Hot Rod DeVille 2x12 Review

Three channels give you a choice of “normal� (with bright switch), “drive� (with gain and master controls) and “more drive� sounds, with additional features including an FX loop, Fender long-spring reverb, external speaker jack, internal variable bias control and two-button, three-function channel select footswitch. The look is pure Fender, chrome panel with vintage pointer knobs, plus black textured vinyl covering and silver grille cloth.

Features:	9.5
Sound:	9
Reliability:	7.5
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	8.8
Users rating:	8
Comments:	33

overall: 9

Featured review by: JDawg4098, on december 29, 2006

Purchased from: Zzounds.com

Features: As a throwback re-issue 2-channel 60watt tube amplifier from the '60s, I was surprised at the modern tones this amplifier can achieve. Of course this amplifier is known for it's blues and classical rock ability, but if the need be, this thing can scream. With versatile settings in the three-band EQ, presence, great reverb, bright or normal, and "drive" and "more drive" settings ("rythm" and "lead" respectively) this amp is exactly the right amp for all of you blues and classic rock fans out there. // 10

Sound: I play a Fender Stratocaster HSS Deluxe, which has two standard pickups and the dual-coil "humbucker", the dual-coil being needed for less hum and more versatility outside of blues and classic rock. Seeing as this is the most likely guitar that Fender used to tune the tones on the amplifier, this guitar-amplifier combination sounds amazing. The clean channel combined with reverb and the front pickups on my guitar can create the perfect B.B. King sound replica, while the center pickup selector with overdrive is great for Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the lower pickups for heavier, deeper music. One pet-peeve on this amplifier is the sensitivity. At about the 1.5 (of 12) volume level, the amp is barely audible. However, at 2.0, I cannot hear myself think. Even at a small gig in town, I did not have to turn up this amplifier past "2". However, due to the amplifier's tube properties, this amplifier's tone begins to Shine at above "2" so it is not practical for use in a small room. But believe me, once you pass the tone-lump, you will get the classic tube sound that you cannot beat. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This amp sure seems to be solid, but due to its weight and its open exposed tubes, I sure hope that nothing will bang it too hard from the back. This amp has never broken down and has not needed maintanance. It is difficult to carry around, it weighs a good 70 pounds, but the sound it delivers is worth it. I would definitely use this on stage without a backup, but only if I had to. This is not because of the amplifiers quality, just because it is smart to have a backup at all times. // 7

Impression: Metalheads and crunchies, this amp is not for you. The amp lacks in its muted "thump" that metal needs. However, if this amp is turned up to "6" or above on overdrive, you metalheads will be pleased. This amp is for the hardcore classic people such as myself. Chuck Barry, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King, all of these artists' sounds can be re-created using this amazing amplfier. I have been playing for just under a year and I do not need another high-end amplifier, nor will I anytime soon. I would definitely buy this amp again were it stolen, it matches me perfectly. If I could fix something on this guitar, it would be the sensitivity of the volume, but since this is a professional amplifier, I will not complain. This amp is not meant to be used in a small room like my own. My favorite feature it has is the versatility of the tone, from all different eras of classic rock and blues. Keep the classics alive with this amp. // 9

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: Mental Hop, on march 30, 2007

Purchased from: Georges Music

Features: I believe it was made in 2006 and it is perfect for the music I play but may not be perfect for everyone. It has two channels with a "More Gain" Switch for the Drive channel. It came with a built in reverb. The reverb on the floor model was part of the reason why I bought it but my reverb is broken unfortunetly. It does not have a headphone jack. I don't need anything more from this amp than they give me. This amp has enough power to supply you with enough sound for some pretty nice size gigs. It's very loud! Every knob goes to twelve and I've never needed to put the volume past three before it gets a bit unbearable in the volume categeory. This is a tube amp and even though it's only 40 Watts this is much louder than my previous Fender FM212 100 Watt amp. It has a bright switch that really lightens up the clean channe. Presence knob that I was looking for after my starter Traynor amp blew and not having one for about five years. // 10

