Thanks for the almost 600,000 views! If you find this helpful please consider using these links below: 🧡 Get a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV ► Sweetwater (USA) - imp.i114863.net/MeM9q ► Thomann (Global) - bit.ly/39Nnr7v Get a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue ► Sweetwater (USA) - imp.i114863.net/qda7Y ► Thomann (Global) - bit.ly/2JS9Ljl
12 years ago I compared the two amps in a store at gig volume. The BDR had a warmer, softer, richer clean tone compared to the HR which sounded just a tad more brittle to my ears. I didnt compare the dirty tones much since I was looking for a clean pedal platform. Changed the speaker and v1 tube over the years and the BDR is still serving me extremely well.
I bought a Blues Deluxe recently. It sounds phenomenal. I got it from a guy that maybe played it a handful of times. Still had the tags on it and the pedal in packaging and cover in the amp. Best $500 I’ve ever spent.
How good is the presence on it? Played one in a shop a few days ago while trying a jazzmaster, and preferred the amp to the jazz, unfortunately the presence was broken and they used the amp as a “use this when you wanna try guitars” and it wasn’t for sale.
I've had both and I'd say I'd use one or the other depending on what drive pedal and other pedals I wanna use, use the better amp to the better pedal board I guess is what I'm saying here, cause both are extremely giggable amps and sounds. Both are very different live together matched on the knobs... they'll show their unique character just like in the vid. Both about same money on Reverb.t
I bought the 40 watt tweed deluxe reissue from zZounds about four months ago. I can't get my Les Paul out the case fast enough to plug it into this amp. It has otherworldly tonal quality, it's simple to use and It's worth the money and then some. Oh btw, did I mention that it's beautiful?
i've played many fender amps over the years and that hot rod deluxe is probably number one on the list. am currently playing one at band practice once a week and i look forward to seeing it every time. sounds great at any level, quiet, lightly driven or cranked. it's solid, has plenty of power and works beautifully with a pedal board in front. there's certain aspects of harmonics, sustain and tone that just can't be described with words.
Yo vi este video hace casi cinco años y me ayudó a decidir cual comprar. En aquel entonces compré el Blues Deluxe porque me ofrecieron un buen trato para llevármelo. Hoy es 2020 y miro otra vez el video y sigo pensando en lo genial que es el canal... obviamente ya junté y tengo ambos amplificadores pero men... los recuerdos afloran al ver el video.
The Fender Blues Deluxe (more highs) gives you the true Fender vintage sound. The Hot Rod Deluxe (more mids) is obviously more versatile but you sacrifice your foundational-clean sound. I would get the Blues Deluxe and use an overdrive pedal while in the amps' gain drive and you'll have your own customized "more drive" sound. You can't go wrong; however, with either amp. Nice demo!
Ideally, I like to get my distortion from the amp rather than using pedals. So even though both are great, for what I do I prefer the Hot Rod. Great video and thanks
I have used a blues deluxe for years. Now I put and Xotic A/C booster and an EP booster in front and an Carbon Copy delay in the loop and it is absolutely killer. Just changed the stock speaker to a C. Rex after about 8 years of the stock speaker. Makes for smoother sound and not as harsh at louder volumes. Even without all this stuff it is a great amp for the money. Nice vids Shane!! I watch'em all. Keep them coming!
Are you testing the Tweed version or the black one ? Either way how many amps have you "plugged into" because yes it's a good amp for sure but there is so much BETTER Amps at lower price than these, for example try out a crate vintage club 50 if you ever get the chance because they are cheap and sound like a Tweed Bassman 410 on the clean channel and Marshall super lead in the gain channel ! To this day and after buying and playing many many amps of all kinds of vintage and price that crate vintage club 50 it's the best sounding amp I've ever HEARD ever ! Too bad it NEVER works on stage but works just great at home and at the practice studios and the basement it works but not at the gig 😫
Blues Deluxe at 3.07mins ... that's the tone right there! It's more open, less compressed and less mid-focused than the HRD iii. Would have loved to have heard the BD with a boost/OD in front of it ... that I suspect would be killer!!
Joey Bologny blow-out? blow-out is a good thing i suppose. which amp do you play? i'm in need of a new sound. can't change my hands so i need to change the amp. what a difficult thing. i kind of like fender amps. but they offer a lot.
It seems the blues deluxe on the clean has more bass response and maybe a bit more top end. With the drive channel the blues deluxe seems fuller and more dynamic but both amps are awesome. I prefer the blues deluxe.
Really impressed with the distorted tones he was able to get out of the hot rod deluxe. The hot rod deluxe is a great amp but it's, uhh, not exactly known for its high gain channel.
I prefer the Hot Rod, I have a version 1. Only trouble is that the extra gain is useless - it hisses like mad. There is sufficient for most uses in the first gain unless you keep it clean and use pedals. It "only" 40 watt valve and it goes from 1 to 12, but comes on at 2 and gets a bit loud at 4! I have never had it louder than 7 and that was just to test it!
Great amps both, I use a Blues Deluxe, the other guy in my band uses a Hotrod. The Blues is more specialized, has warmer sound but is not so versatile. Most people don't use Fender amps for high gain, but if you stick a drive pedal on the front end of the Blues it really sings.
which channel do you use for the drive pedal? it seems that the drive channel has the best sound out of both amps, while the clean channel doesn't seem as great sounding
Nice demo. However, you use the reverb on the HotRod and not on the Deluxe. That's a bit of a pity, because it really makes a difference. I like and own a Blues DeLuxe by the way! ;)
I don't know what people have against the Drive/More Drive sections of this amp - they sound pretty damn good to me. After many guitars & amps & 50 years of playing blues, rock & surf, I know what I like and that's my RT Overdrive, Rosie Fuzz, & Mr Black Deluxe Plus. BUT if the pedals went down I could be very happy with this amp alone.
