I always enjoy the way you show the steps of repair. This amp is not one of my favorites, but it was fun to watch the fix. It has been a while; glad to see you back.
They finally raised the 5w resistors off the board on these things. A good 7-8mm(1/4 inch) At least they did on mine, bought 3 weeks ago. Hopeful that it helps with the burned PCB but not expecting much. Looking at this one, they apparently hadn't started implementing that fix yet. My resistors have cloth tubing covering the legs because they're a bit longer now, also. Finally, they siliconed the 2 resistors together for vibration resistance. Not something I've seen in any other amp yet.
@@J.C... I think to be fair he said a handful? These amps defo have issues though. I'd call them design issues rather than QC. Basic, newbie errors like putting hot power resistors close to the board, having zener diodes on the limit of their power rating which actually burn the pcb, using cheap IC caps and so on.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 yea. It turns out my baffle wasn't tight. All 5 screws were VERY loose. It was causing a terrible rattle/vibration. I thought I had tightened them all but apparently not lol. I emailed you through your website. Once you reply, I'll send you that Pic of the resistors in my HR Deluxe.
Great video as always Stuart.. First time I've seen inside the Mk 4 version. Nice to know Fender occasionally listen and respond to their customers and the abused techs that have to work on and fix their amps. As you say it's a great gigging amp which has now been made a bit more dependable for a little thought and a few more cents worth of improvements.
I have one I purchased 3 weeks ago. Brand new. They actually lifted the 5w resistors off the board finally. I was shocked! They also narrowed the back panel so it doesn't get stuck and break as you try to remove it.
@@J.C... That was a long time coming J.C.. Perhaps there's a new policy that involves listening to the end user and the down trodden amp techs that have to repair faults that should never have occurred in the first place ..
@@J.C... Ah that's REALLY interesting, I'd love a photo of that. What have they done to stop the power resistors wobbling so that they eventually come unsoldered? (Putting them hard down on the board prevents this).
Dang Stuart, when did you record this video? By the way you were bundled up, it looked like the middle of winter. Today in SE Texas we are expecting a heat index of 115F/46C. I'm surprised you didn't have to add a bit of leaded solder to the lead-free solder to get it to flow, but perhaps the flux in your desoldering braid helped with that.
Lyle at Psionic Audio talked about these jacks and how there is no real replacement for those. All, the ones you can buy are taller, he said. Oh you got one?? What's that part number??
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 thank you, I saw it last night in your last video where the soldering station was shown and googled it. Quite expensive, but I think I'll get one in the future
Stuwart uk, I'm confused about biasing because it's common to have crossover distortion even when the biasing is at 70% dissipation at 30mA, so how do you get no zero crossover distortion when biasing tube amplifiers?
Hi Wayne. My understanding is that class AB amplifiers (transistor or valve) always have a small amount of crossover distortion but this is not usually noticeable (say on a scope). I think valve amps are slightly worse than transistor amps. You might get say 1% dustortion. This is barely audible. HiFi amps aim for less, certainly under 0.1%. The valves and transistors are biased at a level above cutoff, so you never get that horrible step as one hands over to the other.
I always enjoy the way you show the steps of repair. This amp is not one of my favorites, but it was fun to watch the fix. It has been a while; glad to see you back.
Thanks Michael, yes been a bit rammed!
Long time no hear from..! Great video as usual Stuart..Top repair and info..Take care..Ed..UK.😄
Uncle Doug, Carlson & you Stuart, my 3 Favourite channels.
Thanks. I like them too plus Terry at D-labs
Nice work! Where I live in the USA we call an adjustable wrench a "North Carolina Socket Set" :)
Nice!
I always heard that vise grips were a Carolina socket set. Hm……
@@Pgu9de Ho Ho! An incredibly useful tool sometimes though!
Call us each GOTAW. Gentlemen of the Adjustable Wrench. By nature brave, infallible, suave, and a bit stubborn around the edges.
Ho ho.
They finally raised the 5w resistors off the board on these things. A good 7-8mm(1/4 inch) At least they did on mine, bought 3 weeks ago. Hopeful that it helps with the burned PCB but not expecting much.
Looking at this one, they apparently hadn't started implementing that fix yet. My resistors have cloth tubing covering the legs because they're a bit longer now, also. Finally, they siliconed the 2 resistors together for vibration resistance. Not something I've seen in any other amp yet.
Binge watching all these videos at the moment. Very informative. Thank you for uploading them and I look forward to seeing your future vids
I made the mistake of binge watching a bunch of vids about the Hot Rod Deluxe and now that's all I get is HRD vid recommendations 🤣
@@J.C... 😅🤣😂
Nice vid. Stuart is so good at what he does. Highly recommended. Ryan (the amp owner).
