Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III vs. Peavey Classic 30

[joedonner2001]

I'm tempted to get myself either of these amps.

Just wondering if there is anyone out there would could give me an opinion about these. I've heard good things about both amps, but some say the Fender is more reliable with a better design and build quality. I guess that is why it costs more.

Any random opinions or advice about these two amps which might be useful?

Thanks.

 

[nicolasrivera]

Both amps are great, but you get a better resale value with Fender.

 

[Splattle101]

I've never liked the dirty channel of the HRD. The Peavey's dirt is pretty good by comparison.

The clean channel of the HRD will be pretty much like the normal channel of an old black face amp with a solid state recto. That means good 6L6 cleans and a good basis for pedals. It also means you have to turn it up really loud before it will give you power amp distortion.

The Classic 30 will get you there a bit earlier. It's also got a post-preamp vol to help you mix the volumes between your clean and dirty sounds.

 

[Sournote]

I'm tempted to get myself either of these amps.

Just wondering if there is anyone out there would could give me an opinion about these. I've heard good things about both amps, but some say the Fender is more reliable with a better design and build quality. I guess that is why it costs more.

Any random opinions or advice about these two amps which might be useful?

Thanks.

I own a PV Classic 30 and haven't really heard the HRD, so my advice will be one sided but I hope objective.

I've had my Classic since 1995 and it was bought used. I've never had a problem with it and the only money I've spent on it since 1995 was re-tubing. That's a sample of one, but the amp has been as reliable as an anvil which is pretty much Peavey's reputation. That should help with the reliability question. As for resale, if you keep it long enough you should do fine. I know I would get more for my Classic 30 than I paid for it, and likely nearly as much as I paid for it and a new Fender AmStd Strat in '95, so resale doesn't suck.

Tonewise, the amp covers blues to classic rock wonderfully. It is not a super clean amp and gets some grit pretty early on the clean channel. Not a problem for blues or classic rock but not the thing for jazz (which ain't me). It will take you close to early 70's metal with pedals but I don't think its going to cut modern metal, even with some help.

I wanted a new amp and recently picked up a DSL40C Marshall and in comparison to the Classic 30, it has cleaner cleans and does 70's Metal and beyond without need of a pedal. The two amps do different things well and make pretty good backups for each other, so I doubt my Classic will be going anywhere soon.

 

[kmrumedy]

Get a HRD with Omega mods! You can thank me later! Astounding amp and value.

 

[joedonner2001]

Get a HRD with Omega mods! You can thank me later! Astounding amp and value.

Will have to check that out. Thanks.

 

[logen99999]

i played both extensively.

the peavey stock is pretty meh. a better speaker turns it into a badass marshall-like monster.

the fender hot rods are meh as well. the new models are much better then the old ones. but the hot rod devilles are BADASS. big open huge sounding.; 60 watts so it's got kick and girth.

my advice, either a classic 30 with a speaker swap.
a hot rod deville.
i heard the classic 50s are awesome too BTW.

 

[joedonner2001]

It is not a super clean amp and gets some grit pretty early on the clean channel.

That would suit me. I rarely play clean-clean.

Thanks to all. I think it's gonna be the Peavey Classic 30 after all.

I did read however that using the reverb on it causes some kind of hum or something? Is it as bad as some say? I usually like just a smidgen of reverb, and perhaps a bit of delay. Just wondering about this reverb hum issue?

 

[nicolasrivera]

That would suit me. I rarely play clean-clean.

Thanks to all. I think it's gonna be the Peavey Classic 30 after all.

I did read however that using the reverb on it causes some kind of hum or something? Is it as bad as some say? I usually like just a smidgen of reverb, and perhaps a bit of delay. Just wondering about this reverb hum issue?

Change the tubes to something better, i've read they come with not so good tubes.

 

[frameboy]

I'm tempted to get myself either of these amps.

Just wondering if there is anyone out there would could give me an opinion about these. I've heard good things about both amps, but some say the Fender is more reliable with a better design and build quality. I guess that is why it costs more.

Any random opinions or advice about these two amps which might be useful?

Thanks.

I've had both, and have a HRD deluxe now.

The Peaveys a great 2nd hand buy. It has really nice cleans and when you turn the wick up it overdrives great, and mine had a really classic 60s blues sound.

