Difference Between Blues Deluxe and Hot Rod Deluxe

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fender hot rod deluxe or blues deluxe?

• Thread starter Blues Wail
• Start date Mar 31, 2018

• #1

They seem to be similar. Hard to decide. Any thoughts on these two amps?
Thank you

• #2

I've got one of each of these that I use for certain gigs.I find the blues Dlx warmer sounding and mines breaks up earlier.The hot rod has more gain on the drive channel and also has the "more drive" option but not a lot of people use that as it can get a bit mushy sounding.I like to use my blues dlx on the drive channel with the gain fairly low and master cranked and can get a nice warm sound from it.I've got a NOS 12ax7 in V1 and I also have the presence off.
Both are great with pedals.

• #3

Hot Rod Deluxe IV
Blues Deluxe RI
Hot Rod Deluxe III

This is what I currently own.
They also are in order of preference.

• #4

Hot Rod Deluxe IV
Blues Deluxe RI
Hot Rod Deluxe III

This is what I currently own.
They also are in order of preference.

Can the HR IV do home volume? I've heard folks say the volume knob taper was fixed. I have an original Blues Deville that is impossibly loud.

• #5

Can the HR IV do home volume? I've heard folks say the volume knob taper was fixed. I have an original Blues Deville that is impossibly loud.

yes sir

• #6

The steep volume taper on the Blues Deluxe RI can be dealt with by putting a volume box (one pot) in the effects loop. This allows you to reduce the output to a reasonable level. I got a volume box from someone on eBay, and it made a huge difference in the usability of the amp.

It may also work on the Hot Rod Deluxe III, but I haven't tried it.

• #7

Sold two HRDLXs and one BDRI.One of them is used for a Journey Tribute with a Marshall cab.
In the end my Marshalls stayed and the Fenders went away.

• #8

The steep volume taper on the Blues Deluxe RI can be dealt with by putting a volume box (one pot) in the effects loop. This allows you to reduce the output to a reasonable level. I got a volume box from someone on eBay, and it made a huge difference in the usability of the amp.

It may also work on the Hot Rod Deluxe III, but I haven't tried it.

Yes, please tell if This works on a hot rod deluxe III

• #9

bumping this for more info on the Blues Deluxe

• #10

I had a Fender HRD all through the 90s. I liked the clean channel of that amp which served as a nice pedal platform. This past year, I got to play a Blues Deluxe in the studio several times. It appeared like a stock older model, not sure if anything special was done to it. I really liked that amp and offered to buy it from the studio. The clean channel had more character and would breakup a little more than the HRD with the volume at about 4-5. I would go with the Blues Deluxe.

• #11

I'm kind of going through the same thing now. I have owned a few different hot rod deluxes over the years and am looking for a small grab and go amp that will take pedals well. I know the hot rod does this. I have never owned a blues deluxe. The BD seems to be a bit more $$ used. I know that there was the volume taper issue on older hot rod deluxes. (Linear taper pots instead of audio taper pots). Do blues deluxes have htis same issue and if it was fixed in either...what year/model does it need to be?

Just an FYI, I found with my old hot rods that I could use the clean channel with pedals to get my "tones" and then the drive channel for my lead boost. You could give it just a bit more drive and set the level and it was great. AS a buddy of mine says..get a nice guitar, hot rod deluxe and 2 pedals and you could tour the world.

• #12

I had a mid 90s Blues Dlx that I gigged for about a year, and I've plugged into the HR model a handful of times. I also thought the Dlx was a bit warmer sounding. I would say the difference was not huge, though. I'd still go with the Dlx, but if a HR was much cheaper, I might go that way.

Last edited: Apr 14, 2018

• #13

Had both, preferred the HRD for the clean channel.
Fender says they're the same, but it's obvious they're not...

• #14

Of the two I'd pick the Blues Deluxe. Reasons, I'd never use the More Drive, it sounds warmer IMHO. Think it has a different speaker, and different circuit. It also sounds cooler saying I have a "Blues Deluxe", just kidding.

• #15

Fender claimed to have "fixed" the huge clean channel volume jump with the hrd iii, when i took one home and returned the same day it was totally unuseable as the vol jump was insane.

Is the iv any different, have they fitted an audio taper pot instead of the linear one ?

• #16

I had a Blues Deluxe I toured with for a few years. The stock speakers in both the BD and HRD suck. I would vote BD with a speaker upgrade. I was happy with mine for 15 years

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