20 Most Recent Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Guitar Combo Amplifier Questions & Answers

Could have broken a spring in the reverb tank, or a wire connecting it to the amp, or the reverb driver tube, or a few other things, but those are the most likely in this situation. Thats what I'd check first. Give it a little slap and if it vibrates like normal, your spring is probably ok, you can still open it up and double check though. Check your wires. Then pull your reverb driver tube and replace it. If that doesn't work, it is probably in the circuit somewhere, and you should not work on your amp unless you know what you are doing. They store large amounts of electicity in the caps and they can kill you.

Fender Amplifiers are notorious for their reliability issues.However, I'm sure that amp will sound sweet once you get everything working again!

The problem is likely your "tank". The tank contains the springs which create reverb as the guitar's signal is sent through them. A broken spring could be causing your problem.

Luckily, any of the larger music stores should have them avalible.

Good Luck!

-Sheeves

Main thing to verify is that the particular footswitch and cable you have is specifically for that amp. If it is not the right one, that is your problem as there is very little compatibility among footswitches.
Looking at the schematic, plugging in JUST the cable shifts operation as you observed. This uses a crazy circuit in which AC is applied on the cable and the footswitch has a diode each direction that causes the amp to shift between the states. when you plug a bare cable in, it disconnects the internal diodes and switches for control at the amp, hence the signals float.
You should investigate the footswitch to make sure it is the right type with the diodes resistors and caps that is for the Fender Deluxe.

You can find the schematic for the amp here:

http://www.fender.com/support/amp_schematics/pdfs/Hot_Rod_Deluxe_Schematic.pdf

Look at the circuitry of the switches on the schematic at C8. Your pedal should have similar circuitry. Assuming your cable is good, the problem would be in the pedal itself.

Here is a test you can do at home for the sound. Test out the speaker. To do this you will need two alligator clips with wire about ft. long. Remove the speaker wire clips under the speaker magnet and attach the alligator clips . Take a C size battery and touch both ends of the battery. You should here a scratching sound . If you do you know your speaker is OK. Then you have a problem that needs a Technician. A good music shop should be able to give you a idea of the repair cost. Don't go to a big music change, find a small full service shop that deals with Fender. I don't think this will cost a lot. Fenders play for years, Its truly worth the bench fee. Good luck DFD , please rate me thanks

Personally, I like to have all "tone effects", such as wahs, distortions and equalizers in front of "time effects" such as phasers, chorus, flangers and delays. See my set up in the photo. Guitar input is from right to left, starting with the wah pedal. Tom, 30yr player

Check the power supply voltage and look for a hot component. If it takes a while to bring on the symptom it's probably something getting hot.

It doesn't happen often but I suspect that the high gain input jack is defective. With nothing plugged into either input jack part of the signal is grounded and there should not be any noise. It might be that plus a noisy preamp tube. Try swapping the first two tubes to see if there is less noise. Carefully bang your fist or use an insulated tool's handle to hear if the noise changes. It might be an intermittent solder connection as well.

The unit is screwed down. There are two screws one at each end. Look hard you will find them. Most of the time there is a small transducer (coli of wire) the small wires are usualy broke.

Wayne, There's a time to take the amp to a pro shop andf get it done right. It' saves time and headaches, and also keeps you from inadvertantly smoking other parts or yourself. Now is that time.

This could be any of several problems including a failure in the power supply filtering, a tube that has shorted, or a broken ground someplace. Take unit in for repair.

You have to ask the question for us to try to get an answer.

For the Drive channel you need to use the Drive control AND the MASTER volume control. When the Drive channel is active, the Channel Indicator lamp should be RED indicating the Drive Channel is active. The Drive control knob is used to adjust the preamp volume and distortion level of the Drive Channel. This gives you a clue as to what to check if adjusting the controls doesn't work -- the preamp tubes. Having said that, ONLY try to check these tubes with the amp OFF! Never stick your hand up into the chassis of a live amp. It could be lethal. Your preamp tubes are the ones farthest from where the power cord enters the chassis. They have a rubber like stabilizer on them. They have a tendency to wiggle loose, which is part of the reason for the stabilizer. Again, if you're not familiar with the insides...stay out and get an amp tech to help you.

The Normal Channel only uses the Volume Control to adjust volume.

Preamp out -> Pedal IN Pedal Out -> power amp IN

Just because tubes light up does NOT mean they are good or working... While heaters not lit are an indication of failure, teh reverse is not necessarily true.
Time to troubleshoot this... Plug a set of headphones into teh preamp out. See if audio there is clean... it will be low level using headphones and ONLY from one side as the output is mono and your headphones are stereo usually... If audio is clean here and not muffled, then problem is in power amp section else in the early stages of the unit.
Report back the results of this test...

http://intl.fender.com/en-CA/support/ Check this link and scroll down.

http://intl.fender.com/en-CA/support/ Here is a link that will help you.

http://www.guitardaterproject.org/fender.aspx

with or with out a guitar plugged in