Grateful Dead Music Forum

I've seen several mentions of the Hot Rod Deluxe (HRD) as a decent combo amp for some Jerry tones when someone is looking for something small and inexpensive. So, for those who have used an HRD, what settings do you use to dial in some jerry tones on a stock HRD?


PS - I know that replacing the speaker with a JBL would be ideal, and that's certainly on my todo list, but for now I'm stuck with the stock speaker.

monroe wrote:I've seen several mentions of the Hot Rod Deluxe (HRD) as a decent combo amp for some Jerry tones when someone is looking for something small and inexpensive. So, for those who have used an HRD, what settings do you use to dial in some jerry tones on a stock HRD?


PS - I know that replacing the speaker with a JBL would be ideal, and that's certainly on my todo list, but for now I'm stuck with the stock speaker.

Dime the treble, kill the bass, bump up the mids and reverb. Compensate with your pickup tone pot. Go from there.

It's been forever since I had my HRD, but I used to nail those sounds pretty well with a few others as well. They're great little amps despite what anyone says about them. Mine was all stock and kept it that way.

I'm getting great Jerry sounds on my HRD with the settings mentioned above:

Treb 10
Bass 0

But also:

Mid 5
Reverb 3.5
Presence 2.5
Master Volume 10

Use Channel 1 only,
Brightness switch off.

I have a HRD 60watt version in a head cab. I have not used it in years. But I found a pair of RCA 6L6's and some RCA preamp tubes. Im gonna give this amp another shot and set it up like someone above mentioned. Ill get back to yall

Treat your HRD as you would any BF Fender when it comes to settings for Jerry tone.

This being said, I'm not a fan of formulaic settings. As a place from which to start, sure. But your guitar and other aspects of your signal chain are not identical to Jerry's, nor are your "touch," the venues you play in, and the volumes you play at.

So my advice is start from a place of Jerry's preamp settings, then use your ears and hands to tweak them to get to where the amp sounds best for you.

100% agree. My settings on my SMS are not what the suggested Jerry settings are. I use more bass and I roll off the highs a bit. I also use more gain, i have a pretty good right hand for strumming and I can go from quiet to loud and I like the amp to react to that

I just hadnt messed with my HRD in a LONG time. I also have a little box that lets me control the volume better on the HRD. The one mod i havnt done is to put a different volume pot in it, so it goes from off to LOUD in a tiny bit of a turn. But this little box is a god send for these amps without that mod.

Ill def do a video on the HRD and my SMS setup asap. I have to wait a few days because I got something under my thumb nail on my fretting hand and it got infected. Crazy how a little thing like this can be so painful.

I also found a RCA 12AT7 to put in the HRD preamp along with the 12AX7 RCAs i found. I bought a wood box years ago from a antique place that was LOADED with RCA tubes. Some new and some used. THe box is even red and black and says RCA on it. Must of had 150 different tubes in it. A lot are types not used in guitar amps, but still there was at least 30-40 that were and not one of them was broken.

Here is a general tip. HRDs are notorious for coming out of the factory biased cold. It is fairly easy to check the bias current with a DVM and adjust it to be warmer.

Excellent advice on checking the bias!

Bottom line: As much as we all love authenticity and our gear, if you can't gig in a Dead tribute band anywhere in the world with a MIM Strat and HRD, Brah, it ain't the gear.

HAHA ! Ive always been able to get a nice Jerry tone with a simple Strat and Fender amp. I actually use G&L strats and teles. But my main guitars are Wolf's, theres a bit more you can get out of them than a Strat. Sometimes single coils are a little to twangy for me. I like the Super II's split sound better. Probably because im deaf lol !

Yeah I had mine worked on but I stopped using it when I got a different amp right afterwards. The Bias is good and the Caps are all replaced with better quality than stock. Its a nice amp. I did a bunch of mods to it, as I said the only one I didnt do was the volume pot.

I ment to do a video, but ive been busy. I will tho. The one easy mod everyone should do with their HRD or Blues Jr is the Twin mod. Its easy, google it. Makes the Mid knob useful like never before on this amp.

I dont plan on using my HRD live, as I have my stage setup and a backup and I dont need much more than that when traveling.

Jon S. wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 5:09 am Excellent advice on checking the bias!

Bottom line: As much as we all love authenticity and our gear, if you can't gig in a Dead tribute band anywhere in the world with a MIM Strat and HRD, Brah, it ain't the gear.

i had to quote this - just so so so true!

HRDx are less ideal JG type amps. For similar prices you can score a DRRI which IMO is much better suited.

OP, do you prefer

-1- 22W/2X6V6/regular and vibrato channels

or

-2- 40W/2X6L6/normal, drive, and more drive channels/boost?

Myself, for recording, give me the DR, but for playing live or practicing with a heavy handed/footed drummer, give me the HRD.

Some deem the HRD "brittle" sounding. But as has already been noted, a significant part of that is Fender biasing its tubes poorly from the factory (yeah, we know, cold biased tubes arguably last longer but what do you want? A bit more time from your tubes or the best tone?).

My modded HRD head sounds great ! I didnt get a video, but I ended up playing thru it for about an hour straight and ended with a big grin on my face.

Darkstar860 wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 6:30 am I like the Super II's split sound better. Probably because im deaf lol !

That's the same reason Jerry liked them, so you are in good company!!!