Lighter alternatives for my HRD ?

Emp_Fab

I love the sound on my Hot Rod Deluxe, but it's a bloody heavy lump - 20kg / 45lb and lugging it in and out of the car, in and out of venues / practice rooms is becoming a pain - literally.  I'm wondering whether I ought to consider getting something far lighter.

I never use anything other than the clean channel, never use the reverb, never drive it to the point it breaks up... I'm left wondering whether I really need a valve amp at all.

I just stick a variety of pedals in front of it and use it to make that sound louder, rather than using it to create a sound of its own.  I know it's supposed to have a great clean tone, but is that really worth all the lugging about ?

What alternatives are out there (used) that could replace a HRD used only for clean sounds, but weigh far less ?

Ta !

EricTheWeary

The Roland Blues Cube ( the new one) is pretty much an attempt to make a solid state HRD that's also considerably lighter. Just hitting the shops. Many clips online and a couple Discussions on here.

newi123

The Tech 21 Trademark 60 does the whole fender thing well in a very light weight package. 

Number of lovely boutique amps do it too - notably Carr for me - but they are a whole lot more cash!

Maybe even a Blues Junior if you don`t need all the headroom?

Emp_Fab

Am I being a fool for even considering giving up on my glowing tubes ?  8-X

ICBM

Emp_Fab said:

Am I being a fool for even considering giving up on my glowing tubes ?

No, but you certainly don't want a Blues Junior, or anything else with a middy boxy tone. The purpose of a Blues Junior is for the overdriven bluesy sound it can do, which is good if you want specifically that, but much less so for anything else.

The beauty of the HRD is that lovely bouncy clean tone, which does partly come from the valves. I think you'll find most solid-state amps disappointing, even though you think you're just using the amp to make your sound louder. If anything you probably want something old-school and not designed for an overdriven sound at all, since for some reason most solid-state amp designers seem to think sounding like a valve amp means sounding like a Blues Junior... or the total opposite and like a nu-metal band.

You could probably do worse than try a Fender Mustang though - they do have a lot of stuff you don't need, but they also do have quite a nicer Fendery clean sound.

citizen68

What speaker's in it Emp? Mine has the Neo Century Vintage & although I know some don't rate it I'm very pleased with the tone - with that speaker my amp is a comfortable one handed lift..

the_jaffa

Might well be worth trying out a Peavey Bandit.  They do a decent enough clean sound and are definitely not as heavy as a HRD.  Resiliant little buggers too.

EricTheWeary

The other guitarist I did those blues gigs with last year used a trademark 60 or a Twin. I don't think he ever used only the amp ( had a little collection of Barber OD's) for overdrive and sounded exactly the same to me through either amp.
Your HRD is about 20kg, the trademark 16 , the Cube Artist 16 and the cube Stage 14. A speaker and a cabinet weigh something.

crunchman

As @ citizen68 suggested a speaker with a Neodymium magnet would reduce the weight a bit.  If you don't like the Century Vintage then Jensen and others make Neo speakers too.  I would agree that the Century Vintage is a very underrated speaker.  I had one for quite a while.

Having said the best speakers I have heard in a HRD were more "American" style speakers.  There was a limited edition one with a Jensen P12N that was very good.  The Weber 12F150 is very good as well.  That's what I had in mine.

I've not heard a solid state amp that sounds as nice clean as a good valve amp.  If you are miking it through a PA then some of the better modelling solutions would be just as good if not better through the front of house, but they probably won't sound the same as the amp on it's own.

Depending on your volume needs the Deluxe Reverb, or even Princeton Reverb may be an option.  You won't get the same volume before breakup, and they don't have as much low end, but they do have a lovely clean sound that you can put pedals through.

One other thought is that the HRD is probably a plywood or MDF cabinet.  An old style Tweed pine cabinet might be a bit lighter, but you are probably getting into boutique territory there.  The ideal might be a Lazy J 20.  The best clean tone I have heard, and the Celestion Blue is a really efficient speaker so it makes it a lot louder than you would think it would be.  If you don't get the reverb option is nice and light as well.

siraxeman

a 1x12 HRD is too heavy ? Pah...get thee to a gym and get back to health (**sorry if you are a frail old girl tho ) Try carting 2 amps to a gig - both 2x12s...AC30 and Marshall 1923C. Then 2 guitars and a heavy pedalboard and a shoulder bag with other odds n sods in it.

What I have to wonder is the world coming to when a 1x12 HRD is too heavy ? Tut.

Danny1969

I would never consider an HRD heavy. Put some wheels on it, that will help a bit if you think it's heavy 

hotpickups

Heavy to me was a Cornford Hellcat combo. Bloody gorgeous versatile amp but jesus was it heavy. I'll never buy a twin combo again

Danny1969

A hardcased Fender Twin is heavy, my Marshall rack at 50 odd Kg is heavy but an HRD ...... not so much

ICBM

A Mesa Trem-o-verb is heavy . That's why I have two, to balance when carrying them .

But seriously, to get *much* lighter than an HRD, you will need to be looking at a lot less power, a lot more cost, solid-state, or some combination of those. Just knocking off a few pounds isn't going to make enough difference.

jpfamps

Danny1969 said:

I would never consider an HRD heavy. Put some wheels on it, that will help a bit if you think it's heavy 

+1

EricTheWeary

I had assumed that a HRD ( an HRD? ) would be heavier than my Laney but the figures off google say not, couple of kilos lighter. As an unfit 50 year old man I think my Laney is manageable. As the Emp is also an unfit 50 year old man if he can't lift his HRD I'm suprised he can play a gig standing up with an 8lb peice of wood hanging around his neck.
[ by which I mean an electric guitar, not some kind of BDSM thing ]

shaunm

Head and separate small 1x12 cab is the only option to keep a nice valve tone and make it light to carry.

citizen68

shaunm said:

Head and separate small 1x12 cab is the only option to keep a nice valve tone and make it light to carry.

Depends on the head! My Ceriatone OTS head weighs 27kg compared to the HRD's 20kg. Along with a 1x12 cab with EV12L speaker it's a real fun lift >-)

ICBM

You don't need a head and cab to keep it light - in fact, since a head and cab contains slightly more wood than a combo, it will end up heavier for the same spec. Most of the weight of an average combo is in the cabinet.

A pine-cabinet Tweed Deluxe type amp is remarkably light, although it will also probably be more expensive than a HRD as well as not quite as loud.

Blueingreen

Head and cab isn't going to be lighter overall, but they may offer the option of two comfortable lifts rather than one uncomfortable one, and many people will prefer that.

shaunm

Blueingreen;560340" said:

Head and cab isn't going to be lighter overall, but they may offer the option of two comfortable lifts rather than one uncomfortable one, and many people will prefer that.

That's what I was getting at