NAD! 2024 Hot Rod Deluxe!

Wound_Up

Wound_Up

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Picked this up around 6 weeks ago while it was on sale at AMS. I knew my bday was coming up and I wanted a new amp so I took a chance on this one without even playing through one first. šŸ˜®šŸ¤£

So its been put up for the last 6 weeks. My bday is in 4 hours(central time) so I figured it's finally time to get it out for good. I'm stoked! Been waiting on this day. It's sitting on what used to be my bedside table. My trusty Monoprice 15w is sitting on the other bedside table lol!

I didn't really have room for them in this room so it just sort of worked out that way. I had my Fender Mustang II V1 on the table before the Hot Rod.

Obligatory pics... Let me resize them.

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A couple from when I originally got it. It has a blue amp jewel, now. Pics below.

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The first Pic is with just the blue jewel and the stock white bulb. After seeing this, I also put a blue silicone bulb cover over the bulb because it was too washed out. There was almost no visible blue. Now it's actually blue and not white.

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Thanks, all!

Well, that didn't last long. I've already removed the blue amp jewel and blue silicone bulb cover that I installed previously. It seems that I inadvertently left the amp on Standby for around 4 hours in a DARK room and never even noticed it. From like 1 - 5am. So thats the end of that.

I had a feeling this might happen when I installed it. It was a little difficult to see unless you were looking directly at the jewel. So I told myself if I ever left the amp on due to not seeing the light on that I'd remove it immediately. Seems it only took 2 days of me having it for it to happen. The red jewel lights up half the room almost lol.

One thing I did notice is that my Monoprice amp has forward-facing light and controls vs top-mounted controls and light on the Hot Rod. So it's quite a bit easier to see the Monoprice light. Probably why I've never left it on like that. And it doesn't have standby. Just a power switch.

Anyway. The red jewel is back on and will be staying on. I also rearranged the amp and put the Hot Rod on the left, where the Monoprice has been. I'm just so used to my amp being there. So I swapped.



- I have run into a weird issue while trying to run these through a couple of stereo pedals. The volume on Amp 2 becomes interactive with Amp 1. If I turn down amp #1, it turns down #2. And amp 2 wont get very loud unless I turn amp 1 up loud.

It does this on all of my stereo pedals. 2 or 3 Behringer pedals and a Donner True Stereo Delay pedal that has 2 delay pedals in 1 enclosure that are separate from 1 another. Called "White Tape Delay" IIRC.

I have the 1st "out" jack running through the fx loop of amp 1 and the 2nd "out" jack on the pedal goes to the front end of amp 2. I'm guessing that has something to do with it but haven't looked into it yet.
 
So I think the issue with my stereo pedals has something to do with how they're hooked up - with one jack going to the fx loop of amp #1 and the other going to the front of amp #2.

If I run them both to the front of each amp, they operate correctly. The volumes aren't interactive. I can turn down 1 amp and it doesn't affect the other one. I didn't try them both through their corresponding fx loops but I suspect it would work correctly there, also.

Though I'm not exactly sure how I'd run it to the 2nd fx loop. That would only be run to the power amp in jack for the 2nd amp so it wouldn't sound right. I'd have to figure out how to run the other side of the fx loop for it to work right. Except there's nowhere to run it to except on the pedals that have 2 input jacks as well as 2 output jacks.

I'll figure something out if it means running a Y cable into the fx loop pedals so each amp has the proper connections.
 
Wound_Up said:
One thing I did notice is that my Monoprice amp has forward-facing light and controls vs top-mounted controls and light on the Hot Rod. So it's quite a bit easier to see the Monoprice light. Probably why I've never left it on like that. And it doesn't have standby. Just a power switch.
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Yup, Iā€™ve left more than one of my top facing control amps on for extended periodsā€¦doesnā€™t seem to hurt anything. I put the little R2D2 looking nightlights (with the daylight sensor taped over) on my power strips so I get an indication that power is on even when the lights are onā€¦very apparent when I douse the lights. YMMV
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stormsedge said:
Yup, Iā€™ve left more than one of my top facing control amps on for extended periodsā€¦doesnā€™t seem to hurt anything. I put the little R2D2 looking nightlights (with the daylight sensor taped over) on my power strips so I get an indication that power is on even when the lights are onā€¦very apparent when I douse the lights. YMMV
View attachment 1206
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That's a good idea. One thing I did as a solution to me leaving my house and thinking I left the amp on was to use a wifi smart plug in the wall and them I plug my surge protector into that.

This way, if I ever leave and wonder if I left my amp on, I can just cut power to the smart plug and it kills the entire surge protector, cutting power to any amps or pedals that are on.

This is something I've done multiple times: thinking I may have left it on after I went somewhere. I remembered I had that plug in my drawer so I put it to use.
 
A month later and I've really grown to like this amp in it's current form with a 12AY7 in V1 and a 12AT7 in V3. It really is a totally different amp. So much more usable. I rarely play my Monoprice amp these days. If I do, it's only for a few minutes while the Hot Rod warms up. Or it's in stereo with the Hot Rod.
 