If you want more cleans go with the blues deluxe as its poss the best clean fender amp there is - likewise if you need more gain get the hot rod as its a singer. You can add a drive pedal to the blues and it sounds awesome so its technically more bang for your buck all round
The Blues Deluxe here has less reverb and yes i'm using an overdrive pedal to get the Blues Deluxe breaking up without being thrown out of my appartment. Works fine for me.
The Blues Deluxe has more clean headroom and takes longer to break up. It also sounds like it has more mid-hump. The Hot Rod, has a brighter, tighter, crisper sound, with earlier break up, and less headroom. If you're a tube swapper, you could fine tune either of these amps, in whatever direction you prefer to go with them. Both are really good pedal platforms too.
Really good comparison video! It`s hard to tell which one I would prefer. To me the clean sound of the blues deluxe sounds a bit fuller but the bit more drive of the Hot Rod sounds just awsome, too. Tough decission which one to choose.
Great demo! I ended up going with the blues deluxe. It has the better clean sound in my opinion and then for dirty tones I got a wampler plexi drive deluxe. It sounds perfect to me.
My goodness, that Hot Rod Deluxe grit channel sounds amazing. Even the more drive channel has that hot sticky snarl that sounds amazing... I just picked up an HRD V1 last week but I am waiting for a speaker cable in the mail before I can play it. Was inspired by a friend who plays the BDR, happy I got the goth version.
The biggest sound difference to me is when they stopped making the amps with tube rectifiers somewhere around '65. I had a '65 Twin WITH tube rectifier and it sounds SOOOOO much warmer than any of these new amps with solid state rectifier.
Nice playing, some great tones, and a good comparison. I cannot understand the critics of the tone of either amp. This demo shows clearly that both amps deliver beautiful bell like cleans and some good ol' Texas style blues. I personally went for the Blues Deluxe Reissue and am lovin' it! Thanks for the review.
I own the Hot Rod and have played through a friends Blues Deluxe on multiple gigs. If I dial in my exact settings on his and compare the 2, The Hot Rod is more bass heavy and warmer. The blues is more treble heavy and just slightly cooler
Played these against each other today for about 2hrs. Blues deluxe is significantly warmer and rounder on the clean. I really don’t like the gain of the hot rod deluxe. The mild gain is ok as long as gain is only halfway. But anything past that was scratchy and almost unusable. The blues deluxe only did mild gain at best but it was a really nice gain structure. Blues deluxe won that battle by a very long way. Although I would like to hear the hot rod with a better speaker.
Hotrod seems to have more tone overall making it my choice. So, I bought the Hotrod Deluxe III. Thanks for this video, helped me decide which amp would serve me best.
I had a hotrod III until not long ago and I currently have a Blues Deluxe that I just picked up this week. They are close in tone. But to me every tube amp has it's own individual sound. Even the same models. Just by nature.
I'm a little late to the party, 🤘 but nice comparison. I have a Blues DeVille and also a Hotrod DeVille which is obviously the 4x10 version of these 2 amps and basically have the same results. It depends on your tastes and your mood of what you want to get out of the amps. Hotrod is brighter and clearer and the Blues is creamier and smoother.
You can also get an isolation cabinet. I brought one home from the theatre where guitars mostly use them and can crank the Blues Deluxe. In the daytime the neighbours can barely hear some low end when reading a book, in the nighttime I wouldn't use it on full volume. Just mic it up and you can really hear what you really sound like on stage / in studio.
I would be happy with either. I have the HRD II which has great clean but avg drive channel. They seem to have improved the Drive in the III and I understand the excessive bass on the clean channel has been addressed.
I have an original '94 American issue Blues Deluxe. I have never changed anything in it, except for an input jack. I have gigged with it for years and it has never let me down. Still has the original tubes and after having them tested and found to be in fine shape, I decided to not go with new ones. I have never been happier with an amplifier.
The extra drive on the Hot Rod makes it my choice as I play mostly rock, and prefer to get drive from the amp rather than a pedal but use a compression sustainer to supplement it and help it “sing” on solos! Both are great however, it just depends on what you want or use them for, but the tweed look is excellent. So a tweed Hot Rod Deluxe for me👍👍
I'll never give up my HrDx clean channel, even more so with the mods I did which bring it inline with the III version as well as a bassman tonestack :)
i bought my HRD new in 96 added a 410 Marshall cab and increased the Bias to around 75 did wonders for the drive channel but its been a work horse ever since the extra cab made all the difference in tone ,, its cheaper and has way more options then the Blues Deluxe enough said ,,ABY'ing it with my JCM800 absolutely makes the rockin' world go round
blues deluxe is one of my favorite amps i've ever owned. incredibly clear and solid foundation. just too loud for bedroom and small clubs. you don't really need anything louder than 20watts at the end of the day. but for medium sized gigs the blues deluxe is excellent.
I know that the circuit on the Blues Deluxe is supposed to be "warmer" than the Hot Rod Deluxe. It could be the limited bandwidth of the mic that you are using and the speakers on which I am listening, but the two amps sound exactly the same on by nice Bose speakers. I have owned both amps and found the Hot Rod to be somewhat "harsher" than the Blues Deluxe...but I doubt that there is really much of a difference. I have to wonder how much the "sound" of the Blues Deluxe is perceived to be warmer or different because of its appearance. Tweed evokes tones of a certain era and people are very much influenced by the look of the thing that's making the sound....
The difference in their sound, while not extremely dramatic, is very obvious. Gotta say the Blues Deluxe sounds great. The HDR III sounds a lot better than the previous versions as far as I can remember.