Sound: I predominantly use traditional stratocasters. I use it with the Cool Cat by Danelectro and The Daddy O. Both sound very nice through the amp. The amp doesn't need an overdrive pedal but the Daddy O is too good not to use. It suits my style of music perfectly. I play thriving rock and roll, rockabilly, country and punk. For those styles, this amp is perfect but it is nearly incapable of playing metal of any sort unless you have a pedal of some sort. I took a point off for that. Also the distortion isn't that intense but it will get the job done just fine. The clean channel does distort at high volumes but that's not a bad thing at all. It's actually a little nicer than the Drive channel. This amp though is perfect for classic rock and country. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I would never need any amp besides this one. It is perfect for my purpose, has held up for about two years without a problem and hasn't broken down yet. The tubes haven't burned out yet and they've been doing pretty well. This is a very reliable amp and is built like a tank. It's heavy yes, and my reverb has never worked but other than that it's built tough. // 8

Impression: I've been playing for 7 and a half years. I own about nine different guitars, a Boss digital recorder, two basses and a mess of other equipment. I wish my reverb worked. It covered under a 5 year warranty but that means I won't have my amp for 6-8 weeks and so I won't be able to play with my band unless I get a backup. If I lost it or it was stolen I can't imagine getting any amp other than this. It's literally perfect for me. I love the sound, the feel, and the features. I hate the weight and broken reverb. My favorite feature is the bass control on it. It really beefs up my strats. I wasn't able to compare it. It's the first amp I came across and had no intention of buying a new amp but I got this and I'm happy with it. I just wish the reverb worked! // 9

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: dio_dude, on july 19, 2007

Price paid: $ 380

Purchased from: music corner whyalla

Features: This amp was made in 2006 so it says on the box. This amp is the perfect practice amp with many a feature. It has almost every effect that exists on it and has many unique amplifier sounds such as modern or blackface. Although it looks small it is a loud amp, 50watts to be excact. There is also two inputs and a headphone input, so it makes for a very useful companion. // 10

Sound: The amp is an effect lovers best freind, especially if your neighbour happens to be a homicidal maniac just waiting for a reason to kill you. I usually have it on about two because I happen to have a mother that is just like that homicidal maniac god bless her soul. The drum beats are good, but if you play around with the tempo and go to record a loop, it will suddenly skip at the end due to being out of time.My gothic g400 Epiphone handles it pretty well also. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This is this beatiful amps downfall. When I said that it handles well quiet I meant at about 3 or 2. If you go to around 1 and a half, it skips and jitters from quiet to nothing. But it's great for loudness and that. The other problem is the knob that you use to change effects. As an impatient man on the go, I like to get everything set as quickly as possible. But when you go to turn something up, say the delay time, you are met with a wall of frustration and slowness. When you turn the knob too fast up it will start to go down. It is really quite annoying. // 7

Impression: I play metal and this thing handles it great. I also play blues and other styles, but mainly metal, and the drum loops really help with your speed and accuracy. This amp blows away my Drive 20 watt practice amp. If it were stolen I would contact the police just as any law abiding citizen would. I had been using this amp about a month before I bought it. In the shop you could pick up a guitar and play on it. This amp is perfect and can make any guitar sound great. // 9

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: Kartman, on september 01, 2007

Price paid: $ 575

Purchased from: Craigslist.com

Features: This amp is nice and basic, two channels, one clean, one overdriven with two types of overdive, "drive" and "more drive". Although many guitarist find the overdrive on this amp to be lacking, I personally like it's overdrive quite a bit. The knobs are all standard with an extra knob for Reverb and one for Presence. The only thing that could improve this amps features would be a direct output which would be essential for recording. // 8