5 Months later...

It already needs warranty repair. Talk about leaving a bad taste in your mouth. 5 months into owning my first Fender tube amp and it's already breaking. That doesn't make one want to buy another Fender amp anytime soon.

Anyway. I noticed today that the drive channels won't switch between Drive & More Drive. will only go from Clean Channel to More Drive. It won't switch to or from Drive when on drive channels. I also noticed that the Bright switch doesn't work. The 2 latching switches that control these are almost next to each other, next to the input jacks.

These 2 square switches. Neither do anything anymore.

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When I push the button and look at the component attached to the pcb, the button moves WAYYYY too much, it seems like. Same for both. It's as if the solder joints are cracked so the components are moving around and not making connection anymore. That's how much movement I see. First thought was dry joints that cracked. Only I rarely use those buttons. I leave bright on and I have a footswitch to control the channel switching. So I almost never touch them. šŸ¤·

So who knows. The closest service center is 120 miles away. I emailed them this morning, before lunch and have yet to receive a response. The only other service centers are even further. I also emailed Fender and politely asked if they're expecting me to drive 2-3 hours one way to deliver my amp to a service center or if I can ship it.

Because a 6+ hour round trip for free to drop off warranty repair won't work. Plus another 6+ hours drive to pick it up when it's done. That's money out of my pocket to get it repaired under warranty and that ain't how it usually works.

So I'm waiting to hear back from Fender and the electronics repair place I emailed.

This sucks. The amp still sounds great and works fine other than those 2 things not working. Ugh.
 
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That kinda distance to a warranty center is messed up. There should be someone within an hours drive or less or they should pick up the tab for shipping.
 
soulman said:
That kinda distance to a warranty center is messed up. There should be someone within an hours drive or less or they should pick up the tab for shipping.
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Yep. I still haven't heard from the first people I emailed. I also emailed a 2nd place, a place that comes very very highly recommended, that has already called me to see about bringing it or shipping it to them. Slemmons Music Services in Dallas, TX.

When I was looking for the best Fender service center that's closest to me, they're the place people recommend no matter where I looked online. So It seems I'll be taking it to them.

Tbh, driving to Dallas ain't that bad. Since it's "that close", about 3 hours one way, I'd feel much better taking it myself rather than shipping it and risking shipping damage plus waiting extra time. I really expect it to all go very smoothly after all the great things I read about Slemmons at multiple different forums. Terrance seemed extremely nice, as well. So I feel like itll be in great hands.

Yea I changed my mind about driving since last night lol. I'll take it as far as Dallas but that's it. It's a straight shot on I-20 so it's an easy trip.
 
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Wound_Up said:
5 Months later...

It already needs warranty repair. Talk about leaving a bad taste in your mouth. 5 months into owning my first Fender tube amp and it's already breaking. That doesn't make one want to buy another Fender amp anytime soon.

Anyway. I noticed today that the drive channels won't switch between Drive & More Drive. will only go from Clean Channel to More Drive. It won't switch to or from Drive when on drive channels. I also noticed that the Bright switch doesn't work. The 2 latching switches that control these are almost next to each other, next to the input jacks.

These 2 square switches. Neither do anything anymore.

View attachment 2163


When I push the button and look at the component attached to the pcb, the button moves WAYYYY too much, it seems like. Same for both. It's as if the solder joints are cracked so the components are moving around and not making connection anymore. That's how much movement I see. First thought was dry joints that cracked. Only I rarely use those buttons. I leave bright on and I have a footswitch to control the channel switching. So I almost never touch them. šŸ¤·

So who knows. The closest service center is 120 miles away. I emailed them this morning, before lunch and have yet to receive a response. The only other service centers are even further. I also emailed Fender and politely asked if they're expecting me to drive 2-3 hours one way to deliver my amp to a service center or if I can ship it.

Because a 6+ hour round trip for free to drop off warranty repair won't work. Plus another 6+ hours drive to pick it up when it's done. That's money out of my pocket to get it repaired under warranty and that ain't how it usually works.

So I'm waiting to hear back from Fender and the electronics repair place I emailed.

This sucks. The amp still sounds great and works fine other than those 2 things not working. Ugh.
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Well that blows sweaty goat testies.

I would think given your situation Fender would at minimum offer to pay for shipping. Will AMS do anything for you?
 
Ant said:
Well that blows sweaty goat testies.

I would think given your situation Fender would at minimum offer to pay for shipping. Will AMS do anything for you?
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Im not sure. I was in the middle of Asking Fender to cover shipping to and from and then my best friend said he would ride with me if I just wanted to go ahead and take it. So I told Fender to disregard my shipping inquiry because I was just going to take it myself since it's only 2.5 or 3 hrs.

Works for me. I just got back. Got to meet Terence, the owner. Nicest dude ever. I feel fully confident that he'll take care of me and that my amp is in great hands. He fixed my tube so I didn't have to buy any new ones so he was already off to being a good dude in my book lol šŸ¤£šŸ˜

i knew it was a good idea to bring the plastic locator pin with me. I had already accepted that I was probably going to have to spend $100 on 2 new 6L6's. So that was awesome, imo.
 
It's still crazy that I blew the fuse in 2 amps at once lol. And only 1 was being used. How's that work? šŸ¤”šŸ¤·
 
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