@@dimitrisaivaliotis5616 everything,,,Keeley has modified tube screamers for a lot of famous musicians..THen he released the red dirt with those modifications and you can change the sounds by a dip switch in the pedal..BEST tube scremeer!!
The HDR's overdrive channel out of the box sounds horrible. A cheap fix is to replace V2 with a 12DW7. It won't affect the warranty and makes the drive channel sound great. It won't affect the clean channel which I rarely use now that the drive channel sounds so good.
I slightly prefer the cleans on the HRD - but really prefer the drive on the BDR - that said - I fitted my HRD 1990s (USA made) with a C-Rex, did the Van Der Berg mods and the reverb mods and am currently running it with JJ 6V6s - and I prefer that one.
Having owned and gigged with both models, first thing to do is replace the tone destroying stock speakers. I can say for me anyway, that a greenback british-voiced style speaker seems to open up the tone of these amps. I play cleaner styles like country rock and rockabilly with just a little boost and overdrive from pedals, and the Blues Deluxe sounds much better for these styles. If you are into more modern heavier styles with distortion pedals etc., then the Hot Rod Deluxe might be better for you.
Yeah the stock speakers are for the birds. I have mine in a Head Cab and I run it into a 2x12 with 2 JBL e-120's. After a lot of mods and work the HRD sounds killer thru this setup. But after all that work I could of just bought a better amp. Just my 2 cents.
These are both excellent amps. I have used the Hot Rod Deluxe at gigs where we rented gear, and was impressed by the little amp. My personal ride is the Blues Deluxe and I love the amp - love it. It is a tone monster. You do have to overcome the drive limitations (for full on rock stuff) with any stomp box, but I find that use of the clean/dirty channels with the addition of the stomp box gets me anywhere I want to go.
Picked up a mid-'90s Blues Deluxe for $400, put a Vintage 30 in it and switched the tubes to nos GE and Mullards (costing almost as much as the amp!) Had it set up and biased and BOOM, this thing SINGS. Takes pedals nicely and the old valves are built like tanks too, so should last a long time (touch wood!)
Sounds to me like they're both pretty decent approximations of their vintage counterparts. The tweed Blues Deluxe has the mid-forward tone typical of the old tweed Fenders and the Hot Rod Deluxe has the more mid-scooped tone typically found in the Fender blackface amps.
wow! I now have a respect for the HRD! I owned a BD years ago and didn't like it as much as I thought I would - I probably should have gotten a HRD. thanks for this video.
I think the difference is just as the aesthetic and the product titles suggest. The blues deluxe has your more mellow tweed sound, as expected, and the Hot Rod is more pushy and punchy like a blackface
these are great amps for the pedal junkie...to be honest, you won't go wrong with either if you fall into that category personally, I'm a fan of the blues deville 410...it's A LOT of amp (I use an mxr 10 band's gain and volume controls to help tame some of the madness when necessary) but it guarantees two things...you'll be heard regardless of the venue and your sound will be world class
Thank you! They both sound great clean and dirty. I tend to prefer the Deluxe but you really can't go wrong with either of these amps. I know it is popular but I am not a huge fan of the basic Tweed look.
I have a blues deluxe, and it is my baby. Drive channel is a bit crap, but stick a low driven soul food and a vox valve tone in front of it and you get a killer lead tone
I just dropped an Eminence Redcoat Private Jack speaker in my BDRI and it really fattens up the amp tone, and the brittle top end of the stock speaker is gone. An excellent speaker upgrade.
muy buena demostración, excelentes sonidos, tengo los 2 amplificadores y definitivamente son los mejores sonidos que he escuchado ...saludos desde chile
In the future, playing some power chords on the drive channels would be beneficial. Yeah, sure, doing some pentatonic leads with bends is awesome, but it doesn't really show us how the amp handles the low ends when distorted; do they break up when presented with a chord? I'm left with a lot of questions.
Blues deluxe is more full warm and kicks out better - besides the gain channel on most fender amps is completely unusable so you might as well just get the blues deluxe with a OD pedal of you choice ...and call it a day... or just plug into a Marshall and get the shitty clean that comes with it..lol
just tried the blues deluxe in a store today, with the right guitar and pick ups (tex-mex, texas special, any duncan single coils with a fat sound) and it sounded amazing on overdrive. Gain was set to 4-5, but volume was very high, thats the key to get a killer sound from these amps. But it will always be a vintage overdrive sound (like SRV, Hendrix). If you want a more modern, stronger distortion, you'll obviously use a marshall and some les paul like guitar with humbuckers instead of single coils. To put it simpler, if you like stratocaster buy this, if you like les paul buy marshall. Funny side not, SRV apperantly used Fender amps for gain and marshall for clean
The Blues Deluxe is the bust amp for accepting pedals and it likes them straight through the input up front. I have two of them and I love them. I'm going to be getting a hot rod because it's fun to go with no pedals too. I have a peavey classic 30 with a texas heat speaker in her and it will get you close to the mix of these too with a little marshall attitude thrown in there for goodmeasure
Great demo Shane. I never thought I would say this but the black one sounded nicer to me. The tweed was however quite impressive. Tough to beat the sound of a Fender tube amp.
I like the Blues Deluxe a little better, it has a nice warm tone to it. The HRD III has a little bit more drive to it. Both are nice amps, I just think Tweed =Blues. LOL
I have the hdrIII. I use it when I play small clubs. I play on the drive channel all the time. Love the amp. My only complaint is unlike most tube amps when you turn it above 4 the amp sounds worse.