Thanks Ryan!
Great video mate. Had a few Fender combos to sort with sockets not tightened from the factory. Quality Control failure.
Thanks. Yes these amps defintely have a handful of issues.
I'd only call it a QC failure if most amps come out that way . A sample size of 1? 🤣
@@J.C... I think to be fair he said a handful? These amps defo have issues though. I'd call them design issues rather than QC. Basic, newbie errors like putting hot power resistors close to the board, having zener diodes on the limit of their power rating which actually burn the pcb, using cheap IC caps and so on.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 yea. It turns out my baffle wasn't tight. All 5 screws were VERY loose. It was causing a terrible rattle/vibration. I thought I had tightened them all but apparently not lol. I emailed you through your website. Once you reply, I'll send you that Pic of the resistors in my HR Deluxe.
Great video as always Stuart.. First time I've seen inside the Mk 4 version. Nice to know Fender occasionally listen and respond to their customers and the abused techs that have to work on and fix their amps. As you say it's a great gigging amp which has now been made a bit more dependable for a little thought and a few more cents worth of improvements.
Yes exactly!
I have one I purchased 3 weeks ago. Brand new. They actually lifted the 5w resistors off the board finally. I was shocked!
They also narrowed the back panel so it doesn't get stuck and break as you try to remove it.
@@J.C... That was a long time coming J.C.. Perhaps there's a new policy that involves listening to the end user and the down trodden amp techs that have to repair faults that should never have occurred in the first place ..
@@pda49184 I know. It's been 3 weeks and I'm still In shock 🤣
@@J.C... Ah that's REALLY interesting, I'd love a photo of that. What have they done to stop the power resistors wobbling so that they eventually come unsoldered? (Putting them hard down on the board prevents this).
I always enjoy your videos Stuart because we a learning from you. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks MArtin.
With all the design flaws in these Fender amps, you will always have plenty of work 😂
Nice detailed rip down 👍
Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks Mr. Stuart. Great video. Rock and Roll!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
As always, lovely video, thanks Stuart
I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
Dang Stuart, when did you record this video? By the way you were bundled up, it looked like the middle of winter. Today in SE Texas we are expecting a heat index of 115F/46C. I'm surprised you didn't have to add a bit of leaded solder to the lead-free solder to get it to flow, but perhaps the flux in your desoldering braid helped with that.
Nice video Stuart. Thanks. I thought,wow, he forgot to replace the screws on the pcb. 😉
You need a set of Rocket Sockets. The plastic sockets with wings that most of us use these days.
Another great video stuart always enjoy em.
Cheers Bob.
Lyle at Psionic Audio talked about these jacks and how there is no real replacement for those. All, the ones you can buy are taller, he said.
Oh you got one?? What's that part number??
Wheres my reply? I found those jacks. Got the part number. Search fender low. Profile stereo jack.
Nice job.
Cheers!
Nice work sir!!
Thank you kindly Guvnor...
The Man!!
Cheers!
In Germany we call this kind of wrench an Engländer😂
Really? How interesting!
Nice one 👍
Many thanks.
What kind of soldering iron do you use?
I have an Ersa station with 60 watts, it never gets as hot as yours.
Best regards
Martín
It's a JBC from Kaisertech - cost a bleedin' fortune but it's pretty good.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 thank you, I saw it last night in your last video where the soldering station was shown and googled it.
Quite expensive, but I think I'll get one in the future
@@komorowski381 Yes they're pretty good I think. Got fed up with Wellers constantly failing.
Stuwart uk, I'm confused about biasing because it's common to have crossover distortion even when the biasing is at 70% dissipation at 30mA, so how do you get no zero crossover distortion when biasing tube amplifiers?
Hi Wayne. My understanding is that class AB amplifiers (transistor or valve) always have a small amount of crossover distortion but this is not usually noticeable (say on a scope). I think valve amps are slightly worse than transistor amps. You might get say 1% dustortion.
This is barely audible. HiFi amps aim for less, certainly under 0.1%. The valves and transistors are biased at a level above cutoff, so you never get that horrible step as one hands over to the other.
Any tips for how to mod and get more gain out of a 1995 Blues Deville USA made.??
Sounds like it’s raining heavily on the sound Stuart 😉😉
Yes I notuced that on the edit. The sound level was quite low so I boosted it and I think it's just background noise.
When I see hot rod deluxe I thought another power resistor burning board.
Yep and the zener diodes! And the crappy HT caps...
They finally addressed that in the most recent models. Now if they'd have gotten the diodes up. And did something about the caps. And tube sockets lol
@@J.C... And.... !