It was ages ago but I seem to remember it had six valves in the back or something.

If you can get one in good order for about 250 UK pounds that's a good buy.

The HRD is a sod to use sometimes. The drive channel is.....ok. The clean channel isn't bad, but to get the clean channel to perform you have to have the gain up and that means earth shattering volume. It's a loud, loud amp.

Bear in mind what you want from an amp. Both are probably too loud for home use. 30 or 40 watts at home is virtually unusable unless you live alone and half a mile from your neighbours.

 

[Custom53]

I'm tempted to get myself either of these amps.

Just wondering if there is anyone out there would could give me an opinion about these. I've heard good things about both amps, but some say the Fender is more reliable with a better design and build quality. I guess that is why it costs more.

Any random opinions or advice about these two amps which might be useful?

Thanks.

Go full tilt with a Classic 100..! Love mine..!

 

[kmrumedy]

Here you go Joe. I did a lot of research on HRD amps. The Omega mod is the way to go. Your dirt channels get into Dumble territory, the cleans are spectacular.

Here is 62 pages on everything you want to know about these amps and the mods. Hope this helps.

Omega Hot Rod Deluxe Anybody? - The Gear Page

The Peavey Classics are great amps too for the money. You have selected a couple of winners.

 

[Sournote]

Change the tubes to something better, i've read they come with not so good tubes.

Mine has fresh JJ's and it definitely sounds better than it did with the tired stock tubes but it still breaks up pretty early. There were options for retubing that would give a later break-up or earlier break up, but I opted for the closest to stock configuration. Its a blues/rock amp and I'm the type that doesn't try to make an amp something its not, especially since blues/rock is much of what I like to play.

I wouldn't mind trying a better speaker in the amp eventually, but with the Marshall sitting right next to the PV, I have a pretty wide palette of tone as is.

 

[joedonner2001]

Thanks very much to everyone. I'm going to try and find a nice 2nd hand Peavey Classic.

 

[logen99999]

Go full tilt with a Classic 100..! Love mine..!

badass. how do they sound.

i heard they not at all like the combo classic 30s. they actually sound like proper rock and roll monster amps.

 

[VanR]

For what it's worth Peavey has made some upgrades to the newer Classic 30's. Footswitchable boost, Standby Switch, IEC A/C connector, redesigned tube guard. If I were going to buy a Classic 30 now (I just bought a used one myself) I would wait and find a brand spanking new one with the upgrades.

 

[wrc73]

I own a Fender HRDLx with the Omega mods. I have upgraded the tubes and swaped the speaker for a Cannabis Rex as well. The modded HRDLx is a cool amp, but with the classic 30 all you are going to need to do is upgrade the tubes and speaker, and you are done. With the Fender you are going to have to do that, plus spend another $300.00 + in mods and shipping. Unless you get the HRDLx for peanuts, I got mine for $200.00, the Peavy is the better bang for your buck. IMHO, YMMV, etc...

Also, my HRDLx is for sale for a very reasonable price if anyone is interested.

 

[kmrumedy]

Also, my HRDLx is for sale for a very reasonable price if anyone is interested.

Interested. Sending PM.

 

[flats750]

i played both extensively.

the peavey stock is pretty meh. a better speaker turns it into a badass marshall-like monster.

the fender hot rods are meh as well. the new models are much better then the old ones. but the hot rod devilles are BADASS. big open huge sounding.; 60 watts so it's got kick and girth.

my advice, either a classic 30 with a speaker swap.
a hot rod deville.
i heard the classic 50s are awesome too BTW.

My experience is the same. Peavey is a good amp but the stock speaker is thin sounding.

HRD was a decent amp for clean. I used it as the clean side of a two amp setup, but hated the dirt channel. Completely useless imho.

I currently have a HR Deville 4x10 with a 4x10 exp cab. Great clean channel that accepts pedals very well and has plenty of girth and headroom. The OD channel again is nothing usefull except for a light crunch tone. It also loses some of it girth and openess on the OD channel. I strictly get my dirt from pedals anyway. I find they sound better to me with less noise than most amp gains.

 

[joedonner2001]

Peavey Delta Blues 210 is the winner, if I can find a nice 2nd hand one.

Thanks again for the advice, everyone.