New HRD III

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shupe13
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New HRD III

Post by shupe13 »

Hey all I just got a new HRD III yesterday. My first Deluxe. I’ve owned several DeVilles in both 2x12 and 4x10 configurations. Great amps but way too much amp. I was hoping the the Deluxe would be a bit more tame, and it is, but it could use a bit more taming.

Any thoughts on a Carl’s Customs volume box or speaker soak? Pretty inexpensive. I will use the amp mostly at the house.

Oh the reverb SUCKS! Very, very clanky and harsh. I pulled the tank and I didn’t see anything odd. It’s completely unusable past 2 and I’m not messing with returning it. Suggestions?


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pompeiisneaks
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Re: New HRD III

Post by pompeiisneaks »

shupe13 wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:36 am Hey all I just got a new HRD III yesterday. My first Deluxe. I’ve owned several DeVilles in both 2x12 and 4x10 configurations. Great amps but way too much amp. I was hoping the the Deluxe would be a bit more tame, and it is, but it could use a bit more taming.

Any thoughts on a Carl’s Customs volume box or speaker soak? Pretty inexpensive. I will use the amp mostly at the house.

Oh the reverb SUCKS! Very, very clanky and harsh. I pulled the tank and I didn’t see anything odd. It’s completely unusable past 2 and I’m not messing with returning it. Suggestions?


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The hot rod and blues deluxe use solid state reverb. Not worth it imo it sucks. There was a mod out there to cut a capacitor on the blues deluxe to tame the bad reverb a bit, but not sure it's really worth it anyway.

Most inexpensive speaker soaks are passive loads and cause tone suck badly. It's better to save up and get an active attenuator that does a real job of simulating speaker load so as to pass all frequencies through what it's not absorbing. Even they tend to impact tone at high attenuation levels, but they're way better than passive ones.

You could look to maybe finding a mod that adds a PPIMV instead? I'd guess that would give you a lot more control over the output volume.

~Phil
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shupe13
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Re: New HRD III

Post by shupe13 »

Thanks Phil


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Re: New HRD III

Post by Stevem »

These amps output about 30 watts of clean power which is a very poor pick for home non band usage!
A 5 watt amp with a 12" speaker would make you smile much more!
When I die, I want to go like my Grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!😊

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Re: New HRD III

Post by xtian »

pompeiisneaks wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:41 amThe hot rod and blues deluxe use solid state reverb. Not worth it imo it sucks.
Really? The new ones have totally SS reverb? Because the HRDs they made for many years have SS-driven spring reverb tanks.
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
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Re: New HRD III

Post by shupe13 »

Stevem wrote:These amps output about 30 watts of clean power which is a very poor pick for home non band usage!
A 5 watt amp with a 12" speaker would make you smile much more!
I’ve been lugging around a 78 lb VOX AC30CC2 and I needed something lighter.


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Re: New HRD III

Post by pompeiisneaks »

xtian wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:16 pm
pompeiisneaks wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:41 amThe hot rod and blues deluxe use solid state reverb. Not worth it imo it sucks.
Really? The new ones have totally SS reverb? Because the HRDs they made for many years have SS-driven spring reverb tanks.
I should have clarified, they use ss op amps, the reverb is spring, but the tone is super awesome "MEH"

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Re: New HRD III

Post by xtian »

pompeiisneaks wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 8:29 pmI should have clarified, they use ss op amps, the reverb is spring, but the tone is super awesome "MEH"
Then we are in agreement. :)
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Re: New HRD III

Post by Mark »

Most inexpensive speaker soaks are passive loads and cause tone suck badly. It's better to save up and get an active attenuator that does a real job of simulating speaker load so as to pass all frequencies through what it's not absorbing. Even they tend to impact tone at high attenuation levels, but they're way better than passive ones.
I have never heard of an active attenuator. So who makes them and better still who makes a good one?

I own a Weber Mass and it is very hit and miss, it nearly always degrades tone but more so on some amps over others.
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Re: New HRD III

Post by martin manning »

Mark wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:12 am
pompeiisneaks wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:41 amMost inexpensive speaker soaks are passive loads and cause tone suck badly. It's better to save up and get an active attenuator that does a real job of simulating speaker load so as to pass all frequencies through what it's not absorbing. Even they tend to impact tone at high attenuation levels, but they're way better than passive ones.
I have never heard of an active attenuator. So who makes them and better still who makes a good one?

I own a Weber Mass and it is very hit and miss, it nearly always degrades tone but more so on some amps over others.
A Weber Mass is a reactive load, as opposed to a resistive load. It's a speaker motor without a cone. Is that what you mean Phil?
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Re: New HRD III

Post by pompeiisneaks »

martin manning wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 12:46 pm
Mark wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:12 am
pompeiisneaks wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:41 amMost inexpensive speaker soaks are passive loads and cause tone suck badly. It's better to save up and get an active attenuator that does a real job of simulating speaker load so as to pass all frequencies through what it's not absorbing. Even they tend to impact tone at high attenuation levels, but they're way better than passive ones.
I have never heard of an active attenuator. So who makes them and better still who makes a good one?

I own a Weber Mass and it is very hit and miss, it nearly always degrades tone but more so on some amps over others.
A Weber Mass is a reactive load, as opposed to a resistive load. It's a speaker motor without a cone. Is that what you mean Phil?
Yeah probably got the wrong term, exactly what I meant, uses a speaker coil to actually simulate a real speaker instead of just a dead resistive load, I thought I'd heard them referred to as 'active' because they actively do something across the frequency spectrum instead of just statically at one like resistive loads, but I may also be inventing new words :D

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Re: New HRD III

Post by Mark »

The Weber Mass uses a speaker coil, it's better than the resistive Power Soak but it has a long way to go to be transparent and speaker like. I was surprised it worked well with Marshall style EL-34 amps and awful the 18 Marshall (EL-84's).

I dare say some are better than others, but the good ones do appear to be a mystery. I'm liking the idea of an active attenuator where it determines what is missing, too bad it doesn't exist. 😢

As far as the HRD amp goes, I'd be looking at the mod kits available, the Bill M kits get a good rap.
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Re: New HRD III

Post by Mark »

https://www.uaudio.com/hardware/ox.html

Check this out, it looks impressive.
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Re: New HRD III

Post by pompeiisneaks »

I've heard nothing but amazing things about UA. They make outstanding very pricey stuff :P

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