Sound: I play a single-coiled Fender Jaguar through this amp and get unholy tones I didn't think were possible with an amp for less than $1000. The tones range from a bright sweet tone to a nice glassy smooth tone with the flick of a switch. This amp suits my musical style very well, a mix of funk, jazz, and rock. Although, with the right pedals, this amp can truly rumble the ground with it's 60 watts of power. I wouldn't be surprised to see this amp play metal: it's extremely versatile for a Fender amp, which get the image of not being able to play higher-gain sounds. When I punch on my Big Muff, this amp gives out an incredibly fuzzy, punkish sound, great for choppy powerchords, blistering solos and beautiful legato. This amp sounds amazing. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I've had to replace the same tube twice, but besides that, I've never had any problems with it. I haven't gigged it yet, but I'm sure that if I did, it would do the job well. It's durable and large, but don't move it around too much when the tubes are still warm, it could risk blowing a tube. Also, this amp is heavy, weighing in at over fifty pounds. So remember to be careful when moving this guy around, it's not easy. // 8

Impression: After 4 years of playing, two on this amp, I'll say that this amp has me set for life. I don't ever plan on selling stop using this amp because it just plain works for me. If it were stolen, I'd be pissed off, as mine is tweed, a very rare color for the Deville lineup. This amp is for anyone looking for some sweet tones. The only thing I wish it had was a direct output so it could be plugged into an interface or mixer, so I wouldn't have to mic it when recording. // 9

Comments

[DFX11]

holy crap this thing is cool i want it so badly!!!

[Mul]

Can anybody of you tell me the price and where i can get it?

[highway61]

i have a fender hot rod deluxe which seems like the exact same thing. $600 US dollars. great review by the way

[Hells_Bell]

highway61 wrote:

i have a fender hot rod deluxe which seems like the exact same thing. $600 US dollars. great review by the way

Yeah, the hot rod is a smaller version of the hot rod deville and it kicks ass.

[Korzack]

Sounds great to me. Been looking at fender amps, for a more flexible amp - marshalls seem a bit too metallic for my liking, & these interest me a lot. Nice review, now where can i conjure £600 from...

[RevRock]

I've got a deluxe myself. The Deville comes with a choice of 4-10" speakers or 2-12" speakers. I've played both side by side before, personally, I'd take the 2x12. If you want a great gigging combo tube amp that won't blow your bank account like a Marshall stack, I would certainly advise looking into the Hot Rod series. They usually run approx. 600-900 USD between the deluxe and the deville.

[highway61]

Hells_Bell :
highway61 wrote:

i have a fender hot rod deluxe which seems like the exact same thing. $600 US dollars. great review by the way


Yeah, the hot rod is a smaller version of the hot rod deville and it kicks ass.



exactly 40 watts instead of 60. still loud as hell though and leaps up at 2

[guitr323]

I just got this amp and am incredibly impressed with it. I'm using a Fender Tele and an Epiphone Les Paul Custom with it and both sound amazing. The Les Paul especially gets this amazing deep bluesy tone that I love.

[JDawg4098]

Sorry guys i dont know why it says Price Paid=$0. I filled that out to $700, i guess it didnt go through or something. To clarify, I paid $700

[Mul]

Does any of you know the price paid in Europe

[MESAexplorer]

You contradicted yourself too much in this review...especially when talking about metal heads not liking it. And then telling them they would like it.

I've used this ones big brother the 4x10. Its a very loud amp but it doesn't have enough dirt for metal no matter how much you crank it. A DS-1 and a Tubescreamer would bring you to a metalesque sound.

[outofmyelement?]

I actually own the 4-10... and i prefer it to the 2-12 version. when i tryed each i found that the 2-12 was just to muddy sounding for me. the 4-10s give a lot more bite to your tone... if you like that go for the 4-10

[PhantomWuss95]

i dont play classic rock and i have this,

i love it

[carloszakkwylde]

cool very cool

[JDawg4098]

MESAexplorer wrote:

You contradicted yourself too much in this review...especially when talking about metal heads not liking it. And then telling them they would like it.

I've used this ones big brother the 4x10. Its a very loud amp but it doesn't have enough dirt for metal no matter how much you crank it. A DS-1 and a Tubescreamer would bring you to a metalesque sound.

Okay then. Let me clarify.

Metalheads, you will not like this amplifier until the volume reaches concert-levels. Why? Because the tubes need more room to work. You can reach the tone if needed.

