Hot Rod Deluxe Mods - anyone tried it?

Barney

colourofsound said:

@Barney Did you have it done in the UK?

Yeah ...Jim from omega gave the mods list to a guy in london that done it ...Malcom Hein i think his name was ...

ESBlonde

IMHO the dirt on the HRD is case of less is more, using less drive and having the master opened up is a more useable sound that retains some soft dynamics and musical tones. Pushing the front end hard gets harsh and thin although it can still sound OK in context if not up close and personal.
Everyone has a different opinion on overdrive though which is a good thing for the booteek pedal industry.

TheMarlin

Barney said:

colourofsound said:

@Barney Did you have it done in the UK?

Yeah ...Jim from omega gave the mods list to a guy in london that done it ...Malcom Hein i think his name was ...

Who?

can I take a Hot Rod to him, and avoid an extra fee?

TheMarlin

By the way.  Adding an extra cab with an Eminence Swamp Thang in parallel to a Cannabis Rex in a Hot Rod gives HUGE tones.  Adored that combination. 

Barney

TheMarlin said:

Barney said:

colourofsound said:

@Barney Did you have it done in the UK?

Yeah ...Jim from omega gave the mods list to a guy in london that done it ...Malcom Hein i think his name was ...

Who?

can I take a Hot Rod to him, and avoid an extra fee?

He done this mod years ago with help from Jim Price from omega...i think it was maybe jut a one off but maybe worth asking ....from what i remember it was a lot of work that went into it 

http://www.mphguitars.co.uk/

phase3

@colourofsound - although it's the subject of much debate, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that using too high impedance speaker ( by 100% mismatch) is potentially more dangerous than too low. There is a strong possibility of flyback voltages which will destroy the screens on the valves and potentially then the O/T . I've had a HRD for repair recently where the owner was using an 8 ohm speaker on the 4 ohm tap ( long story). The symptoms were similar to yours. No decent clean headroom - very crunchy and a bit anemic.  Failed screen resistor on one of the output valves. Amp still worked of course but sounded terrible. So when you get it sorted maybe have a think about getting an 8 ohm speaker. The new Fane Ascension F70's sound great in HRD's or if you want to keep weight down the Celestion creamback neo's are cracking.

ICBM

If you don't crank it, it shouldn't be a problem, although you will lose some power and tone. If you do crank it, phase3 is correct - a high mismatch is potentially more harmful for a valve amp than a low one, although *most* valve amps will tolerate a 2:1 mismatch with no harm. I've never seen a 16-ohm speaker in a HRD so I can't offer any practical experience, but a proper match is always best for reliability and tone.

colourofsound

@phase3 @ICBM Amp went to the docs yesterday so we'll find out what the issue is. I'm going to swap the speaker out anyway; I did actually find the original Eminence Legend that was in it but can't really remember what it sounds like. You reckon the Creamback Neo is worth a punt? I guess it will sound similar to the G12-65 thats currently in it?

TheMarlin

Cannabis Rex works very well in that amp. 

colourofsound

Yeah i'm trying to get hold of one of those. Basically I've got a choice of a number of them and I'll pick up whichever one I can get cheapest/quickest.

Think I might make a cab out of the G12-65. Although I guess I can't used it as an extension to the HRD as its 15 ohms. Are there magic boxes or electronics trickery that can lower the impedance?

TheMarlin

For an extension cab, try an eminence swamp thang. 
works brilliantly with the Cannabis Rex. 

ICBM

You can use a 16-ohm speaker as an extension with no problem at all. The total impedance is 5.33 ohms - which is well within the safe range for the 4-ohm tap which the amp switches to automatically.

colourofsound

@ICBM So if I'm understanding you right I can have the amp using it's 8ohm socket out into the 8ohm speaker that will be in the combo, and have a single 16ohm extension cabinet plugged into the 4ohm socket on the amp? Honestly I am confused about impedance so much.

colourofsound

Amp docs said solder was cracked around the output valve socket. Easy fix thankfully. Probably would have been fine leaving that speaker in then, but he's put the original Eminence back in it for now. If any one of you cared

BintyTwanger77

I'd recommend putting an Eminence Cannabis Rex speaker in an HRD. Really tightens up the flubby low end.