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Topic: Tele players and Hot Rod Deville? |
Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 26 Jun 2006 4:10 pm |
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Some of you guys that play Tele through a Hot Rod Deville, would ya'll share some of your amp settings for your favorite Tele tone? A friend of mine has a Deville with 4x10s in it, and he said I could try it out to see if I like it, but I've never played through one, so I need help on amp setings.
I'd appreciate any help.
Terry |
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Gene H. Brown
From:
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
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Posted 26 Jun 2006 4:59 pm
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Hey Terry,
I have worked with a couple of lead pickers who used the Deville and both of them used the same settings and they seem to be very good settings for all around picking on guitar. They were bass 3, mids 3, and highs 3, that setting , by the way didn't sound too good for steel though. Hope this helps a little.
Gene
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If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!
;)
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 26 Jun 2006 6:15 pm
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Thanks Gene. Also, for you that have tried it, how would a Hot Rod Deville and say, a Nashville 112 work, for playing the two amps in stereo for steel guitar?
Terry |
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Scott Shipley
From:
The Ozark Mountains
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Posted 26 Jun 2006 7:10 pm
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| Terry, I use a Hot Rod Deville exclusively when I play tele. I have had it hot-rodded a bit though. I had the pre-amp rewired point-to-point, as it is all on a circuit board from the factory. This was done in Nashville at The Amp Doctor. Not that expensive, and gave me about 20 more watts. My settings are; volume 4-6 (with a pedal board/outboard pre-amp), treble 6-7, middle 1-2, bass 4-5, reverb 3 (with an outboard slap delay, a-la-Luther), presence 3-4. The drive channel sounds excpetionally good. This is one of the best guitar amps Fender has made in years IMO. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2006 7:25 pm
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I play a G&L ASAT thru a DeVille w/2-12s which is fairly close to the rig you mentioned. That is a bright combination so I roll the treble off to around 2 or 3 and it's still plenty bright - then I just bring in the middle and bass to suit my ear - usually around 5-6. One thing you need to do is experiment with various pre-amp tubes. I found a Svetlana 12AX7 was the sweetest for my taste - but YMMV.
I always just use the clean channel and never do the channel switching overdrive thing because at nightclub volumes,I can get enough "hair" just by turning the guitar volume control up that last 15%. Occasionally when I was playing with King Cotton,I'd step on a DigiTech overdrive pedal and go to Santana-land but I could have done that with the channel switching in the amp.I also found that the EQ is typical for Fender tube amps in that it doesn't do very much. You either like the basic sound or you don't. So I found that my DigiTech multi FX gadget(an old RP-7)offers some extra EQ that comes in handy and has all the usual FX too. But straight thru the amp works pretty well for clean country Tele and a sort of BB/Freddy/Albert King blues thang.The spring reverb is good but not great.It sounds good for my Ibanez Pat Metheny jazz box and my Stringmaster too,tho I wouldn't play pedal steel thru it - especially w/4-10s. It sounds unbelievable cranked with a Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere in the FX loop - as close to a honkin Leslie as yer gonna be able to fit into the trunk of a Sentra.Good all around inexpensive tube amp and it only has 5 tubes to replace. BTW spend the money and get the best NOS U.S. tubes you can(and carry a spare set)especially the 2 main power tubes - big difference there in tone and reliability same as any tube amp.
-MJ- |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 2:34 pm
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Thanks guys. If I were to get a Deville, I think I'd want the one with the 2x12s in it.
I'll take these settings to the church tonight and try that Deville out. again,
thanks
Can you get a decent steel sound from a Deville? I know it's only 60 watts, but combined with my Nashville 112 which is 80 watts, should do the trick, you think?
Terry
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Mullen RP D10 /8x5 / Nashville 112/ American Tele
pickin for Jesus
[This message was edited by Terry Sneed on 27 June 2006 at 04:55 PM.] |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 5:28 pm
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| I think they sound harsh,midrangey and break up too easy for pedal steel but like I said,they sound pretty good for lap or console steel. But try it and see what YOU think. And don't be a tone-clone and use everybody else's settings - they might not work for you. It's a starting point but feel free to spin the knobs and use your ears - you might find something you like better on your own. |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 6:29 pm
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Well, I tried the amp out with my Tele, and new right off the bat, that was a tone(one tone) I'd been lookin for. I got's to have me a Deville 2x12.  The only thing is if I keep both of my Nashville 112s and get a Deville to, then that's another amp to have to load/unload. That's why I was asking about playing my steel through one Nashville 112 and a Deville.
Do all the Hot Rod Devilles have a distortion sound? When I first turned the amp on it was clean, but after a few minutes it had a little distortion mixed in. The drive was all the way off.I didn't like the distortion mixed in.