But still, you normally wouldnt want to get that tone if you have this amp.

p.s. dont claim that the 4x10 is the 2x12's "big brother." They are the same damn amp with different frequency responsive speakers. And I happen to appreciate the bass from the 2x12 more so than the 4x10.

[axejam123]

Yeah, unless you have a good pedal/processor, this amp is not for the metal player. I have the 4x10, and couldn't like it more. Its really versatile, especially since i couple it with a Digitech processor. I can get all the ranges I want, plus it's ridiculously loud. I've played in club size locations and it's been on volume 3-5 ish.

[MESAexplorer]

JDawg4098 wrote:

MESAexplorer wrote:

You contradicted yourself too much in this review...especially when talking about metal heads not liking it. And then telling them they would like it.

I've used this ones big brother the 4x10. Its a very loud amp but it doesn't have enough dirt for metal no matter how much you crank it. A DS-1 and a Tubescreamer would bring you to a metalesque sound.

Okay then. Let me clarify.

Metalheads, you will not like this amplifier until the volume reaches concert-levels. Why? Because the tubes need more room to work. You can reach the tone if needed.

But still, you normally wouldnt want to get that tone if you have this amp.

p.s. dont claim that the 4x10 is the 2x12's "big brother." They are the same damn amp with different frequency responsive speakers. And I happen to appreciate the bass from the 2x12 more so than the 4x10.

If you had to carry either of the 2 you would realize why i called the 410 its big brother.

[Zwart]

I like this amp! a friend of my owns it, but he blew it up :P hehe

[PhantomWuss95]

i got this for $650 and i love it

[si!]

does anyone know how much this weighs? musicians friend says it's 54 lb, but says the 4x10 is 50 lb so i'm not sure.

[leondb]

The Fender website says the same thing. For some reason the 2x12 weighs a little more.

[PiperFloyd]

I own one of these, picked it up second hand in new condition for just £500 (rrp £750, thats something like $1500 at the moment, eek). All I can say is I will never need another amp. My previous amp was a Peavey Bandit, a good solid state amp, but the difference now is huge.
One thing annoys me though - only 1 top handle rather than 2 side ones, its so heavy. Come on Fender, think!

[dio_dude]

This is weird. I posted this review under fender g dec, but I dont even know what a fender hot rod is. Anybody wanna fill me in?

[IMABBALLPLAYER]

I tried out the HotRod Deville Deluxe at my local guitar shop. It was so nice.

[paul codespoti]

i paid over $2000 aus.4 years ago for a fender hot rod deville and i just sold it for a grand. the worse amp i have ever owned.It seems to me that fender hasnt made a decent amp in about 20 years.

[gibson243]

JDawg4098 wrote:

MESAexplorer wrote:

You contradicted yourself too much in this review...especially when talking about metal heads not liking it. And then telling them they would like it.

I've used this ones big brother the 4x10. Its a very loud amp but it doesn't have enough dirt for metal no matter how much you crank it. A DS-1 and a Tubescreamer would bring you to a metalesque sound.

Okay then. Let me clarify.

Metalheads, you will not like this amplifier until the volume reaches concert-levels. Why? Because the tubes need more room to work. You can reach the tone if needed.

But still, you normally wouldnt want to get that tone if you have this amp.

p.s. dont claim that the 4x10 is the 2x12's "big brother." They are the same damn amp with different frequency responsive speakers. And I happen to appreciate the bass from the 2x12 more so than the 4x10.

exactly!!! the 410 and 212 are the same fkn price!! same wattage just for different styles of music.

[gibson243]

MESAexplorer wrote:

JDawg4098 wrote:

MESAexplorer wrote:

You contradicted yourself too much in this review...especially when talking about metal heads not liking it. And then telling them they would like it.

I've used this ones big brother the 4x10. Its a very loud amp but it doesn't have enough dirt for metal no matter how much you crank it. A DS-1 and a Tubescreamer would bring you to a metalesque sound.

Okay then. Let me clarify.