The Blues Deluxe seems to have much more balls, very deep bottom end - my question to you is - which one would perform better live and cut through the mix?
bushibayushi I had a blues deluxe my mate had a hot rod, we played cranked up to 9 and the deluxe was way more gruntier, he sold the hot rod after that gig, we didn’t need pedals the delux valves just crunch up after a while and you can’t really go any louder, nice tone 🤙
Thanks for the video , good demo and great playing. I just spent an hour trying these amps. Started off between the Hot Rod Deluxe and the Blues Deluxe, the Blues Delux won. Then I tried a HR Deluxe limited edition. It was a really tough call to make, as I liked both these amps for different reasons. The Blues Deluxe , broke up earlier and sounded more balanced, but the drive channel didn't get me the sound I wanted. frankly I thought it sounded just bad. The HR Deluxe ( Special Edition ) had more meat in the low end , and the drive channel sounded better to me.I found it sounded a bit harsh for my taste at first. but after i brought the presence knob down a notch or two, (used the same settings on both amps at first ) it won the battle. I ended up taking the Hot rod deluxe special edition home. I agree, both these amps sound great. If I had had the money I would have bought the two of them. youtube is a great starting point, but nothing like trying them out yourself.
I've got an early 2000s USA made fender blues deluxe and these amps are hands down some of the best amps around. They take pedals very well. A friend of mine has the hot rod deluxe III and we compared them the other day. What a great set up for a 2 guitar band. One guy having a blues deluxe and the other guy having a hot rod and it's just perfect. The ultimate rig would be to have both
I have a BD and I absolutely love it. I liked it with the stock speaker and then swapped it for a weber blue dog. I had an issue with low end cutting through live. Now i love it. Overall, warm bluesy and creamy with the BD. Great blues tone and takes pedals great. Set it clean with some reverb and run a tube screamer with some delay and just jam.
I have both of these amps. The BDR has more low end and a richer tone (when clean) IMO versus the HRD3 which sounds thinner (when clean) compared to the BDR. For Rock tones, use the HRD. For Blues, or for a blues tone, go with the BDR. They don't call it Blues Deluxe for nothing. It has a meatier clean tone. The boatload of low end in the BDR makes a difference. I don't use any Bass on the BDR but have bass up around 3 on the HRD.
Thanks for the almost 600,000 views! If you find this helpful please consider using these links below: 🧡
Get a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV
► Sweetwater (USA) - imp.i114863.net/MeM9q
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Get a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue
► Sweetwater (USA) - imp.i114863.net/qda7Y
► Thomann (Global) - bit.ly/2JS9Ljl
I would love to hear/see an updated video with the Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue vs Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV comparison.
12 years ago I compared the two amps in a store at gig volume. The BDR had a warmer, softer, richer clean tone compared to the HR which sounded just a tad more brittle to my ears. I didnt compare the dirty tones much since I was looking for a clean pedal platform. Changed the speaker and v1 tube over the years and the BDR is still serving me extremely well.
I bought a Blues Deluxe recently. It sounds phenomenal. I got it from a guy that maybe played it a handful of times. Still had the tags on it and the pedal in packaging and cover in the amp. Best $500 I’ve ever spent.
How good is the presence on it? Played one in a shop a few days ago while trying a jazzmaster, and preferred the amp to the jazz, unfortunately the presence was broken and they used the amp as a “use this when you wanna try guitars” and it wasn’t for sale.
I've had both and I'd say I'd use one or the other depending on what drive pedal and other pedals I wanna use, use the better amp to the better pedal board I guess is what I'm saying here, cause both are extremely giggable amps and sounds. Both are very different live together matched on the knobs... they'll show their unique character just like in the vid. Both about same money on Reverb.t
I bought the 40 watt tweed deluxe reissue from zZounds about four months ago. I can't get my Les Paul out the case fast enough to plug it into this amp. It has otherworldly tonal quality, it's simple to use and It's worth the money and then some. Oh btw, did I mention that it's beautiful?
i've played many fender amps over the years and that hot rod deluxe is probably number one on the list. am currently playing one at band practice once a week and i look forward to seeing it every time. sounds great at any level, quiet, lightly driven or cranked. it's solid, has plenty of power and works beautifully with a pedal board in front. there's certain aspects of harmonics, sustain and tone that just can't be described with words.
You can literally copy/paste this comment to so many Fender amps. Everyone swears that his Fender is THE Fender.
@@Phoenix_cataclysm_in_2040 underrated comment
Yo vi este video hace casi cinco años y me ayudó a decidir cual comprar. En aquel entonces compré el Blues Deluxe porque me ofrecieron un buen trato para llevármelo. Hoy es 2020 y miro otra vez el video y sigo pensando en lo genial que es el canal... obviamente ya junté y tengo ambos amplificadores pero men... los recuerdos afloran al ver el video.
The Fender Blues Deluxe (more highs) gives you the true Fender vintage sound. The Hot Rod Deluxe (more mids) is obviously more versatile but you sacrifice your foundational-clean sound. I would get the Blues Deluxe and use an overdrive pedal while in the amps' gain drive and you'll have your own customized "more drive" sound. You can't go wrong; however, with either amp. Nice demo!
Ideally, I like to get my distortion from the amp rather than using pedals. So even though both are great, for what I do I prefer the Hot Rod.
Great video and thanks
I have used a blues deluxe for years. Now I put and Xotic A/C booster and an EP booster in front and an Carbon Copy delay in the loop and it is absolutely killer. Just changed the stock speaker to a C. Rex after about 8 years of the stock speaker. Makes for smoother sound and not as harsh at louder volumes. Even without all this stuff it is a great amp for the money. Nice vids Shane!! I watch'em all. Keep them coming!
The Blues Deluxe is the best amp I've ever plugged into...sounds so SRVish to me.