Terry |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 10:21 pm
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| Do all the Hot Rod DeVilles have a distortion sound? You bet - Ya just gotta turn it off....If you didn't accidently have the channel switch turned on,it sounds like a bad tube,especially if it took a few minutes the distortion to kick in because that would coincide with the time it takes for a tube warming up.If the amp is working right and you set it clean - it'll stay clean. Like I said it's a great guitar amp but it sounds skanky for pedal steel. Not enough headroom,wrong speakers for steel,primitive EQ,etc,etc. Good steel amps and good guitar amps are two different animals. |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 28 Jun 2006 1:53 am
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I also use one of the HR Deville's weekly along with my Session 400...my rig set up has my Steel going thru both amps but the Tele or Les Paul going only thru the Fender.
The HR Deville can be a bit harsh or bright for the Steel and really for me requires that both the Treble and Presence be very very low. It can be controlled. I set the Bass usually at 1:00 or 2:00, mid at perhaps 9:00, Presence @ 8 or 9:00 and the treble maybe at 12:00. I have used the HR Deville alone for Steel and it's not bad, I think it can handle a gig pretty well, way better than the ssamller 40 watt amps. I don't find it Middy at all, but that could just be me. I am also thinking a better pair of 12's would make all the difference in the world rather than the stock Eminance speakers.
Now for the Tele , it's a great amp..and for the Les Paul..well..
first 3 rows get out of the way...
I use a Morley AB Pedal for amp switching just in case you are wondering..
and I am considering swapping my Deville 2x12 amp for the 4x10 version...
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TPrior
TPrior Steel Guitar Homesite
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 28 Jun 2006 11:10 am
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Thanks for the help Micheal. I'm wondering if it ain't a tube goin bad because all I did was turn the drive on for a minute and then turned it off. The distortion was still there. This amp is almost new, are they bad about burning tubes?
Tony, is there something about the Deville 4x10 that you like better than the 2x12? How much difference in tone are the two amps? I really liked that 4x10 I played through last night, but I thought most Tele pickers preferd the 2x12.
I wanted to be able to play my steel through one of my Nashville 112s and a Deville, that way I wouldn't have to wag another amp around. But I'm a little afraid of what it would sound like. Only one way to find out I reckon.
Terry
[This message was edited by Terry Sneed on 28 June 2006 at 12:20 PM.] |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 28 Jun 2006 4:12 pm
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Sounds like maybe you didn't quite get the overdrive turned off. No they don't necessarily burn thru tubes but early in my ownership of this amp,a power tube went out making a real loud farting sound in the middle of a solo in front of a who's who standing room only crowd at B.B.King's Supper Club in Hollywood. The audience was laughing,whistling and/or holding their ears as I stopped playing,ran over and turned the amp off to make it stop. I swore I would never let that happen again. It just pointed up how bad tubes were in those days - and nobody's making them since the 60s except the Russians and Chinese.Therefore I conjured up the bucks for two sets of NOS(new old stock)American made GE power tubes that had been sitting in a warehouse since 1966. It hasn't happened since but I figure tubes are like fuses and strings and you should always carry spares. I've talked to die-hard tube amp freaks and they say I just got spooked and snake-bit by that experience 9 years ago and that it would be extremely rare these days with decent Russian tubes like GrooveTubes.
I'd be reluctant to play steel thru 4-10s altho I've seen Tom Morrell play his T-10 Bigsby thru a 100 watt Lab Series solid state amp w/4-10 stock spkrs. It sounded a little skanky too. I had the 2-12 version of that same Lab amp in the late 70s and put EV SROs in it and it sounded great for steel altho a touch underpowered. -MJ- |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 12:09 am
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Terry, the tube thing, I think it was just a bad tube. I have never heard of these amps burnin' thru tubes, or any other amp for that matter.
As far as 10's vs 12's , I think it's a personal thing. I have always preferred 10's to 12's for the Tele and Bass, but don't get me wrong, the 2x12 combo is probably more suited for double duty with the Steel, and if I switch I may regret it.
As far as waggin' around two amps, join the club. 
t[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 29 June 2006 at 01:11 AM.] |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 10:34 am
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Thanks Micheal and Tony. That was what I was thinkin about the 4x10s with steel guitar.
If I get one It will probly be the 2x12 model. I think I'll find a music store and play through both models. Thanks a lot guys.
Terry |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 12:25 pm
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Terry, tell them to let you take it home with a weekend full return guarantee. My Tele playing bandmate was given a $2000 DR Z to use for a week before he decided to keep it.As it was he DID return the first one and came home with a second one, with the same satisfaction guarantee.
good luck
t |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 1:45 pm
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Tony, I'll do just that if the music store will let me. It will have to be a store out of town, since our local store don't have Fender instruments anymore. I appreciate your help and advice, along with Micheal's.
Terry
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Mullen RP D10 /8x5 / Nashville 112/ American Tele
pickin for Jesus
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