Posted by Slim on 4/28/2008, 2:34 am

So I ordered this Fender Hot Rod Deluxe in lacquered tweed with a Jensen alnico P12N in it........ all for $549 shipped to my door NIB........ I can't lie..... I'm stoked. So Tuesday FedEx rolls up and I opened her up and.... it's just as advertised...... perfect shape and looks to die for. So I hook her up and....... the first thing I notice is the volume control is numbered 1 to 12 but it sort works more like 1, 2, 10, 11, 12........ pretty much all or nothing. Other than that the clean channel is decent but not great. The drive channel is another story...... I turned it on and buzzards started flying overhead...... that bad and the more drive...... even the buzzards were about to puke.......... Now.... this is the best selling tube amp in the world...... so how can this be....... to the internet for some research. To solve the volume control problem which is caused by a linear pot when an audio taper pot should have been used..... folks buy a volume control box off E-bay and place it between the preamp out and the power amp in. That seems to solve the problem. So being fresh out of volume control boxes I search the closet and find a volume pedal....... and I hook it up between the preamp and the power amp and presto the volume issue is history...... not only that but the tone seems to be much better in the clean channel........ so I take the plunge..... I switch to the drive channel........ and it's like a different amp. All the fizzy, raspy distortion is gone and the buzzards start to disperse........ it sounds pretty decent....... I'm starting to see a plan develop here. I think boy if that volume pedal did all that.... I wonder what using a compressor instead would do........ so I try my Keeley 4 button job and suddenly...... I've got tone for days........ I mean really good tone like one would expect from a $2500 amp. Perfect for blues tone......... once again bringing that perfect sound to all the people.......... and everybody lived happily ever after. The End Slim