New (used) Amp Day

[10PoundLester]

On 10/9/2023 at 3:22 PM, Ceptorman said:

What kind of difference does soldering the connection make? Durability or sound?

Both. I have a vintage DR from 1968 and for the longest time it kept blowing fuses and the sound was horrible - weak and static sounding. Turns out it was those spade connectors. Even though they were soldered onto the wires they did not make good connection with the speaker terminals. I removed them and soldered the wires straight to the terminals and boy did that amp wake up! It has been solid and sounding great ever since and no more fuses blowing. That was years ago and since then I've seen it on several other amps including my 6G16 Vibro-Verb. Same symptoms - same problem - same fix.

['Scales]

Cool amp mate!

On solid state, I use them and the ones I have now I enjoy - a couple of c1995 made in US 60w Fender Princeton 112 Plus combo amps which sound like any proper Fender and are great for rehearsal or small gigs through a splitter, and this Hiwatt in the video below for louder gigs - I love it as much as this reviewer. Never any chance of it not working perfectly, well made (all knobs make noticeable change at every level and feel like they are ideally greased resistance wise). I think they made these around 2005-10 ? - very inexpensive, mine had just been serviced and cost about equivalent of  $150 US/ $120 GBP when i got it used about 6 years ago. 

Good video review here by the way if you like reviews without too much talk - nice variety of guitars, though I suspect he left reverb up high for the o/d channel tests which I would not do. He's given me some cool ideas to try settings on mine - usually it is just left in standard gig settings. 

 

[Dub-T-123]

 

23 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

My only negative is anything past 3 on the Reverb sound all the same. 

Imo the pots are pretty compromised on the HR series. The volume feels like reverse log. It goes from silent to blisteringly loud if you breath on the thing

 

Back when these were new that was the first problem you’d immediately notice when you plug into one of these. Always felt like they custom ordered their PCB mounted pots for this series and made a mistake that was too expensive to change. Maybe the later production didn’t have that problem personally I kinda didn’t like these and moved to the deluxe/twin reverb series 

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, Dub-T-123 said:

 

Imo the pots are pretty compromised on the HR series. The volume feels like reverse log. It goes from silent to blisteringly loud if you breath on the thing

 

Back when these were new that was the first problem you’d immediately notice when you plug into one of these. Always felt like they custom ordered their PCB mounted pots for this series and made a mistake that was too expensive to change. Maybe the later production didn’t have that problem personally I kinda didn’t like these and moved to the deluxe/twin reverb series 

I also had a 2x12 60 Watt DeVille, and man it was Motorhead loud. At around 4 on the volume knob you were almost deaf.

Edited October 11, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Sheepdog1969]

19 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said:

Imo the pots are pretty compromised on the HR series. The volume feels like reverse log. It goes from silent to blisteringly loud if you breath on the thing

Dub-T-123, I agree. For total disclosure; I actually ordered this amp online and thought the list price was appropriate because it was advertised as a HRD II, and I was fully aware of the "volume ramp up" issues with the HRD I &II, (and the 2nd channel drive/"more drive" complaints with them). For the price and condition of the amp, I was simply willing to use the highly rated "clean" channel, combined with the effects loop option, to create "tone variations" via pedals, when/if needed. To my complete surprise, the amp that I received was actually a HRD III. Yes, I did call GC to be sure I didn't get the wrong amp, and that someone else didn't get a lesser amp than what they had ordered, because a screw-up. GC said that the local store that bought the amp as a "trade in", mistakenly listed it as a HRD II, and had priced it as such. They appreciated my honesty, but there was no "switch up" in shipping, and their mistake just benefited me.

I had read that the HRD III was released by Fender to address the "attenuator" issue, (and a few other issues), on the HRD I & II. Tiny adjustments of the I & II's volume & treble pot resulted in massive changes in the amps output. Some reports claimed 85-90% of the I & II's total volume (output decibels) existed between 0-4 on the 0-12 numbered volume pot. This issue made it problematic for any user, especially gigging performers mid show, to quickly make slight volume adjustments. 

The HRD III series was released by Fender to address this issue by supposedly implementing hardware designed to more evenly distribute (graduate) volume/treble pot output across their 0-12 enumerated range. Fender also chose to upgrade the HRD III to a Celestion G12P-80 speaker, modify/improve the 2nd channel drive/"more drive" tone, (to address HRD I & II customer complaints), and to improve the foot switch by using metal construction versus plastic. 

The foot switch and the Celestion upgrades on the III undeniably hit the mark. The 2nd channel OD "upgrade", while not an issue with me, seems far less successful than intended. But, from my impression, if Fender actually improved "pot graduation" on the HRD III, I can't imagine how bad the I's and II's were. I live on a large property, with my home far enough away from my nearest neighbor, that even my 3000+ watt, 7.2 Atmos/DTS HD/DTS X, dual sub, 9 speaker (89db or better), system never bothers my neighbors, (even when cranked at 4am). Yet, I don't dare turn the volume up past 3, ON THE CLEAN CHANNEL of my 40w HRD III, no matter what time of day it is. I wonder what paying over $1K for a new HRD IV 40w 1x12 tube combo gets you, since Fender claims they actually got it right this time with the IV series. (The 4th time's the charm, you know.)

Obviously, by receiving a Series III HRD, vs. a Series II, I got a newer amp with significantly better output characteristics, at a much lower price than it's current market value. (I did look at many Series III HRD's during my amp search, all in the same physical condition as what I received, but they all were selling for at least $200-$300 more.) Again, I was/am very pumped about GC sending me a Series III at a Series II price, especially because I was aware of what that meant. I think I can live with the HRD III's "pot graduation" issues, and be thankful that the universe allowed a break to go my way for once!