Metalheads, you will not like this amplifier until the volume reaches concert-levels. Why? Because the tubes need more room to work. You can reach the tone if needed.

But still, you normally wouldnt want to get that tone if you have this amp.

p.s. dont claim that the 4x10 is the 2x12's "big brother." They are the same damn amp with different frequency responsive speakers. And I happen to appreciate the bass from the 2x12 more so than the 4x10.

If you had to carry either of the 2 you would realize why i called the 410 its big brother.

its not its big brother at all they are pretty much the same size. only 2" in hight but the 410 isnt as wide as the 212 so its not its "big brother" at all dumb ****.

[fleh]

gibson243 wrote:

JDawg4098 wrote:

MESAexplorer wrote:

You contradicted yourself too much in this review...especially when talking about metal heads not liking it. And then telling them they would like it.

I've used this ones big brother the 4x10. Its a very loud amp but it doesn't have enough dirt for metal no matter how much you crank it. A DS-1 and a Tubescreamer would bring you to a metalesque sound.

Okay then. Let me clarify.

Metalheads, you will not like this amplifier until the volume reaches concert-levels. Why? Because the tubes need more room to work. You can reach the tone if needed.

But still, you normally wouldnt want to get that tone if you have this amp.

p.s. dont claim that the 4x10 is the 2x12's "big brother." They are the same damn amp with different frequency responsive speakers. And I happen to appreciate the bass from the 2x12 more so than the 4x10.
exactly!!! the 410 and 212 are the same fkn price!! same wattage just for different styles of music.

these quotes are getting kinda outa hand

[tmd9314]

I played the deluxe 1-12 and the deville 2-12 recently I gotta say I love them. The gain isn't good for metal but put it on a rock setting and add an overdrive to it and your all set. The clean channel is amazingly clear warm and bright at the same time. It overdrives wonder fully when cranked. The reverb is amazing. I plaed a fender lite ash strat through the deville and now I'm set on getting it once I have the money.

[gtk4158a]

I bought this amplifier and am pretty pleased with it so far.Really LOUD!! The overall quality seems to be Much better then expected with its 800.00 u.s. price tag. I really dont ever see buying another amplifier again But i will have to get a effects proccessor because i want a heavy crunch tone. This amp is Heavy and unless you are a total pussy that shouldnt be a problem. Also heavy isnt always a bad thing so dont whine about the weight, Go to the gym!! I wish fender had put straps on the side though just for you girly men.The open back is a mixed blessing in the sence that it helps cool the tubes but they are somewhat exposed but not as bad as some might claim. This amp has some useful effects.This amp shines as far as clean tones go. But this amp and a good effects proccessor and you wont find yourself lacking or wanting again

[gtk4158a]

gtk4158a wrote:

I bought this amplifier and am pretty pleased with it so far.Really LOUD!! The overall quality seems to be Much better then expected with its 800.00 u.s. price tag. I really dont ever see buying another amplifier again But i will have to get a effects proccessor because i want a heavy crunch tone. This amp is Heavy and unless you are a total pussy that shouldnt be a problem. Also heavy isnt always a bad thing so dont whine about the weight, Go to the gym!! I wish fender had put straps on the side though just for you girly men.The open back is a mixed blessing in the sence that it helps cool the tubes but they are somewhat exposed but not as bad as some might claim. This amp has some useful effects.This amp shines as far as clean tones go. Buy this amp and a good effects proccessor and you wont find yourself lacking or wanting again

[SylvaShredder]

So how loud would I have to get this thing for the tubes to start warming up and overdriving? I'm honestly new to the whole 'all-tube' deal, and I was wondering if I wanted the natural overdrive if I would need to pick up a smaller amp model.. I would use it for playing in my highschool jazzband, playing with a bunch of different groups and playing an occasional 50-70 person venue.. Just wondering.. PM me if possible, if not, I'll just come back here, thanks

[gtk4158a]

Classic rock fans, this thing howls! Beware though, past "4" it is crazy loud...Like that is a bad thing?
Truly it will "melt paint" !!