!! Exactly right
same here. best amp ever plugged into. And with a squire classic vibe
Are you testing the Tweed version or the black one ? Either way how many amps have you "plugged into" because yes it's a good amp for sure but there is so much BETTER Amps at lower price than these, for example try out a crate vintage club 50 if you ever get the chance because they are cheap and sound like a Tweed Bassman 410 on the clean channel and Marshall super lead in the gain channel ! To this day and after buying and playing many many amps of all kinds of vintage and price that crate vintage club 50 it's the best sounding amp I've ever HEARD ever ! Too bad it NEVER works on stage but works just great at home and at the practice studios and the basement it works but not at the gig 😫
Joseph Castilon got an old Fender Champ tube and just got a Blues deluxe. The Deluxe is pretty awesome just heavy
@@precisionbrown6829 PUSSY
Quick summary: the blues deluxe sounds more bluesy.
You're welcome.
Abe Val Whats “bluesy”?
Yah Think!!??🤔. Brilliant
😂😂🤣🤣🤣
thank
Thomas B N4G The hot rod is warmer... To me that’s more bluesy 🤷♂️... The blues deluxe is brighter (eh)
Blues sounds more compressed while clean. I'd just say buy them both when you can't make up your mind and eat ramon for a bit.
What did Ramón ever do to you?
@@classicZEPP Ramon is a 🤬🤬
The human body can go up to 120 days with just water and a fender deluxe amp
Dude learn to spell the right way!!!
Best comment I've seen on the the interweb yet.
Hot rodd for me, classic 70's tube fender sound
The louder one is better. The quitter one lacks the volume of the louder one.
Excellent analysis
TheJofrica I totally agree. It was for sure made by an experienced sound engineer.
Wade Hyde it's good but the other is gooder. slightlyer gooder.
I agree....I especially liked the technical comparisons expressed
Once you go black.......what the hell s the other color? BILE green.....
Blues Deluxe at 3.07mins ... that's the tone right there! It's more open, less compressed and less mid-focused than the HRD iii. Would have loved to have heard the BD with a boost/OD in front of it ... that I suspect would be killer!!
3:06
The BDR takes pedals VERY well.
Can’t believe this is still the only video comparison still .lucky you did one at least
I liked the hot rod on every example, like the speakers are better or something, they aren't even close.
+Joey Bologny i liked the hot rod too.
It's a blow-out.
Joey Bologny blow-out? blow-out is a good thing i suppose. which amp do you play? i'm in need of a new sound. can't change my hands so i need to change the amp. what a difficult thing. i kind of like fender amps. but they offer a lot.
I thought the amps were huge but then I realized it's a picture-in-picture type thing going on, lol
haha
LOL indeed. :P
+TheJofrica Yea ...those microphones would be pretty huge also.
TheJofrica haha twat! (no offence)
TheJofrica that's exactly my point. There's microphones
It seems the blues deluxe on the clean has more bass response and maybe a bit more top end. With the drive channel the blues deluxe seems fuller and more dynamic but both amps are awesome. I prefer the blues deluxe.
Blues wins on looks... hot rod for sound IMO. Wish the hot rod comes in tweed too :)
+ken masters They do, check out Amazon.
+ken masters you can get it in brown covering, i seen one today
Guitar center has the hot rod in tweed!!
Really impressed with the distorted tones he was able to get out of the hot rod deluxe. The hot rod deluxe is a great amp but it's, uhh, not exactly known for its high gain channel.
I prefer the Hot Rod, I have a version 1. Only trouble is that the extra gain is useless - it hisses like mad. There is sufficient for most uses in the first gain unless you keep it clean and use pedals. It "only" 40 watt valve and it goes from 1 to 12, but comes on at 2 and gets a bit loud at 4! I have never had it louder than 7 and that was just to test it!
Great amps both, I use a Blues Deluxe, the other guy in my band uses a Hotrod. The Blues is more specialized, has warmer sound but is not so versatile. Most people don't use Fender amps for high gain, but if you stick a drive pedal on the front end of the Blues it really sings.
zodiacbluesbaby Which one do you think it is versatile?
They're both pretty versatile, but the Hotrod slightly more so.
zodiacbluesbaby The Hotrod's always sound too harsh to me.
which channel do you use for the drive pedal? it seems that the drive channel has the best sound out of both amps, while the clean channel doesn't seem as great sounding
Nice demo. However, you use the reverb on the HotRod and not on the Deluxe. That's a bit of a pity, because it really makes a difference. I like and own a Blues DeLuxe by the way! ;)
I don't know what people have against the Drive/More Drive sections of this amp - they sound pretty damn good to me. After many guitars & amps & 50 years of playing blues, rock & surf, I know what I like and that's my RT Overdrive, Rosie Fuzz, & Mr Black Deluxe Plus. BUT if the pedals went down I could be very happy with this amp alone.
If you want more cleans go with the blues deluxe as its poss the best clean fender amp there is - likewise if you need more gain get the hot rod as its a singer. You can add a drive pedal to the blues and it sounds awesome so its technically more bang for your buck all round
The Blues Deluxe here has less reverb and yes i'm using an overdrive pedal to get the Blues Deluxe breaking up without being thrown out of my appartment. Works fine for me.
0:37 HRDX clean 1
0:44 BDX clean 1
0:53 HRDX clean 2
1:09 BDX clean 2
1:27 HRDX clean 2
1:44 BDX clean 2
2:16 HRDX overdrive
2:32 BDX overdrive
2:49 HRDX more overdrive
3:06 BDX full overdrive
3:29 HRDX full overdrive
The Blues Deluxe has more clean headroom and takes longer to break up. It also sounds like it has more mid-hump. The Hot Rod, has a brighter, tighter, crisper sound, with earlier break up, and less headroom. If you're a tube swapper, you could fine tune either of these amps, in whatever direction you prefer to go with them. Both are really good pedal platforms too.
