An Horse and Bloc Party both use this amp too