Fender HRDX

[WildEye]

Has anybody here turned a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe into a preamp only? I'm eventually going to have a twin for that but in the meantime while I'm saving I'd like to use that amp as just a preamp. I've heard you can just pull the power plugs as well as... no that won't do it you have to rewire it. So just seeing if anybody has acutally done it.

Thanks,

[Gr8fulGreg]

I run my HRDX into my rocktron v300 i didnt rewire anything.... sounds great into 2x12 jbl e120 at 8ohms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0RT8Xse ... ature=plcp

[WildEye]

I recognized your guitar from when you posted the finished build - nice.

So did you disconnect the speaker inside the amp? I don't know anything myself - and somebody please feel free to correct me, but if you disconnect the speaker in the amp won't the power portion overload?

[Gr8fulGreg]

hasn't overloaded yet.... i took the speaker completely out... working on making it into a head unit when i have the time...

[strumminsix]

I recognized your guitar from when you posted the finished build - nice.

So did you disconnect the speaker inside the amp? I don't know anything myself - and somebody please feel free to correct me, but if you disconnect the speaker in the amp won't the power portion overload?

I too have been under the advisement not to run a powered amp section w/o a load. I've since been told that solid state PA is okay, and some amps too. Not sure what is the truth.

[Bear62]

You just want to use the EFX send out to power amp and hook speakers up to whatever amp you are using. this completely bypasses the power section in the HRDX. I do the opposite by sending the output of my SMS to the AMP IN on the effects loop which only utilizes the power amp and speaker in my Blues Deluxe!

G

[gpilcher2001]

your still going to need to pull the power tubes on tbe hrdx. if you don't your going to fry your output transformer. pretty expensive fix. other than that there should be nothing wrong with tbis set up as the effects send is a preamp tap. greg.....

[Jon S.]

I never turned a HRD into a preamp but I did turn a Blues Deluxe into a Bandmaster (through Pete Cage of Cage Audio and Amplifiers).

[WildEye]

Thanks for the responses!

I did try out a set-up using the preamp (fx loop) out - only a test so I wasn't worried about the amp overloading without a speaker to drive (if I even have to worry about that) but that's a moot point - I lost my reverb that way and was not impressed with the tone that was coming out. To be fair my amp has a funky presence knob - yeah I know it should be off - but off is really muddy and on is pretty trebly (no it's not a dial between the difference - it's broken and you get one or the other) so I gotta mess with the amp part and my tone to dial it in.

So for the time I've decided to make due and wait till I can find a good silver face amp (preferably with Jer's mods) or wait so long I can afford a SMS with the jerry mod...

So thanks for the input guys, much appreciated - and anyone wanting to sell a SMS cheap (or get rid of the perfect silverface preamp pm me (yeah I won't hold my breath)

[Gr8fulGreg]

I pulled the power tubes out this morning and have 0 sound when i plug into my power amp to my cab.... I can plug into the pre amp out but there is no reverb.... anyone have another idea? put power tubes back in? idk i dont want to fry my amp but it sounds like crap without reverb

[gpilcher2001]

I pulled the power tubes out this morning and have 0 sound when i plug into my power amp to my cab.... I can plug into the pre amp out but there is no reverb.... anyone have another idea? put power tubes back in? idk i dont want to fry my amp but it sounds like crap without reverb

I'm confused gr8tfulgreg how are you feeding the power amp? I tried the effects send into a rack reverb i.to a mosvalve power amp this weekend i had to crank the volume on the hrdx to get enough signal to feed the power amp. if your using the speaker taps thats really not a good idea! if you are then thats why when you pulled the tubes you had no output. tube amps meed a speaker booked up to them whenever they are out of standby. you should also always be within 2ohms of what ever speaker load you are using. if you are using the speaker out to go to power amp eventually you will ruin one or the other. if want to keep the reverb and your h.rdx from breaking down your only other option is to get an attenuator with a line out feature and a setting for load this way your signal is tapped at the speaker and your output transformer sees the load its designed to run safely at. with the attenuator set to load and always connected to your hrdx you wont have to have a physical speaker connected to the amp. go to dr z's website or thd's website. weber also offers a few different attenuators. greg....

[WildEye]

And if some of us had the means to hook up a speaker (cheap but same ohms) and bury it in the backyard - still hooked up to the original speaker leads. Then used the pre-amp out - amp - speakers - shit wouldn't melt down and only the worms will be unhappy... but I will have saved myself the cost of an attenuator.

This is a terrible solution, if everyone did this the earth would vibrate into a trillion pieces...

nevermind....

[Gr8fulGreg]

guhh im so confused whats the EASY solution here.... what should i wire where what should i do! i dont want to blow my amps!

[gpilcher2001]

okay my fault i didnt mean to be so dramatic. you should be able to use the effects send from the amp through a reverb pedal or a rack mount reverb. something with line level output would probably be the best. i'm not sure if a pedal will play nice with the external power amp input. you can probably try any pedal through the effects send to external power amp in to see if they'll match up. if they do match up there will be no signal loss (ie no volume difference between pedal connected pedal not connected). if your already carrying around a rack for the power amp then you probably have space for a 1u rack effect unit. tc electronic sells a decent unit that does all time based effects (delay, phaser, flanger, chorus, reverb....) for around 150. to use the hrdx this way you will want to run the effects send through reverb unit (hopefully reverb pedal works or rack reverb unit) to the external power amp in. then you will want to pull your power tubes. then it will be safe to pull the speaker and hook it up to your power amp. with the power tubes pulled the output transformer wont need a load to keep it safe. look at it as the samething as doing the preamp tap to the clean channel on a twin. reference dozin website or walds to confirm this. it doesn't matter if its a twin or hrdx.

just my 2 cents the hrdx does a good job of getting jerry tone all by itself. if you use the same settings that are posted on walds web site for jerry's twin it gets damn good and close. the power amp section of the hrdx is 40 watts! i've played outdoor gigs with a 1 x 12 exstention cab where the sound guy was telling me to turn down! this amp is plenty loud for any gig you'll ever play baring getting famous and playing arenas! i guess all i'm saying is save yourself the headache use whatever jbl 120 you flavor 1 or 2 of them and front load your effects. you'll get it close. heres a link to a show from my band where i'm using this set up http://archive.org/details/SH2011-27-03.flac . i don't sound all that much like jerry but his tone influences me everytime i play. I hope this helps? I'm just tryin to share good knowledge and help some people from ruining good gear. greg...

[gpilcher2001]

here's one. i've owned this unit. the only down side is it doesn't come with the pedal to control it. but if all you need is the reverb...... http://www.zzounds.com/item--TCEGSHARP