Really good comparison video! It`s hard to tell which one I would prefer. To me the clean sound of the blues deluxe sounds a bit fuller but the bit more drive of the Hot Rod sounds just awsome, too. Tough decission which one to choose.
Great demo! I ended up going with the blues deluxe. It has the better clean sound in my opinion and then for dirty tones I got a wampler plexi drive deluxe. It sounds perfect to me.
My goodness, that Hot Rod Deluxe grit channel sounds amazing. Even the more drive channel has that hot sticky snarl that sounds amazing... I just picked up an HRD V1 last week but I am waiting for a speaker cable in the mail before I can play it. Was inspired by a friend who plays the BDR, happy I got the goth version.
The biggest sound difference to me is when they stopped making the amps with tube rectifiers somewhere around '65. I had a '65 Twin WITH tube rectifier and it sounds SOOOOO much warmer than any of these new amps with solid state rectifier.
I listened in expensive headphones Sennheiser,
deluxe III sounds much better.
Thank you!
Yes yes with headphones it's. Magic
Blues Deluxe wins in looks but the HR Deluxe III kills it on tones.. Very useful video, made my decision easier, HR Deluxe III all the way!!
Both sounded great! Thanks for another great review Shane!
Nice playing, some great tones, and a good comparison. I cannot understand the critics of the tone of either amp. This demo shows clearly that both amps deliver beautiful bell like cleans and some good ol' Texas style blues. I personally went for the Blues Deluxe Reissue and am lovin' it! Thanks for the review.
I own the Hot Rod and have played through a friends Blues Deluxe on multiple gigs. If I dial in my exact settings on his and compare the 2, The Hot Rod is more bass heavy and warmer. The blues is more treble heavy and just slightly cooler
What genres would you say would be appropriate for both amps? I'm currently sifting between the two.
Wow! I really digged the blues deluxe! I think I know which amp I'm going to get now , thank you!
Played these against each other today for about 2hrs. Blues deluxe is significantly warmer and rounder on the clean. I really don’t like the gain of the hot rod deluxe. The mild gain is ok as long as gain is only halfway. But anything past that was scratchy and almost unusable. The blues deluxe only did mild gain at best but it was a really nice gain structure. Blues deluxe won that battle by a very long way. Although I would like to hear the hot rod with a better speaker.
Hotrod seems to have more tone overall making it my choice. So, I bought the Hotrod Deluxe III. Thanks for this video, helped me decide which amp would serve me best.
I have a hot rod deluxe IV so you know which one I like best
is it just me or blues deluxe sounds more treble than hot rod??
u have two imput,a darker and a brighter one.
mine even has a button,normal/more bright next to the inputs.
Same here to my ears.
Ikram Maududi yeah they both sound great depends on taste. i personally dig the blues for a good chimey tone.
I had a hotrod III until not long ago and I currently have a Blues Deluxe that I just picked up this week. They are close in tone. But to me every tube amp has it's own individual sound. Even the same models. Just by nature.
I heard the Blues Deluxe has 1 Meg treb pot, reason why it is brighter.
I'm a little late to the party, 🤘 but nice comparison. I have a Blues DeVille and also a Hotrod DeVille which is obviously the 4x10 version of these 2 amps and basically have the same results. It depends on your tastes and your mood of what you want to get out of the amps. Hotrod is brighter and clearer and the Blues is creamier and smoother.
I have a Hot Rod and I HATE the gain channel, but I LOVE the sound of the "clean" channel cranked. Its too bad I so rarely get to use it at home
You need to try it with some kind of attenuator. You'll love the drive channel once you get a little loud on your output tubes.
You can also get an isolation cabinet. I brought one home from the theatre where guitars mostly use them and can crank the Blues Deluxe. In the daytime the neighbours can barely hear some low end when reading a book, in the nighttime I wouldn't use it on full volume. Just mic it up and you can really hear what you really sound like on stage / in studio.
I would be happy with either. I have the HRD II which has great clean but avg drive channel. They seem to have improved the Drive in the III and I understand the excessive bass on the clean channel has been addressed.
I have an original '94 American issue Blues Deluxe. I have never changed anything in it, except for an input jack. I have gigged with it for years and it has never let me down. Still has the original tubes and after having them tested and found to be in fine shape, I decided to not go with new ones. I have never been happier with an amplifier.
The extra drive on the Hot Rod makes it my choice as I play mostly rock, and prefer to get drive from the amp rather than a pedal but use a compression sustainer to supplement it and help it “sing” on solos! Both are great however, it just depends on what you want or use them for, but the tweed look is excellent. So a tweed Hot Rod Deluxe for me👍👍
Yep I use old dynacomp(compression
low,gain up high).Best amp I've ever
Had.
I'll never give up my HrDx clean channel, even more so with the mods I did which bring it inline with the III version as well as a bassman tonestack :)
i bought my HRD new in 96 added a 410 Marshall cab and increased the Bias to around 75 did wonders for the drive channel but its been a work horse ever since the extra cab made all the difference in tone ,, its cheaper and has way more options then the Blues Deluxe enough said ,,ABY'ing it with my JCM800 absolutely makes the rockin' world go round
The Blues Deluxe is brighter. I like both but the Blues Deluxe is still my favorite. Well and for the overdrive and distortion i'm just using a pedal.
blues deluxe is one of my favorite amps i've ever owned. incredibly clear and solid foundation. just too loud for bedroom and small clubs. you don't really need anything louder than 20watts at the end of the day. but for medium sized gigs the blues deluxe is excellent.
I know that the circuit on the Blues Deluxe is supposed to be "warmer" than the Hot Rod Deluxe. It could be the limited bandwidth of the mic that you are using and the speakers on which I am listening, but the two amps sound exactly the same on by nice Bose speakers. I have owned both amps and found the Hot Rod to be somewhat "harsher" than the Blues Deluxe...but I doubt that there is really much of a difference. I have to wonder how much the "sound" of the Blues Deluxe is perceived to be warmer or different because of its appearance. Tweed evokes tones of a certain era and people are very much influenced by the look of the thing that's making the sound....
Listen on headphones, much easier to hear the difference
The difference in their sound, while not extremely dramatic, is very obvious. Gotta say the Blues Deluxe sounds great. The HDR III sounds a lot better than the previous versions as far as I can remember.
Well Bose doesn't exactly make studio or even audiophile grade equipment.
I can hear a world or difference on my phone speakers! R u sure?
blues deluxe with a tube screamer 👌
And the HRDX sounds better than that with a Keeley red dirt..lol
Blues deluxe with a blues driver
BLUES 100
@@runnningonempty Hey there 🙂
For what kind of music is the keeley red dirt?
Sorry I'm semi begginer
@@dimitrisaivaliotis5616 everything,,,Keeley has modified tube screamers for a lot of famous musicians..THen he released the red dirt with those modifications and you can change the sounds by a dip switch in the pedal..BEST tube scremeer!!
@@runnningonempty thank you 😊
The HDR's overdrive channel out of the box sounds horrible. A cheap fix is to replace V2 with a 12DW7. It won't affect the warranty and makes the drive channel sound great. It won't affect the clean channel which I rarely use now that the drive channel sounds so good.
I slightly prefer the cleans on the HRD - but really prefer the drive on the BDR - that said - I fitted my HRD 1990s (USA made) with a C-Rex, did the Van Der Berg mods and the reverb mods and am currently running it with JJ 6V6s - and I prefer that one.
Having owned and gigged with both models, first thing to do is replace the tone destroying stock speakers. I can say for me anyway, that a greenback british-voiced style speaker seems to open up the tone of these amps. I play cleaner styles like country rock and rockabilly with just a little boost and overdrive from pedals, and the Blues Deluxe sounds much better for these styles. If you are into more modern heavier styles with distortion pedals etc., then the Hot Rod Deluxe might be better for you.
I too am a fan of American sounding amps matched with British sounding speakers
Yeah the stock speakers are for the birds. I have mine in a Head Cab and I run it into a 2x12 with 2 JBL e-120's. After a lot of mods and work the HRD sounds killer thru this setup. But after all that work I could of just bought a better amp. Just my 2 cents.
Had the HR Deluxe for 16 years now. Brilliant amp.
It's very difficult to compare when hotrod has it's reverb on. Makes it sound broader then it is.
I like the Blues Deluxe better, but damn the reverb says way better on the Hot Rod.
These are both excellent amps. I have used the Hot Rod Deluxe at gigs where we rented gear, and was impressed by the little amp. My personal ride is the Blues Deluxe and I love the amp - love it. It is a tone monster. You do have to overcome the drive limitations (for full on rock stuff) with any stomp box, but I find that use of the clean/dirty channels with the addition of the stomp box gets me anywhere I want to go.
Never owner a Fender valve amp yet but going on this demo I'd go for the hot rod as I like the way it breaks up and sounds a lot more versatile
The HRD is so crisp. Sounds great.
Picked up a mid-'90s Blues Deluxe for $400, put a Vintage 30 in it and switched the tubes to nos GE and Mullards (costing almost as much as the amp!) Had it set up and biased and BOOM, this thing SINGS. Takes pedals nicely and the old valves are built like tanks too, so should last a long time (touch wood!)
NOS tube was the answer into my 1963 vibrolux and a bran new Jensen p12n!
I wish he showed the settings.
I had a Hot Rod once. It sounded terrible (blurry) until I put a Celestion Blueback speaker in it. That really rocked !
They both sound beautiful. its hard to choose a favourite.
i think the blues deluxe sounds more bluesier and warmer in tone :)
Darko Pesevski I agree I might grab one
Sounds to me like they're both pretty decent approximations of their vintage counterparts. The tweed Blues Deluxe has the mid-forward tone typical of the old tweed Fenders and the Hot Rod Deluxe has the more mid-scooped tone typically found in the Fender blackface amps.
wow! I now have a respect for the HRD! I owned a BD years ago and didn't like it as much as I thought I would - I probably should have gotten a HRD. thanks for this video.
I think the difference is just as the aesthetic and the product titles suggest. The blues deluxe has your more mellow tweed sound, as expected, and the Hot Rod is more pushy and punchy like a blackface
these are great amps for the pedal junkie...to be honest, you won't go wrong with either if you fall into that category
personally, I'm a fan of the blues deville 410...it's A LOT of amp (I use an mxr 10 band's gain and volume controls to help tame some of the madness when necessary) but it guarantees two things...you'll be heard regardless of the venue and your sound will be world class
Sweet watch! Too bad they don't just combine the best of both of these amps and just make one!
I'm picking up a Hot rod deluxe soon.
I have tried just about every amp I could find and the hot rod is definitely the best by a mile.
That tone on the blues deluxe, I want it
Thank you! They both sound great clean and dirty. I tend to prefer the Deluxe but you really can't go wrong with either of these amps. I know it is popular but I am not a huge fan of the basic Tweed look.
I have a blues deluxe, and it is my baby. Drive channel is a bit crap, but stick a low driven soul food and a vox valve tone in front of it and you get a killer lead tone
I just dropped an Eminence Redcoat Private Jack speaker in my BDRI and it really fattens up the amp tone, and the brittle top end of the stock speaker is gone. An excellent speaker upgrade.
muy buena demostración, excelentes sonidos, tengo los 2 amplificadores y definitivamente son los mejores sonidos que he escuchado ...saludos desde chile
In the future, playing some power chords on the drive channels would be beneficial.
Yeah, sure, doing some pentatonic leads with bends is awesome, but it doesn't really show us how the amp handles the low ends when distorted; do they break up when presented with a chord? I'm left with a lot of questions.
Are the settings on the amps the same? The HRD has more "sound" to it...
More sound... What does that mean? More volume?
Shane---- You'd make a Sears amp sound great. But, I'm leaning toward the Blues Deluxe. Albeit both sound great.
Blues deluxe is more full warm and kicks out better - besides the gain channel on most fender amps is completely unusable so you might as well just get the blues deluxe with a OD pedal of you choice ...and call it a day... or just plug into a Marshall and get the shitty clean that comes with it..lol
I like the distortion on the the blues. So fat and the clean
I agree, if you need more gain, buy a marshall. That's plenty enough gain and what a great clean sound
irockuroll60 I just got a Laney Lionheart 20 watt head. Its not as much as these one but holy shit it sounds so good
irockuroll60 the gain on that amp surpasses all. (In my opinion) :-)
just tried the blues deluxe in a store today, with the right guitar and pick ups (tex-mex, texas special, any duncan single coils with a fat sound) and it sounded amazing on overdrive. Gain was set to 4-5, but volume was very high, thats the key to get a killer sound from these amps. But it will always be a vintage overdrive sound (like SRV, Hendrix). If you want a more modern, stronger distortion, you'll obviously use a marshall and some les paul like guitar with humbuckers instead of single coils.
To put it simpler, if you like stratocaster buy this, if you like les paul buy marshall. Funny side not, SRV apperantly used Fender amps for gain and marshall for clean
The Blues Deluxe is the bust amp for accepting pedals and it likes them straight through the input up front. I have two of them and I love them. I'm going to be getting a hot rod because it's fun to go with no pedals too. I have a peavey classic 30 with a texas heat speaker in her and it will get you close to the mix of these too with a little marshall attitude thrown in there for goodmeasure
Wow, Blues Deluxe sounds so much better, what a warm and vintage tone. Miles better than the thin and less powerful sound of the hot rod
Man they just sound so different. I can't say one is better then the other. It depends on what you're looking to achieve.
Both sound great
nice clear comparison with no bull
Great demo Shane. I never thought I would say this but the black one sounded nicer to me. The tweed was however quite impressive. Tough to beat the sound of a Fender tube amp.
If you search the HRD is available in tweed and occasionally (I managed to get one) blonde.
I like the Blues Deluxe a little better, it has a nice warm tone to it. The HRD III has a little bit more drive to it. Both are nice amps, I just think Tweed =Blues. LOL
I have the hdrIII. I use it when I play small clubs. I play on the drive channel all the time. Love the amp. My only complaint is unlike most tube amps when you turn it above 4 the amp sounds worse.
The Blues Deluxe seems to have much more balls, very deep bottom end - my question to you is - which one would perform better live and cut through the mix?
bushibayushi I had a blues deluxe my mate had a hot rod, we played cranked up to 9 and the deluxe was way more gruntier, he sold the hot rod after that gig, we didn’t need pedals the delux valves just crunch up after a while and you can’t really go any louder, nice tone 🤙
Thanks for the video , good demo and great playing.
I just spent an hour trying these amps. Started off between the Hot Rod Deluxe and the Blues Deluxe, the Blues Delux won. Then I tried a HR Deluxe limited edition.
It was a really tough call to make, as I liked both these amps for different reasons.
The Blues Deluxe , broke up earlier and sounded more balanced, but the drive channel didn't get me the sound I wanted. frankly I thought it sounded just bad.
The HR Deluxe ( Special Edition ) had more meat in the low end , and the drive channel sounded better to me.I found it sounded a bit harsh for my taste at first. but after i brought the presence knob down a notch or two, (used the same settings on both amps at first ) it won the battle.
I ended up taking the Hot rod deluxe special edition home.
I agree, both these amps sound great.
If I had had the money I would have bought the two of them.
youtube is a great starting point, but nothing like trying them out yourself.
Blues Deluxe for me. Maybe few upgrade, tubes, speaker to make it right.
I own a BDR but love the sound of the HRD
I've got an early 2000s USA made fender blues deluxe and these amps are hands down some of the best amps around. They take pedals very well. A friend of mine has the hot rod deluxe III and we compared them the other day. What a great set up for a 2 guitar band. One guy having a blues deluxe and the other guy having a hot rod and it's just perfect. The ultimate rig would be to have both
I have a BD and I absolutely love it. I liked it with the stock speaker and then swapped it for a weber blue dog. I had an issue with low end cutting through live. Now i love it. Overall, warm bluesy and creamy with the BD. Great blues tone and takes pedals great. Set it clean with some reverb and run a tube screamer with some delay and just jam.
I would really liek to hear them with Tube Screamer!
Me too and a 2021 updated comparison
The Blues Deluxe has a brighter sound, yet the HRD seems incredibly well balanced.
I have a Deluxe iv love it
I have both of these amps. The BDR has more low end and a richer tone (when clean) IMO versus the HRD3 which sounds thinner (when clean) compared to the BDR. For Rock tones, use the HRD. For Blues, or for a blues tone, go with the BDR. They don't call it Blues Deluxe for nothing. It has a meatier clean tone. The boatload of low end in the BDR makes a difference. I don't use any Bass on the BDR but have bass up around 3 on the HRD.
Excelente video. Me ha ayudado mucho. Te agradezco por mostrar estos dos equipos. Soy Hugo desde Argentina. Un gran abrazo.